Abstract:
Disclosed herein is a refrigerator which comprises an icemaker. In the refrigerator, a printed circuit board for ice-making positioned in the icemaker shares some components with a main printed circuit board, or the main printed circuit board receives some components used for the icemaker in place of the printed circuit board for ice-making, thereby providing various effects. The refrigerator comprises an icemaker to perform automatic ice-making operation of freezing water supplied from an outside to produce ice cubes, a first printed circuit board to control a freezing operation for a freezing compartment of the refrigerator, and a power supply unit shared by the icemaker and the first printed circuit board.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2005-75630, filed on Aug. 18, 2005 and 10-2006-76691, filed on Aug. 14, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by references.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator, which comprises an icemaker to produce and supply ice cubes, and is constructed to have component to drive the icemaker mounted on a separate printed circuit board.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional refrigerator including an icemaker. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the refrigerator includes a main body  2  which is partitioned to form a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment by a barrier and has a cooling cycle system to maintain the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment at low temperatures, a freezing compartment door  4  hingably coupled with the main body  2  to open or close the freezing compartment, and a refrigerating compartment door  6  hingably coupled with the main body  2  to open or close the refrigerating compartment. The cooling cycle system includes a compressor (not shown) to compress gaseous refrigerant having a low temperature and a low pressure to have a high pressure, a condenser (not shown) to condense the compressed refrigerant via radiation with external air, an expansion unit (not shown) to reduce the pressure of the condensed refrigerant by adiabatically expanding the refrigerant, and an evaporator (not shown) to evaporate the refrigerant via thermal exchange.  
         [0006]     Recently, the refrigerant is under an increasing tendency of including an automatic ice dispenser, which can make ice cubes using chilled air of the freezing compartment, and then allow the ice cubes to be dispensed to an outside of the refrigerator. The automatic ice dispenser includes an icemaker  10  mounted at an upper portion of the freezing compartment to freeze water using chilled air within the freezing compartment, an ice bank  30  positioned in the freezing compartment to contain the ice cubes transferred from the icemaker  10 , a dispensing part  40  formed in a freezing compartment door  4  to allow the ice cubes to be dispensed to an outside without opening the freezing compartment door  4 , and an ice chute  50  to guide the ice cubes contained in the ice bank  30  to drop into the dispensing part  40 .  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  shows a line connection between a main printed circuit board and the icemaker in the conventional refrigerator. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the conventional refrigerator includes a main printed circuit board  21  positioned at an upper portion of a main body  2  to control operations of the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator, and a separate printed circuit board  19  for ice-making positioned in the icemaker  10  to control the icemaker  10 . The main printed circuit board  21  and the printed circuit board  19  for ice-making include microcomputers and power supplies, respectively.  
         [0008]     For the conventional refrigerator, since the icemaker is controlled by the separate printed circuit board for ice-making rather than the main printed circuit board, it becomes complicated and increases in size and manufacturing costs.  
         [0009]     Furthermore, this structure requires a separate power source for the printed circuit board for ice-making to independently drive various circuits, causing an increase in power consumption.  
         [0010]     Moreover, in the conventional refrigerator, the printed circuit board for ice-making occupies a relatively large volume in the icemaker so that utility of a mold section (ice-making region) of the icemaker is lowered by the size of the printed circuit board, causing a decrease in ice-making capacity.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a refrigerator, in which a printed circuit board for ice-making positioned in an icemaker shares some components with a main printed circuit board, or in which the main printed circuit board receives some components used for the icemaker in place of the printed circuit board for ice-making, thereby providing various effects.  
         [0012]     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention 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 invention.  
         [0013]     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator, including: an icemaker comprising a heater to partially melt ice cubes produced in a mold section for a predetermined period of time such that the ice cubes can be discharged to an outside from the mold section, a motor to rotate an ejector at a predetermined angle, the ejector serving to discharge the ice cubes to the outside, an ejector sensor to detect a rotated position of the ejector, a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of the mold section, and an ice-filling detection sensor to detect a rotated position of an ice-filling detection lever; and a main printed circuit board to supply power to a freezing compartment and the icemaker.  
