REFRIGERATOR CONTROL METHOD,STORAGE MEDIUM, AND REFRIGERATOR

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 202211707377.1, entitled “REFRIGERATOR CONTROL METHOD, STORAGE MEDIUM, AND REFRIGERATOR”, filed on Dec. 29, 2022. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to household appliances, in particular to a control method for a refrigerator, a storage medium and a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND

Refrigerator is a commonly used household appliance in daily life, mainly used for low-temperature preservation of fruits and vegetables.

Technical Problem

In a related technology, a refrigerator is provided with an ice-making device, and the ice-making device comprises an ice-making mechanism and an ice-pushing mechanism. The ice-pushing mechanism can push out ice cubes manufactured by the ice-making mechanism. However, after the ice-making device of the conventional refrigerator completes an ice-pushing operation, the ice cubes, near the outlet without being discharged, are easy to condense together to block ice-out port. This may affect the normal progress of the next ice-pushing operation.

Technical Solution

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a control method for a refrigerator is disclosed. The control method comprises:

• • when the refrigerator obtains an ice-taking signal, activating an ice-pushing motor and an ice-crushing motor, wherein the ice-pushing motor is configured to push an ice cube to the ice-crushing motor, and the ice-crushing motor is configured to push the ice cube out of the refrigerator in a form of whole ice or a form of crushed ice;
  • when the refrigerator obtains an end ice-taking signal, controlling the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor to stop rotating;
  • controlling the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor to reverse operation for a first time period.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a storage medium storing computer program executable by a processor to perform the steps of the control method of the refrigerator.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator comprising a box body and an ice-making device arranged in the box. The ice-making device comprises:

• • a housing assembly, having an ice storage chamber and an ice crushing chamber connected to the ice storage chamber;
  • an ice-pushing assembly comprising an ice-pushing motor and an ice-pushing screw arranged in the ice storage chamber, wherein the ice-pushing motor is configured to drive the ice-pushing screw to push an ice cube stored in the ice-storing chamber into the ice-crushing chamber; and
  • an ice crushing assembly comprising an ice crushing motor and an ice blade structure arranged in the ice crushing chamber, wherein the ice crushing motor is configured to drive the ice blade structure to rotate to discharge the ice cube from the ice crushing chamber in the form of whole ice or in the form of broken ice.

Advantageous Effect

In the control method for the refrigerator in an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor stop rotating, the ice pushing motor is controlled to reverse operation. Then, the ice pushing motor will drive part of the ice cube(s) to move away from the outlet of the ice storage chamber (i.e., retreat), so that the part of the ice cubes close to the outlet become far away from the exit, and the ice cubes will not block the outlet. Furthermore, because the retracting ice cubes are located at the rear side of the ice-pushing structure and do not block the front side of the ice-pushing structure. Thus, in the next operation, the front side of the ice pushing structure will not be resisted by the ice cubes, so as to avoid the situation that the starting current of the ice pushing motor needs to be too large to drive the motor and the ice pushing motor is overloaded and burned.

Moreover, the control method of an embodiment also controls the ice crushing motor to reverse operation after the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor stop rotating. Then, the moving ice blade will rotate in the direction far away from the ice cube, so that the ice cube will not be stacked between the moving ice blade and the fixed ice blade and stacked between the moving ice blade and the inner wall of the ice crushing chamber. In this way, the moving ice blade is not being forced. Because the ice cube is not in contact with the moving ice blade, there is no resistance when the moving ice blade is started at the next time. Thus, the starting current of the ice crushing motor does not need to be too large to drive the moving ice blade and the ice pushing motor can be avoided being overloaded and burned.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following is combined with the accompanying drawings, through a detailed description of the specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the technical solution of the present disclosure and its beneficial effects will be obvious.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a part of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the ice-making device of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is another partial cross-sectional view of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is another cross-sectional view of the ice-making device of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ice crushing assembly of the ice discharging mechanism of the ice-making device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a partial enlargement view of the area A in FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the assembly of the ice-making device and the water supply device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is the flow chart of the control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is another flow chart of the control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is another flow chart of the control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF PRESENT DISCLOSURE

The technical solution in the embodiment of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator which may be a double-door refrigerator. The refrigerator may also be a single-door refrigerator or a three-door refrigerator, and the embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit this.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a part of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The refrigerator includes a box 100 and an ice-making device 300. The box 100 is provided with a refrigeration chamber 11, such as a refrigeration chamber 11a, a freezer chamber 11b or a wide variable temperature chamber, etc. The ice-making device 300 is arranged in the refrigeration chamber 11.

