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US 12,553,659 B2Granted
Refrigerator and method for opening a refrigerator door
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsMinsub Kim, Hongsik Kwon, Dongjeong Kim, Jungjae Lee, Jaehoon Shin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided is a refrigerator and control method for refrigerator and method for opening a refrigerator door. While a user is holding an object in both hands, a door may be automatically and additionally opened using another part of a body other than hands.
Claims20
An appliance comprising:
- a cabinet that defines an internal space;
- a door configured to open and close at least a portion of the internal space;
- an input device configured to detect a door opening signal for opening the door;
- a push rod configured to move from a first position to a second position to thereby open the door;
- a driving motor configured to rotate in a first direction and a second direction, the driving motor configured to provide a driving force to cause the push rod to move (i) from the first position to the second position and (ii) from the second position to the first position;
- a push rod position detector configured to detect a position of the push rod;
- and
- a controller configured to control a direction of rotation of the driving motor and a speed of rotation of the driving motor,
- wherein the driving motor is configured to:
- rotate in the first direction to thereby cause the push rod to move from the first position to the second position based on the door opening signal being input from the input device,
- maintain a rotation in the first direction for a preset time while the push rod moves toward the second position, and
- after maintaining the rotation in the first direction for the preset time, rotate in the second direction to thereby cause the push rod to move from the second position to the first position based on the push rod position detector sensing the push rod being disposed at the second position.
9 more elements
An appliance comprising:
- a cabinet that defines an internal space;
- a door configured to open and close at least a portion of the internal space;
- a door opening detector configured to detect whether the door is opened or closed;
- a push rod configured to move from a first position to a second position to thereby open the door;
- a driving motor configured to rotate in a first direction and a second direction, the driving motor being configured to provide a driving force to cause the push rod to move (i) from the first position to the second position or (ii) from the second position to the first position;
- a push rod position detector configured to detect a position of the push rod;
- and
- a controller configured to control a direction of rotation of the driving motor and a speed of rotation of the driving motor,
- wherein the controller is configured to:
- stop the driving motor based on the door opening detector detecting that the door is opened while the push rod moves from the first position toward the second position, and
- control the driving motor to rotate in the second direction in a first rotation speed during a first closing step after stopping rotation of the driving motor.
8 more elements
An appliance comprising:
- a cabinet that defines an internal space;
- a door configured to open and close at least a portion of the internal space,
- a push rod configured to move from a first position to a second position to thereby open the door;
- a push rod position detector configured to detect a position of the push rod, the push rod position detector comprising at least one Hall sensor configured to generate a frequency generating (FG) signal;
- a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor configured to be controlled based on the FG signal generated by the at least one Hall sensor, the BLDC motor being configured to rotate in a first direction and a second direction and to provide a driving force to cause the push rod to move (i) from the first position to the second position and (ii) from the second position to the first position by the driving force;
- an FG counter configured to determine a rotational speed of the BLDC motor by counting the FG signal;
- and
- a controller configured to vary the rotational speed of the BLDC motor by controlling a duty cycle of an input current to the BLDC motor,
- wherein the controller configured to control the BLDC motor to rotate in the second direction in a first rotation speed during a first closing step based on FG signal being generated in a state in which the push rod reaches the second position.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.