CN110553459A - Refrigerator and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a refrigerator comprising a storage room; a door that opens and closes the storage room; an ice making device located in the storage room or on the door, the ice making device includes an ice making tray and an ice storage chamber, the ice making tray is used to produce ice cubes, the ice storage chamber is arranged under the ice making tray to accommodate the ice cubes produced in the ice making tray; the ice making tray includes a first an ice tray and a second ice tray; when one of the first ice tray and the second ice tray is in the water filling position, the other of the first ice tray and the second ice tray is in the Deicing position. The two ice making trays are used to alternately perform water injection, ice making and ice removal at the water filling position and the deicing position, thereby saving the time during which the two ice making trays operate synchronously and improving the ice making efficiency.

Description

Refrigerator and its control method

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration, in particular to a household refrigerator and a control method thereof.

Background technique

A refrigeration appliance with an ice making device in the prior art, such as a refrigerator, uses cold air to make ice and store the made ice. The ice making device includes an ice making tray that generates ice and stores ice separated from the ice making tray in the ice storage chamber. The ice-making chambers where the ice-making devices are located can all be arranged inside the storage chamber or on the door of the storage chamber. During the ice-making process, the water supply system of the refrigerator supplies water to the ice-making tray, and the cold air is introduced into the ice-making chamber through a fan or a fixed air duct. tray so that the ice cubes break away from the ice maker tray and fall into the ice storage compartment.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and a control method thereof that improve ice-making efficiency.

This object is achieved by a subject-matter having the features stated in the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention form the subject-matter of the drawings, the description and the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the present invention, this object is achieved by a refrigerator comprising a storage compartment; a door for opening and closing said storage compartment; an ice-making device located in said storage compartment or on said door, the ice-making The device includes an ice making tray and an ice storage chamber, the ice making tray is used to generate ice cubes, and the ice storage chamber is arranged under the ice making tray to accommodate the ice cubes generated in the ice making tray; The ice making tray includes a first ice making tray and a second ice making tray; when one of the first ice making tray and the second ice making tray is at the water filling position, the first ice making tray and the second ice making tray The other one of the ice trays is in the deicing position.

The technical advantage thus achieved is, for example, that when one of the ice-making trays is filling with water at the water filling position and making ice, the other ice-making tray continues to make ice and de-ice at the dehydration position. When the other ice-making tray finishes deicing, the two ice-making trays exchange positions, and continue to inject water, make ice and de-ice, and repeat this cycle until the end of ice making. Therefore, the two ice-making trays are used to alternately perform water injection, ice-making and de-icing at the water-filling position and the de-icing position, thereby saving the period of synchronous operation of the two ice-making trays and improving ice-making efficiency.

The so-called water injection position means that when the ice making tray is in this position, it is filled with water by the water injection pipe and enters the ice making process.

The so-called de-icing position means that when the ice-making tray is at this position, the water in the ice-making tray is cooled into ice, and after the ice-making is completed, de-icing is performed, and the detached ice falls into the ice storage chamber.

In a preferred embodiment, the ice making device includes a motor to drive the first ice making tray and the second ice making tray to alternately be in the water filling position and the deicing position respectively.

In a preferred embodiment, the motor is also used to drive the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray to flip and de-ice.

In a preferred embodiment, the water injection position is located above the deicing position.

In a preferred embodiment, the deicing position is located above the ice storage compartment.

In a preferred embodiment, the ice-making device includes a supporting part for supporting the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray, the supporting part has slideways, and the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray One end of the second ice making tray extends into the slideway and is actuatably slid in the slideway.

In a preferred embodiment, the water filling position is set as follows: at this position, the ice making tray is filled with water and the water in the ice making tray is cooled to a preset freezing temperature; the deicing position It is set to: at this position, the ice cubes or water in the ice making tray are cooled to a preset deicing temperature and deiced; wherein, the preset deicing temperature is lower than the preset freezing temperature .

The so-called being cooled to the preset freezing temperature means that the water is cooled to or below the preset freezing temperature. The so-called being cooled to the preset deicing temperature means that the ice cubes or water are cooled to or below the preset deicing temperature.

In a preferred embodiment, when the water in one of the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray is cooled to a preset freezing temperature, and the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray When the other one of the trays completes deicing, the first and second ice making trays are actuated to exchange positions.