Please refer to FIG. 2. The ice-making device 300 comprises a housing assembly and an ice-making mechanism 32. The housing assembly is provided with an ice-making chamber. The ice-making mechanism 32 is arranged in the ice-making chamber, and the ice-making mechanism 32 is configured to hold water and make the held water into ice cubes.

According to the embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 2, the refrigeration chamber 11 comprises a refrigeration chamber 11a and a freezer chamber 11b. The ice-making device 300 is arranged in the refrigeration chamber 11a, the ice-making chamber is connected to the refrigeration chamber 11a. The first channel 12 is arranged in the box 100 and configured to connect the freezer chamber 11b to the refrigeration chamber 11a, so that the refrigerator can directly blow the cold wind in the freezer chamber 11b into the ice-making chamber and the water carried by the ice-making mechanism 32 in the ice-making chamber freezes to form ice cubes.

For example, the ice-making mechanism 32 may comprise ice-making trays 321. The ice-making tray 321 is provided with a holding tank for holding water. The water injection pipe can be arranged above the ice-making tray 321, so that the water conveyed by the water-filling pipe can directly flow into the holding tank. The water in the holding tank can freeze to form an ice cube under the action of the cold air blowing to the ice-making tray 321 from the freezer chamber 11b.

The ice-making mechanism 32 may further comprise a torsional motor that drives the ice-making tray 321 to rotate to pour out the ice cubes made in the holding tanks.

Understandably, the refrigerator may include a first ice storage box 13 to undertake the ice cubes discharged by the ice-making mechanism 32.

Please refer to FIG. 2, the first ice storage box 13 is arranged in the freezer chamber 11b and the opening is oriented towards the first channel 12, so that the ice cube discharged by the ice-making mechanism 32 can be directly dropped into the first ice storage box 13 along the first channel 12 by its own gravity. At the same time, because the temperature in the freezer chamber 11b is lower, the ice cube in the first ice storage box 13 can also be guaranteed not to melt through the low temperature in the freezer chamber 11b.

The first ice storage box 13 may comprise a drawer arranged in the freezer chamber 11b, and then the user can extract the drawer from the freezer chamber 11b to get the ice cubes.

Please refer to FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the ice-making device 300 may further include a second ice storage box 312 and an ice-transporting mechanism 33. The second ice storage box 312 may be located on the upper side of the ice-making mechanism 32 along the direction of gravity. The ice-transporting mechanism 33 is used for transporting at least a part of the ice cubes discharged by the ice-making mechanism 32 to the second ice storage box 312 for storing a small amount of ice for a short period of time.

At least a part of the ice cubes discharged by the ice-making mechanism 32 can be transported to the top of the ice-making device 300 through the ice-transporting mechanism 33, so that the parts inside the ice-making device 300 can be arranged more flexibly, or the ice-making device 300 can be flexibly installed to different positions in the refrigerator.

When the refrigerator also comprises a first ice storage box 13, that is, when the refrigerator comprises two ice storage boxes, the ice cubes discharged by the ice-making mechanism 32 can be transported to the second ice storage box 312 through the ice-transporting mechanism 33 and/or can also be directly dropped into the first ice storage box 13 by its own gravity. In addition, the structure of the two ice storage boxes can greatly improve the ice storage capacity of the refrigerator. On the other hand, different ice storage boxes can be used to perform different treatments on the ice cubes. For example, the volume of the first ice storage box 13 can be designed to be larger to store a large number of ice cubes, and the second ice storage box 312 can be used for docking with the automatic ice dispensing mechanism 34, so that the ice cubes in the second ice storage box 312 are automatically transported to the outside of the refrigerator through the automatic ice dispensing mechanism 34.

