Patent Description:
Along with continuous improvement of living level of people, refrigerators have become a necessary article in lives of people. The refrigerators maintain their interiors at a lower temperature through cooling effect and therefore may not only store foods but also make ice by use of a simple ice making device, which fully meets the requirements of people for ice cubes.

For example, patent <CIT> discloses that this automatic ice machine comprises a supporting frame member provided with a water receiving ice tray and an electric motor for performing an ice dropping process by rotating the water receiving ice tray at a specific angle, the supporting member is mounted separatably from a structural member on a refrigerator main body part side, and an electric power line to the electric motor and a control line are disconnected/connected by means of a terminal on a supporting frame member side and a terminal on a structural member side, whereby the demounting of the water receiving ice tray and the electric motor, and the connection thereof with the refrigerator main body side can be performed at a time by the supporting frame member, which simplifies the work. Further, patent <CIT> discloses a water filling device for an ice cube tray having a water transferring arrangement whereby upon the removal of the tray from its stored position within a freezer section of a refrigerator it readies a measured amount of water for subsequent transfer to the tray upon the return of the tray to its stored position.

According to the invention, there is provided a refrigerator with an ice maker according to claim <NUM>.

The present disclosure further provides an ice maker control method for the refrigerator with an ice maker provided in claim <NUM>.

In order to describe the technical solution of the present disclosure more clearly, the accompanying drawings involved in the examples will be briefly introduced. Apparently, those skilled the art may also obtain other drawings according to these drawings without paying creative work.

In order to help those skilled in the art to understand the technical solution of the present disclosure better, the technical solution of the present disclosure will be fully and clearly described below in combination with the accompanying drawings of the examples of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described examples are merely some of the present disclosure rather than all examples. All other examples obtained by those skilled in the art based on these examples of the present disclosure without paying creative work shall fall with the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

In the description of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that orientations or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "bottom", "inside", "outside", are based on orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings and are used only for convenience and simplification of descriptions of the present disclosure, rather than indicate or imply that the indicated apparatus or element shall have a specific orientation and be configured or operated in a specific orientation. Thus, the terms shall not be understood as limiting of the present disclosure.

Further, the terms "first", "second" are used only for the purpose of descriptions and shall not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the feature. In addition, it is understood that the terms such as "including" or "having" are used herein and shall be intended to indicate the presence of features, digits, steps, functions, several assemblies or their combinations disclosed in the present disclosure and also be understood as that more or fewer of the features, digits, steps, functions, several assemblies or their combinations may be used.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of entire structure of a refrigerator with an ice maker according to some examples of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a front view of a refrigerator with an ice maker according to some examples of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, in the refrigerator with an ice maker in an example of the present disclosure, the refrigerator may include a refrigerator body with a cryogenic storage compartment and a partition plate for partitioning adjacent cryogenic storage compartments, and the cryogenic storage compartment may include a refrigerating compartment <NUM>, a green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM>, and a freezing compartment <NUM>. The refrigerating compartment <NUM> may keep foods in a cold storage state, the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM> may store foods with green leaves at an applicable temperature, and the freezing compartment <NUM> may keep foods in a frozen state. The refrigerating compartment <NUM> may be disposed at an upper side of the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM>, and the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM> may be disposed at an upper side of the freezing compartment <NUM>.

The partition plates <NUM> are used to partition the refrigerating compartment <NUM>, the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM> and the freezing compartment <NUM>, that is, a partition plate <NUM> is disposed between the refrigerating compartment <NUM> and the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM>, and a partition plate <NUM> is disposed between the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM> and the freezing compartment <NUM>. In this way, food storage is facilitated.