         [0014]     The icemaker may further include a printed circuit board for ice-making to control the heater and the motor in response to detection signals sent from the ejector sensor, the temperature sensor and the ice-filling detection sensor to the printed circuit board for ice-making while receiving the power supplied from the main printed circuit board.  
         [0015]     The main printed circuit board may control at least one of the heater and the motor of the icemaker.  
         [0016]     The heater, the motor, the ejector sensor, the temperature sensor, and the ice-filling sensor of the icemaker may be connected with the main printed circuit board via a line.  
         [0017]     The main printed circuit board may further include a microcomputer storing a program to delay, interlink and change an operation of the icemaker according to a condition table input as operation and control information of the refrigerator.  
         [0018]     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator, including: an icemaker to perform automatic ice-making operation of freezing water supplied from an outside to produce ice cubes; a first printed circuit board to control a freezing operation for a freezing compartment of the refrigerator; and a power supply unit shared by the icemaker and the first printed circuit board.  
         [0019]     The icemaker may include a group of sensors to detect information for the automatic ice-making operation.  
         [0020]     The first printed circuit board may include a first microcomputer to control the freezing operation of the freezing compartment.  
         [0021]     The first printed circuit board may further include a driving unit to drive the icemaker, and the first microcomputer may drive the driving unit to control the automatic ice-making operation of the icemaker.  
         [0022]     The first microcomputer may control the automatic ice-making operation of the icemaker in response to the information for the automatic ice-making operation sent from the group of sensors positioned in the icemaker to the first microcomputer.  
         [0023]     In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an icemaker of a refrigerator including a first printed circuit board to control a freezing operation for a freezing compartment of the refrigerator, the first printed circuit board including a power supply unit, wherein the icemaker performs an automatic ice-making operation after receiving power supplied from the power supply unit of the first printed circuit board.  
         [0024]     The icemaker may further include a group of sensors to detect information for the automatic ice-making operation.  
         [0025]     The first printed circuit board may further include a driving unit to drive the icemaker, and the automatic ice-making operation of the icemaker may be controlled through driving of the driving unit by a first microcomputer. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0026]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:  
         [0027]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional refrigerator comprising an icemaker;  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  shows a line connection between a main printed circuit board and the icemaker in the conventional refrigerator;  
         [0029]      FIG. 3  shows an icemaker of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  shows a line connection between a main printed circuit board and the icemaker of the refrigerator according to the embodiment;  
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a main printed circuit board and a printed circuit board for ice-making according to one embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a main printed circuit board and a printed circuit board for ice-making according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0033]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention while referring to the figures.  
         [0034]     In  FIG. 3 , an icemaker of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in  FIG. 3 , a water container  311  contains water supplied through a water supplying valve  520  (see  FIG. 5 ), and supplies the water to a mold section  312 . The mold section  312  serves to freeze water supplied from the water container  311  by use of chilled air within a freezing compartment, thereby producing ice cubes. The mold section  312  is heated by a heater (not shown) such that the ice cubes are separated from the mold section  312  and then discharged to an outside. An ejector  314  is rotatably installed above the mold section  312  to scoop up the ice cubes to be discharged. Rotation of the ejector  314  is generated by a driving force of an ejector motor  315 . The ice cubes scooped up by the ejector  314  are directed into an ice bank along a slider  316 . The ice bank is provided with an ice-filling detection sensor  317  to detect whether or not the ice bank is filled with the ice cubes.  
         [0035]     The mold section  312  has an ice-making space where water is frozen. The ice-making space is formed with a plurality of partitioning protrusions  312   a  to divide the ice-making space to a plurality of spaces so that a plurality of ice cubes can be made by the spaces. The mold section  312  is provided with connecting members  312   b  by which the mold section  312  is fixed to an upper rear side of the freezing compartment. The heater is disposed on a lower surface of the mold section  312  to heat the mold section  312  in order to allow the ice cubes to be separated from the mold section  312 . The heater is a sheath heater, which locally heats only the lower surface of the mold section  312  rather than heating the overall outer surface of the mold section  312 . The ejector  314  includes a shaft  314   a  positioned above the ice-making space and rotated in conjunction with the ejector motor  315 . The shaft  314   a  of the ejector  314  is formed at a side surface with a plurality of pins  314   b , of which number corresponds to the number of ice-making spaces divided by the plurality of partitioning protrusions  312   a . The ejector motor  315  is mounted on a printed circuit board for ice-making (second printed circuit board)  319  positioned at one side of the mold section  312 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 4  shows a line connection between a main printed circuit board and the icemaker of the refrigerator according to the embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 4 , a refrigerator  410  has a main printed circuit board  421  (first printed circuit board) positioned in an electronic compartment at an upper end of the refrigerator  410  to control a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment while partially controlling the icemaker  310 . The main printed circuit board  421  according to embodiment of the present invention shares or receives some components, which have been mounted on the printed circuit board for ice-making in a conventional icemaker, thereby enabling reduction in size of the printed circuit board for ice-making  319 .  
