KR20200114849A - Ice maker and refrigerator including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An ice maker and a refrigerator including the same according to the present invention include: an ice making tray including a receiving part for ice making; an ice moving heater that transfers heat to one surface of the ice making tray; an ice moving motor for moving ice from the ice making tray; a drain part that receives falling moisture and allows the moisture to flow toward one side; an ice preventing heater that prevents freezing on the surface of the drain part; and a control box that controls the ice moving motor and the ice preventing heater to be operated according to a predetermined order. Therefore, the ice maker easily removes moisture formed on the lower surface of the tray, and a circuit for separately controlling the ice moving motor and the ice preventing heater is not used, thereby reducing cost.

Description

Ice maker and refrigerator including the same {ICE MAKER AND REFRIGERATOR INCLUDING THE SAME}

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

For example, a refrigerator includes a main body including a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, and a compressor for compressing a refrigerant and a heat exchanger for generating cold air are installed at the rear of the main body. The cold air generated from the heat exchanger is supplied to the inside of the refrigerator or freezer by a fan, and the air whose temperature rises by circulating through the refrigerator or freezer is supplied to the refrigerator or freezer again through the heat exchanger to keep the food in the refrigerator or freezer always fresh. You can keep it in a state.

The ice maker provided in such a refrigerator is installed in a freezer to automatically supply water to the tray, check the ice making condition, and automatically remove the ice from the tray and load it into the ice storage container when ice making is completed. It has been widely used in recent years because it is possible to obtain ice without a separate manipulation of the user for the purpose.

In addition, such an ice maker includes a full ice detection lever that detects the amount of ice accumulated in the ice storage container, an ejector that operates as a motor for removing ice from the tray, and a heater that temporarily heats the tray when ice is taken out from the tray.

With this configuration, a conventional ice maker heats a tray to take out ice, and takes out ice in a state in which ice accumulated on the tray is detachable from the tray by heat.

However, moisture is formed on the lower surface of the tray by the heat of the heater that heats the tray, and the moisture thus formed falls on the ice receiving portion in which the taken out ice is stored and the received ice melts.

In addition, if a drain is provided between the ice receiving unit and the tray for discharging moisture falling into the ice receiving unit, there is a problem that moisture is frozen on the surface of the drain due to the temperature of the ice maker before the falling moisture is discharged to the outside. Occurs. When moisture freezes on the surface of the drain, falling moisture generated as ice is taken out of the drain continues to accumulate in the drain and the ice maker does not operate normally.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-1645356 (2016. 08. 12)

An embodiment of the present invention provides an ice maker that facilitates removal of moisture formed on a lower surface of a tray by controlling the ice-breaking heater, the ice-breaking motor, and the ice-breaking heater to be sequentially operated at predetermined time intervals, and a refrigerator including the same. For that purpose.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ice maker is supplied with power (AC and DC) from a refrigerator, and the ice making motor and the ice preventing heater are operated with the supplied power, so that the ice making motor and the ice preventing heater can be controlled in connection with each other. Another object is to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems that are not mentioned can be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention belongs from the following description. There will be.

An ice-making tray including a receiving portion in which ice is made ice; An ice-breaking heater transferring heat to one surface of the ice-making tray; An ice breaker motor for moving ice from the ice making tray; A drain part receiving the falling moisture and flowing it to one side; An anti-icing heater to prevent freezing on the surface of the drain part; And an ice maker controlled to operate the ice-cream motor and the ice-prevention heater according to a predetermined order.

Here, the anti-icing heater may be a film heater.

In addition, the control box may operate the ice-breaking heater and operate the ice-breaking motor after a predetermined time to perform ice-breaking.

In addition, the control box may operate the anti-icing heater after a predetermined time from the starting point of operation of the icing motor.

In addition, the control box may stop the operation of the icebreaker motor after a predetermined time from the point when the operation of the icebreaker heater is completed.

In addition, the control box may stop the operation of the ice preventing heater after a predetermined time from the end of the ice motor operation.

In addition, the control box may receive power (AC and DC) from a refrigerator control box and control the icing motor with the supplied power, and control the icing prevention heater in response to the control of the icing motor. .

A refrigerator including the ice maker described above is provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ice-breaking heater, the ice-breaking motor, and the ice-freezing-preventing heater are controlled to be sequentially operated at predetermined time intervals, thereby making it easy to remove moisture formed on the bottom of the tray.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention is that the ice maker is supplied with power (AC and DC) from a refrigerator, and the ice making motor and the ice preventing heater are operated with the supplied power, so that the ice making motor and the ice preventing heater are connected and controlled. Has an effect.

