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US 8,274,251 B2Granted
Refrigerator, system and method for driving a drawer of the refrigerator
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsMyung Keun Yoo, Yong Hwan Eom, Hyoun Jeong Shin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for driving a drawer of a refrigerator and a refrigerator employing this system is provided. This system and method allows the drawer to substantially immediately and automatically stop when the drawer encounters an obstacle. This type of automatic control of the drawer may enhance the safe operation of the drawer, prevent injuries to users, and prevent overload and subsequent malfunction of a drive motor used to move the drawer.
Claims11
A method of operating a drawer of a refrigerator, the method comprising:
- activating a drive motor;
- detecting an RPM of the drive motor, comprising:
- detecting a current frequency generator (FG) pulse signal generated by rotation of the motor;
- comparing the current FG pulse signal to a most recent previous FG pulse signal to determine an interval between the current and the most recent previous FG pulse signal;
- determining if the interval falls within a predetermined range;
- and
- determining that the RPM of the drive motor is at a normal RPM if the interval is within the predetermined range, determining that the RPM of the drive motor is greater than the normal RPM if the interval is less than the predetermined range, and determining that the RPM of the drive motor is less than the normal RPM if the interval is greater than the predetermined range;
- and
- based on the detected RPM, either (1)continuing to move the drawer using the drive motor, or (2) stopping the drive motor such that a movement of the drawer stops.
6 more elements
A drawer driving system for a refrigerator, the system comprising:
- a drive motor that supplies a driving force for moving the drawer;
- and
- a controller that controls operation of the drive motor, wherein the controller receives information corresponding to an RPM of the drive motor and based on the information, the controller stops operation of the drive motor such that the drawer does not move, wherein the controller comprises:
- a main controller that receives a drawer movement command from the input unit and generates a corresponding driving command;
- and
- a motor controller including a driver integrated circuit (IC) that generates a switching signal based on a driving condition of the drive motor and the driving command generated by the main controller, wherein the driver IC receives a frequency generator (FG) pulse from the drive motor as the drive motor rotates, and transmits a corresponding FG pulse signal to the main controller, and wherein the main controller detects the variation in RPM of the drive motor based on the FG pulse signal generated by the driver IC.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.