KR20180101133A - Ice maker and refrigerator including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same. According to the present invention, the ice maker comprises: a control box; an ice maker control unit disposed inside the control box; and an ice making tray disposed in a reception unit and having a heater disposed on the lower surface of the reception unit. The ice making control unit receives either or both of an operation signal and power transferred from a refrigerator, and transmits a corresponding signal with respect to the operation signal to the refrigerator, wherein either or both of the operation signal and the power transmitted/received between the ice making control and the refrigerator are transferred through a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) unit, and the operation signal received by the ice making control unit includes a signal to allow a heater to generate heat. Accordingly, ice placed in the receiving unit is separated from the ice making tray by the heat generated from the heater in accordance with the signal to operate the heater.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an icemaker and a refrigerator including the icemaker,

The present invention relates to an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same.

Generally, a refrigerator has a main body having a refrigerating chamber for refrigerating and storing foods and a freezing chamber for refrigerating and storing food, and a compressor for compressing the refrigerant and a heat exchanger for generating cold air are installed at the rear of the main body. The cold air generated in the heat exchanger is supplied to the refrigerator compartment or the freezer compartment by the fan, and the air whose temperature is increased by circulating through the refrigerator compartment or the freezer compartment is supplied to the refrigerator compartment or the freezer compartment through the heat exchanger again, Can always be kept fresh. At this time, an ice maker for producing ice is installed in the freezing room or the refrigerating room.

The ice maker automatically supplies water to the ice making container and checks the ice making condition. When the ice making is completed, the ice is automatically removed from the ice making container to be loaded on the ice holding container. Which is widely used in recent years.

The ice maker is provided with various sensors (for example, ice water sensor, position sensor, ice-fullness sensor, temperature sensor, etc.) and a motor (for example, an ejector motor or a twist Motor, etc.). An ice-maker controller for controlling the overall operation of the ice-maker receives the sensing signal from the sensor, transmits the received sensing signal to the refrigerator controller provided in the refrigerator body, receives the motor control signal from the refrigerator controller, Respectively. In this process, a large number of wiring lines may increase the volume of the ice maker.

Therefore, a separate space for accommodating a large number of wires in the refrigerator should be provided. Conventionally, these wirings are connected through the hinge portion of the refrigerator door. In this case, since the hinge portion of the refrigerator door must be provided with a space for passing the wiring through the hole, the hinge structure of the refrigerator door is weakened and the heat insulation efficiency is lowered. Also, noise and electromagnetic waves are increased due to a large number of wirings.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2001-0093626 (October 29, 2001)

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a technique for simplifying wiring and communication relationships in a refrigerator.

An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a technique for increasing the volume in a refrigerator without changing the refrigerator exterior while reducing the volume of the ice maker in the refrigerator.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention is intended to provide a technique for simplifying the connection process between the ice maker and the refrigerator control unit and reducing the manufacturing cost.

Control box; An icemaker control unit provided inside the control box; And an ice-making tray disposed at one side of the control box, the accommodating portion being provided with a heater on a lower surface of the accommodating portion, wherein the ice-maker controller controls at least one of an operation signal and a power source, And the at least one of an operation signal and a power source transmitted and received between the ice-maker control unit and the refrigerator is received through a port-to-port connection of a universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) unit, The operation signal received by the control unit includes a signal for causing the heater to generate heat, and ice can be removed from the ice-making tray due to the heat generated by the heater, do.

And, the operation signal can be transmitted through K-LINE communication.

In addition, the activation signal may be communicated via LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication.

In addition, the actuation signal may be communicated via one of RS232, RS422 and RS485.

In addition, the icemaker control unit further includes a CAN (Controller Area Network) port, and a part of the operating signal can be transmitted through CAN (Controller Area Network) communication.

The ice maker may further include a sensor including a temperature sensor, a water level sensor, a full ice level sensor, and a position sensor, and the ice-maker controller may feed back the sensed information to the refrigerator.

Further, the icemaker further includes a heater and a driving motor, and the operating signal may include driving the driving motor and the heater.

Further, the motor may be a BLDC motor or a stepping motor.