1 is a perspective view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is an exploded perspective view of a partial configuration of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention
3 is a side cross-sectional view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention
4 is a block diagram for controlling an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention
5 is a view showing an ice maker control timeline according to FIG. 4
6 is a block diagram illustrating a computing environment including an exemplary computing device suitable for use in an embodiment of the present invention.

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

In describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of known technologies related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention and may vary according to the intention or custom of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

The technical idea of the present invention is determined by the claims, and the following embodiments are only one means for efficiently describing the technical idea of the present invention to those of ordinary skill in the art.

1 is a perspective view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a partial configuration of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a side view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention It is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view.

The ice maker 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an ice making tray 310, a control box 320, an anti-icing heater 200 and a drain unit 100. Referring to FIG. 1, the ice making heater 314 and the drain unit 100 may include an ice making tray 310 positioned below and a control box 320 connected to one side of the ice making tray 310. Meanwhile, the ice maker 3 functions by being iced after the fluid supplied from the water supply device (not shown) to the receiving unit 312 becomes ice 1. First, the control box 320 may control the operation of the ice making motor 322 so that the ice making tray 310 is rotated by the ice making motor 322. That is, the ice 1 may be separated from the ice making tray 310 as the ice making motor 322 rotates. The ice 1 may be iced and moved by rotation of an ejector pin 311 that can be rotated or rotated by the control box 320. The moved ice 1 may be accommodated in the storage unit 2 located below the ice making tray 310. By repeating this process, the ice 1 may be continuously produced.

Here, in order for the ejector pin 311 rotated by the control box 320 to move the ice 1, the receiving portion 312 of the ice making tray 310 and the ice 1 may be separated. Accordingly, in order to separate between the ice 1 and the receiving part 312, the ice making heater 314 is positioned in contact with the lower surface of the ice making tray 310 so that heat may be generated before the ejector pin 311 is rotated.

As the above-described process is repeatedly performed, the ice-breaking heater 314 may periodically generate heat, and the heat radiated from the ice-making heater 314 is transferred to the ice-making tray 310 to cool the surface of the receiving portion 312. Due to this, the fixed ice may be separated from the surface of the receiving part 312 side. Here, the heat may be transferred downward from the ice making tray 310.

The heat transferred downward may expose the ice 1 stored in the storage unit 2 to a temperature on the image, so that the ice 1 may melt. Therefore, the heat discharged from the ice-breaking heater 314 is transferred to the ice-making tray 310, but is not transferred to the storage unit 2, the drain 100 between the storage unit 2 and the ice-breaking heater 314 Can be located. Specifically, the drain unit 100 may be located between the ice breaking heater 314 and the ice 1 stored in the storage unit 2.

Here, referring to FIG. 2, the ice maker 3 may include an ice making tray 310, a control box 320, an anti-icing heater 200, and a drain unit 100. Here, the ice-making heater 314 positioned on the lower surface of the ice-making tray 310 may be heated by the receiving portion 312 provided in the ice-making tray 310 to promote ice-breaking.

Here, while the receiving portion 312 of the ice-making tray 310 exceeds an acceptable capacity or while the fluid is supplied by a water supply unit (not shown), a part of the fluid may splash out of the receiving portion 312. In addition, when a temperature difference due to heat generation of the ice-breaking heater 312 occurs, moisture may condense on the surfaces of the ice-making tray 310 and the drain unit 100. If the amount of moisture is continuously increased, moisture collects and drains. Fluid may fall into the unit 100.

The fluid falling into the drain unit 100 may be drained, and the drained fluid may flow in a guide direction of the drain unit 100. That is, the drain unit 100 may be positioned so that the fluid falling downwardly does not flow into the storage unit 2 or the like but flows into the drain unit 100. When cooling for ice making is driven while the fluid dropped into the drain part 100 falls into the drain part 100, the fluid may freeze.

If the fluid freezes inside the drain part 100 repeatedly, the drain of the drain part 100 that is drained by the fluid that cannot be accommodated in the receiving part 312 may be blocked. If excess fluid cannot be drained from the drain unit 100 due to such clogging, the fluid may flow into the storage unit 2 or the like, and the previously generated ice 1 may be frozen and fixed to each other. Accordingly, in order to prevent this, the anti-icing heater 200 may be heated at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time so that the fluid in the drain portion 100 does not freeze during drainage. For example, the anti-icing heater 200 may be heated to 20 degrees. On the other hand, conventional heaters, for example, aluminum pipe heaters, can increase their temperature by close to 100 degrees when heated. If a metal support that conducts the elevated temperature is placed in contact, the latent heat remaining until cooling The efficiency may be reduced due to the effect of ice making and ice breaking on the back.

