Back to results
US 2021/0341209 A1Published application
Refrigerator
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsDonghoon LEE, Wookyong LEE, Seungseob YEOM, Donghoon LEE, Yongjun BAE, Sunggyun SON, Chongyoung PARK
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator includes a storage chamber, a cooler configured to supply cold air, a first tray, a second tray, a driver configured to move the second tray with respect to the first tray, a heater provided adjacent to at least one of the first tray or the second tray, and a controller configured to control the heater and the driver. The controller controls the heater to be turned on during ice making to make transparent ice.
Claims20
A refrigerator comprising:
- a storage chamber;
- a cooler configured to supply cold air into the storage chamber;
- a first temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature within the storage chamber;
- a first tray configured to define a first portion of a cell;
- a second tray configured to define a second portion of the cell, the first and second portions being configured to form a space in which liquid introduced into the space is phase changed into ice;
- a liquid supply configured to supply liquid into the space of the cell;
- a second temperature sensor provided in at least one of the first tray or the second tray;
- a heater provided adjacent to at least one of the first tray or the second tray;
- a driver configured to move the second tray relative to the first tray to a first position, a second position, and a third position;
- and
- a controller configured to control the heater, the cooler, and the driver such that:
- the controller controls the cooler to supply cold air after the second tray assembly has moved to the first position after liquid is completely supplied to the space of the cell,
- after an ice making process, the controller controls the driver to move the second tray in a first direction to the third position for an ice separation process,
- after the ice separation process, the controller controls the driver to move the second tray a second direction opposite to the first direction to the second position for a liquid supply process,
- during the ice making process, the controller controls the heater to be turned on in at least partial section while the cooler supplies the cold air so that air bubbles dissolved in the liquid within the space of the cell moves from where ice is forming toward where liquid is still in a liquid state,
- the controller controls the heater so that when a heat transfer amount between the cold air within the storage chamber and the liquid of the space of the cell increases, a heating amount of the heater increases, and when the heat transfer amount between decreases, the heating amount of the heater decreases so as to maintain an ice making rate within a predetermined range that is lower than an ice making rate when the ice making process is performed in a state in which the heater is turned off, and wherein the predetermined range is configured such that an ice making amount according to the ice making rate within the predetermined range is:
- equal to or greater than (an ice making amount when the heater is turned off)×a1 (g/day), and
- is less than or equal to (the ice making amount when the heater is turned off)×b1 (g/day), wherein a1 is 0.25 or more and 0.42 or less, and b1 is 0.64 or more and 0.91 or less.
15 more elements
A refrigerator comprising:
- a storage chamber;
- a cooler configured to supply cold air;
- a first temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature within the storage chamber;
- a first tray configured to define a first portion of a cell;
- a second tray configured to define a second portion of the cell, the first and second portions being configured to form a space in which liquid introduced into the space is phase changed into ice;
- a liquid supply configured to supply liquid;
- a second temperature sensor provided in at least one of the first tray or the second tray;
- a heater provided adjacent to at least one of the first tray or the second tray;
- and
- a controller configured to control the heater such that:
- the controller controls the heater to be turned on in at least partial section during an ice making process,
- the controller controls at least one of an amount of cold air supplied by the cooler or an amount of heat supplied by the heater to vary according to a mass per unit height of liquid within the space of the cell so as to maintain an ice making rate within a predetermined range that is lower than an ice making rate when the ice making process is performed in a state in which the heater is turned off, and
- an ice making amount according to the ice making rate within the predetermined range is:
- equal to or greater than (an ice making amount when the heater is turned off)×a1 (g/day), and
- is less than or equal to (the ice making amount when the heater is turned off)×b1 (g/day), wherein a1 is 0.25 or more and 0.42 or less, and b1 is 0.64 or more and 0.91 or less.
12 more elements
A refrigerator comprising:
- a storage chamber;
- a cooler configured to supply cold air;
- a tray assembly configured to define a cell having a space in which liquid is phase-changed into ice;
- a heater provided adjacent to the tray;
- and
- a controller configured to control the heater to be turned on during an ice making process such that an ice making rate of the liquid within the space of the cell is maintained within a predetermined range that is lower than an ice making rate when the ice making process is performed in a state in which the heater is turned off,
- wherein the controller is configured to control the heater according to
- a basic heating process and an additional heating process that is performed after the basic heating process, wherein, during at least a portion of
- the additional heating process, the controller controls the heater to operate with a heating amount that is equal to or less than a heating amount of the heater in the basic heating process, and
- the heater is controlled such that an ice making amount according to the ice making rate within the predetermined range is:
- equal to or greater than (an ice making amount when the heater is turned off)×a1 (g/day), and
- less than or equal to (the ice making amount when the heater is turned off)×b1 (g/day), wherein a1 is 0.25 or more and 0.42 or less, and b1 is 0.64 or more and 0.91 or less.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.