As shown in <FIG>, the refrigerator also includes a water supply assembly disposed in the refrigerating compartment <NUM> and an ice maker <NUM> disposed in the freezing compartment <NUM> and connected with the water supply assembly. The water supply assembly is used to supply water to the ice maker <NUM> so that the ice maker makes water into ice cubes. An air supply opening <NUM> is disposed at a position in the freezing compartment <NUM> and close to the ice maker <NUM> to supply cooling capacity to the ice maker <NUM>. That is, an independent air supply opening is disposed for the ice maker <NUM> to supply cooling capacity to the ice maker <NUM>, thereby facilitating ice making of the ice maker <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the ice maker <NUM> includes an ice maker rack <NUM>, an ice tray and an ice storage box <NUM>. The ice tray includes an ice tray rack <NUM>, an ice cube tray <NUM>, and an ice-overturning motor <NUM>. The ice maker rack <NUM> is mounted on the partition plate <NUM> to fix the ice maker <NUM> onto the partition plate <NUM>. The ice tray rack <NUM> is detachably mounted in the ice maker rack <NUM>, and the ice cube tray <NUM> is fixedly mounted in the ice tray rack <NUM>. That is, the ice maker rack <NUM> is used to carry the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice tray rack <NUM> is used to carry the ice cube tray <NUM>. The ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice cube tray <NUM> may move back and forth in the ice maker rack <NUM>. If a user desires to take out the ice cube tray <NUM>, the ice tray rack <NUM> may be pulled forward and then taken out of the ice maker rack <NUM>, thereby helping the user to clean the ice cube tray <NUM>. If the user desires to put back the ice tray rack <NUM>, the ice tray rack <NUM> may be pushed backward to be mounted into the ice maker rack <NUM>. After being injected into the ice cube tray <NUM>, water will form into ice cubes under the action of the cooling capacity in the freezing compartment <NUM>.

It is required to accurately control water injection into the ice cube tray <NUM> during ice making of the ice cube tray <NUM>. At present, the common control method of the ice maker for controlling water injection into the ice tray includes a mechanical control manner and a magnetism-sensitive switch control manner. As shown in <FIG>, the mechanical control manner is as follows: the ice maker includes a rack <NUM>, a motor <NUM>, an ice detection rod <NUM>, a control card <NUM>, and an ice tray <NUM>; the control card <NUM> is mounted in the ice tray <NUM>; when the ice tray <NUM> is mounted to be in place, the control card <NUM> is driven to be level, the motor <NUM> disposed on the rack <NUM> is timed to drive the ice detection rod <NUM> to normally rotate based on the set degree so as to detect the ice storage in the ice storage box and determine whether to continue water injection and perform overturning for the ice tray; when the ice tray <NUM> is taken out, the control card <NUM> will freely rotate down due to no structure limitation of the ice tray <NUM> to limit the rotational movement of the ice detection rod <NUM>, and a feedback signal indicates no need to continue water injection. But when a rotary shaft of the control card <NUM> freezes, the control card <NUM> cannot rotate to be in place by use of gravity after the ice tray <NUM> is taken out, and thus cannot limit further downward movement of the ice detection rod <NUM>, and the feedback signal indicates water injection can be continued. In this case, water is injected into the ice storage box and frozen, bringing user complaints.

As shown in <FIG>, the magnetism-sensitive switch control manner is as follows: the ice maker includes a rack <NUM>, a knob <NUM>, an ice detection rod <NUM>, and an ice tray <NUM>; a magnetism-sensitive switch is disposed on the rack <NUM>, and a magnet is disposed on the knob <NUM>; when the ice tray <NUM> is mounted to be in place, the knob <NUM> rotates down to be level and the magnetism-sensitive switch senses at the same time, and water injection, ice detection and ice overturning are performed as normal; when the ice tray is taken out, the knob <NUM> rotates clockwise by <NUM> degrees, the magnetism-sensitive switch is disconnected, and water injection is no more performed. However, when the ice tray <NUM> is taken out for cleaning, the knob may be loosened and will not be in the vertical direction and fall to be level due to wearing arising from long-time use, and at this time, water will be injected to the ice storage box and frozen up, bringing user complaints. In addition, after the ice tray is cleaned, the user forgets to rotate the knob <NUM> to level, resulting in that the feedback signal indicates that the ice tray is taken out, and therefore normal water injection cannot be performed for ice making. In this example, a new magnetism-sensitive switch mounting manner is designed for the ice maker. As shown in <FIG>, the ice maker further includes a magnet <NUM> and a magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM>. The magnet <NUM> is disposed on the ice tray rack <NUM>, and the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is disposed at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM>. The magnet <NUM> and magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> are in correspondence to realize mutual induction so as to perceive whether the ice tray <NUM> is taken out cooperatively and determine whether to perform water injection. In this way, a series of water injection and ice making operations are correctly completed with high reliability.

