Refrigerator and Control Method Thereof

This application is a continuation application, claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 365(c), of an International application No. PCT/KR2025/003430, filed on Mar. 17, 2025, which is based on and claims the benefit of a Korean patent application number 10-2024-0040713, filed on Mar. 25, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The disclosure relates to a refrigerator and a control method thereof. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a refrigerator including an ice maker and a control method thereof.

A refrigerator is a device that cools and stores food using a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. In some cases, the refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker formed therein and configured to produce ice.

In a manner of the related art, users have to supply water to the ice maker by themselves, but recently developed refrigerators are equipped with a water supply device that automatically supplies water to the ice maker.

Additionally, the refrigerator includes an ice maker for producing different types of ice according to the user's requirements for ice shape and quality.

Recently, there has been an increasing demand from users for spherical ice, but it will take some time to produce spherical ice.

The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide a refrigerator and a control method thereof capable of improving an ice-making speed by selectively generating spherical ice and hemispherical ice.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes a storage compartment, an ice-making tray disposed in the storage compartment and including a first ice-making tray including a first ice-making cell in a hemispherical shape, and a second ice-making tray coupled to the first ice-making tray and including a second ice-making cell in a hemispherical shape, wherein the ice-making tray is provided to form a spherical ice-making cell by allowing the first ice-making cell and the second ice-making cell to come into contact with each other by coupling the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray, a water supply pipe provided to supply water to the ice-making tray, a water supply valve configured to open and close the water supply pipe, a user interface configured to receive a user input to select a spherical ice production mode or a hemispherical ice production mode, memory storing one or more computer programs, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the user interface, and the memory, wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the refrigerator to control the water supply valve to allow a first amount of water to be supplied to the spherical ice-making cell based on the selection of the spherical ice production mode, and control the water supply valve to allow a second amount of water to be supplied to the spherical ice-making cell based on the selection of the hemispherical ice production mode.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of a refrigerator including an ice-making tray to which water is supplied is provided, wherein the ice-making tray includes a first ice-making tray including a first ice-making cell in a hemispherical shape, and a second ice-making tray coupled to the first ice-making tray and including a second ice-making cell in a hemispherical shape. The ice-making tray is provided to form a spherical ice-making cell by allowing the first ice-making cell and the second ice-making cell to come into contact with each other by coupling the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray, the method includes receiving a user input via a user interface to select either a spherical ice production mode or a hemispherical ice production mode, controlling a water supply valve to allow a first amount of water to be supplied to the spherical ice-making cell based on the selection of the spherical ice production mode, and controlling the water supply valve to allow a second amount of water to be supplied to the spherical ice-making cell based on the selection of the hemispherical ice production mode.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing one or more computer programs including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a refrigerator including an ice-making tray to which water is supplied, individually or collectively, cause the refrigerator to perform operations are provided. The ice-making tray includes a first ice-making tray comprising a first ice-making cell in a hemispherical shape, and a second ice-making tray coupled to the first ice-making tray and comprising a second ice-making cell in a hemispherical shape, wherein the ice-making tray is provided to form a spherical ice-making cell by allowing the first ice-making cell and the second ice-making cell to come into contact with each other by coupling the first ice-making tray and the second ice-making tray, wherein the operations include receiving a user input via a user interface to select either a spherical ice production mode or a hemispherical ice production mode, controlling a water supply valve to allow a first amount of water to be supplied to the spherical ice-making cell based on the selection of the spherical ice production mode, and controlling the water supply valve to allow a second amount of water to be supplied to the spherical ice-making cell based on the selection of the hemispherical ice production mode.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

In the disclosure, phrases, such as “A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, “at least one of A or B”, “A, B or C”, “at least one of A, B and C”, and “at least one of A, B, or C” may include any one or all possible combinations of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase among the phrases.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Terms, such as “1”, “2”, “primary”, or “secondary” may be used simply to distinguish an element from other elements, without limiting the element in other aspects (e.g., importance or order).

Further, as used in the disclosure, the terms “front”, “rear”, “top”, “bottom”, “side”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, “lower”, and the like are defined with reference to the drawings, and are not intended to limit the shape and position of any element.

It will be understood that when the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including”, and/or “comprising” are used in the disclosure, they specify the presence of the specified features, figures, steps, operations, components, members, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, figures, steps, operations, components, members, or combinations thereof.

When a given element is referred to as being “connected to”, “coupled to”, “supported by” or “in contact with” another element, it is to be understood that it may be directly or indirectly connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with the other element. When a given element is indirectly connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with another element, it is to be understood that it may be connected to, coupled to, supported by, or in contact with the other element through a third element.

It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it may be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a cabinet.

The “cabinet” may include an inner case, an outer case positioned outside the inner case, and an insulation provided between the inner case and the outer case.

The “inner case” may include a case, a plate, a panel, or a liner forming a storage compartment (also referred to as a storage room). The inner case may be formed as one body, or may be formed by assembling a plurality of plates together. The “outer case” may form an appearance of the cabinet, and be coupled to an outer side of the inner case such that the insulation is positioned between the inner case and the outer case.

The “insulation” may insulate an inside of the storage compartment from an outside of the storage compartment to maintain inside temperature of the storage compartment at appropriate temperature without being influenced by an external environment of the storage compartment. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the insulation may include a foaming insulation. The foaming insulation may be molded by fixing the inner case and the outer case with jigs, or the like, and then injecting and foaming urethane foam as a mixture of polyurethane and a foaming agent between the inner case and the outer case.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the insulation may include a vacuum insulation in addition to a foaming insulation, or may be configured only with a vacuum insulation instead of a forming insulation. The vacuum insulation may include a core material and a cladding material accommodating the core material and sealing the inside with vacuum or pressure close to vacuum. However, the insulation is not limited to the above-mentioned foaming insulation or vacuum insulation, and may include various materials capable of being used for insulation.