Further, the wiring through which the operation signal is transmitted and received may be a shield-coated communication cable including a fiber optic cable or a twisted-pair (TP) cable.

Further, the present invention may further comprise a conversion communication module disposed at least one between the ice maker and the refrigerator, and the signal transmitted by the conversion communication module may be transmitted to a side through which one wiring is received.

In addition, a power line communication unit including an operating signal transmitted from a Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit and a power line is provided, and an operation signal and a power source are connected via a power line communication unit, Lt; / RTI >

An ice maker for receiving at least one of an operation signal and a power source from a refrigerator control unit, comprising: a control box; And an icing tray connected to the control box and provided with a receiving portion, wherein at least one of an operation signal and a power source transmitted from the refrigerator control unit is transmitted to and received from a Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) An ice maker is provided.

The conversion communication module may further include at least one conversion communication module disposed between the ice maker and the refrigerator, and the signal transmitted by the conversion communication module may be transmitted to the receiving side via one wiring line.

There is provided a refrigerator comprising the ice-maker described above.

According to the disclosed embodiments, since the ice-maker control unit or the refrigerator control unit is connected through the UART communication bus and performs LIN communication or CAN communication, the number of wirings for data transmission / reception between the ice-maker control unit and the refrigerator control unit can be minimized . That is, the wiring for data transmission / reception between the ice-maker control unit and the refrigerator control unit can be connected to the minimum communication bus wiring, so that the number of wires between the ice-maker control unit and the refrigerator control unit can be minimized.

In addition, since the number of wiring between the ice-maker control unit and the refrigerator control unit is minimized, the use of space for storing wiring in the refrigerator can be minimized, time and labor for wiring connection can be reduced, . In addition, the number of wires can be minimized, and the generation of noise and electromagnetic waves can be reduced.

1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an operation of an ice maker according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a view showing an ice maker according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a view showing driving and communication flows of the ice maker according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a view showing driving and communication flows of the ice maker according to the second embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a view showing driving and communication flows of the ice maker according to the second embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a view showing driving and communication flow of the ice maker according to the third embodiment of the present invention
7 is a diagram showing transmission and reception by the conversion communication module according to the present invention;

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following detailed description is provided to provide a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatus, and / or systems described herein. However, this is merely an example and the present invention is not limited thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to the intention or custom of the user, the operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification. The terms used in the detailed description are intended only to describe embodiments of the invention and should in no way be limiting. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the singular form of a term includes plural forms of meaning. In this description, the expressions "comprising" or "comprising" are intended to indicate certain features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof, Should not be construed to preclude the presence or possibility of other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, portions or combinations thereof.

In the following description, terms such as " transmission ", "transmission "," transmission ", "reception ", and the like, of a signal or information refer not only to the direct transmission of signals or information from one component to another But also through other components. In particular, "transmitting" or "transmitting" a signal or information to an element is indicative of the final destination of the signal or information and not a direct destination. This is the same for "reception" of a signal or information. Also, in this specification, the fact that two or more pieces of data or information are "related" means that when one piece of data (or information) is acquired, at least a part of the other data (or information) can be obtained based thereon.

On the other hand, directional terms such as the top, bottom, one side, the other, and the like are used in connection with the orientation of the disclosed figures. Since the elements of the embodiments of the present invention can be positioned in various orientations, directional terms are used for illustrative purposes and not limitation.

Also, the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms may be used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

In the following various examples, the wiring through which the operating signal is transmitted and received may be a communication cable including a fiber optic cable or a twisted-pair (TP) cable, and may be a cable shielded with silver or the like, Line can be secured.

1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the ice maker 100 according to the present invention.

1, an ice maker 100 according to the present invention includes at least one of an operation signal and a power source to which at least one of an operation signal and a power source is transmitted from the refrigerator 200 to the controller 130, (D). This means that each functional configuration carries at least one of the operating signal and the power source in different configurations, and a plurality of configurations of the respective configurations may be included in the icemaker or the refrigerator side. Thus, this means " functional configuration ", which represents the flow through which at least one of the activation signal and the power source is delivered.