Specifically, the magnet <NUM> is disposed on the ice tray rack <NUM>, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is fixedly mounted at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM>. The magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> may cooperatively perceive whether to perform water injection for the ice tray. Specifically, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a first groove <NUM> is disposed at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM>, a switch cover plate <NUM> is disposed on the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM>, a first buckling groove <NUM> and a second buckling groove <NUM> are disposed at both ends of the switch cover plate <NUM> respectively, a first buckle <NUM> and a second buckle <NUM> are disposed at an opening of the first groove <NUM> respectively, the first buckling groove <NUM> is fitted with the first buckle <NUM>, and the second buckling groove <NUM> is fitted with the second buckle <NUM>. In this case, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is fixedly mounted in the first groove <NUM> to perceive the position of the magnet <NUM>. Further, the magnetism-sensitive switch is detachable and thus has high repairability.

As shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, a mounting groove is disposed at a side wall of the ice tray rack <NUM>, the mounting groove corresponds to the first groove <NUM>, and the magnet <NUM> is fixedly fitted into the mounting groove. Thus, the magnet <NUM> is fixedly mounted on the ice tray rack <NUM>. In this case, the magnet may be mounted and dismounted along with the ice tray rack <NUM>.

In some examples, a water inlet is further disposed on the partition plate <NUM>. The water inlet is located above the ice tray, that is, the water inlet corresponds to the ice tray. Water injection is performed for the ice tray through the water inlet, thereby realizing a series of water injection and ice making operations. The first groove <NUM> where the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is located is close to the water inlet so that the first groove <NUM> and the mounting groove are in correspondence up and down, and the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> are exactly opposed, thereby ensuring the magnet <NUM> is exactly opposed to the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> when the ice tray is mounted to be in place.

In some examples, the ice maker <NUM> further includes a controller. The magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> cooperatively perceive the position of the ice tray and feed back a signal for stopping/starting water injection to the controller. When the ice tray is mounted to be in place, the magnet <NUM> is exactly opposed to the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM>, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is disconnected after sensing the magnet <NUM> and feeds back a signal for continuing water injection to the controller, and thus water injection, ice making and ice detection can be normally performed. When the ice tray is taken out, the magnet <NUM> is also taken out, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> cannot sense the magnet <NUM> and thus is in a closed state, and feeds back a signal for stopping water injection to the controller so as to stop injecting water to the ice tray.

In the refrigerator with an ice maker in the present disclosure, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is fixedly mounted at the bottom surface of the partition plate <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> is mounted at a side wall of the ice tray rack <NUM>, so that the magnet can be mounted or taken out along with the ice tray rack <NUM>. When the ice tray rack <NUM> is slidably mounted to be in place on the ice maker rack <NUM>, the magnet <NUM> is exactly opposed to the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM>, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is in a disconnected state after sensing the magnet <NUM>, and feeds back a signal for continuing water injection so as to perform water injection, ice making and ice detection normally. When the ice tray rack <NUM> is slidably taken out from the ice maker rack <NUM>, the magnet <NUM> is also taken out, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is in a closed state after failing to sensing the magnet <NUM> and feeds back a signal for stopping water injection so as to immediately stop injecting water to the ice cube tray <NUM>. In this case, whether the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice cube tray <NUM> are mounted to be in place can be determined accurately by use of the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> so that a series of water injection and ice making operations are completed accurately, thus avoiding continuing water injection to the ice cube tray <NUM> after the ice cube tray <NUM> is taken out. Further, with fewer interference factors and higher reliability, the accurate control of the water injection of the ice maker is greatly improved.

The ice cube tray <NUM> includes a plurality of ice-making lattices and various ice-making lattices are in communication with each other. Water supplied by the water supply assembly is injected into one ice-making lattice to fill up the entire ice cube tray through communication openings between various ice-making lattices.

The ice-overturning motor <NUM> is disposed at an end of the ice maker rack <NUM> and connected with the ice cube tray <NUM> to overturn the ice cube tray <NUM>. After the ice cube tray <NUM> makes water into ice cubes, the ice-overturning motor <NUM> overturns the ice cube tray <NUM> to transfer the ice cubes in the ice cube tray <NUM> to the ice storage box <NUM>, and then overturns the ice cube tray <NUM> back to original position to continue ice making. The above operations may be repeated until the ice storage box <NUM> is full of ice cubes.