In order to facilitate the user's use, in this embodiment, the ice-making device 300 further comprises an ice-out mechanism 34. The ice-out mechanism 34 is used for conveying the ice cubes in the second ice storage box 312 to the outside of the refrigerator, so that the user can get the ice cubes without opening the refrigerator door 200.

Please refer to FIG. 7. The refrigerator is provided with an ice outlet 21 and an ice outlet valve 35. The ice outlet 21 is used to connect the ice-making device 300 to the outside of the refrigerator. The ice outlet valve 35 is rotatably arranged at the ice outlet 21 to open or close the ice outlet 21. When the user takes ice, the ice outlet valve 35 opens the ice outlet 21 so that the ice outlet mechanism 34 can transport the ice cube from the ice outlet 21 to the outside of the refrigerator. After the ice is taken, the ice outlet valve 35 closes the ice outlet 21 to isolate the inside of the refrigerator from the outside of the refrigerator to prevent the heat of the outside of the refrigerator from entering the inside of the refrigerator and from causing the temperature inside of the refrigerator to rise.

For example, please refer to FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. The ice-out mechanism 34 comprises an ice-pushing assembly and an ice-crushing assembly. The housing assembly comprises an ice storage chamber 312a and an ice crushing chamber 314 connected to the ice storage chamber 312a. The ice pushing assembly comprises an ice pushing motor 341 and an ice pushing screw 342 arranged in the ice storage chamber 312a. The ice pushing motor 341 is used for driving the ice pushing screw 342 to drive the ice cube in the ice storage chamber 312a to the ice crushing chamber 314. The ice crushing assembly comprises an ice crushing motor 343 and an ice blade structure arranged in the ice crushing chamber 314. The ice crushing motor 343 is used for driving the ice blade structure to rotate to discharge the ice cube from the ice crushing chamber 314 in a whole ice form or a crushed (broken) ice form.

The ice storage chamber 312a may be an ice storage space formed by the second ice storage box 312. The ice pushing screw 342 is arranged in the second ice storage box 312. The side wall of the second ice storage box 312 is provided with a first outlet 312b connected to the ice crushing chamber 314. Specifically, in the ice pushing process, the ice pushing motor 341 drives the ice pushing screw 342, thereby exerting a force on the ice cube in the second ice storage box 312 to push the ice cube to move into the ice crushing chamber 314 through the first outlet 312b.

The wall body of the ice crushing chamber 314 is provided with a second outlet 313a connected to the ice outlet 21, and an ice inlet channel 313b is connected to the ice storage chamber 312a. The ice blade structure may comprise a rotating shaft 346, a moving ice blade 344 and a fixed ice blade 345. The rotating shaft 346 is connected to the output shaft of the ice crushing motor 343 (it can be directly connected or can be connected through the transmission structure). The moving ice blade 344 is fixedly connected to the rotating shaft 346. One end of the fixed ice blade 345 is fixed on the inner wall of the ice crushing chamber 314, and the other end of the fixed ice blade 345 is sleeved on the rotating shaft 346.

Specifically, taking the initial ice cube entering the ice crushing chamber 314 is a whole ice as an example. When the rotating shaft 346 rotates in the first direction, the moving ice blade 344 can push the whole ice to be directly discharged through the second exit 313a, so that the ice blade structure can discharge the whole ice from the ice crushing chamber 314. When the rotating shaft 346 rotates in the second direction, the moving ice blade 344 can first push the whole ice to the fixed ice blade 345, so that the moving ice blade 344 and the fixed ice blade 345 cooperate to cut the whole ice into broken ice, and then the moving ice blade 344 continues to push the broken ice so that the broken ice is discharged through the second outlet 313a. That is, in the ice-out process, the moving ice blade 344 and ice fixing blade 345 can cooperate to discharge whole ice or broken ice so as to meet the different demands of users.

