KR970004724B1 - Refrigerator with ice-making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

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Description

Refrigerator with ice maker

1 is a flow chart showing the control flow of the control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a partial perspective view of a refrigerator.

3 is a longitudinal side view of the upper portion of the refrigerator.

4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the ice making apparatus.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: refrigerator body 4: cooling chamber

8: ice maker main body 9: ice maker

10: vessel rotating motor (driving means) 15: water supply tank

17: water supply pump 20: operation panel

24: water supply lamp (display means) 25: test switch

28: control device 29: wiring

The present invention relates to a refrigerator with an ice maker, wherein a control means for controlling the ice maker is provided on the refrigerator main body side.

Background Art In recent years, refrigerators have been provided in home refrigerators that have an ice making device that automatically detects the completion of ice making from the water supply operation to the ice making container and automatically performs a series of operations from the ice making container to the ice making operation in which ice is dropped.

Specifically, the ice maker includes an ice maker main body provided with a drive means for inverting the ice maker container and the ice maker up and down in the cooling chamber of the refrigerator body and performing the ice-making operation, and supplies the water tank and the water of the water tank in the refrigerator compartment. It is configured to have a water supply pump for supplying oil. Moreover, the control apparatus provided with the microcomputer which controls the operation of ice-making apparatuses, such as an ice-making apparatus main body and a water feed pump, is provided in the ice-making apparatus main body.

In addition, a test switch is installed in the main body of the ice making device, and when the test switch is operated, the control device drives the driving means to rotate the ice making container to perform the ice-making operation by the driving means.

By the way, in the above-described conventional configuration, a control device for controlling the ice making device and a control device for controlling the refrigerator main body are separately provided, but the control device for controlling the ice making device and the back side of the refrigerator main body for controlling the refrigerator main body have recently been installed. It is conceivable to integrally install the control device installed in the.

In this case, in consideration of wiring, the test switch of the ice maker may be installed together with a switch according to an operation panel (normally, installed in a freezer compartment or a refrigerator compartment door) of the refrigerator main body, rather than installed in the ice maker body.

By the way, in the case where the test switch is installed in the operation panel in this way, the test switch is operated even if the test switch is operated to perform the inspection of the ice making device in the event that there is an abnormality in the wiring between the test switch and the control device. Since no signal is input to the controller, the ice-making operation of the ice maker body is not executed. Therefore, even if the test switch is operated, if the ice making operation of the ice maker main body is not performed, it is impossible to determine whether there is an error between the test switch and the control device or other abnormalities. It becomes troublesome.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a control means for controlling the ice making device on the refrigerator main body side and at the same time to install a test switch of the ice making device on the operation panel of the refrigerator main body, between the test switch and the control means. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with an ice maker that can easily detect abnormalities and further improve workability in inspecting the ice maker.

The present invention has a refrigerator main body having a cooling chamber, an ice-making container disposed in the cooling chamber, and an ice-making container for storing and defrosting water, and driving means for inverting the ice-making container up and down and performing an ice-making operation. Display means for displaying information about an ice maker main body, an operation panel provided on the refrigerator main body, water supplied to the ice maker provided on the operation panel, a test switch provided on the operation panel, and installed on the refrigerator main body And control means for forcibly executing the ice-making operation by driving the drive means of the ice-making apparatus main body when the test switch is operated while executing the control on the ice-making apparatus main body. When operated, causing the display means to execute flashing display independent of water information. It is characterized by.

Referring to the operation of the present invention, when there is no abnormality between the test switch and the control means, when the test switch installed on the operation panel is operated, the control means is placed on the display means provided on the operation panel according to the signal from the test switch. Irrespective of the information about the flashing display, the driving means of the ice making machine main body is simultaneously driven to perform the ice-making operation.

Therefore, when the flashing indication is displayed on the display means when the test switch is operated, it is possible to determine that there is an abnormality between the test switch and the control means when the flashing indication is normal and the flashing indication does not appear on the display means.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the refrigerating compartment 2 provided on the upper part of the refrigerator main body 1 is opened and closed by a rotatable door 3 and the cooling compartment 4 provided below the refrigerating compartment 2. Is opened and closed by a pull-out door 6 slidably supported by a rail structure not shown. Inside the door 6, the storage container 7 is provided so that the door 6 may be integrated in and out.