The anti-icing heater 200 may be formed of a film heater. The anti-icing heater 200 is formed of a film heater and can quickly transfer heat to the drain unit 100 under the control of the control box 320.

Further, it is possible to block the heat emitted from the heater 200 located on the lower surface of the ice making tray 310 from reaching the storage unit 2 so that the ice 1 previously generated in the storage unit 2 does not melt. The drain part 100 may be raised to a predetermined temperature during the blocking process. The drain unit 100 may be formed of a material having a low thermal conductivity so that the ice 1 stored in the storage unit 2 is not affected as much as possible due to the increase in the predetermined temperature. For example, it may include a plastic material. When the drain unit 100 is formed of a metal material manufactured through die casting, the heat emitted is easily transferred to the storage unit 2 as the temperature of the heater 200 increases, and even after the heating of the heater 200 stops, the metal material Since the drain portion 100 of the has latent heat, ice 1 previously generated by the latent heat may be affected and melted. Accordingly, the drain part 100 may be formed of a material having low thermal conductivity.

Meanwhile, the drain part 100 is positioned to face the heater 200 in order to discharge the fluid dropped onto the drain part 100, but may be positioned to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. When the fluid flows and moves to a low place by the inclination, the fluid can be moved to the discharge position along the drain.

4 is a block diagram illustrating an ice maker control according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an ice maker control timeline according to FIG. 4.

First, referring to FIG. 4, the ice maker 3 may control each component of the ice maker 3 through the control box 320. Specifically, the control box 320 may receive power (AC and DC) from the refrigerator control box 10 and control the ice maker 3 with the received power. The control box 320 may control the icing motor 322, the icing heater 314, and the icing prevention heater 200 using the supplied power.

At this time, the control box 320 sets the starting and ending points of the icebreaking motor 322, the icebreaking heater 314, and the icebreaking heater 200 as one cycle, and the icebreaking motor 322 and icebreaking as one signal. It is possible to control the heater 314 and the anti-icing heater 200. To this end, the control box 320 may be provided with a relay unit (not shown). Specifically, the control box 320 may be operated in the order of ice ice 1 in the ice making tray 310, the ice ice heater 314, the ice ice motor 322, and the ice preventing heater 200. That is, the ice-breaking heater 314 is first operated by the operation signal of the control box 320, the ice-breaking motor 322 is operated in response to the operation of the ice-breaking heater 314, and corresponding to the operation of the ice-breaking motor 322 Thus, the anti-icing heater 200 can be operated.

That is, the control box 320 controls the ice making motor 322 with power supplied from the refrigerator control unit 10 by the ice maker 3, but in response to the control of the ice making motor 322 through a relay unit (not shown). The ice-breaking heater 314 and the ice preventing heater 200 may be controlled at the same time.

Here, referring to FIG. 5, the ice-breaking heater 314, the ice-breaking motor 322, and the ice-freezing heater 200 may be operated with a predetermined time difference for one period. At this time, one cycle may mean until the ice-breaking heater 314 is operated and the freezing-preventing heater 200 stops.

After the ice-breaking heater 314 is operated, the ice-breaking motor 322 may be operated after a predetermined time. Here, the predetermined time means that the surface facing the ice making tray 310 of the ice in the ice making tray 310 is the ice making heater 314 so that the ice making motor 322 can separate the ice 1 from the ice making tray 310 It may be the time it takes to melt by. This may be determined by various factors such as the capacity of the ice-breaking heater or the temperature of the ice.

At this time, moisture is condensed on the surfaces of the ice-making tray 310 and the drain unit 100 by the operation of the ice-breaking heater 314, and when the amount of moisture is continuously increased, moisture is collected and water is transferred to the drain unit 100. (Liquid, fluid) will fall. The anti-icing heater 200 may be operated after the time T1 after the icing heater 314 is operated. Here, the T1 time may mean a time when the ice-making heater 314 is operated and moisture starts to form on the surfaces of the ice-making tray 310 and the drain part 100. For example, the T1 time can be between about 0.1 minutes and 30 minutes. When the anti-icing heater 200 is provided as a film heater, since the heating time (response time or time when heat is dissipated to the outside of the drain) is fast, it can be operated after T1 hours after the ice-breaking heater 314 is operated. In this way, energy can be saved.

Thereafter, the ice-breaking heater 314 may stop operating after a predetermined time. After a certain period of time after the ice-breaking heater 314 stops operating, the operation of the ice-breaking motor 322 is stopped, and after a certain period of time when the ice-breaking motor 322 stops, the operation of the ice preventing heater 200 is stopped. It takes T2 time from the point when the ice-breaking heater 314 stops to the point in which the ice preventing heater 200 stops. This is because it takes time for water to flow down from the upper portion of the drain portion 100 to one side and/or prevents condensation on the upper side of the drain portion 100. For example, after the ice-breaking motor 322 stops operation, after T3 time, the operation of the anti-icing heater 200 stops, which takes into account the time that water moves from the upper surface of the drain part 100, and the drain part It can be set according to the inclination angle of (100). For example, the T3 time can be between about 3 and 30 minutes.