The ice maker <NUM> further includes an infrared sensor <NUM>. The infrared sensor <NUM> is mounted at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM> to detect a temperature of the ice cubes in the ice cube tray <NUM> so as to determine whether the ice cubes in the ice cube tray <NUM> are already made and whether the ice-overturning is to be performed. If the infrared sensor <NUM> detects the temperature in the ice cube tray <NUM> is continuously maintained at a low level, it indicates that the ice cubes in the ice cube tray <NUM> are already made. The ice-overturning motor <NUM> is controlled to overturn the ice cube tray <NUM> to transfer the ice cubes in the ice cube tray <NUM> to the ice storage box <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, a second groove <NUM> is disposed at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM>, a third buckle <NUM> is disposed in the second groove <NUM>, and a mounting hole <NUM> corresponding to the third buckle <NUM> is disposed on the infrared sensor <NUM>. When the infrared sensor <NUM> is to be mounted, the infrared sensor <NUM> is mounted into the second groove <NUM> and fixed by matching the third buckle <NUM> with the mounting hole <NUM>.

A line terminal is further disposed in the second groove <NUM>. The line terminal is connected with the infrared sensor <NUM> and a line connected with the line terminal is located in the partition plate <NUM> to supply power to the infrared sensor <NUM>. Further, the infrared probe of the infrared sensor <NUM> faces the ice cube tray <NUM> so as to realize accurate detection of temperature of ice or water in the ice cube tray <NUM>.

The refrigerator further includes a controller. The controller is connected with the infrared sensor <NUM> and the ice-overturning motor <NUM> respectively. The controller is configured to: control water injection to the ice cube tray <NUM>; obtain the temperature and the ice making time detected by the infrared sensor, determine whether the ice making is completed based on the temperature and the ice making time detected by the infrared sensor, and control the ice-overturning motor <NUM> to perform ice-overturning operation if the ice making is completed; and continue performing ice making operation if the ice making is not completed.

The process of controlling water injection to the ice cube tray by the controller is as follows:.

By the infrared sensor, the temperature of water or ice in the ice cube tray of the ice maker is directly detected to accurately determine the current situation of the ice making, and the controller then performs determination based on a set program to accurately control the ice maker to perform water injection or ice overturning. The ice maker herein has significant advantages over the existing ice maker with single time control function on the market, preventing ice cube lumping resulting from overturning following unsuccessful ice making in the refrigerator, and greatly improving the ice making efficiency.

The ice maker further includes a handle <NUM> and a knob <NUM>. The handle <NUM> is disposed at an end of the ice tray rack <NUM> away from the ice-overturning motor <NUM>. Further, the handle <NUM> and the ice maker rack <NUM> are in a same plane. A user may take out the ice tray rack <NUM> by the handle <NUM>, facilitating user operation. Apart from facilitating taking out the ice tray rack <NUM> by the user, the handle <NUM> may also prevent the ice tray rack <NUM> from being squeezed out of the ice maker <NUM> during ice overturning process.

The knob <NUM> is disposed at an end of the ice maker rack <NUM> to rotatably lock or unlock the handle <NUM> and the ice maker rack <NUM>. The knob <NUM> is rotatably mounted on an end surface of the ice maker rack <NUM>. When the user rotates the knob <NUM>, the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice maker rack <NUM> may be locked to further prevent the ice tray rack <NUM> from being squeezed out of the ice maker during ice overturning process. When the user rotates the knob <NUM> in another direction, the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice maker rack <NUM> may be unlocked to assist the user in taking out the ice cube tray <NUM>.

When the user desires to clean the ice cube tray <NUM>, the user may firstly rotate the knob <NUM> to unlock the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice maker rack <NUM> and then pull forward the ice tray rack <NUM> by the handle <NUM> and then take it out of the ice maker rack <NUM>. The magnet <NUM> and the magnetism-sensitive switch cooperatively perceive that the ice cube tray <NUM> is already taken out, and control the water supply assembly to stop supplying water. Then, cleaning may be performed for the ice cube tray <NUM>. After cleaning of the ice cube tray <NUM>, the user may firstly push back the ice tray rack <NUM> into the ice maker rack <NUM>, and then rotate the knob <NUM> to lock the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice maker rack <NUM>. The magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> cooperatively perceive that the ice cube tray <NUM> is placed back, and control the water supply assembly to perform water injection so as to continue ice making.