As such a concept will be described below through various embodiments, and an example of the ice maker will be described with reference to Fig. 2 before the description.

2 is a view showing an icemaker 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 (a) is a longitudinal sectional view of the ice-maker 100, and FIG. 2 (b) is a sectional view of the ice-making tray 102 in its width direction.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ice maker 100 may include an ice-making tray 102, a control box 104, a driving unit 106, an ejector 108, and an ice-making heater 110. The ejector 108 may include an ejector shaft 108a connected to the driving unit 106 and a plurality of ejector pins 108b spaced apart from the ejector shaft 108a.

The ice-making tray 102 has a receiving portion 111 for receiving iced water therein. A plurality of partition walls are formed in the ice-making tray 102 to separate the receiving portion 111 into a plurality of spaces. The ice-making tray 102 may be provided with a temperature sensor 113 for measuring the temperature of the ice-making tray 102 (or the temperature of ice-making water). The ice-making tray 102 may be provided with a water level sensor 115 for sensing the level of the ice-making water stored in the storage unit 111.

The control box 104 may be provided on one side of the ice-making tray 102. The control box 104 may be a case for protecting the components provided in the control box 104 from the external environment. The drive box 106 may be housed in the control box 104. An ice maker controller (not shown) for controlling the operation of the ice maker 100 may be housed in the control box 104. The icemaker control unit (not shown) may be a PCB board.

A freeze detection sensor (not shown) may be formed on one side of the control box 104 to detect the fullness of ice stored in the ice bank (not shown) located below the ice-making tray 102. In an exemplary embodiment, the full ice sensor (not shown) may include a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion. In this case, the light emitting unit emits light, and light reflected from the ice bank (not shown) is received by the light receiving unit to detect whether or not the ice is full. In addition, the full ice level sensor (not shown) may be in the form of a sensing lever for sensing ice contact at the upper end of the ice bank (not shown).

The driving unit 106 may be provided in the control box 104. The driving unit 106 can rotate the ejector 108 to freeze the ice in the ice-making tray 102. To this end, the driving unit 106 may include a configuration for rotating the ejector 108. [ The driving unit 106 may include a driving motor 121 and a gear unit 123.

The driving motor 121 can provide power (i.e., rotational force) for rotating the ejector 108. [ The drive motor 121 can generate a predetermined rotation speed. In an exemplary embodiment, the drive motor 121 may be a stepping motor. Since the stepping motor rotates by a certain angle every time the pulse signal is given, the number of input pulse signals is proportional to the rotation angle of the motor. Therefore, the rotation angle of the motor can be accurately controlled by controlling the input pulse. Here, the driving motor 121 is a stepping motor, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The driving motor 121 may be a brushless motor or a brushless motor.

The gear portion 123 may reduce the rotation speed of the rotation generated by the drive motor 121 and increase the torque. The gear portion 123 is connected to the ejector shaft 108a. An auxiliary gear 129 may be formed on the shaft 127 of the driving motor 121. The auxiliary gear 129 can increase the torque of the rotation generated in the drive motor 121 before the gear portion 123 so that the torque of the rotation generated in the gear portion 123 can be further increased.

The ejector 108 serves to eject ice from the ice-making tray 102. The ejector shaft 108a may be provided along the longitudinal direction of the ice-making tray 102 at the upper end of the ice-making tray 102. [ One end of the ejector shaft 108a is connected to the gear portion 123. The ejector pins 108b may be provided corresponding to the accommodating portion 111 of the ice-making tray 102 on the ejector shaft 108a. When the ejector shaft 108a rotates by the driving unit 106, the ejector pin 108b rotates to eject ice located in the receiving unit 111 out of the ice-making tray 102. [

The ice-making heater 110 may be formed below the ice-making tray 102. For example, the ice-making heater 110 may be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the ice-making tray 102. The ice-making heater 110 is operated when the ice-making is completed, and the ice in the ice-making tray 102 can be separated from the inner wall of the ice-making tray 102. The U-shaped heater 110 may be a U-shaped sheath heater. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a cord heater or a flat heater may be used.