Another aspect of the present invention also proposes a refrigerator control method as described in any one of the above embodiments, including the following steps:

The refrigerator starts to make ice;

One of the ice trays at the water filling position is filled with water;

judging whether the water in the other ice-making tray is at a preset freezing temperature;

If the water in one of the ice-making trays has reached the preset freezing temperature, continue to judge whether the other one of the ice-making trays at the deicing position has been deiced;

When the other one of the ice making trays has been deiced, the one of the ice making trays and the other one of the ice making trays are actuated to exchange positions.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a storage compartment of a refrigerator with an ice making device in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a temperature change diagram in an ice-making process of an ice-making tray in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of an ice-making tray in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of ice making with two ice making trays in an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a storage compartment of a refrigerator having an ice making device. As shown in FIG. 1 , a cabinet 10 of a refrigerator 100 includes a storage compartment 101 and a door 102 for closing the cabinet 101 . The ice making device including the ice making tray 1 and the ice storage compartment 2 is located above the inside of the box body 10 , close to the top wall of the box body 10 . The ice cubes made by the ice making tray 1 will fall into the ice storage chamber 2 located below the ice making tray 1. Since the entrance above the ice storage chamber 2 is lower than the bottom surface of the ice making tray 1, the ice cubes separated from the ice making tray 1 At first be guided in the entrance of ice storage chamber 2 and finally enter ice storage chamber 2 to preserve. A connecting passage 3 is arranged on the door 102 of the closed box 10, and the connecting passage 3 is inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the horizontal plane. When the door 102 was closed, the connecting passage 3 was located under the ice storage chamber 2, and one end was connected to the outlet 21 of the ice storage chamber 2, and the ice cubes could be exported from the ice storage chamber 2 along the connecting passage 3; The other end of the connecting passage 3 is provided with an ice outlet 31 , and the ice outlet 31 is closed by a baffle 32 . The baffle plate 32 is arranged on the dispenser housing 4 on the door 102, and the dispenser housing 4 has a dispensing opening 41, the dispensing opening 41 communicates with the above-mentioned ice outlet 31, the ice dispenser housing 4 The bottom wall 42 has a supporting platform for placing the ice receiving container, which is used to accommodate the ice output from the connecting channel 3 when the baffle 32 is opened.

The refrigerator 100 is provided with a water supply system, and under the control of the refrigerator control device, water from the outside of the refrigerator is provided to the ice making device.

A temperature sensor is arranged at the bottom of the ice making tray 1 to measure the temperature change of the ice making tray 1 and send the temperature signal to the refrigerator control device.

The general ice-making process is roughly as follows: the water supply system supplies water to the ice-making tray 1; it enters the ice-making state; when the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the ice-making tray 1 has reached the preset deicing temperature, such as -14 degrees, then continue to maintain Make ice for a few minutes to ensure that all the ice cubes in the ice tray 1 are solid; turn over the ice tray 1 so that the ice cubes fall into the ice storage chamber 2, and at the same time, probe the ice rod down into the ice storage chamber 2 to confirm the storage capacity. Whether the ice storage room 2 is full of ice; if the ice storage room 2 is not full of ice, the ice tray 1 returns to the position before turning over, the water supply system supplies water to the ice tray 1 again, and enters the cycle of the next ice making process.

Generally, a channel for air circulation is provided in the refrigerator to introduce cold air into the ice-making compartment where the refrigeration device is located. In order to make ice quickly, a fan is also arranged in the storage room to blow cold air from the storage room into the ice making room. The refrigerator control device controls the frequency and rotation speed of the fan according to the needs of the ice-making speed. The faster the ice production rate, the higher and faster the fan will run. Generally, the fan starts to run after the water supply system finishes supplying water to the ice making tray.

In an existing refrigerator with an ice water system, generally only one ice making tray is arranged inside the ice making device. As shown in Figure 2, in the entire ice-making process of an ice-making tray, the time for filling water from the water inlet 6 to the ice-making tray 1 and the water in the ice-making tray 1 to be cooled to the preset freezing temperature T1 is t1 , so that the water in the ice tray 1 initially freezes into ice cubes. When the ice making tray 1 is in motion, the water therein will not overflow due to freezing. Next, the time required for the ice cubes in the ice tray 1 to continue to be cooled to the predetermined deicing temperature T2 is t2. Finally, the time required for the ice cubes to be kept at a temperature lower than T2 for a period of time until they are completely detached from the ice tray 1 is t3. The time t=t1+t2+t3 required for an ice making process of such an ice making tray 1 .

