Refrigerator and method of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10544985-B2
Application number	US-201816130996-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2018
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Jan 28, 2020
Grant date	Jan 28, 2020

Abstract

This disclosure is related to a refrigerator and a method of controlling the same. The refrigerator includes a dispenser passage, a water supplier for supplying sterilizing water or rinsing water to the dispenser passage, a drain for draining the sterilizing water or the rinsing water that is supplied to the dispenser passage, and a controller for performing a sterilization cycle and controlling the water supplier and the drain to perform a rinsing cycle after completing the sterilization cycle, wherein the sterilization cycle is a cycle of keeping the sterilizing water in the dispenser passage and then draining the sterilizing water, and the rinsing cycle is a cycle of supplying the rinsing water to the dispenser passage and draining the rinsing water therefrom.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a dispenser passage;
a water supplier configured to supply sterilizing water or rinsing water to the dispenser passage;
a drain configured to drain the sterilizing water or the rinsing water that is supplied to the dispenser passage; and
at least one processor,
wherein, when a dispenser cleaning signal is input, the at least one processor is configured to:
control the water supplier to supply the sterilizing water to the dispenser passage,
control the drain to drain the sterilizing water after the sterilizing water is kept in the dispenser passage during a predetermined time interval, and
block a passage to an ice-making machine until the rinsing water is drained after the sterilizing water is supplied.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1 , further comprising:
a user interface configured to receive the dispenser cleaning signal.

3. The refrigerator of claim 1 , further comprising:
a flow rate detector configured to detect a flow rate of the sterilizing water being supplied,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
control the water supplier to supply the sterilizing water during a predetermined time interval, and
stop the supplying of the sterilizing water when the flow rate detected by the flow rate detector is equal to or greater than a predetermined flow rate.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1 , further comprising:
a flow rate detector configured to detect a flow rate of the rinsing water being supplied,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
control the water supplier to supply the rinsing water during a predetermined time interval, and
stop the supplying of the rinsing water when the flow rate detected by the flow rate detector is equal to or greater than a predetermined flow rate.

5. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the water supplier includes a sparkling water supplier configured to make sparkling water, and the at least one processor is configured to control the water supplier to supply the sterilizing water or the rinsing water to the sparkling water supplier.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1 , further comprising:
a dispenser discharger configured to drain the sterilizing water or the rinsing water that is supplied to the dispenser passage to store the drained water in a water receiver; and
a water receiver detector configured to detect whether or not the water receiver is placed below the dispenser discharger,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the dispenser discharger to store the sterilizing water or the rinsing water in the water receiver when the water receiver placed below the dispenser discharger is detected.

7. The refrigerator of claim 6 , wherein the water receiver detector is configured to detect that the water receiver is placed below the dispenser discharger when a dispenser lever is pressed.

8. The refrigerator of claim 6 , further comprising:
a user interface configured to provide a message instructing a user to place the water receiver at the dispenser discharger,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the dispenser discharger to store the sterilizing water or the rinsing water in the water receiver when a drain start signal is input by the user through the user interface.

9. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the user interface is configured to provide a message instructing the user to place the water receiver below the dispenser discharger when the water receiver is not detected as being placed below the dispenser discharger, and is configured to provide a message instructing the user to attach the water receiver to the dispenser discharger when the water receiver is not detected as being attached to the dispenser discharger.

10. The refrigerator of claim 9 , further comprising:
a water level detector configured to detect a water level in the water receiver,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the dispenser discharger to stop draining when the detected water level exceeds a predetermined water level.

11. A refrigerator comprising:
a dispenser passage;
a water supplier configured to supply sterilizing water or rinsing water to the dispenser passage;
a draining device configured to drain the sterilizing water or the rinsing water that is supplied to the dispenser passage, and including a dispenser discharger and a drain;
a user interface configured to receive an input regarding a draining mode regarding the dispenser discharger; and
at least one processor configured to control the user interface to provide a message instructing a user to place a water receiver capable of storing water below the dispenser discharger when an instruction to drain at the dispenser discharger is input.

12. The refrigerator of claim 11 , further comprising:
the user interface configured to receive at least one among a number of times the sterilizing water and the rinsing water are supplied, a flow rate at which the sterilizing water and the rinsing water are to be supplied, a supply time of the sterilizing water, a supply time of the rinsing water, or a period of dispenser cleaning.

13. The refrigerator of claim 12 , wherein the user interface is configured to provide messages regarding the number of times the sterilizing water and the rinsing water are supplied, the flow rate at which the sterilizing water and the rinsing water are to be supplied, and an estimated dispenser cleaning time corresponding to at least one of the supply time of the sterilizing water or the supply time of the rinsing water.

14. The refrigerator of claim 11 , further comprising:
the user interface configured to provide at least one message among a message regarding a remaining dispenser cleaning time when dispenser cleaning is performed, a message regarding a current cycle when the dispenser cleaning is performed, a message regarding detection of the water receiver when a water receiver detector that detects whether or not the water receiver is placed below the dispenser discharger, a message regarding detection of attachment of the water receiver when the water receiver detector that detects whether or not the water receiver is attached to the dispenser discharger, or a message regarding a last dispenser cleaning date.

15. The refrigerator of claim 11 , further comprising:
a communication device configured to communicate with another electronic device,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the water supplier to supply the sterilizing water to the dispenser passage when a dispenser cleaning signal is transmitted from the other electronic device.

16. A method of controlling a refrigerator, comprising:
receiving a dispenser cleaning signal;
supplying sterilizing water to a dispenser passage when the dispenser cleaning signal is input;
providing a message instructing a user to place a water receiver capable of storing water at a dispenser discharger when the dispenser cleaning signal is input;
detecting whether or not the water receiver is placed below the dispenser discharger;
draining and storing sterilizing water, which is supplied to the dispenser passage and then kept therein, when the water receiver is detected; and
blocking a passage to an ice-making machine when the sterilizing water is supplied to the dispenser passage.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
providing another message instructing the user to place the water receiver below the dispenser discharger when the draining of the sterilizing water is completed;
detecting again whether or not the wat

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Sang Hoon
• Park Sang Min
• Yoon Boo-Keun

Classifications

• F25C2400/10

  Refrigerator units · CPC title

• F25C5/22

  particularly adapted for household refrigerators · CPC title

• C02F2307/14

  Treatment of water in water supply networks, e.g. to prevent bacterial growth · CPC title

• F25D2400/22

  Cleaning means for refrigerating devices · CPC title

• B08B9/027

  Cleaning the internal surfaces; Removal of blockages · CPC title