The ice maker 100 may include a position sensor (not shown) for detecting the rotational position of the ejector 108 by the driving motor 121. A position sensor (not shown) may be formed on one side of the gear portion 123 in the control box 104. In addition, the ice maker 100 may include an ice transfer motor (not shown) for discharging ice in the ice bank to an ice dispenser provided in the refrigerator.

3 is a view showing driving and communication flow of the ice maker 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the refrigerator 200 and the icemaker controller 130 may communicate with each other through a communication bus 210. When the communication bus 210 is communicated through the port of the Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit, the controller 200 transmits an operation signal from the refrigerator 200 to the icemaker controller 130, The refrigerator 200 can receive the sensing information from the refrigerator 200. [ The activation signal may include an activation signal for driving the driving motor including the first motor 161 and the second motor 163. Here, the first motor 161 may be a motor for rotating the ejector 108. Further, the second motor 163 may be an uger motor. The ice stored in the ice bank (not shown) may be an igor motor rotated in the process of being discharged to be discharged.

Since the respective information for driving the first motor 161 and the second motor 163 may be different from each other, individual information may be transmitted to each other. The information may include information such as the rotational speed of the motor, the rotational angle, and the rotational torque, respectively. Since the torque is given priority when crushing ice and the rotational speed is given priority when the ejector 108 is rotated, the information contained in the operation signal may be different from each other.

Further, the operation signal may include driving information of the heater 171. [ Here, the heater 171 may be a freezing heater 110 which is attached to the lower surface of the ice-making tray 102 of the heater-type ice maker and generates heat. The exothermic information of the heaters 171 (110) can be determined within a predetermined time, for example, within a predetermined temperature interval. Of course, if the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature range, the heat generation of the heaters 171 (110) may be blocked by the overheat preventing means (not shown).

For example, when the sensor for sensing the temperature of the heaters 171 and 110 transmits the heat detection information of the heaters 171 and 110 to the refrigerator 200 through the icemaker control unit 130, Quot ;, and an " exothermic stop " information to the icemaker control unit 130. [ The ice-maker control unit 130 can discriminate the heater 171 (110) from the position to which the " heat-off interruption " information is to be transmitted.

As various examples, the ice maker 100 may include a temperature sensor 113, a water level sensor 115, a full ice level sensor 117 and a position sensor 119, The ice-maker controller 130 transmits the sensed information to the ice-maker controller 130, and the ice-maker controller 130 can receive the feedback information corresponding to the sensed information from the refrigerator 200. Feedback information that has been returned may be transmitted to various locations and may be transmitted to the temperature sensor 113, the water level sensor 115, the full ice level sensor 117, and the position sensor 119 so as to correspond to the various positions.

As described above, the communication between the ice-maker control unit 130 and the refrigerator 200 in the above-described communication method may be a communication through a universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) unit and a port-to-port transmission / reception. Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) includes various communication methods, for example, K-LINE communication, RS232, RS422, RS485 and LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication.

Here, K-line communication is a diagnostic protocol that complies with the ISO 14230 standard and is based on a typical Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) circuit technology like a standard RS232 serial interface. For universal asynchronous transmission and reception, the sender and receiver use the start and stop bits for synchronization purposes. This means that a single line is sufficient for the system without additional lines. In contrast to the RS 232, the K-Line communication can communicate with various ECUs as a bus system. The standard transfer rate is 10,400 baud and the maximum speed is 115.2 K baud, which can be used for flash memory programming and so on.

In addition, K-Line is suitable for both on-board and off-board diagnostics and can provide two types of special initialization patterns. One of the characteristics of the K-Line may be a special key byte used for checking the header format and timing parameters.

The communication module may convert each sensing signal received from the ice-maker controller 130 into data suitable for the network communication, and then transmit the sensed signal to the refrigerator 200 through the communication bus 210. That is, when the corresponding network communication is the LIN communication, the communication module can convert each sensing signal received from the ice-maker controller 130 according to the LIN protocol, and then transmit the sensed signal to the refrigerator through the communication bus 210.

Therefore, since the wiring for communication between the ice maker 100 and the refrigerator 200 can be minimized, the size of the ice maker 100 can be reduced, and generation of noise and electromagnetic waves can be reduced.