In this case, the T2 time may be set shorter than the T1 time. Since the T2 time is formed shorter than the T1 time, it is possible to minimize latent heat generated by the ice-breaking heater 314 and the anti-icing heater 200. In addition, since the T2 time is set to be shorter than the T1 time, it is possible to prevent the ice-making time from taking a long time due to heat of the water (to create new ice) resupplied from the ice-making tray 310 after the ice-making is completed.

6 depicts a computing environment including an exemplary computing device suitable for use in exemplary embodiments.

The exemplary computing environment 400 shown in FIG. 6 includes a computing device 410. Typically, each configuration may have different functions and capabilities, and may additionally include components suitable for the configuration, even if not described below. The computing device 410 may be a device for controlling an ice maker (eg, an ice maker control box 320).

The computing device 410 includes at least one processor 412. The processor 412 connects to the bus 460, and the bus 460 connects various other components of the computing device 410 to the processor 412.

The processor 412 may cause the computing device 410 to operate according to the aforementioned exemplary embodiments. For example, the processor 412 may execute computer-executable instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 414, and the computer-executable instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium 414 are executed by the processor 412. It may be configured to cause computing device 410 to perform operations according to certain example embodiments.

Computer-readable storage medium 414 includes computer-executable instructions or program code (e.g., instructions included in application 430), program data (e.g., data used by application 430), and/or other suitable form. Is configured to store information. The application 430 stored on the computer-readable storage medium 414 includes a predetermined set of instructions executable by the processor 412.

The memory 416 and storage device 418 shown in FIG. 6 is an example of a computer-readable storage medium 414. Computer executable instructions that can be executed by the processor 412 may be loaded in the memory 416. In addition, program data may be stored in the memory 416. For example, such memory 416 may be a volatile memory such as a random access memory, a nonvolatile memory, or a suitable combination thereof. As another example, the storage device 418 may include one or more removable or non-removable components for storage of information. For example, the storage device 418 may be a hard disk, a flash memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, another type of storage medium that can be accessed by the computing device 410 and store desired information, or a suitable combination thereof.

Computing device 410 may also include one or more input/output interfaces 420 that provide interfaces for one or more input/output devices 470. The input/output interface 420 is connected to the bus 460. The input/output device 470 may be connected to the computing device 410 (other components of) through the input/output interface 420. The input/output device 470 includes an input device such as a pointing device, a keyboard, a touch input device, a voice input device, a sensor device and/or a photographing device, and/or an output device such as a display device, a printer, a speaker, and/or a network card. can do.

Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. . Therefore, the scope of the present invention is limited to the described embodiments and should not be determined, and should not be determined by the claims to be described later, but also by the claims and equivalents.

1: ice 2: storage
3: ice maker 100: drain
200: anti-icing heater 310: ice making tray
311: ejector pin 312: receiving part
314: ice-breaking heater 320: control box
322: Eving motor

Claims (8)

An ice-making tray including a receiving portion in which ice is made ice;
An ice-breaking heater transferring heat to one surface of the ice-making tray;
An ice ice motor for moving ice from the ice making tray;
A drain part receiving the falling moisture and flowing it to one side;
An anti-icing heater to prevent freezing on the surface of the drain part; And
The ice maker and the ice maker are controlled to operate according to a predetermined order.
The method according to claim 1,
The anti-icing heater is a film heater, an ice maker.
The method according to claim 1,
It further includes a control box,
In the control box, the ice making motor and the ice preventing heater are controlled to be operated according to a predetermined order, and the ice maker is configured to operate the ice ice heater and operate the ice ice motor after a predetermined time.
The method of claim 3,
The control box,
An ice maker for operating the anti-icing heater after a predetermined time from the start of operation of the ice making motor.
The method according to claim 1,
It further includes a control box,
The control box,
An ice maker for stopping the operation of the ice-breaking motor after a predetermined time from the point when the operation of the ice-breaking heater is completed.
The method of claim 5,
The control box,
An ice maker stopping the operation of the ice preventing heater after a predetermined time from the end of the ice making motor operation.
The method according to claim 1,
It further includes a control box,
The control box,
An ice maker that receives power (AC and DC) from a refrigerator control box and controls the icing motor with the supplied power, and controls the ice preventing heater in response to the control of the icing motor.
A refrigerator comprising the ice maker included in claims 1 to 7.

Images