Patent Abstract:
A refrigerator including a main body provided with a refrigerating chamber at an upper section and with a freezing chamber at a lower section, an ice making tray disposed in an upper space of an ice making chamber defined in the refrigerating chamber, a first storage container disposed in a lower space of the ice making chamber to store ice falling down from the ice making tray, and a second storage container disposed in a freezing chamber to store ice transferred from the ice making tray. The main body includes a guide channel to guide, when the first storage container reaches an ice-full state, ice falling from the ice making tray to the second storage container in the freezing chamber. The size of the ice making chamber is greatly reduced while a sufficient amount of the ice may be stored, thus securing a larger available space in the refrigerating chamber.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2011-0021419, filed on Mar. 10, 2011 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator having an ice maker installed at a door to make water or ice and a control method for the same. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A refrigerator is an apparatus which includes refrigeration cycle components therein to refrigerate or freeze foods stored therein using cool air generated from an evaporator among the refrigeration cycle components. 
         [0006]    In a recent refrigerator, a refrigerating chamber with a relatively high use frequency is disposed at an upper section of the refrigerator while a freezing chamber is disposed at a lower section of the refrigerator. A dispenser is installed at a refrigerating chamber door to open/close the refrigerating chamber in order to dispense ice through the dispenser. 
         [0007]    In such a refrigerator, an ice maker is also installed to make ice to be discharged through the dispenser, and the ice maker is advantageously disposed at a higher position than the dispenser in consideration of discharging the ice. Therefore, an ice making chamber is defined at one side of an upper portion of the refrigerating chamber using a thermal insulation wall, and the ice maker is installed in the ice making chamber. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    Therefore, it is an aspect to provide a refrigerator in which larger space of a refrigerating chamber becomes available and a method to control such a refrigerator. 
         [0009]    Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
         [0010]    In accordance with one aspect, a refrigerator includes a main body comprising a refrigerating chamber at an upper section thereof and provided with a freezing chamber at a lower section thereof, an ice making tray disposed in an upper space of an ice making chamber defined in the refrigerating chamber, a first storage container in a lower space of the ice making chamber to store ice falling from the ice making tray, and a second storage container in a freezing chamber to store ice transferred from the ice making tray, and the main body includes a guide channel to guide, when the first storage container enters an ice-full state, ice falling from the ice making tray to the second storage container in the freezing chamber. 
         [0011]    The guide channel may be formed in a recessed way into a side wall of the main body, and the refrigerator may further include a channel cover removably installed to the side wall of the main body to cover the guide channel. 
         [0012]    The refrigerator may further include a guide member to selectively guide ice removed from the ice making tray to any one of the guide channel and the first storage container, and a driving device to rotate the guide member. 
         [0013]    The guide member may be rotatably installed to the side wall of the main body to guide the ice to any one of the guide channel and the first storage container depending on a rotation angle thereof. 
         [0014]    The refrigerator may further include a refrigerating chamber door to open or close the refrigerating chamber, and a dispenser disposed in the refrigerating chamber door to guide discharge of the ice. 
         [0015]    The refrigerator may further include a conveying auger disposed in the first storage container to enable ice in the first storage container to be discharged through the dispenser. 
         [0016]    In accordance with another aspect, provided is a method to control a refrigerator comprising a refrigerating chamber at an upper section thereof and provided with a freezing chamber at a lower section. The method includes controlling an ice making operation of an ice maker to make ice in an ice making chamber defined in the refrigerating chamber to accommodate the ice maker, and guiding the ice to a first storage container in a lower space of the ice making chamber and a second storage container in the freezing chamber such that the ice is first guided to the first storage container until the first storage enters an ice-full state, and then to the second storage container until the second storage container enters an ice-full state. 
         [0017]    The method may include determining whether the first storage container is in an ice-full state, beginning, upon determining that the first storage container is not in an ice-full state, to make ice using the ice maker, and guiding the ice made by the ice maker to the first storage container until the first storage container reaches an ice-full state. 
         [0018]    The method may further include upon a determination that the first storage container is in an ice-full state, determining whether the second storage container is in an ice-full state. Upon determination that the second storage container is not in an ice-full state, to make ice using the ice maker, and guiding the ice made by the ice maker to the second storage container until the second storage container reaches an ice-full state. 
         [0019]    The method may further include, after the second storage container reaches an ice-full state, terminating production of the ice using the ice maker. 
         [0020]    The method may further include determining whether the first storage container is in an ice-full state, on a determination that the first storage container is in an ice-full state, determining whether the second storage container is in an ice-full state. Upon determining that the second storage container is not in an ice-full state, to make ice using the ice maker, and guiding the ice made by the ice maker to the second storage container until the second storage container reaches an ice-full state. 
