KR0133503B1 - Ice removing method for automotive ice maker - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of placing ice frozen in an ice tray (6) in a storage bowl (8) in an ice making cycle of a refrigerator. In order to separate the ice from the ice cube and store it in the storage grout 8, it is determined whether the ice direction in which the ice tray 6 is rotated is clockwise or counterclockwise in consideration of the previous ice making cycle, and corresponds to the determined ice direction. By controlling the ice motor and displaying the ice direction for the next ice-making cycle, the ice distribution is evenly distributed and the malfunction of the ice detection lever 10 is prevented.

Description

Ice Method of Automatic Ice Maker

1 is an exploded perspective view showing the mechanism of the automatic ice maker of the refrigerator.

2 is a view for explaining a ribbing method according to the prior art.

3 is a view showing the distribution of ice contained in a storage vessel by a conventional method.

4 and 5 are views and flowcharts for explaining the ice-making method according to the present invention.

6 is a view showing the distribution of ice contained in the storage vessel by the ice-making method of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

1: water supply tank 2: water supply tank lathe

3: water supply storage container 4: water supply pump

5: water pipe 6: ice tray

7: automatic ice maker 8: storage bowl

9: ice making sensor 10: ice storage detection lever

11: ice sensor

The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a method of separating ice from an ice tray and placing it in an ice bucket.

The process of separating the ice from the ice tray by applying a torsional force by rotating the ice tray and turning it in a state where ice is formed on the ice tray is commonly referred to as an 'ebbing process'.

1 shows a typical ice making mechanism of a refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice maker.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a water supply tank for supplying the water necessary to make ice, 2 is a water tank shelf, 3 is a water storage container, 4 is a water pump, 5 is a water pipe, and 6 is an ice tray. 7 is an automatic ice maker, 8 is a storage bowl for storing frozen ice, 9 is an ice making sensor, 10 is a low specific gravity detection lever, and a ice detection sensor indicating a state in which the ice bowl is filled with ice (full ice state). Respectively.

The typical ice-making cycle of the refrigerator can be divided into three processes. The first process is the initialization and water supply process, the second process is the ice making process of making ice, and the last process is the ice making process of the ice making plate (6). 6) It is the ice-making process that separates it from the storage bowl (8) and keeps it.

This ice making cycle will be described in detail as follows.

When power is supplied to allow the freezing function of the refrigerator to be performed, for example, a refrigerating function control means such as a microprocessor checks whether the ice tray is horizontal and checks whether the ice tray is horizontal. (Not shown) is rotated forward or reverse to make the ice tray 6 horizontal.

Subsequently, the temperature detected by the ice making sensor 9 is examined to determine that ice is formed in the ice making plate 6 when the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature (for example, −12 ° C.) to perform an ice making process.

After the initial process as described above, a water supply process for performing a new embankment cycle is performed.

This water supply process is a step in which the water supply pump 4 supplies the water in the water supply storage container 3 to the ice making plate 6 as described above, and a float switch in the water supply tank 1 is not shown. Is turned ON (water is present in the tank), the water supply pump 4 is driven. Otherwise, the water supply lamp (not shown) indicating the water supply is judged as 'water shortage'. Turn on.

The water supply lamp is usually composed of a light emitting diode (LED).

When enough water is supplied to the water supply tank 1 and the above water supply process is completed, an ice making process for making ice is performed.

This process is performed by the delivery of cold air to the ice tray 6 located in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, the freezing function control means that the ice is formed when the temperature of the ice making sensor 9 reaches, for example, -12 ℃ or less To judge.

If it is determined that ice has been formed, the ice-making process is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed.

After the ice making is completed, the following method was conventionally used to separate the ice from the ice making plate 6 and store it in the storage vessel 8.

After the ice making is completed and a predetermined time has elapsed, if the ice-making process is started, it is examined whether the ice storage bowl 8 is full of ice (full ice state) through the ice storage detection lever 10.

At this time, if the storage vessel 8 is in the full ice state, the moving operation stops performing and enters the standby state.

If the storage vessel 8 is not in the ice state, the ice motor is rotated in the reverse direction so that the ice tray 6 is rotated by a predetermined angle (about 128 °) in the direction of ① as shown in FIG. By twisting the dish 6, ice is separated from the ice making point 6 so as to fall into the storage vessel.

When the ice tray 6 is rotated as ① in FIG. 2 in a horizontal state, the 'A' portion of the plate 6 is caught in a tray stopper (not shown), and the ice tray 6 is no longer provided. You won't be able to rotate.

At this time, when the ice motor is rotated by about 25 ° as in ② of FIG. 2, the ice tray 6 is subjected to a twisting force from the plate rotation stop, so that the ice is separated from the plate 6 and falls into the storage vessel 8. do.

When the ice falls into the storage vessel (8), the storage amount detection lever 10 is lifted up to prevent the lever 10 from being buried inside the ice.

Subsequently, the defrosting motor 6 is rotated in reverse to restore the ice making plate 6 to its original horizontal position, and then the execution of a new dike cycle is started.

In the conventional ice-making method as described above, since the ice is carried out only in one direction, the distribution of ice contained in the storage vessel 8 is uneven, as shown in FIG. And there is a problem that by storing the amount of ice smaller than the amount that can be accommodated by the actual storage vessel (8) by erroneously detected as having reached the ice state.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ice-making method that allows the ice to be stored in an even distribution in an even distribution to maximize the capacity of the storage vessel.