Because different users have different installation requirements for refrigerators, some users tend to embed refrigerators and install them in cabinets, and some users tend to arrange refrigerators in an open manner. In order to ensure that refrigerators can be convenient for users to take ice no matter the refrigerators are in different kind of assembly state. In an embodiment, it is preferable to arrange the ice outlet 21 on the refrigerator door 200 of refrigerators.

In this embodiment, the housing assembly comprises a first housing 311 and a second housing 313. The first housing 311 is arranged in the refrigeration chamber 11a, and the second housing 313 is installed in the refrigerator door 200. The ice-making mechanism 32 and the second ice storage box 312 are arranged in the first housing 311, the ice-pushing assembly of the ice-making mechanism 34 is arranged in the first housing 311, the ice-crushing assembly of the ice-making mechanism 34 is arranged in the second housing 313, and the second housing 313 is provided with an ice-crushing chamber 314.

The second housing 313 may comprise a first inner wall 315 enclosing the space of the ice chamber 314. The first inner wall 315 comprises a first ring wall 316. The center line of the first ring wall 316 is parallel to the direction of gravity. In other words, the first ring wall 316 is vertically arranged. The side of the first inner wall 315 facing the refrigerator door 200 is provided with the second outlet 313a. The second outlet 313a is at least partially arranged in the first ring wall 316. The rotating shaft 346 is arranged in the direction of gravity, and the rotating shaft 346 can drive the ice blade structure 344 to push the ice cubes in the ice crushing chamber 314 to rotate around its axis to discharge through the second outlet 313a.

Specifically, when the refrigerator door 200 is closed, the second housing 313 is docked with the first housing 311 so that the ice crushing chamber 314 can be connected to the first output 312b of the second ice storage box 312 through the ice inlet channel 313b. In this way, the ice pushing assembly can push the ice cube in the second ice storage box 312 into the ice crushing chamber 314. When the refrigerator door 200 is open, the first housing 311 is separated from the second housing 313, and the ice crushing chamber 314 and the second ice storage box 312 become disconnected.

The second housing 313 further comprises an ice-out channel 313c, connected to the ice crushing chamber 314. One end of the ice-out channel 313c is connected to the second outlet 313a, and the other end is connected to the ice outlet 21. In order to allow the ice cubes in the ice-out channel 313c to be discharged more smoothly, the ice-out channel 313c is inclined downward along the direction of gravity from its input end to its output end. In this way, when the whole ice or the broken ice in the ice crushing chamber 314 enters the ice-out channel 313c, it can slide out by its own gravity, so as to avoid ice accumulation in the ice-out channel 313c and finally make the user take the ice more conveniently.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, please refer to FIG. 2. The refrigerator further comprises a water supply device 400. The water supply device 400 is arranged in the box 100. The water supply device 400 is connected to an external water source, and the water supply device 400 is connected to the ice making device 300 to supply the water required for making ice cubes to the ice making device 300.

The water supply device 400 is arranged in the refrigeration chamber 11a and is arranged on one side of the refrigeration device. On one hand, the distance between the water supply device 400 and the ice-making device 300 is closer, then the pipeline of water supply flow between the water supply device 400 and the ice-making device 300 can be shorter or even directly canceled, so that the waterway wiring in the refrigeration chamber 11 is more concise, and the installation difficulty of the refrigerator is reduced. On the other hand, the water supply device 400 is installed in the refrigeration chamber 11a following the ice making device 300, and the water in the water supply device 400 can be pre-cooled through the refrigeration chamber 11a, and the ice-making speed of the ice making device 300 is improved.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, with reference to FIG. 8, the water supply device 400 comprises a water valve 41. The water valve 41 has a water inlet valve port 411 and a water injection valve port 412. The water inlet valve port 411 is connected to an external water source, and the water injection valve port 412 is connected to the ice-making device 300 to supply water to the ice-making mechanism 32.

Drinking water, such as tap water, can enter the water valve 41 through the water inlet valve port 411, and then the ice-making device 300 is injected through the water injection valve port 412, so that the ice-making mechanism 32 can obtain the water required for making ice cubes.