The ice maker <NUM> further includes an ice detection rod <NUM>. The ice detection rod <NUM> is disposed on the ice-overturning motor <NUM> to detect whether the ice storage box <NUM> is full of ice cubes. The ice detection rod <NUM> detects the ice cubes in the ice storage box <NUM> by moving down from top under the drive of an ice detection shaft. When the ice storage box <NUM> is full of ice cubes, a descending angle of the ice detection rod <NUM> is small. On the other hand, when there is no or no sufficient ice in the ice storage box, the descending angle of the ice detection rod <NUM> is large. Thus, the amount of ice may be determined according to the change of the descending angle of the ice detection rod <NUM>. If the ice detection rod determines that the ice storage box is full of ice, the water supply assembly is controlled to stop water injection, avoiding overflowing of ice in the ice storage box <NUM>. If the ice detection rod determines that the ice storage box <NUM> is not full of ice, the water supply assembly is controlled to continue water injection so as to continue ice making and overturning.

As shown in <FIG>, the water supply assembly includes a water tank <NUM>, a filter <NUM>, a water pump <NUM> and a water supply tube. The water tank <NUM> is disposed in the refrigerating compartment <NUM>, and a water tank cover <NUM> is disposed at an upper opening of the water tank <NUM> to cover the water tank <NUM>. The water tank cover <NUM> is covered on the opening of the water tank <NUM>. When a user needs to add water, the user may simply push back the water tank cover <NUM> to expose the water inlet of the water tank, facilitating the user operation. Further, a sealing rubber strip <NUM> is disposed at the opening of the water tank <NUM> to seal the water tank cover <NUM> and the water tank <NUM>, thus preventing water tank <NUM> from leaking water.

The filter <NUM> is disposed in the water tank <NUM> and fitted onto the water tank cover <NUM> by rotation so as to filter water in the water tank <NUM>. Water in the water tank <NUM> is filtered by the filter <NUM> and flows out of the water tank <NUM> through the water outlet of the filter. The water inlet of the water pump <NUM> is connected with the water outlet of the filter to pump the filtered water. The water outlet of the water pump <NUM> is connected with an end of the water supply tube, and the other end of the water supply tube is connected to the ice cube tray <NUM>. Thus, the water pumped by the water pump <NUM> is delivered to the ice cube tray <NUM> for ice making through the water supply tube.

In order to facilitate connection between the water outlet of the filter and the water inlet of the water pump <NUM>, a water inlet rubber tube is connected between the water inlet of the water pump <NUM> and the water outlet of the filter. The hard water outlet of the filter and the hard water inlet of the water pump are connected by the soft water inlet rubber tube to avoid direct connection of the hard water inlet of the water pump and the hard water outlet of the filter.

The water supply tube includes a water outlet rubber tube <NUM>, a water outlet PE tube, and a water outlet aluminum tube <NUM>. An end of the water outlet rubber tube <NUM> is connected with the water outlet of the water pump <NUM>, that is, the soft water outlet rubber tube <NUM> is connected with the hard water outlet of the water pump <NUM>. The other end of the water outlet rubber tube <NUM> is connected with an end of the water outlet PE tube <NUM>, the other end of the water outlet PE tube <NUM> is connected with an end of the water outlet aluminum tube <NUM>, and the other end of the water outlet aluminum tube <NUM> is connected to the ice cube tray <NUM>. In this way, the water in the water tank <NUM> is filtered by the filter <NUM> and then pumped by the water pump <NUM>, and then passed through the water outlet rubber tube <NUM>, the water outlet PE tube <NUM> and the water outlet aluminum tube <NUM> into the ice cube tray <NUM>. In addition, a sealing rubber sleeve <NUM> is disposed between the water outlet PE tube <NUM> and the water outlet aluminum tube <NUM> to seal the connection of the water outlet PE tube <NUM> and the water outlet aluminum tube <NUM>, thereby ensuring unobstructed water flow.

In this example, the water supply tube passes through the refrigerating compartment <NUM>, the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM> and the freezing compartment <NUM> in sequence, and the water supply tube is located outside of the internal air duct of the refrigerator body <NUM> to prevent the water in the water supply tube to freeze in a cold environment, thereby ensuring the water in the water tank <NUM> can be injected smoothly into the ice cube tray <NUM>.

In the refrigerator of the examples of the present disclosure, the ice-making principle is as follows:.