FIG. 4 is a view showing driving and communication flows of the ice maker 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the refrigerator 200 and the ice-maker controller 130 may communicate with each other through a communication bus 210. However, the communication bus 210 may be a power line communication unit P, unlike the example of FIG. Accordingly, the icemaker control unit 130 can receive power and operation signals from the refrigerator 200 through one wiring.

The activation signal may include an activation signal for driving the driving motor including the first motor 161 and the second motor 163. Here, the first motor 161 may be a motor for rotating the ejector 108. Further, the second motor 163 may be an uger motor. The ice stored in the ice bank (not shown) may be an igor motor rotated in the process of being discharged to be discharged.

Since the respective information for driving the first motor 161 and the second motor 163 may be different from each other, individual information may be transmitted to each other. The information may include information such as the rotational speed of the motor, the rotational angle, and the rotational torque, respectively. This is because the information contained in the operation signal may be different because the torque is prioritized when crushing ice and the rotational speed is prioritized when the ejector 108 is rotated.

Further, the operation signal may include driving information of the heater 171. [ Here, the heater 171 may be a freezing heater 110 which is attached to the lower surface of the ice-making tray 102 of the heater-type ice maker and generates heat. The exothermic information of the heaters 171 (110) can be determined within a predetermined time, for example, within a predetermined temperature interval. Of course, if the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature range, the heat generation of the heaters 171 (110) may be blocked by the overheat preventing means (not shown).

For example, when the sensor for sensing the temperature of the heaters 171 and 110 transmits the heat detection information of the heaters 171 and 110 to the refrigerator 200 through the icemaker control unit 130, Quot ;, and an " exothermic stop " information to the icemaker control unit 130. [ The ice-maker control unit 130 can discriminate the heater 171 (110) from the position to which the " heat-off interruption " information is to be transmitted.

As various examples, the ice maker 100 may include a temperature sensor 113, a water level sensor 115, a full ice level sensor 117 and a position sensor 119, The ice-maker controller 130 transmits the sensed information to the ice-maker controller 130, and the ice-maker controller 130 can receive the feedback information corresponding to the sensed information from the refrigerator 200. Feedback information that has been returned may be transmitted to various locations and may be transmitted to the temperature sensor 113, the water level sensor 115, the full ice level sensor 117, and the position sensor 119 so as to correspond to the various positions.

In order to perform the above-described process, the power line communication unit P can transmit the power and operation signals through the power line communication unit P in the transmission process.

FIG. 5 is a view showing driving and communication flow of the ice maker 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, a current of, for example, 220 V is provided and divided into two lines of current and control signal supply. First, in the case of current, it is transmitted to the DC stabilizer 310, and can be supplied to the icemaker control unit 130 at a voltage of DC 5v. And may be a power source of the icemaker control unit 130.

On the other hand, the current provided to the control signal supply line can be sequentially transmitted to the isolation transformer 321, the active filter 322, and the data transmission / reception terminal 323. Here, the operation signal may be formed in the data transmitting / receiving terminal 323. [ At this time, the active filter 322 can remove the noise included in the current before transmission to the data transmitting / receiving terminal 323. [ That is, in the control signal supply line, an operation signal is formed on the noise-removed current and can be transmitted to the icemaker control unit 130.

FIG. 6 is a view showing driving and communication flow of the ice maker 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the refrigerator 200 including the refrigerator control unit 140, which is a control unit, and the ice maker 100a can communicate with each other through the communication bus 210. When the communication bus 210 communicates with the universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) unit, the refrigerator control unit 140 transmits an operation signal to the ice maker 100a, Can be received by the refrigerator control unit (140). The activation signal may include an activation signal for driving the driving motor including the first motor 161 and the second motor 163. Here, the first motor 161 may be a motor for rotating the ejector 108. Further, the second motor 163 may be an uger motor. The ice stored in the ice bank (not shown) may be an igor motor rotated in the process of being discharged to be discharged.