In order to further save ice-making time and improve ice-making efficiency, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 3, two ice-making trays are set in the ice-making device in the application of the present invention, which are the first ice-making tray 111 and the second ice-making tray 111 respectively. Disk 12. Continuing with Figure 4, the ice-making process with two ice-making trays is as follows: After the refrigerator starts to make ice, the water inlet nozzle 6 of the refrigerator fills into the first ice-making tray 111 located at the water injection position A, and the ice comes from the air duct of the refrigerator. The cold air is blown to the first ice-making tray 111, so that the water in the first ice-making tray 111 is cooled to freeze and reach the preset freezing temperature T1. At this time, the second ice making tray 12 is located at the deicing position B directly below the bottom of the first ice making tray 11 , facing the ice storage chamber 2 below. When the water in the first ice-making tray 11 is cooled into ice cubes and reaches the preset freezing temperature T1, and after the second ice-making tray 12 has completed deicing, under the actuation of the motor 7, the first ice-making tray 11 can move from the water filling position A to the deicing position B, and the second ice making tray 12 can move from the deicing position B to the water filling position A accordingly. The ice-making device comprises a support portion 8 for supporting the first ice-making tray 11 and the second ice-making tray 12, the support portion 8 has a slideway (not shown in the figure), the first ice-making tray 11 and the second ice-making tray One end of the ice tray 12 extends into the chute and is actuatably slid in the chute.

When the second ice-making tray 12 moves to the water injection position A, the water inlet nozzle 6 of the refrigerator injects water into the second ice-making tray 12 accordingly. The ice cubes in the first ice-making tray 11 moved to the de-icing position B are continued to be cooled. When the temperature of the ice cubes in the first ice-making tray 11 reaches the preset de-icing temperature T2, and falls below the After a period of time at the deicing temperature T2 , the first ice making tray 11 reverses under the actuation of the motor 7 , and the ice cubes break away and fall into the ice storage chamber 2 . At this time, if the water in the second ice-making tray 1 at the water injection position A has been cooled to freeze and reaches the preset freezing temperature T1, under the actuation of the motor 7, the second ice-making tray 12 can The first ice making tray 11 moves from the water filling position A to the deicing position B, and the first ice making tray 11 correspondingly moves from the deicing position B to the water filling position A, thus entering the next cycle of the ice making process.

Wherein, the water filling position A is close to the water inlet nozzle 6 of the refrigerator and is located above the deicing position B, and the deicing position B is adjacent to and located above the ice storage chamber 2 .

Water injection, ice making and deicing are performed alternately at the water filling position A and the deicing position B by using the two ice making trays, thereby saving the period of synchronous operation of the two ice making trays and improving the ice making efficiency. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, how to save time can be explained from the following two situations:

In the first case, when t1>(t2+t3), in the initial position, the first ice making tray 11 is located at the water filling position A, and the second ice making tray 12 is located at the deicing position B. The time for the water in the first ice making tray 11 to be cooled to reach the preset freezing temperature T1 is t1, at which time the water in the first ice making tray 11 initially freezes into ice cubes. At this time, the second ice-making tray 12 at the de-icing position B has completed the de-icing procedure. Then, the motor 7 drives the first ice making tray 11 and the second ice making tray 12 to move to alternate positions. After exchanging positions, the time required for the second ice making tray 12 at the water filling position A to be filled with water and the water therein to be cooled to the preset freezing temperature T1 is also t1, and the water in the second ice making tray 12 has already After the ice is formed, at this time, the first ice making tray 11 at the deicing position B has completed the deicing process. Then, the motor 7 again drives the first ice-making tray 11 and the second ice-making tray 12 to move and alternate positions. The first ice-making tray 11 is located at the water filling position A again, and the second ice-making tray 12 is located at the deicing position B again. Both the first ice-making tray 11 and the second ice-making tray 12 complete an ice-making process, and it takes a total time t′=2t1. On the premise of obtaining the same amount of ice production, the total time t' of the first case is less than the time 2t (2t=2t1+2t2+2t3) required by two ice making processes of one ice making tray.