The “storage compartment” may include a space defined by the inner case. The storage compartment may further include the inner case defining the space corresponding to the storage compartment. The storage compartment may store a variety of items, such as food, medicines, cosmetics, and the like, and the storage compartment may be configured to be open on at least one side for insertion and removal of the items.

The refrigerator may include one or more storage compartments. In a case in which two or more storage compartments are formed in the refrigerator, the respective storage compartments may have different purposes of use, and may be maintained at different temperatures. To this end, the respective storage compartments may be partitioned by a partition wall including an insulation.

The storage compartment may be maintained within an appropriate temperature range according to a purpose of use, and may include a “refrigerating compartment”, a “freezing compartment”, and a “temperature conversion compartment” according to purposes of use and/or temperature ranges. The refrigerating compartment may be maintained at an appropriate temperature to keep food refrigerating, and the freezing compartment may be maintained at an appropriate temperature to keep food frozen. The “refrigerating” may be keeping food cold without freezing the food, and for example, the refrigerating compartment may be maintained within a range of 0 degrees Celsius to 7 degrees Celsius. The “freezing” may be freezing food or keeping food frozen, and for example, the freezing compartment may be maintained within a range of −20 degrees Celsius to −1 degrees Celsius. The temperature conversion compartment may be used as either a refrigerating compartment or a freezing compartment according to or regardless of a user's selection.

The storage compartment may also be referred to by various terms, such as “vegetable compartment”, “freshness compartment”, “cooling compartment”, and “ice-making compartment”, in addition to “refrigerating compartment”, “freezing compartment”, and “temperature conversion compartment”, and the terms, such as “refrigerating compartment”, “freezing compartment”, “temperature conversion compartment”, or the like, as used below are to be understood as representing storage compartments having the corresponding purposes of use and the corresponding temperature ranges.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include at least one door configured to open or close the open side of the storage compartment. The respective doors may be provided to open and close one or more storage compartments, or a single door may be provided to open and close a plurality of storage compartments. The door may be rotatably or slidably mounted to the front of the cabinet.

The “door” may seal the storage compartment in a closed state. The door, like the cabinet, may include an insulation to insulate the storage compartment in a closed state.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the door may include an outer door plate forming the front surface of the door, an inner door plate forming the rear surface of the door and facing the storage compartment, an upper cap, a lower cap, and a door insulation provided therein.

A gasket may be provided on the edge of the inner door plate to seal the storage compartment by coming into close contact with the front surface of the cabinet when the door is closed. The inner door plate may include a dyke that protrudes rearward to allow a door basket for storing items to be fitted.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the door may include a door body and a front panel that is detachably coupled to the front of the door body and forming the front surface of the door. The door body may include an outer door plate forming the front surface of the door body, an inner door plate forming the rear surface of the door body and facing the storage compartment, an upper cap, a lower cap, and a door insulator provided therein.

The refrigerator may be classified as French door type, side-by-side type, bottom mounted freezer (BMF), top mounted freezer (TMF), or single door refrigerator according to the arrangement of the doors and the storage compartments.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a cold air supply device for supplying cold air to the storage compartment.

The “cold air supply device” may include a machine, an apparatus, an electronic device, and/or a combination system thereof, capable of generating cold air and guiding the cold air to cool the storage compartment.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the cold air supply device may generate cold air through a cooling cycle including compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation processes of refrigerants. To this end, the cold air supply device may include a refrigeration cycle device having a compressor, a condenser, an expander, and an evaporator to drive the refrigeration cycle. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the cold air supply device may include a semiconductor, such as a thermoelectric element. The thermoelectric element may cool the storage compartment by heating and cooling actions through the Peltier effect.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a machine compartment in which at least some components belonging to the cold air supply device are installed.

The “machine compartment” may be partitioned and insulated from the storage compartment to prevent heat generated by the components installed in the machine compartment from being transferred to the storage compartment. To dissipate heat from the components installed in the machine compartment, the machine compartment may communicate with outside of the cabinet.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a dispenser provided on the door to provide water and/or ice. The dispenser may be provided on the door to allow access by the user without opening the door.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include an ice-making device that produces ice. The ice-making device may include an ice-making tray that stores water, an ice-moving device that separates ice from the ice-making tray, and an ice-bucket that stores ice produced in the ice-making tray.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include a controller for controlling the refrigerator.

The “controller” may include memory for storing and/or recording data and/or programs for controlling the refrigerator, and a processor for outputting control signals for controlling the cold air supply device, or the like, in accordance with the programs and/or data stored in the memory.

The memory may store or record various information, data, instructions, programs, and the like necessary for operation of the refrigerator. The memory may store temporary data generated while generating control signals for controlling components included in the refrigerator. The memory may include at least one of volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof.

The processor may control the overall operation of the refrigerator. The processor may control the components of the refrigerator by executing programs stored in memory. The processor may include a separate neural processing unit (NPU) that performs an artificial intelligence (AI) model operation. In addition, the processor may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processor (GPU), and the like. The processor may generate a control signal to control the operation of the cold air supply device. For example, the processor may receive temperature information of the storage compartment from a temperature sensor and generate a cooling control signal to control an operation of the cold air supply device based on the temperature information of the storage compartment.