Specifically, the water inlet valve port 411 could be kept open, and the water injection valve port 412 is controlled to be open or close according to the water injection signal. When the water valve 41 receives the water injection signal for injecting water to the ice-making device 300, the water injection valve port 412 is controlled to open, so that the external water source provides water to the ice-making device 300 through the water inlet valve port 411 and the water injection valve port 412.

The refrigerator determines whether the ice-making device 300 needs to be filled with water by determining whether there is any ice cube in the ice-making mechanism 32 (in the ice-making tray). For example, a sensor can be arranged inside the ice-making device 300 to detect whether the ice-making mechanism 32 has an ice cube. When the ice-making mechanism 32 does not have any ice cube (or ice cubes are not enough), the water injection signal is issued to control the water supply device 400 to inject water into the ice-making mechanism 32. That is, the water injection signal can be automatically issued by the sensor inside the refrigerator without any user's manual input.

The refrigerator can be provided with a detection device to detect whether the water level in the ice-making tray reaches a preset water level in the water filling/injection process of the ice-making mechanism 32. For example, the detection device can be a water level sensor. When the water level sensor detects that the water level in the ice-making tray reaches a preset water level, the water injection valve port 412 is controlled to close.

In an embodiment, in order to facilitate the user's use, the water inlet valve port 411 is directly connected to the household tap water pipe, where the pipe has a certain water pressure. When the water injection valve port 412 is opened, under the effect of water pressure, the tap water can be automatically injected into the ice-making mechanism 32.

Because the household tap water pressure is usually relatively constant, the time for water injection to an ice-making mechanism 32 is constant. So, the opening time of the water injection valve port 412 can be set. In the process of injecting water into the ice-making mechanism 32, when the water-filling time is equal to this opening time, the water injection valve port 412 is controlled, and the ice-making mechanism 32 just gets the water required for making ice cubes at this moment.

It is noted that when there are a plurality of ice-making mechanisms 32, there are a plurality of water injection valve ports 412. The water injection valve ports 412 have a one-to-one correspondence with the ice-making mechanisms 32. That is, each water injection valve port 412 is used for separately injecting water into a corresponding ice-making mechanism (or tray). Accordingly, the water-filling process of each ice-making mechanism 32 is independent.

In order to further enrich the functions of the refrigerator, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the water supply device 400 further comprises a water storage tank 42 and a distributor 43. The water valve 41 is further provided with a water intake valve port 413. The water storage tank 42 is connected to the water intake valve port 413 to accommodate the water supplied by the water valve 41, and the water storage tank 42 is connected with the distributor 43 to output the water stored in the water storage tank 42.

Then, drinking water, such as tap water, can enter the water valve 41 through the water inlet valve port 411 and then enter the water storage tank 42 through the water intake valve port 413. Then, the water is output to the outside of the refrigerator through the distributor 43. Because the water storage tank 42 can hold a certain amount of water and the water is placed in the refrigeration chamber 11a for enough time to form ice water. Furthermore, the ice-making device 300 does not have to get water from the storage tank 42 to makes ice cubes. Thus, the user can obtain enough ice water from the water storage tank 42 through the distributor 43.

In this way, the user can not only obtain whole ice or broken ice through the ice-making device 300, but also can obtain ice water through the water supply device 400, so that the user can directly obtain the mixture of ice and ice-water from the refrigerator. This could further meet the user's demands, enrich the function of the refrigerator, and improve the user experience.

The distributor 43 is installed on the refrigerator door 200. The distributor 43 is provided with a water outlet 422. The water outlet 422 is connected to the water storage tank 42 through the first water pipe 423. In order to facilitate the user to use it, the ice outlet 21 can be directly arranged in the distributor 43. That is, the water outlet 422 and the ice outlet 21 are both arranged in the distributor 43, so that the user can take ice and water through the distributor 43. This arrangement makes it easier for the user to use.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water supply device 400 is arranged on one side of the first housing 311 that is facing away the opening of the refrigeration chamber 11a. In this way, the water supply device 400 can be blocked by the housing, so that the inside of the refrigeration chamber 11a is more neat and beautiful when the refrigerator door 200 is opened,.