Since the respective information for driving the first motor 161 and the second motor 163 may be different from each other, individual information may be transmitted to each other. The information may include information such as the rotational speed of the motor, the rotational angle, and the rotational torque, respectively. This is because the information contained in the operation signal may be different because the torque is prioritized when crushing ice and the rotational speed is prioritized when the ejector 108 is rotated.

Further, the operation signal may include driving information of the heater 171. [ Here, the heater 171 may be a freezing heater 110 which is attached to the lower surface of the ice-making tray 102 of the heater-type ice maker and generates heat. The exothermic information of the heaters 171 (110) can be determined within a predetermined time, for example, within a predetermined temperature interval. Of course, if the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature range, the heat generation of the heaters 171 (110) may be blocked by the overheat preventing means (not shown).

For example, when the sensor for sensing the temperature of the heaters 171 (110) transmits the heat detection information of the heaters 171 (110) to the refrigerator controller 140 through the ice maker 100a, the refrigerator controller 140 It is possible to transmit an operation signal including information of " ceasing heat " to the ice-maker 100a. On the side of the ice-maker 100a, the heat-up of the heater may be stopped by receiving the above-mentioned " heat-off interruption "

As various examples, the ice maker 100a may include a temperature sensor 113, a water level sensor 115, a full ice level sensor 117 and a position sensor 119, When the sensing information is transmitted to the refrigerator controller 140, feedback information corresponding to the sensing information of the refrigerator controller 140 can be transmitted to the ice maker 100a. The received feedback information may be transmitted to correspond to the temperature sensor 113, the water level sensor 115, the full ice level sensor 117 and the position sensor 119.

As described above, the communication between the ice maker 100a and the refrigerator control unit 140 in the above-described communication system may be a communication with the Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit. Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) includes various communication methods, for example, K-LINE communication, RS232, RS422, RS485 and LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication.

The refrigerator control unit 140 converts the sensing signals into data suitable for the network communication and transmits the sensed signals to the ice maker 100a through the communication bus 210. [ That is, when the corresponding network communication is the LIN communication, the communication module can convert each sensing signal received from the refrigerator control unit 140 according to the LIN protocol, and then transmit the sensed signal to the ice maker 100a through the communication bus 210 .

Accordingly, since the wiring for communication between the ice maker 100a and the refrigerator 200 can be minimized, the size of the ice maker 100a can be reduced, and generation of noise and electromagnetic waves can be reduced.

In addition, when the CAN port is included, the communication network of the refrigerator 200 may be a CAN (Controller Area Network), and the communication bus 210 may be composed of two twisted pairs of wires. A CAN HIGH signal can be sent to one of the two twisted wires, and a CAN LOW signal can be transmitted to the other. Here, the two twisted wires use different voltages so that electrical noise can be reduced.

Also, when the communication network of the refrigerator 200 is a CAN (Controller Area Network), each electronic control device can be assigned a unique identifier. The unique identifier may be 11 bits or 29 bits. Here, the priority for data transmission can be set between each electronic control device through the bit value of the unique identifier. That is, when a plurality of electronic control devices simultaneously transmit data via the communication bus 210, the data of the electronic control device having a higher priority according to the bit value of the unique identifier is transmitted in priority.

Meanwhile, when the communication network of the refrigerator 200 is a LIN (Local Interconnect Network), the communication bus 210 may be a single line. When the communication network of the refrigerator 200 is a LIN (Local Interconnect Network), the refrigerator control unit 141 becomes a master node and the other electronic control apparatuses 204, 206 and 208 become slave nodes to perform communication . Here, the master refrigerator control unit 141 may change the operation mode from the active mode to the sleep mode according to the use state of the communication bus 210. [ For example, if there is no data transmission over the communication bus 210 for a predetermined time, the first electronic control device 202 may switch the mode of the communication network to the sleep mode to prevent unnecessary power wastage.

In this way, when a CAN (Controller Area Network) or a LIN (Local Interconnect Network) is used as the communication network of the refrigerator 200, if another electronic control device is added to the refrigerator, It is possible to secure excellent scalability due to specification changes and the like.