         [0021]    As described above, after the first storage container disposed in the ice making chamber reaches an ice-full state, the ice is transferred through the guide channel to the second storage container provided in the freezing chamber and then is stored therein. In this way, the size of the ice making chamber may be greatly reduced while a sufficient amount of the ice may be stored, resulting in securing a larger available space in the refrigerating chamber. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0022]    These and/or other aspects 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: 
           [0023]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  are cross-sectional views in operations of an ice maker employed in a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of a second storage container employed in a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram for controlling a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0028]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart of controlling a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0029]    Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0030]    Below, a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0031]    As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a main body  10  which forms the appearance of the refrigerator and in which a plurality of food storage chambers, for example, two storage chambers  10 A and  10 B, are installed to be separated from each other. In this embodiment, the food storage chambers  10 A and  10 B are vertically partitioned such that the upper storage chamber  10 A forms a refrigerating chamber to store food in a refrigerated state and the lower storage chamber  10 B forms a freezing chamber to store food in a frozen state. 
         [0032]    A pair of doors  20 A,  20 B is installed at both sides of an upper section of the main body  10  so that each of one-side ends of the doors is installed to the main body  10  in a pivotable way. In this manner, using the pair of doors  20 A,  20 B, the refrigerating chamber  10 A can be opened or closed. In the freezing chamber  10 B, a freezing chamber door  20 B is installed to move between an extended position and a retracted position so that the freezing chamber  10 B has a drawer type structure. 
         [0033]    In a rear side of a lower section of the main body  10 , there is a machine chamber  10 D accommodating a compressor  11  to compress refrigerant, a condenser (not shown) in which the refrigerant and air exchange heat with each other and the refrigerant becomes cool, and an expansion valve (not shown) to expand the refrigerant in a pressure-reducing manner. In rear sides of the refrigerating and freezing chambers  10 A and  10 B, there are disposed evaporators  12 A and  12 B to generate cool air and two blowing fans  13 A and  13 B to enable the cool air generated from the evaporators to be supplied into the refrigerating and freezing chambers  10 A and  10 B. In this example, to cool the refrigerating and freezing chambers  10 A and  10 B independently, the two evaporators  12 A and  12 B are respectively disposed at the rear sides of the refrigerating and freezing chambers  10 A and  10 B. 
         [0034]    The refrigerator includes an ice maker  30  to make ice and a dispenser  40  positioned in the refrigerating chamber door  20 A to guide outward discharge of ice made by the ice maker  30 . Since it is advantageous in discharging the ice that the ice maker  30  is positioned above the dispenser  40 , an ice making chamber  10 C is defined at one side of an upper portion of the refrigerating chamber  10 A by a thermal insulation wall, and the ice maker  30  is installed in the ice making chamber  10 C. Although not shown, an ice making switch is installed at the refrigerating chamber door  20 A to allow users to select an ice making operation. 
         [0035]    The ice maker  30  includes an ice making tray  31  disposed at an upper space of the ice making chamber  10 C in which ice is made, a scraper  32  to separate ice from the ice making tray  31 , a heater  33  (refer to  FIG. 3 ) to allow ice in the ice making tray  31  to be removed easily from the tray, a first storage container  33  disposed at a lower space of the ice making chamber  10 C to receive ice removed from the ice making tray  31  and store it, a conveying auger  35  rotatably installed in the first storage container  33  to guide, via its rotation, ice to be discharged to the dispenser  40 , and a conveying motor to rotate the conveying auger  35 . 
         [0036]    The dispenser  40  includes a discharge portion  42  which is a space formed by making a depression from a front face of the refrigerating chamber door  20 A toward an inner side of the refrigerating chamber door  20 A and which has a discharge opening  41  for discharge of an object and thus from which the object is discharged. The dispenser  40  also includes an opening/closing member  43  to open or close the discharge opening  41 , an actuating lever  44  installed in the discharge portion  42  to operate the opening/closing member  43  and at the same time operate the conveying auger. The dispenser also includes a discharging channel  45  to guide ice discharged from the first storage container  33  to the discharge opening  41 . 
         [0037]    The above-mentioned ice making chamber  10 C is defined at one side of and within the refrigerating chamber  10 A. Therefore, the larger the size of the ice making chamber  10 C, the smaller the size of the refrigerating chamber  10 A, resulting in limitation of the size of the first storage container  34  to a certain level. 
         [0038]    For this reason, in this embodiment of the invention, a guide channel  10 E is installed to guide ice removed from the ice making tray  31  to the freezing chamber  10 B, and a second storage container  14  is provided in the freezing chamber  10 B to receive the ice transferred along the guide channel  10 E and store it. 
         [0039]    The guide channel  10 E, as shown in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5 , is recessed into a side wall of the main body  10 . An upper end of the guide channel  10 E communicates with one side of a lower space of the ice making tray  31  while a lower end of the guide channel  10 E communicates with the second storage container  14 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , a channel cover  15  is installed on the side wall of the main body  10  in a detachable manner from the side wall so as to cover a portion of the guide channel  10 E. Thus, if it is necessary to clean the guide channel  10 E, the channel cover  15  is separated from the side wall of the main body  10  to expose the guide channel  10 E and clean the same. 
         [0040]    The second storage container  14  is formed in a drawer type and is installed in the freezing chamber  10 B in a movable manner. At one side of the second storage container  14 , a transfer opening  14   a  through which the ice is transferred to the container  14  is provided so as to communicate with the lower end of the guide channel  10 E. 