The water tank is disposed in the refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator. When the ice-making function of the refrigerator is enabled, the filtered water is pumped by the water pump from the water tank, and then injected into the ice cube tray through the water supply tube. The water in the ice cube tray is made into ice under the action of the cooling capacity from the air supply opening of the freezing compartment. The infrared sensor on the partition plate determines whether ice is already made or not based on the detected temperature. If the ice making is completed, the ice-overturning motor is controlled to overturn the ice cube tray to transfer the ice cubes in the ice cube tray into the ice storage box, and then overturn the ice cube tray back to continue ice making. After one ice making cycle, it is required to clean the ice cube tray. At this time, the user rotates the knob clockwise by <NUM> degrees to unlock the ice tray rack and the ice maker rack, and then pull forward the ice tray rack by the handle to take the ice tray rack and the ice cube tray out of the refrigerator for cleaning. When the ice tray rack is pulled forward, the magnet on the ice tray rack and the magnetism-sensitive switch on the partition plate cooperatively perceive that the ice cube tray is already taken out, and then the water supply assembly is controlled to stop supplying water. After the user completes cleaning the ice cube tray, the user may push back the ice tray rack by the handle to mount the ice tray rack into the ice maker rack, and then rotate the knob counterclockwise by <NUM> degrees to lock the ice tray rack and the ice maker rack. The magnet on the ice tray rack and the magnetism-sensitive switch on the partition plate cooperatively perceive that the ice cube tray is already placed back, and then the water supply assembly is controlled to start supplying water so as to continue ice making.

In the refrigerator, the ice cube tray can be dismounted by detachable connection of the ice tray rack and the ice maker rack, and thus, the structure is simple and operation is easy to do. In addition, the magnet on the ice tray rack and the magnetism-sensitive switch on the partition plate cooperatively perceive whether the ice cube tray is taken out so as to determine whether to stop water injection, thereby realizing accurate control of water injection, avoiding continued water injection to the ice cube tray after the ice cube tray is taken out, resulting in irregular ice cubes.

Based on the refrigerator with an ice maker in the above examples of the present disclosure, the examples of the present disclosure further provide an ice maker mounting method.

As shown in <FIG>, when an ice maker is mounted in the refrigerator, an ice maker rack <NUM>, an ice tray rack <NUM>, an ice cube tray <NUM>, an ice-overturning motor <NUM>, an ice storage box <NUM>, a magnet <NUM>, a handle <NUM>, a knob <NUM> and an ice detection rod <NUM> are firstly assembled into an ice maker <NUM> by combination; then, a partition plate <NUM> is inverted, and a magnetism-sensitive switch 17and an infrared sensor <NUM> are mounted in corresponding grooves at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM>; then the ice maker is mounted at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM> and connected to the partition plate <NUM> by a buckle; then after the partition plate <NUM> and the ice maker <NUM> are assembled, the assembly is stored for later use; finally, the partition plate <NUM> and the ice maker <NUM> are mounted into the refrigerator body together, which specifically includes: supporting the backs of the partition plate <NUM> and the ice maker <NUM> on a rear air duct of the freezing compartment <NUM> and then mounting them rotatably to horizontal along the dotted line with the contact point of the partition plate <NUM> and the air duct as a support point.

In the current mounting process of the ice maker, the partition plate <NUM> is firstly mounted, and then the ice maker is mounted to the partition plate <NUM> on the production line. Because the freezing compartment <NUM> is generally is located below, staff is required to crouch down to reach his hand into the refrigerator body <NUM> for mounting. Because the components of the ice maker are small and there is blind spot, it is difficult to observe and mount them, which thus slows down the mounting speed. Further, these components are possibly not mounted to be in place even with much manpower.

In some examples of this disclosure, firstly foaming is performed for the partition plate <NUM> between the green vegetable preservation compartment <NUM> and the freezing compartment <NUM>, and then the ice maker <NUM> is mounted onto the partition plate <NUM>, and finally the ice maker <NUM> and the partition plate <NUM> already assembled are together mounted into the freezing compartment <NUM> of the refrigerator on a production line. In this mounting manner, the partition plate <NUM> and the ice maker <NUM> are assembled off production line so that the ice maker can be mounted on a stationary production line during the whole mounting process, avoiding the phenomenon of improper mounting caused by limited operation space, inconvenience and limited range of sight in the moving production line and refrigerator body. It is required for the staff to simply mount the integrated partition plate and ice maker into the refrigerator on the production line, simplifying staff operation, reducing problems arising from the mounting process, improving the mounting efficiency of the staff, reducing the blind spot, saving manpower and increasing mounting quality.