         [0037]     For example, with a control system for an ice-making operation remaining in the icemaker  310 , the main printed circuit board  421  comprises a power supply unit which is to be shared with the printed circuit board for ice-making  319 , thereby reducing the size of the printed circuit board for ice-making  319  all the more. With this construction, the main printed circuit board  421  may supply power to the icemaker  310  while controlling the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment of the refrigerator, and the printed circuit board for ice-making  319  may control the icemaker  310  which comprises the water supply valve  420  (as indicated by a solid line of  FIG. 5 ). Alternatively, the main printed circuit board  421  further comprises components, such as a driving unit and a group of sensors, for the icemaker  310  excluding components for the icemaker  310  directly related to ice-making, so that the printed circuit board for ice-making  319  can be further reduced in size. At this point, the water supply valve  420  and the like are controlled by the main printed circuit board  421  (as indicated by a solid line of  FIG. 5 ). Furthermore, a housing (not shown) may be installed between the main printed circuit board  421  and the icemaker  310  in order to firmly and neatly secure a wire for connection.  
         [0038]     The main printed circuit board  421  may store a program which serves to delay, interlink and change an operation of the icemaker  310  according to a condition table input according to operation and control information of the refrigerator. In other words, since the icemaker  310  of the invention automatically produces the ice cubes using chilled air from the freezing compartment of the refrigerator, an ice-making speed can be changed according to a state of the refrigerator. Hence, it is preferable to control the icemaker  310  in conjunction with the state of the refrigerator.  
         [0039]     A process for transferring the ice cubes from the icemaker  310  to the ice bank will be described hereinafter. It should be noted in the following description that control of the icemaker  310  is performed by one of the main printed circuit board  421  and the printed circuit board for ice-making  319 .  
         [0040]     First, the water supply valve  420  is controlled to allow water to be supplied from an outside to the mold section  312 . The supplied water is frozen to form ice cubes within the mold section  312  by chilled air discharged from the freezing compartment of the refrigerator. After making the ice cubes, the heater is operated to heat the ice cubes in the mold section  312  to such a degree that the ice cubes can be separated from the mold section  312 . When a predetermined period of time is elapsed after operating the heater, the motor  315  is operated to rotate the ejector  314  so as to allow the ice cubes to be transferred from the mold section  312  to the ice bank by the ejector  314 . Then, while the ice cubes are continuously heated by the heater for the predetermined period of time, the motor  315  is driven for a predetermined period of time, thereby allowing the ice cubes to be transferred from the mold section  312  to the ice bank via rotation of the ejector  314 . When the motor  315  is driven for the predetermined period of time, it is determined that the ejector  314  makes one rotation and returns to its original position through an interior of the mold section  312 . Of course, a location of the ejector  314  can be more accurately detected by the ejector sensor.  
         [0041]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the main printed circuit board and the printed circuit board for ice-making according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the main printed circuit board  412   a  comprises a power supply unit  502  and a first microcomputer  504  which controls basic components  506  (such as, compressor, fans, etc.) for the refrigerator. An icemaker  310   a  is not provided with a separated power supply unit, but shares the power supply unit  502  with the main printed circuit board  412   a . Then, the icemaker  310   a  is operated in response to an input of power from the power supply unit  502  of the main printed circuit board  412   a  to the icemaker  310   a . Hence, a printed circuit board for ice-making  319   a  of the icemaker  310   a  does not require a space for mounting a separate power supply unit for the icemaker  310   a , so that the printed circuit board for ice-making  319   a  can be reduced in size and installation space.  