In the ice-making method of the present invention for achieving the above object, the water in the water storage container after rotating the ice motor in the automatic ice maker by the freezing function control means in the freezer of the refrigerator so that the ice tray is horizontal. Initializing and supplying water to the ice-making dish, ice-making process of ice-making the water supplied by the automatic ice maker according to the control of the refrigerating function control means received from the ice-making sensor that the temperature of the water in the ice-making dish After the ice-making is completed, the freezing function control means controls the rotation of the ice-making motor to separate the ice of the ice-making plate and ices in the ice-covering bowl. Therefore, if the storage vessel does not exist or is in the ice state by the freezing function control means, In the first ice-making cycle, the first step of examining the direction in which the ice-making plate is rotated, and rotating the ice-making motor until the ice-making plate reaches a predetermined angle in a direction opposite to the irradiated rotation direction, After the ice is dropped, the ice tray is made in a horizontal state, and the second step of performing the first step is further characterized in that the ice of the ice tray is evenly distributed in the storage bowl.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached FIGS. 4 and 5.

(A) and (b) of FIG. 4 are views showing the direction and range in which the ice tray 6 is rotated according to the present invention, and (a) and (b) of FIG. 5 are flowcharts of the ice making cycle according to the present invention. to be.

As shown in (A) of FIG. 5, when the water supply process (S1 to S6) of supplying water by the water supply pump 4 in the state where the ice making plate (6 in FIG. 1) is in a horizontal state is completed, the ice making process ( S8) is performed.

In the water supply process, the refrigerating function control means continuously receives the temperature data from the ice making sensor 9 and determines that the water supply is completed when the value is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference value (for example, the temperature of a normal water) (S5). To stop the operation of the feed water pump (4) (S7).

In the ice making process, if the temperature data value of the ice making sensor 9 is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature (about -12 ° C.) (YES in S19), the ice making process is determined to be completed (the ice making process is performed). (B) of FIG. 5).

When the above-mentioned ice making process is completed, the refrigerating function control means first checks whether or not the storage bowl 8 exists, and if the storage bowl 8 exists (YES in S10), determines whether or not it is in the ice state (S11). ).

If the storage vessel 8 does not exist (No in S10) or the ice state (YES in S11), the ice-making process is not performed and enters the standby state.

In the case where the storage vessel 8 exists and is not in the full ice state, the control means is rotated when the ice tray 6 is rotated when the ice-making operation is performed in the previous ice-making cycle (counterclockwise as shown in (a) of FIG. 4 or It is checked whether the value of the rotation variable R representing the forward direction, the clockwise direction or the reverse direction as shown in (b) of FIG. 4 is '1' (S12).

The value of the rotation variable R has a value of '1' in the forward direction (counterclockwise) and a value of '0' in the initial state or in the reverse direction (clockwise).

In step S12, when the value of the rotation variable R is not '1' (ie, '0'), the first ice-making process is performed after the power is supplied or the ice tray 6 is removed from the previous ice-making cycle. Since the ice moving operation is performed while rotating in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the ice moving operation is started as shown in FIG.

At this time, the ice tray is rotated forward until the ice tray 6 reaches a predetermined angle (153 °) to relieve the ice in the storage vessel 8, and then the ice tray 6 is moved to make the ice tray 6 horizontal. Reverse rotation (S15).

The reverse rotation of the above-mentioned ice motor is continued until the ice tray 6 becomes the original horizontal state (S16).

After the ice tray 6 is in the horizontal state, the value of the rotation variable R is set to '1' (S17).

In the above-described step S12, when the value of the rotation variable R is '1', the ice making operation is performed while the ice making plate 6 rotates counterclockwise as shown in (a) of FIG. 4 in the previous ice making cycle. Since it is a case, while starting the reversing motor as shown in (b) of FIG.

The above step S18 is repeated until the ice is separated from the ice tray 6 and falls into the storage vessel 8 (S19).

After pouring the ice of the ice tray 6 into the storage bowl (8) to rotate the ice motor to make the ice tray 6 in the original horizontal state (S20).

When the ice making plate 6 reaches the original horizontal state by rotating the ice motor in reverse (S21), it returns to the first stage to start a new ice making cycle.

As described above, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the distribution of ice stored in the storage vessel by the ice-covering process is uniform, thereby preventing the malfunction of the ice-covering lever and preventing the capacity of the storage vessel. It has the advantage of making the most of it.

Claims (1)

In the freezer of the refrigerator, the freezing function control means rotates the ice motor in the automatic ice maker 7 so that the ice making plate 6 is horizontal, and then the water pump 4 removes the water in the water storage container 3. The automatic ice maker 7 is supplied with water according to the control of the refrigerating function control means received from the ice making sensor 9 in the initialization and water supply process of supplying the dish 6 and the temperature of the ice of the ice making dish 6 from the ice making sensor 9. Ice-making process of ice-making, and an ice-making process in which the refrigerating function control means controls the rotation of the ice-making motor to separate the ice of the ice-making plate 6 and ices it in the storage vessel 8 after the ice-making is completed. In the method of placing ice formed in the ice making plate 6 in the ice storage cycle in the ice making cycle, the ice storage vessel 8 is waited by the freezing function control means if it does not exist or is in full ice, cycle The first step of irradiating the direction in which the ice tray 6 is rotated, and the ice tray is rotated by rotating the ice motor until the ice tray 6 reaches a predetermined angle in a direction opposite to the irradiated rotation direction After dropping the ice on (8) and the ice tray (6) in a horizontal state and the second step of performing the first step, the ice of the ice tray (6) evenly in the storage bowl (8) An ice-making method of an automatic ice maker, characterized in that the distribution.