KR20190044404A - Ice maker module and refrigerator including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an ice maker module, comprising: a control box including a first control box and a second control box; a second control unit disposed in the control box, and communicating with a first control unit disposed in a refrigerator which comprises at least one cabinet; and a driving unit driven by the second control unit. Moreover, the control box is located for the first control box to come in contact with the second control box, and disposed to be adjacent to one side of an inner side surface of the refrigerator.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an icemaking module and a refrigerator,

The present invention relates to an ice making module 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.). The second controller for controlling the overall operation of the ice maker receives the sensing signal from the sensor and transmits the received sensing signal to the first controller provided in the refrigerator main body. The second controller receives the motor control signal from the first controller, Respectively. In this process, a large number of wiring lines may increase the volume of the ice maker. Therefore, it is required to reduce the number of wires in the refrigerator or change the arrangement structure on the ice maker.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2004-0085605 (October 08, 2004)

An object of the present invention is to provide an ice making module that can simplify communication wiring between a refrigerator and an ice making module and reduce the size of the ice making module by disposing the first control box and the second control box adjacent to each other .

An embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator including an ice making module capable of simplifying communication wiring between a refrigerator and an ice making module and downsizing an ice making module by disposing the first control box and the second control box adjacent to each other .

A control box including a first control box and a second control box; A second control unit provided in the control box and communicating with a first control unit provided in a refrigerator including one or more cabinets; And a driving unit driven by the second control unit, wherein the control box is located opposite to the ice discharge unit in which ice is discharged from the inside of the cabinet.

The second control box is provided in the first control box. The first control box includes a motor part for rotating the ejector or the ice-making tray. The second control box includes a motor for crushing ice in the storage part, And an igor motor for rotating the screw.

The driving unit may include a heater unit, an ejector, a water supply unit, an igger motor, and a sensing unit.

The driving unit may include a motor unit for rotating the ice-making tray, a water supply unit, an igger motor, and a sensing unit.

In addition, the control box and the driving unit may be provided inside the case.

In addition, the sensing unit may include a temperature sensor, a level sensor, a full ice sensor, and a position sensor.

Further, the driving unit may include at least one of a BLCD (BRUSHLESS) motor and a stepping motor.

The first control box and the second control box may be disposed adjacent to each other, and may be disposed adjacent to one side of the inner surface of the refrigerator.

Further, the ice discharge portion may be included in the door of the refrigerator.

A control box including a first control box and a second control box; A second control unit provided in the control box and communicating with a first control unit provided in a refrigerator including one or more cabinets; Wherein the control box is located on the opposite side of the ice discharge portion where the ice is discharged from the inside of the cabinet, and the communication between the first control portion and the second control portion is performed by a universal asynchronous transmission / reception A Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter) unit.

And, the communication can be done through K-LINE communication.

Also, the communication can be performed through LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication.

Further, the communication can be performed through one of RS232, RS422, and RS485.

The second control unit may further include a CAN (Controller Area Network) port, and a part of the communication may be performed through CAN (Controller Area Network) communication.

The communication between the first control unit and the second control unit may be performed through a motor drive or a Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS).

There is provided a refrigerator including the icemaker module described above.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first control box and the second control box are disposed adjacent to each other, thereby providing an ice making module capable of simplifying the communication wiring between the refrigerator and the ice-making module and downsizing the ice-making module.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator including an ice making module capable of simplifying communication wiring between a refrigerator and an ice making module and downsizing an ice making module by disposing the first control box and the second control box adjacent to each other .

1 is a view illustrating a refrigerator including an ice making module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a diagram illustrating a connection between a first controller and a second controller according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a diagram illustrating an operation unit operated by a first control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention,
4 is a view illustrating driving and communication flow of the ice making module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a driving and communication flow of an ice-making module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a diagram illustrating a motor drive or a switched mode power supply (SMPS) included in an icemaking module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, this is merely an example and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the following description, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. 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 technical idea of the present invention is determined by the claims, and the following embodiments are merely a means for effectively explaining the technical idea of the present invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs.

The ice making module of the present invention to be described below is an ice making module having a structure in which the first control box and the second control box are disposed at adjacent positions, and the wiring for communication with the refrigerator can be simplified, And a second control unit included in the second control unit can be controlled to be connected to the second control box.

6, the signal transmitted to the ice-making module 100 may be transmitted via a motor drive 230 or a Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) 250.

As described above, the second control unit 150 may be provided in the control box 110. In the following embodiments of the present invention, the second control unit is located in the first control box 111, I will explain.