In the second case, when t1<(t2+t3), in the initial position, the first ice making tray 11 is located at the water filling position A, and the second ice making tray 12 is located at the deicing position B. The time for the water in the first ice making tray 11 to be cooled to reach the preset freezing temperature T1 is t1, at which time the water in the first ice making tray 11 initially freezes into ice cubes. Since t1<(t2+t3), the second ice making tray 12 at the deicing position B has not completed deicing at this time. Only when the time that the second ice making tray 12 is at the deicing position B reaches (t2+t3), the second ice making tray 12 is deiced. Then, the motor 7 drives the first ice making tray 11 and the second ice making tray 12 to move to alternate positions. After exchanging positions, the time required for the second ice making tray 12 at the water filling position A to be filled with water and the water therein to be cooled to the preset freezing temperature T1 is also t1, and the water in the second ice making tray 12 has already After the ice cubes are formed, the first ice making tray 11 at the deicing position B has not completed deicing yet. Only when the time that the first ice making tray 11 is at the deicing position B reaches (t2+t3), the first ice making tray 11 is deiced. Then, the motor 7 again drives the first ice-making tray 11 and the second ice-making tray 12 to move and alternately positions the first ice-making tray 11 to reposition the water filling position A, and the second ice-making tray 12 to reposition the deicing position B. Both the ice making tray 11 and the second ice making tray 12 complete an ice making process, and it takes a total time t``=2(t2+t3). On the premise of obtaining the same amount of ice production, the total time t`` of the second case is still shorter than the time 2t (2t=2t1+2t2+2t3) required by two ice-making processes of one ice-making tray.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (9)

1. A refrigerator, comprising:

A storage chamber (101);

A door (102) that opens and closes the storage chamber (101);

An ice making device located in the storage compartment (101) or on the door (102), the ice making device including an ice making tray (1) and an ice storage compartment (2), the ice making tray (1) for generating ice pieces, the ice storage compartment (2) being disposed below the ice making tray (1) to accommodate the ice pieces generated in the ice making tray (1);

characterized in that the ice-making tray (1) comprises a first ice-making tray (11) and a second ice-making tray (12); when one of the first and second ice-making trays (11, 12) is in the water filling position (a), the other of the first and second ice-making trays (11, 12) is in the ice ejecting position (B).

2. the refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice making device includes a motor (7) to drive the first and second ice-making trays (11, 12) to be alternately in the water filling position (a) and the ice ejecting position (B), respectively.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the motor (7) is further used to drive the first ice-making tray (11) and the second ice-making tray (12) to perform the ice-overturning and ice-shedding.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1 or 2, wherein the water filling position (a) is located above the deicing position (B).

5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the ice-shedding position (B) is located above the ice storage chamber (2).

6. a refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ice making means comprises a support (8) for supporting the first and second ice making trays (11, 12), the support (8) having a slideway therein into which one end of the first and second ice making trays (11, 12) extends and is actuable to slide.

7. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the filling position (a) is arranged: at this position, the ice-making tray (1) is filled with water and the water in the ice-making tray (1) is cooled to a preset freezing temperature (T1); the ice-shedding position (B) is set as: at this position, the ice cubes or water in the ice-making tray (1) are cooled to a preset ice-shedding temperature (T2) and ice-shedding is performed; wherein the preset de-icing temperature (T2) is lower than the preset icing temperature (T1).

8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein when the water of one of the first and second ice-making trays (11, 12) is cooled to a preset freezing temperature (T1) and the other of the first and second ice-making trays (11, 12) completes de-icing, the first and second ice-making trays (11, 12) are actuatably switched in position.

9. A method of controlling a refrigerator as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising the steps of:

The refrigerator starts to make ice;

One of the ice making trays located at the water filling position is filled with water;

Judging whether the water in the other ice-making tray is at a preset icing temperature or not;

If the water in one of the ice-making trays reaches the preset icing temperature, continuously judging whether the other ice-making tray at the ice-removing position is ice-removed;

When the other ice-making tray is de-iced, the one ice-making tray and the other ice-making tray are actuated to interchange positions.