Ice maker and refrigerator including the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11525614-B2
Application number	US-202117147964-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2021
Priority date	Jan 26, 2018
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

Abstract

A control method of a refrigerator includes: determining whether a first temperature of a refrigerating compartment satisfies a first temperature condition; based the first temperature satisfying the first temperature condition, determining whether a second temperature of a freezing compartment satisfies a second temperature condition; based on the second temperature satisfying the second temperature condition, determining (i) whether a third temperature of an ice making compartment satisfies a third temperature condition and (ii) whether a driving time for ice making has passed; maintaining operation of a compressor while determining (i) whether the second temperature satisfies the second temperature condition, (ii) whether the third temperature satisfies the third temperature condition, and (iii) whether the driving time has passed; and stopping operation of the compressor based on at least one of (i) a determination that the third temperature satisfies the third temperature condition or (ii) a determination that the driving time has passed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control method of a refrigerator that includes a compressor configured to compress refrigerant, a first evaporator and a second evaporator that are configured to receive the refrigerant compressed by the compressor, and a valve configured to allow the refrigerant supplied from the compressor to move to the first evaporator or to the second evaporator, the control method comprising:
determining whether a temperature of a freezing compartment of the refrigerator satisfies a temperature condition of the freezing compartment;
based on a determination that the temperature of the freezing compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the freezing compartment, determining (i) whether a temperature of an ice making compartment of the refrigerator satisfies a temperature condition of the ice making compartment and (ii) whether a driving time for ice making has passed; and
stopping operation of the compressor based on at least one of (i) a determination that the temperature of the ice making compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the ice making compartment or (ii) a determination that the driving time for ice making has passed.

2. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
opening a path of the valve to allow the refrigerant to move to the second evaporator based on a determination that the temperature of the freezing compartment does not satisfy the temperature condition of the freezing compartment.

3. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
driving a freezing compartment fan of the refrigerator configured to blow air cooled by the second evaporator to the freezing compartment based on a determination that the temperature of the freezing compartment does not satisfy the temperature condition of the freezing compartment.

4. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 3 , further comprising:
stopping driving the freezing compartment fan of the refrigerator based on a determination that the temperature of the freezing compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the freezing compartment.

5. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 3 , further comprising:
driving an ice making compartment fan of the refrigerator configured to blow air cooled by the second evaporator to the ice making compartment based on a determination that the temperature of the freezing compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the freezing compartment.

6. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein driving the ice making compartment fan comprises driving the ice making compartment fan for a period time without driving the freezing compartment fan to supply cool air to the ice making compartment for the period time and to not supply cool air to the freezing compartment for the period time.

7. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
opening a path of the valve to allow the refrigerant to move to the second evaporator at least one of based on (i) a determination that the temperature of the ice making compartment does not satisfy the temperature condition of the ice making compartment or (ii) a determination that the driving time for ice making has not passed.

8. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
driving a fan of the refrigerator configured to blow air cooled by the second evaporator to the ice making compartment based on at least one of (i) a determination that the temperature of the ice making compartment does not satisfy the temperature condition of the ice making compartment or (ii) a determination that the driving time for ice making has not passed.

9. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
closing a path of the valve to restrict the refrigerant from moving to the second evaporator based on at least one of (i) a determination that the temperature of the ice making compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the ice making compartment or (ii) a determination that the driving time for ice making has passed.

10. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether a first temperature of a refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator satisfies a first temperature condition of the refrigerating compartment.

11. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 10 , further comprising:
opening a first path of the valve to allow the refrigerant to move to the first evaporator based on a determination that the first temperature does not satisfy the first temperature condition.

12. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 10 , further comprising:
driving a first fan of the refrigerator configured to blow air cooled by the first evaporator to the refrigerating compartment based on a determination that the first temperature does not satisfy the first temperature condition.

13. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein based on a determination that the first temperature satisfies the first temperature condition, determining whether the temperature of the freezing compartment of the refrigerator satisfies the temperature condition of the freezing compartment.

14. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
maintaining operation of the compressor while determining (i) whether the temperature of the freezing compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the freezing compartment, (ii) whether the temperature of the ice making compartment satisfies the temperature condition of the ice making compartment, and (iii) whether the driving time for ice making has passed.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Yeom Seungseob
• Lee Donghoon
• Lee Donghoon
• Lee Wookyong

Classifications

• F25C2600/04

  Control means · CPC title

• F25B2600/01

  Timing · CPC title

• F25B2341/062

  Capillary expansion valves · CPC title

• F25B5/02 Primary

  arranged in parallel · CPC title

• F25C1/24

  for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays · CPC title