7 is a diagram illustrating a communication between a Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit according to the present invention and a diagram (b) showing transmission / reception by the conversion communication module 135. In FIG. In the example of the above communication method, the operation signal (data) transmission through the above-described Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit is as shown in FIG. 7A. However, One or more conversion communication modules may be disposed in the communication path between the refrigerator 200 and the ice maker 100. For example, in the communication between the refrigerator control unit 140 and the ice-maker control unit 130, when the control units 130 and 140 include the conversion communication module 135 or are adjacent to each other, Communication can be made through a connection.

Here, the conversion communication module 135 may be power line communication, which is a kind of a type further including a power line 1 in a universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART). Compared with the case of FIG. 3, a power supply line is supplied to the data transmission / reception terminal 323 side, and power can be supplied through the power supply line 1. Of course, the electric power may be 5 V as the electric current passing through the DC stabilized power supply 310.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, . Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, but should be determined by equivalents to the appended claims, as well as the appended claims.

100, 100a: an ice maker
102: Ice-making tray
104: control box
106:
108: Ejector
108a: Ejector shaft
108b: Ejector pin
110: Ice heater
111: Ice-making space
113: Temperature sensor
115: Level sensor
119: Position sensor
121: drive motor
123: gear portion
127: Axis of drive motor
129: Auxiliary gear
130: Ice-
131: Controller
133: Communication module
135: conversion communication module
140: refrigerator control unit
151: Communication bus
153: Power supply wiring
155: Grounding wiring
161: first motor
163: Second motor
171: Heater
181:
183:
200: Refrigerator
210: communication bus
310: DC stabilized power supply
321: Isolation transformer
322: Active filter
323: Data transmission / reception terminal
330:
P: Power line communication section
D:

Claims (14)

Control box;
An icemaker control unit provided inside the control box; And
And an ice-making tray disposed on one side of the control box, the ice-making tray having a receiving portion and a heater disposed on a lower surface of the receiving portion,
The ice-
At least one of an operation signal and a power source transmitted from a refrigerator and a corresponding signal corresponding to the operation signal are transmitted to the refrigerator, and at least one of the operation signal and the power source transmitted and received between the icemaker control unit and the refrigerator, (Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter) unit,
Wherein the operation signal received by the ice-maker control unit includes a signal for causing the heater to generate heat, and ice generated in the receiving unit due to heat generated by the heater in response to a signal to heat the ice is released from the ice- Can ice machine.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the operating signal is transmitted via K-LINE communication.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the operating signal is transmitted via LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the operating signal is communicated via one of RS232, RS422 and RS485.
The method according to claim 1,
The icemaker control unit further includes a CAN (Controller Area Network) port,
Wherein a part of the operating signal is transmitted through CAN (Controller Area Network) communication.
The method of claim 1,
The ice-
Further comprising a sensor including a temperature sensor, a water level sensor, a full ice level sensor and a position sensor,
And the ice-maker control unit feeds back information sensed by the sensor to the refrigerator.
The method according to claim 1,
The ice-maker further includes a heater and a driving motor,
Wherein the operation signal includes a drive signal of the drive motor and the heater.
The method of claim 7,
Wherein the motor is a BLDC motor or a stepping motor.
The method according to claim 1,
The wiring to which the operation signal is transmitted and received,
Wherein the cable is a shielded communication cable comprising a fiber optic cable or a twisted-pair (TP) cable.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a conversion communication module disposed at least one between the ice maker and the refrigerator,
And a signal transmitted by said conversion communication module is transmitted to a side through which one wiring is received.
The method according to claim 1,
A power line communication unit further includes an operation signal transmitted from the Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit and a wiring to which the power is supplied,
Wherein the operation signal and the power source are transmitted and received through one wiring line via the power line communication unit.
In an ice maker for receiving at least one of an operation signal and a power source from a refrigerator control unit,
Control box; And
And an ice-making tray connected to the control box,
Wherein the at least one of the operating signal and the power source transmitted from the refrigerator control unit is transmitted to and received from a Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit.
The method of claim 12,
Further comprising a conversion communication module disposed at least one between the ice maker and the refrigerator,
And a signal transmitted by said conversion communication module is transmitted to a side through which one wiring is received.
A refrigerator comprising the icemaker according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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