Water supply control apparatus for ice maker and method thereof
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsWook Yong Lee, Eul Yeop Chung
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is provided a water supply control apparatus for an ice maker and method thereof. In the apparatus and method, an ejector pushes out ice, a sensor detecting portion is formed on the ejector, and at least two sensors detect a senor transit time for the sensor detecting portion to travel from one of the sensors to the other. Therefore, an adequate amount of water can be supplied to the ice maker to make ice with a desired size regardless of the variation in the water pressure of a water inlet line from a household water source.
Claims12
A water supply control apparatus for an ice maker, comprising:
- an ice making portion in which ice is made;
- an ejector rotatably installed to eject the ice;
- at least one pair of sensors detecting the angle of the ejector;
- and
- a controller controlling the amount of water supplied to the ice making portion in accordance with a sensor transit time necessary for the ejector to pass the distance between the pair of sensors.
A water supply control apparatus for an ice maker, comprising:
- an ice ejection controller including at least one ejector to push ice;
- an ejector position sensor including at least two sensors to detect the rotation position of the ejector;
- a water supply adjustor adjusting the amount of water supply to the ice maker;
- and
- a controller determining whether a stall situation occurs when the ejector operates by using a sensor transit time for the ejector to move from one of the two sensors to the other, and the controller controlling the water supply adjustor to reduce the amount of the water supply when the stall situation occurs and to increase the amount of the water supply when the stall situation does not occur.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.