In addition, the second control box 112 may be located in a box adjacent to or coupled to the first control box 111. [ In this case, the ice-making tray 140 is positioned at one side of the first control box 111, the storage unit 130 is positioned at one side of the second control box 112, 111 and the second control box 112 are arranged in the vertical direction so that the storage unit 130 and the ice-making tray 140 are positioned to extend from the control boxes 111, 112 in one direction.

Specifically, it will be described later with reference to Figs. 1 to 5 below.

1 is a view illustrating a refrigerator 10 including an ice making module 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the refrigerator 10 may include an ice-making module 100 and a first control unit 1. The icemaker module 100 can be controlled in a part of at least a part of the constitution in accordance with the control signal of the first controller 1 provided in the refrigerator 10 and can be located in a cabinet provided in the refrigerator 10. [ In the present embodiment, a plurality of cabinets may be provided. At this time, the cabinets 12 and 13 may have different temperature environments in the internal space. Accordingly, the first cabinet 12 positioned on the upper side and the second cabinet 13 positioned on the lower side may be provided so as to be adiabatically divided into the partition walls 14. For example, the first cabinet 12 can maintain a sub-zero temperature and the second cabinet 14 can maintain the temperature of an image.

Accordingly, the ice making module 100, which is one embodiment of the present invention, can be located in the space for maintaining the temperature of the subzero, that is, in the first cabinet 12. The ice made by the ice making module 100 located in the first cabinet 12 can be provided to the user through a dispenser (not shown) or the like formed on the door 11 side.

On the other hand, in the icemaker module of the embodiment of the present invention, the control box 110 is located in the ice discharge portion, that is, the opposite side of the dispenser (specifically, the discharge direction d in the case 01) Since the dispenser is generally formed on the door 11 side of the refrigerator 10, it can be positioned adjacent to the inner wall of the first cabinet 12 opposite to the door.

2 is a diagram illustrating a connection between a first control unit 1 and a second control unit 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first control unit 1 provided on the refrigerator 10 side may be a main control unit. In other words, the refrigerator 10 may be provided with independent components other than the ice-making module 100 shown in FIG. 1, and may be connected to and controlled by the components. The above-described configurations further include a separate control unit, so that the first control unit 1 can indirectly control the control unit through the separate control unit without directly controlling the control unit. Thus, the first control unit 1 and the driving unit included in the individual configuration can be controlled without being directly connected.

The second control unit 150 of the ice making module 100 is connected to the first control unit 1 of the refrigerator 10 and the second control unit 150 is connected to the motor unit 170, The ice tray 140, the agar motor 160, the agar screw 161, and the like. For example, the first control unit 1 receives only a signal indicating whether the second control unit 150 operates, and the second control unit 150 transmits specific operation information to each configuration to control the second control unit 150. For example, the first control unit 1 may send a signal to rotate the motor unit 170, and the second control unit 150 may control the motor unit 170 to rotate at a predetermined angle and speed .

On the other hand, the control box 110 may include a first control box 111 and a second control box 112. Here, the first control box 111 and the second control box 112 may be physically separated configurations or functionally separated configurations. The functionally separated configuration means that the first control box 111 controls the configuration having the function of performing the ice making and the second control box 112 controls the configuration for storing and discharging the ice cubes . That is, the first control box 111 means a function of controlling the heater, the water feeder, the ejector, and the motor for rotating the ejector in the case of the ice-making module including the heater ice maker. Of course, in the case of the twisted ice maker, the ejector and the motor for rotating the ejector can be replaced by a motor that rotates the ice-making tray 140.

The second control box 112 controls the excavator 160 to rotate the excavator 161 and the excavator screw 161 to be discharged or crushed to the user when the frozen ice is stored in the storage unit 130 .

Each of the components may be connected to the second controller 150 in order to receive the operation signal by the second controller 150 receiving the signal from the first controller 1 in order to operate the series of operations described above. The connection with the second control unit 150 can be electrically connected through the wiring. In the case of the present embodiment, the control box 110 can be electrically connected between the driving units, so that no separate wiring is required .

When the first control box 111 and the second control box 112 are arranged according to the division of the physical control box 110 described above, they are placed adjacent to each other with a structure such as a lamination or the like, The control boxes 111 and 112 can be remarkably simplified as compared with the case where the control boxes 111 and 112 are horizontally spaced. The simplification of the wiring can reduce the size of the case in which the wiring is to be provided inside and can be downsized, so that the internal volume of the first cabinet 12 can be increased. Such an increase in internal volume can be expected without increasing the size of the refrigerator 10 or changing the internal design.

3 is a view illustrating a driving unit operated by the second control unit 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3, the second control unit 150 receives the first signal S1 from the first control unit 1 provided in the refrigerator 10 and the second control unit 150 receives the second signal S2, 180, and 190 to the driving units 170, 180, and 190, respectively. Here, the driving units 170, 180, and 190 include the first operation unit 180 and the second operation unit 190, the first operation unit 180 is configured to operate on the first control box 111 side And the second operation unit 190 operates on the second control box 112 side.