An ice maker main body 8 is disposed in the upper portion of the ice storage container 7 in the ice maker chamber 4. The ice maker main body 8 is a main body case provided with a plastic ice maker 9, a container rotating motor 10 (see FIG. 4) as a driving means for rotating the ice maker 9, and a reduction mechanism. It consists of (11). When the vessel rotating motor 10 is driven, the ice making container 9 is rotated upside down and twist is applied to the ice making container 9 so that an ice making operation for dropping ice from the ice making container 9 is performed. The ice dropped from the ice making container 9 is accumulated in the ice storage container 7.

The ice maker 9 is provided with a temperature sensor 9a for detecting the temperature of the ice maker 9. In addition, the main body case 11 is provided with a rotatable amount detection lever 12 that detects the amount of ice accumulated in the reservoir 7 and is rotatable, and operates according to the rotation of the reservoir amount detection lever 12. The storage amount detection switch 13 (refer FIG. 4) is provided.

A tank accommodating portion 14 is formed in the lower portion of the cooling chamber 2, and a water supply tank 15 is detachably set to the tank accommodating portion 14. The tank receiving portion 14 is provided with a drip tray 16 receiving water from the water supply tank 15, and a water feed pump 17 for drawing up water in the drip tray 16 is provided. The water drawn up by) is supplied to the ice making vessel 9 through the water supply pipe 18. Moreover, the tank storage part 14 is also provided with the tank switch 19 which detects the set state of the water supply tank 15. As shown in FIG.

In the door 3 of the refrigerating chamber 2, an operation panel 20 is provided at the lower front side. The operation panel 20 has a temperature setting knob 22a for a freezer compartment for setting the temperature in the freezer compartment 21 provided below the ice making chamber 4, and a method for setting the temperature in the method switching chamber (not shown). A plurality of switches and display lamps for controlling the refrigerator main body 1 side, such as the temperature setting knob 22b for the switching room and the strong freezing switch 23, are provided and information on the water of the ice making device is displayed. The test switch 25 for testing the water supply lamp 24 and the ice-making device main body 8 which consist of a light emitting diode as display means is provided.

In addition, since the test switch 25 is operated during the inspection of the ice making apparatus and not during normal use, the test switch 25 is provided downward so as not to be inadvertently operated.

Moreover, the door switch 27 which moves according to opening / closing of the door 6 of the ice-making chamber 4 is provided in the front part of the partition wall 26 between the refrigerator compartment 2 and the ice-making chamber 4.

The control device 28 as a control means includes a microcomputer and is installed on the rear side of the refrigerator main body 1. This control device 28 has a function of executing control on the refrigerator main body 1 and a function of executing control on the ice making device.

4 schematically shows the electrical configuration of the ice making apparatus (the electrical configuration of the refrigerator main body 1 is omitted). In the same figure, the control device 28 is a water supply lamp according to the signals from the temperature sensor 9a, the storage amount detecting switch 13, the tank switch 19, and the door switch 27 installed in the ice making container 9. (24), the feed water pump 17 and the vessel rotation motor 10 are controlled by turning on and off.

In addition, when the test switch 25 is operated, the control device 28 forcibly executes an ice-making operation of inverting the ice maker 9 up and down by driving the vessel rotating motor 10 as described below. 24) are to be flashed irrespective of water information.

In addition, the control device 28 includes the temperature setting knob 22a for the freezer compartment, the temperature setting knob 22b for the method changeover chamber, the switch 23 for strong freezing, each temperature sensor installed in the refrigerating compartment 2 or the freezing compartment 21. On the basis of the signal from the control unit, the pressure circulating fan, damper device and the like not shown are turned on and off.

Next, the operation of the ice making apparatus will mainly be described in the above configuration. First, the control apparatus 28 determines whether the water supply tank 15 is set in the tank accommodating part 14 by the signal of the tank switch 19. FIG. When the water supply tank 15 is not set, the water supply lamp 24 is turned on to indicate that the water supply tank 15 is not set. When the water supply tank 15 is set, the water supply lamp 24 is turned off.

The water supply operation to the ice making container 9 is performed by driving the water supply pump 17 for a predetermined time. That is, when the water supply pump 17 is driven, the water stored in the drip tray 16 is pulled up and supplied to the ice making container 9 through the water supply pipe 18.