In this example, when the refrigerator with an ice maker is mounted, the water supply assembly is firstly mounted, that is, the water tank <NUM>, the filter <NUM> and the water tank cover <NUM> and the like are mounted, where the water supply assembly can be wholly pulled out for adding water or dismounted; then, the water pump <NUM> is connected to the water inlet rubber tube <NUM> and the water outlet rubber tube <NUM>, and then mounted to the partition plate between the refrigerating compartment <NUM> and the green vegetable <NUM>, the water outlet rubber tube <NUM> is connected to the water outlet PE tube <NUM>, and the sealing rubber sleeve <NUM> of the water outlet PE tube <NUM> is connected to the water outlet aluminum tube <NUM>; then, the ice maker is mounted as described in the above examples. In this way, the tedious mounting process of the staff in the production line is simplified, the mounting quality is improved and mounting efficiency is increased.

After the ice maker is mounted, the examples of the present disclosure further provide an ice maker water injection control method. The ice maker water injection control method includes: mounting the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> at the bottom of the partition plate <NUM> in the freezing compartment, fixedly mounting the magnet <NUM> on the side wall of the ice tray rack <NUM>, and ensuring the magnet <NUM> exactly faces the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> when the ice tray rack <NUM> and the ice cube tray <NUM> are mounted to be in place; monitoring, in real time, whether the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> senses the magnet <NUM>; if the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> senses the magnet <NUM>, it indicates that the ice tray is mounted to be in place, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is controlled to generate a disconnection signal that is sent to the controller, and the controller controls water injection to be continued for the ice tray according to the disconnection signal, so as to complete a series of water injection and ice making operations. If the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> fails to sense the magnet <NUM>, it indicates that the ice tray is already taken out, the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> is controlled to generate a closing signal that is sent to the controller, and the controller controls the water injection to be discontinued for the ice tray according to the closing signal. In this way, it is avoided that the water injection is still continued after the ice tray is taken out, resulting in ice cube lumping in the ice storage box <NUM>.

In the present disclosure, whether the ice tray is mounted to be in place can be determined accurately by the magnetism-sensitive switch <NUM> and the magnet <NUM> so as to complete a series of water injection and ice making operations, avoiding continued water injection after the ice tray is taken out. Further, interference factors are fewer, reliability is high, thus greatly improving the accurate control of the water injection of the ice maker.

After the water injection is performed for the ice tray, the water in the ice cube tray <NUM> will be frozen up under the action of the cooling capacity of the freezing compartment. It is required to perform ice overturning operation after the ice is made. The examples of the present disclosure provide an ice maker ice-overturning control method.

As shown in <FIG>, the ice maker ice-overturning control method in the examples of the present disclosure includes the following steps.

At step S100, a temperature of ice cubes in the ice cube tray is detected by the infrared sensor.

In this example, the infrared sensor is mounted at the bottom of the partition plate between the green vegetable preservation compartment and the freezing compartment to perceive the temperature of water or ice in the ice cube tray in real time.

At step S200, the temperature and the ice making time detected by the infrared sensor are obtained.

After detecting the temperature of water or ice in the ice cube tray, the infrared sensor sends it to the controller, and the controller receives the temperature information; in addition, the controller further obtains the ice making time. The value of the ice making time tZB is obtained based on the following rule:.

At step S300, it is determined whether the ice-overturning motor performs ice-overturning operation according to the temperature and the ice-making time detected by the infrared sensor.

After obtaining the temperature and the ice making time from the infrared sensor, the controller performs determination based on the set procedure to control the ice maker to perform ice-overturning operation. The determination procedure is as shown in <FIG> :.

At step S301, it is determined whether the ice making time exceeds the first preset time.

At step S302, if the ice making time exceeds the first preset time, it is determined whether the temperature detected by the infrared sensor reaches the first preset temperature.

At step S303, the temperature detected by the infrared sensor reaches the first preset temperature, the ice-overturning motor is controlled to perform ice-overturning operation.

When the ice making time obtained by the controller exceeds the first preset time (for example, <NUM>, in case of water injection failure time, <NUM>), the controller obtains the temperature Tice detected by the infrared sensor; if the temperature Tice detected by the infrared sensor reaches the first preset temperature (e.g. -<NUM>° C), the controller determines the ice cube in the ice cube tray is already made and may control the ice maker to perform ice-overturning operation.