Alternatively, one of the first operation unit 180 and the second operation unit 190 may be an operation unit required to be fed back to the first control unit 1, . And the other is an operation part in which the operation of the configuration is ended by receiving a heat generating signal such as a heater and performing heat generation. This is because division of wiring for communication can be required, and this can be specifically explained with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 below.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating driving and communication flow of the ice maker according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the refrigerator 10 and the second controller 150 may communicate through the communication bus 210. When the communication bus 210 communicates with the Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit via a port connection, the controller 210 transmits an operation signal from the refrigerator 10 to the second controller 150 , The refrigerator 10 can receive the sensing information from the second controller 150. The operation signal may include an operation signal for driving the drive motor including the motor unit 170 and the igor motor 180. Here, the motor unit 170 may be a motor for rotating the ejector, but may be a motor for twisting the ice for ice when the twister ice maker is not a heater type. The igor motor 180 may be rotated in a process of transferring or crushing the ice stored in the storage unit 130 to be discharged.

Since the respective information for driving the motor unit 170 and the igor motor 180 may be different from each other, individual information can 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. The information included in the operation signal may be different because the torque is prioritized when the ice is crushed or twisted to freeze the ice adhered to the ice tray 140, and the rotational speed is prioritized when the ejector is rotated.

Further, the operation signal may include driving information of the heater D5. Here, the heater D5 may be a heater D5 for defrosting the discharge port to prevent ice from being formed at a discharge port through which the fluid formed by condensation or the like located on the ice bank side where the igor motor 180 is located is discharged have. The exothermic information of the heater D5 can be determined within a predetermined time, for example, within a predetermined temperature range. Of course, if the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature range, the heat of the heater D5 may be blocked by the overheat preventing means (not shown).

For example, when the sensor for sensing the temperature of the heater D5 transfers the heat detection information of the heater D5 to the refrigerator 10 through the second control unit 150, Quot; stop " information to the second control unit 150. The second control unit 150 may be configured to receive the " stop " The second control unit 150 can discriminate and transmit the position to which the " heat breakdown " information is to be transmitted, that is, the heater D5.

The ice making module 100 may include a temperature sensor D1, a water level sensor D2, a full ice level sensor D3 and a position sensor D4. As described above, If the sensed sensing information is transmitted to the second controller 150, the second controller 150 transmits the sensed sensing information to the refrigerator 10 to receive feedback information corresponding to the sensing information from the refrigerator. Feedback information that has been returned may be transmitted to various positions. The feedback information may be transmitted to the temperature sensor D1, the level sensor D2, the full ice level sensor D3, and the position sensor D4.

As described above, the communication between the second control unit 150 and the refrigerator 10 in the above-described communication method can be performed by communicating with the Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) have. 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 converts each sensing signal received from the second controller 150 into data suitable for the corresponding network communication and transmits the data to the refrigerator 10 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 second control unit 150 according to the LIN protocol, and then transmit the sensed signal to the refrigerator through the communication bus 210.

Accordingly, since the wiring for communication between the ice-making module 100 and the refrigerator 10 can be minimized, the ice-making module 100 can be miniaturized, and the generation of noise and electromagnetic waves can be reduced.

5 is a view illustrating driving and communication flow of the ice maker according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the refrigerator 10 including the first control unit 1 and the ice maker 100a can communicate with each other through the communication bus 210. When the communication bus 210 communicates with a universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) unit, an operation signal is transmitted from the first control unit 1 to the icemaker 100a, The first control unit 1 can receive the information. The operation signal may include an operation signal for driving the drive motor including the motor unit 170 and the igor motor 180. Here, the motor unit 170 may be a motor for rotating the ejector, but may be a motor for twisting the ice for ice when the twister ice maker is not a heater type. Also, the igor motor 180 may be an uger motor. And may be an igor motor rotated in a process of transferring ice stored in the storage unit 130 to be discharged.

Since the respective information for driving the motor unit 170 and the igor motor 180 may be different from each other, individual information can 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. The information included in the operation signal may be different because the torque is prioritized when the ice is crushed or twisted to freeze the ice adhered to the ice tray 140, and the rotational speed is prioritized when the ejector is rotated.

Further, the operation signal may include driving information of the heater D5. Here, the heater D5 may be a heater D5 for defrosting the discharge port to prevent ice from being formed at the discharge port through which the fluid formed by the condensation or the like located on the ice bank side where the igor motor 180 is located . The exothermic information of the heater D5 can be determined within a predetermined time, for example, within a predetermined temperature range. Of course, if the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature range, the heat of the heater D5 may be blocked by the overheat preventing means (not shown).

