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US 9,568,232 B2Granted
Icemaker and method of controlling the same
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsYonghyun Kim, Jimin You, Siyeon An, Sungkyoung Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An icemaker includes an ice tray configured to receive water, an ejector configured to rotate to eject ice made in the ice tray, and a heater arranged to contact the ice tray and configured to facilitate separation of ice from the ice tray by selectively heating the ice tray. The icemaker also includes a case mounted to a side of the ice tray and a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor mounted in the case and configured to selectively rotate the ejector in forward and reverse directions.
Claims17
An icemaker comprising:
- an ice tray that is provided in a freezer, that is configured to receive water, and that is configured to retain the received water such that the received water is frozen into ice by cold air in the freezer;
- an ejector configured to rotate to eject the ice from the ice tray;
- a heater arranged to contact the ice tray and that is configured to facilitate separation of the ice from the ice tray by selectively heating the ice tray;
- a case mounted to a side of the ice tray;
- a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor that is mounted in the case and that is configured to selectively rotate the ejector in forward and reverse directions;
- a dropper inclined from an upper end of a front of the ice tray toward an upper portion of a rotating shaft of the ejector;
- and
- an overflow prevention member horizontally oriented below the dropper and configured to face a rotating shaft of the ejector, the overflow prevention member including a plurality of slits that are configured to allow protrusion fins of the ejector to pass through the plurality of slits.
5 more elements
An icemaker comprising:
- an ice tray that is provided in a freezer, that is configured to receive water, and that is configured to retain the received water such that the received water is frozen into ice by cold air supplied from the freezer;
- an ejector configured to rotate to eject the ice from the ice tray;
- a heater arranged to contact the ice tray and that is configured to facilitate separation of the ice from the ice tray by selectively heating the ice tray;
- a case mounted to a side of the ice tray;
- a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor that is mounted in the case and that is configured to selectively rotate the ejector in forward and reverse directions;
- and
- a driving unit configured to turn the ejector selectively,
- wherein the driving unit comprises a first sensor unit configured to sense the angular position of the ejector, the first sensor unit comprising:
- a first cam provided to a first side surface of a gear axially coupled to a rotating shaft of the ejector, the first cam including two grooves formed at predetermined angular positions on an outer circumferential surface of the first cam;
- a first turning member configured to turn based on a first projection located at a side portion of the first turning member contacting and sliding along the outer circumferential surface and the two grooves of the first cam;
- a first magnet provided to an end of the first turning member;
- a first Hall sensor configured to sense a voltage signal generated based on the first magnet being located within a threshold distance of the first Hall sensor;
- and
- a first elastic member configured to pull the first turning member such that the first projection of the first turning member contacts the first cam.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.