         [0041]    Ice made in the ice maker  30  first fills the first storage container  34  until the first storage container  34  is completely filled with the ice. Thereafter, the ice is guided to the second storage container  14  to fill the same. 
         [0042]    To this end, a guide member  16  is disposed at the upper end of the guide channel  10 E to enable transfer of the ice falling from the ice making tray  31  to a selected one of the first storage container  34  and the guide channel  10 E. 
         [0043]    The guide member  16  is installed at the side wall of the main body  10  in a rotatable manner and enables, by rotation thereof, such transfer of the ice falling from the ice making tray  31  to the selected one of the first storage container  34  and the guide channel  10 E depending on a rotation angle thereof. A driving device  17  such as a motor, etc. is installed at the main body  10  to rotate the guide member  16 . 
         [0044]    For sensing ice amount, a first ice amount sensor  18 A- 18 B is disposed in the ice making chamber  10 C to sense ice amount of the first storage container  34 , and a second ice amount sensor  19 A- 19 B is disposed in the freezing chamber  10 B to sense ice amount of the second storage container  14 . In this embodiment, the first ice amount sensor  18 A- 18 B includes a light-emitting unit  18 A and a light-receiving unit  18 B. The second ice amount sensor  19 A- 19 B includes a light-emitting unit  19 A and a light-receiving unit  19 B. 
         [0045]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the refrigerator includes a control unit  100  to control the ice maker  30  and the guide member  16 , a first ice amount sensing unit  110  including the first ice amount sensor  18 A and  18 B, a second ice amount sensing unit  120  including the second ice amount sensor  19 A and  19 B, and a guide member driver  130  including the driving device  17 . 
         [0046]    Now, a method of controlling such a refrigerator will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 7 . 
         [0047]    As mentioned above, the refrigerator according to this embodiment the ice made in the ice maker  30  first fills the first storage container  34  until the first storage container  34  is completely filled with ice, and thereafter is guided to the second storage container  14  to fill the same. 
         [0048]    For this purpose, it is first checked whether the ice making switch is in an ON state ( 200 ), and then if the ice making switch is in an ON state, the amount of ice in the first storage container  34  is sensed using the first ice amount sensor  18 A and  18 B ( 201 ). 
         [0049]    It is determined whether the first storage container  34  is in an ice-full state ( 202 ). Upon a determination that the first storage container  34  is not in an ice-full state, the ice maker  30  begins to make ice ( 203 ). The ice made by the ice maker  30  is guided to the first storage container  34  by rotating the guide member  16  to a closed position using the driving device  17  ( 204 ). 
         [0050]    The operation ( 204 ) of guiding the ice made by the ice maker  30  to the first storage container  34  continues until it is determined that the first storage container  34  is in an ice-full state. As the ice is being guided to the first storage container  34  the amount of ice contained within the first storage container is sensed again ( 205 ). It is determined again if the first storage container  34  is in a full state ( 206 ). Such operations ( 204 ,  205  and  206 ) are repeated until it is determined that the first storage container  34  is in an ice-full state. 
         [0051]    Upon a determination that the first storage container  34  is in an ice-full state, the amount of ice in the second storage container  14  is sensed using the second ice amount sensor  19 A and  19 B ( 207 ). It is determined whether the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state ( 208 ). Upon a determination that the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state, the ice making operation terminates ( 209 ). Upon determining that the second storage container  14  is not in an ice-full state, the ice made by the ice maker  30  is guided to the guide channel  10 E by rotating the guide member  16  to an open position using the driving device  17  ( 210 ). The ice guided to the channel  10 E is transferred to the second storage container  14  through the transfer opening  14   a . Once ice is guided to the second storage container  14 , the amount of ice in the second storage container  14  is again sensed ( 211 ). It is again determined whether the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state ( 208 ). Such operations ( 208 ,  210  and  211 ) are repeated until it is determined that the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state and thus the ice making operation terminates ( 209 ). 
         [0052]    At the operation ( 202 ) of determining whether the first storage container  34  is in an ice-full state and it is determined that the first storage container  34  is in an ice-full state, the amount of ice in the second storage container  14  is sensed using the second ice amount sensor  19 A and  19 B ( 212 ). Subsequently, it is determined whether the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state ( 213 ). Upon determining that the second storage container  14  is not in an ice-full state, the ice maker  30  begins to make ice ( 214 ). 
         [0053]    After the ice making operation ( 214 ), ice made by the ice maker  30  is guided to the guide channel  10 E by rotating the guide member  16  using the driving device  17  ( 210 ). Once ice is guided to the second storage container  14 , the amount of ice in the second storage container  14  is again sensed ( 211 ) and then it is again determined whether the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state ( 208 ). Such operations ( 208 ,  210  and  211 ) are repeated until it is determined that the second storage container  14  is in an ice-full state. 
         [0054]    Using the above-mentioned method, the first storage container  34  is first filled with ice and, thereafter, the second storage container  14  is filled with ice. 
         [0055]    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 these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5