The determination procedure may also be as shown in <FIG>.

At step S311, it is determined whether the temperature detected by the infrared sensor reaches the third preset temperature.

At step S312, if the temperature detected by the infrared sensor reaches the third preset temperature, the duration of the temperature is recorded.

At step S313, it is determined whether the duration of the temperature reaches the second preset time.

At step S314, if the duration of the temperature reaches the second preset time, the ice-overturning motor is controlled to perform ice-overturning operation.

When the temperature detected by infrared sensor and obtained by the controller reaches the third preset temperature (e.g. -<NUM>° C), the duration of the temperature is started to be recorded, and it is determined whether the duration of the temperature reaches the second preset time (e.g. <NUM>, in case of water injection failure, <NUM>); the duration of the temperature reaches the second preset time, it is determined that the ice cubes in the ice cube tray are already made and the ice maker is controlled to perform ice-overturning operation. That is, when the temperature of water or ice in the ice cube tray reaches a given value and changes little in a very long time, it indicates that the ice cubes in the ice cube tray are already made.

The determination procedure may also be as shown in <FIG> :.

At step S321, the temperature of the cryogenic storage compartment where the ice maker is located is obtained.

At step S322, it is determined whether the temperature of the cryogenic storage compartment reaches the fourth preset temperature.

At step S323, if the temperature of the cryogenic storage compartment reaches the fourth preset temperature, the duration of the temperature is recorded.

At step S324, it is determined whether the duration of the temperature reaches the third preset time.

At step S325, if the duration of the temperature reaches the third preset temperature, the ice-overturning motor is controlled to perform ice-overturning operation.

The infrared sensor on the partition plate may fail. When the infrared sensor fails, whether the ice making is completed by the temperature of the freezing compartment where the ice maker is located, that is, by obtaining the temperature of the freezing compartment. If the temperature of the freezing compartment reaches the fourth preset temperature (e.g. <NUM>-<NUM>° C), the duration of the temperature of the freezing compartment is started to be recorded, and it is determined whether the duration of the temperature reaches the third preset time (e.g. <NUM>). If the duration of the temperature reaches the third preset time, it is determined that ice cubes in the ice cube tray are already made, and the ice maker is controlled to perform ice-overturning operation.

In the ice maker ice-overturning control method of the examples of the present disclosure, the infrared sensor directly senses the temperature of water or ice in the ice cube tray so as to accurately determine the current situation of the ice making based on the temperature. Due to high sensitivity, complete formation of the ice cubes can be guaranteed, so that the ice maker is controlled accurately to perform ice-overturning operation, thereby avoiding ice cube lumping due to unsuccessful overturning in the refrigerator, and greatly improving the ice making efficiency.

Claim 1:
A refrigerator with an ice maker, comprising:
a refrigerator body (<NUM>), having a cryogenic storage compartment;
a partition plate (<NUM>), disposed at an inner liner of the refrigerator body (<NUM>) to partition the cryogenic storage compartment;
an ice maker (<NUM>) disposed in the cryogenic storage compartment; the ice maker (<NUM>) comprising:
an ice maker rack (<NUM>), fixedly mounted on the partition plate (<NUM>);
an ice tray, detachably mounted in the ice maker rack (<NUM>), the ice tray comprising:
an ice tray rack (<NUM>) detachably mounted in the ice maker rack (<NUM>);
an ice cube tray (<NUM>) disposed in the ice tray rack (<NUM>);
an ice-overturning motor (<NUM>) disposed at a side of the ice tray rack (<NUM>);
an ice detection rod (<NUM>) disposed on the ice-overturning motor (<NUM>);
characterized in further comprising: a magnet (<NUM>), disposed on the ice tray;
a magnetism-sensitive switch (<NUM>), disposed at the bottom of the partition plate (<NUM>) to perceive whether the ice tray is injected with water from a water tank (<NUM>) in cooperation with the magnet (<NUM>);
a handle (<NUM>), disposed at an end of the ice tray rack (<NUM>) away from the ice-overturning motor (<NUM>); and
a knob (<NUM>), rotatably disposed at an end of the ice maker rack (<NUM>) to rotatably lock or unlock the handle (<NUM>) and the ice maker rack (<NUM>).