         [0042]     In view of the construction of the icemaker  310   a  shown in  FIG. 5 , the printed circuit board for ice-making  319   a  includes a second microcomputer  508  mounted thereon to control general operation of the icemaker  310   a . The second microcomputer  508  controls a heater driving unit  510 , a valve driving unit  512  and an ejector motor driving unit  514  to drive and control a heater  524 , a water supply valve  420   a  and an ejector motor  315   a , respectively. The icemaker  310   a  is provided with a temperature sensor  516  to detect the temperature of the mold section  312  required for freezing water into ice cubes, an ejector sensor  518  to detect a rotating state of the ejector  314 , and an ice-filling detection sensor  520  to detect filling of the ice bank with the ice cubes through detection of a rotated location of the ice-filling detection lever  317 . Values detected by these sensors  516 ,  518  and  520  are converted into signals permitting recognition by the second microcomputer  508  via a sensor signal converter  522  on the printed circuit board for ice-making  319   a , and are then sent to the second microcomputer  508 . Then, the second microcomputer  508  controls the process of making the ice cubes by the icemaker  310   a  in response to the signals.  
         [0043]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a main printed circuit board and a printed circuit board for ice-making according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 6 , the icemaker  310   b  is provided with a heater  624 , a water supply valve  420   b , an ejector motor  315   b , and a group of sensors  616 ,  618  and  620 , but is not provided with a printed circuit board. Instead, components, such as a power supply unit  602 , a heater driving unit  610 , a valve driving unit  612 , an ejector motor driving unit  614  and a sensor signal converter  622 , which require a printed circuit board, are mounted on a main printed circuit board  421   b . In addition, a third microcomputer  604  is mounted on the main printed circuit board  421   b  to control the icemaker  310   b  as well as basic components  606  (such as, compressor, fans, etc.) of the refrigerator. In other words, the third microcomputer  604  of the main printed circuit board  421   b  controls the power supply unit  602 , the heater driving unit  610 , the valve driving unit  612  and the ejector motor driving unit  614  to drive and control the heater  624 , the water supply valve  420   b  and the ejector motor  315   b , respectively. In addition, after receiving signal values sent via the sensor signal converter  622  on the main printed circuit board  421   b  from a temperature sensor  516  to detect the temperature of the mold section  312  required for freezing water into ice cubes, an ejector sensor  518  to detect a rotating state of the ejector  314 , and an ice-filling detection sensor  520  to detect filling of the ice bank with the ice cubes through detection of a rotated location of the ice-filling detection lever  317 , the third microcomputer  604  of the main printed circuit board  421   b  controls the process of making the ice cubes by the icemaker  310   a  in response to these signals. Hence, it is not necessary to install the printed circuit board in the icemaker  310   b , so that a space of the mold section  312  is further secured, thereby increasing capacity of ice making.  
         [0044]     As in the embodiment of the present invention, it is desirable that the concept of allowing some components to be shared by two different printed circuit boards be applied not only to the main printed circuit board and the printed circuit board for ice-making, but also to other printed circuit boards for other independent components of the refrigerator. For example, some components are preferably shared by the main printed circuit board and a printed circuit board for a display unit.  
         [0045]     As apparent from the above description, for the refrigerator according to the present invention, a printed circuit board for ice-making positioned in an icemaker shares some components with a main printed circuit board, or the main printed circuit board receives some components for the icemaker in place of the printed circuit board for ice-making, so that the printed circuit board for ice-making can be removed from the icemaker or can be reduced in size, thereby enabling an increase in utility of the mold section (ice-making space) of the icemaker.  
         [0046]     As such, when the main printed circuit board receives the some components for the icemaker in place of the printed circuit board for ice-making, the microcomputer of the main printed circuit board controls the icemaker, thereby simplifying the structure of the icemaker while reducing manufacturing costs thereof.  
         [0047]     Furthermore, the refrigerator according to the present invention minimizes power consumption of the icemaker via the structure wherein the main printed circuit board shares a single power supply unit with the printed circuit board for ice-making, so that overall power consumption of the refrigerator can be minimized.  
         [0048]     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.