For example, when the sensor for sensing the temperature of the heater D5 transmits the heat detection information of the heater D5 to the first control unit 1 through the ice maker 100a, Quot; stop " information 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 "

The ice maker 100a may include a temperature sensor D1, a water level sensor D2, a full ice level sensor D3 and a position sensor D4. As described above, The controller 1 can transmit feedback information corresponding to each sensing information of the first controller 1 to the ice maker 100a. The received feedback information may be transmitted to correspond to the temperature sensor D1, the water level sensor D2, the full ice level sensor D3, and the position sensor D4.

As described above, the communication between the second controller 150 and the first controller 1 in the above-described communication scheme 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 first control unit 1 converts each sensing signal into data suitable for the network communication and then transmits the data to the ice maker 100a through the communication bus 210. [ That is, when the network communication is the LIN communication, the communication module converts each sensing signal received from the first control unit 1 according to the LIN protocol, and then transmits the sensed signal to the ice maker 100a through the communication bus 210 have.

Accordingly, since the wiring for communication between the ice-making module 100 and the refrigerator 10 can be minimized, the ice-making module 100 can be miniaturized, and the generation of noise and electromagnetic waves can be reduced.

Further, when the CAN port is included, the communication network of the refrigerator 10 may be a CAN (Controller Area Network), and the communication bus 210 may be composed of two twisted paired 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.

Further, when the communication network of the refrigerator 10 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.

On the other hand, when the communication network of the refrigerator 10 is a LIN (Local Interconnect Network), the communication bus 210 may be a single line. When the communication network of the refrigerator 10 is a LIN (Local Interconnect Network), the first control unit 1 becomes the master node, the second control unit 150 and the driving unit D become the slave nodes, can do. Here, the first controller 1 as the master can switch the operation mode from the active mode to the sleep mode according to the use state of the communication bus 210. [ For example, when there is no data transmission through the communication bus 210 for a predetermined time, some of the drivers D 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 10 and another driving unit D not illustrated is added to the refrigerator 10, ) To the communication bus 210, it is possible to secure excellent scalability due to specification change and the like.

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.

1: first control section
10: Refrigerator
11: Door
12: First cabinet
13: Second cabinet
14:
100: Deicing module
101: Case
110: control box
111: First control box
112: second control box
130:
140: Ice-making tray
150:
160: Auger motor
161: Auger screw
170:
180:
190:
210: communication bus
230: Motor drive
250: DC Stabilized Power Supply
S1: first signal
S2: Second signal
D:
D1: Temperature sensor
D2: Level sensor
D3: Detection sensor
D4: Position sensor
D5: Heater
d: Discharge direction

Claims (16)

A control box including a first control box and a second control box;
A second control unit provided in the control box and communicating with a first control unit provided in a refrigerator including at least one cabinet; And
And a driving unit driven by the second control unit,
The control box includes:
And an ice discharging portion in which ice is discharged from the inside of the cabinet.
The method according to claim 1,
The second control unit is provided in the first control box,
Wherein the first control box includes a motor portion for rotating the ejector or the ice-making tray, and the second control box includes an igor motor for rotating the iger screw for crushing the ice in the storage portion in which the ice cubes are stored, .
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the driving unit includes a heater unit, an ejector, a water supply unit, an igger motor, and a sensing unit.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the driving portion includes a motor portion for rotating the ice-making tray, a water supply portion, an igger motor, and a sensing portion.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a case provided inside the control box and the driving unit.
The method according to claim 3 or 4,
Wherein the sensing unit includes a temperature sensor, a water level sensor, a full ice level sensor, and a position sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the driving unit includes at least one of a BLCD (BRUSHLESS) motor and a stepping motor. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first control box and the second control box are disposed adjacent to each other, and are disposed adjacent to one side of an inner side surface of the refrigerator.
The method according to claim 1,
And the ice discharge portion is included in a door side of the refrigerator.
A control box including a first control box and a second control box;
A second control unit provided in the control box and communicating with a first control unit provided in a refrigerator including at least one cabinet; And
And a driving unit driven by the second control unit,
The control box includes:
And an ice discharging portion for discharging ice from the inside of the cabinet,
Wherein the communication between the first control unit and the second control unit is performed through a Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) unit.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the communication is performed via K-LINE communication.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the communication is performed through LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the communication is performed via one of RS232, RS422, and RS485.
The method of claim 10,
The second control unit further includes a CAN (Controller Area Network) port,
Wherein a part of the communication is performed via CAN (Controller Area Network) communication.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the communication between the first control unit and the second control unit is performed through a motor drive or a DC-Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS).
A refrigerator comprising the icemaker module according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and 7 to 15.

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