The temperature of the ice-making container 9 is detected by the temperature sensor 9a after a fixed time after the water supply is finished. At this time, the control device 28 determines that normal water supply is being executed when the detected temperature by the temperature sensor 9a is, for example, -9.5 ° C or higher, and the water supply lamp 24 is turned off. If it is below -9.5 ° C, it is judged that normal water supply is not performed (for example, if the amount of water supplied to the ice making container 9 is small, it does not rise to -9.5 ° C). Mark the small one.

The water accumulated in the ice making container 9 is immediately frozen by the cold air in the cooling chamber 4. After the water is completely frozen, if the detected temperature by the temperature sensor 9a is, for example, -12.5 ° C. or less, the controller 28 drives the vessel rotating motor 10 to invert the ice making vessel 9 up and down. Allows to carry out the ribbing operation. Ice dropped from the ice making container 9 accumulates in the ice storage container 7. After the ice making container 9 is reversed up and down, the container rotation motor 10 is reversed to return to its original state.

Thereafter, the control device 28 performs the water supply to the ice making container 9 by driving the water supply pump 17 for a predetermined time as described above. In this way the ice can be made automatically.

In addition, when the amount of storage in the storage container 7 reaches a predetermined level or more, the control device 28 waits to perform the above-mentioned ice moving operation based on the signal of the storage amount detecting switch 13.

In addition, when the door 6 of the cooling chamber 4 is opened during the moving operation, the control device 28 detects this by the door switch 27 and stops the moving operation. This is because the ice falling from the ice making container 9 may overflow to the outside of the ice storage container when the ice-making operation is performed while the door 6 of the cooling chamber 4 is open.

On the other hand, when the test switch 25 is operated to check the ice making device, the control device 28 executes the test mode shown in FIG.

That is, when the test switch 25 continues to be turned on for example for 2 seconds or more (step S1), the water supply lamp 24 is flashed for 2 seconds (step S2) and the ice making device 8 is forcibly moved to the ice maker main body 8. (Step S3). When the ribbing operation is completed (step S4), the process returns to the normal main process.

In addition, when the test switch 25 is released within 2 seconds in step 1 (for example, by mistake), the routine returns to the normal main process according to "NO".

According to this embodiment, when the water supply lamp 24 is flashed when the test switch 25 is operated, the signal from the test switch 25 is input to the control device 28 and the control device according to the signal. Since the water supply lamp 14 is controlled by 28, the test switch 25 installed in the operation panel 20 and the wiring between the water supply lamp 24 and the control device 28 (see FIG. 3), etc. It can be judged that there is no abnormality.

On the contrary, in the case where the water supply lamp 24 is not flashed and turned off even though the test switch 25 is operated in reverse, the test switch 25 and the water supply lamp 24 and the control device 28 are separated from each other. It is possible to determine that there is an abnormality in the wiring 29 or the like.

Therefore, when the water supply lamp 24 is flashed when the test switch 25 is operated, abnormality occurs in the test switch 25 and the wiring 29 between the water supply lamp 24 and the control device 28. You can judge whether or not. At this time, even if the water supply lamp 24 flashes, if the ice-making operation of the ice maker main body 8 is not performed, the wiring 29 between the test switch 25 and the water supply lamp 24 and the control device 28 is There is no abnormality in, etc., but it can be judged that there is an abnormality in other parts (for example, the ice maker main body 8 side).

As can be seen from the above description, the test switch is operated in such a way that the control means for controlling the ice making device according to the present invention is provided on the refrigerator main body side and the test switch of the ice making device is installed on the operation panel of the refrigerator main body. When the display means installed on the operation panel executes flashing display irrelevant to the information on the water, it is easy to detect an abnormality between the test switch and the display means and the control means by confirming the display of the display means. Furthermore, the outstanding effect that workability can be improved in the inspection of an ice making apparatus can be acquired.

Claims (1)

A refrigerator body having a cooling chamber; An ice making machine body disposed in the cooling chamber and having an ice making container for storing and ice-making water and driving means for performing an ice-making operation by inverting the ice making container up and down; An operation panel installed at the refrigerator body; Display means installed on the operation panel to display information on water supplied to the ice making container; A test switch installed on the operation panel; And control means installed in the refrigerator main body to control the ice maker main body and to drive driving means of the ice maker main body when the test switch is operated, thereby forcibly executing the ice-making operation. The control means is flashed when the test switch is operated when the wiring between the test switch and the display means and the control means is abnormal, regardless of the information on the water. Refrigerator with an ice machine characterized in that the.