Please refer to FIG. 8. One side of the first housing 311 away from the opening of the refrigeration chamber 11a is enclosed with the inner surface of the box 100 to form a closed installation cavity 311a. The installation cavity 311a is independent with the ice-making chamber. The water supply device 400 is placed in the installation cavity 311a. In this way, the cold air entering the ice-making chamber can perform heat exchange with the installation cavity 311a through the first housing 311 to a certain extent, so that the temperature in the installation cavity 311a is reduced and thus the water supply device 400 in the installation cavity 311a is refrigerated to provide ice water to the user. In addition, this can prevent cold air entering the ice-making chamber from blowing directly to the water supply device 400, so as to prevent the temperature in the installation chamber 311a from being too low to turn the water in the water supply device 400 into ice.

In this embodiment, the water storage tank 42 comprises a water inlet 421 and a water outlet 422. The water inlet 421 is connected to the water intake valve port 413, and the water outlet 422 is connected to the distributor 43 through the first water pipe 423. In this way, the water in the water storage tank 42 can be output to the distributor 43.

Specifically, the water inlet valve port 411 is normally open, and the water intake valve port 413 is controlled to be open or close according to the water intake signal. When the water valve 41 receives the water intake signal, the water intake valve port 413 is controlled to be open, so that the external water enters the water storage tank 42 through the water inlet valve port 411 and the water intake valve port 413. Under the water pressure, the ice water in the original water storage tank 42 is pressed out, so that the ice water is output by the distributor 43 through the first water pipe 423.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a control method for a refrigerator is disclosed. Specifically, the control method is applied to a refrigerator with an ice-making function of any of the above-mentioned embodiments.

Please refer to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is the flow chart of the control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The control method comprises the following steps:

• • 101: When the refrigerator obtains an ice taking signal, the refrigerator activates the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor. The ice pushing motor is used to push the ice cube to the ice crushing motor, and the ice crushing motor is used to push the ice cube out of the refrigerator in the whole ice form or the broken ice form.

The ice-taking signal comprises a whole ice taking signal and a broken ice taking signal. The refrigerator can obtain the ice-taking signal from outside. For example, the refrigerator can be provided with a button. When the user presses the button, the ice-taking signal can be input to the control system of the refrigerator. For example, the button may include a first button and a second button. When the user presses and holds the first button, the control system of the refrigerator outputs a whole ice taking signal. When the user presses and holds the second button, the control system of the refrigerator outputs a broken ice taking signal.

The refrigerator includes a controller, configured to determine the type of ice to be taken out according to the received ice-taking signal and then control the refrigerator to perform the corresponding operation.

Taking the above-mentioned refrigerator as an example. Specifically, when the ice-taking signal is to take whole ice, the controller controls the ice pushing motor 341 to rotate forwardly and controls the ice crushing motor 343 to drive the rotating shaft 346 to rotate in the first direction. In this process, the ice pushing motor 341 drives the ice pushing screw 342 to rotate, so that the ice cube in the ice storage chamber 312a moves towards the first outlet 312b due to the push of the ice pushing screw 342, until it enters the ice crushing chamber 314 through the first outlet 312b. At this moment, the rotating shaft 346 drives the moving ice blade 344 to rotate in the first direction, so that the moving ice blade 344 directly discharges the ice cube through the second outlet 313a, thereby discharging the whole ice.

When the ice taking signal is to take the crushed/broken ice, the controller controls the ice pushing motor 341 to rotate forwardly and controls the ice crushing motor 343 to drive the rotating shaft 346 to rotate in the second direction. Here, the second direction is opposite to the first direction. In this process, the ice pushing motor 341 drives the ice pushing screw 342 to drive, so that the ice cube in the ice storage chamber 312a moves towards the first outlet 312b due to the push of the ice pushing screw 342, until it enters the ice crushing chamber 314 through the first exit 312b, At this moment, the rotating shaft 346 drives the moving ice blade 344 to rotate in the second direction, so that the moving ice blade 344 first pushes the ice cube to the fixed ice blade 345 and the moving ice blade 344 and the fixed ice blade 345 cooperate to cut the whole ice to form broken ice. Then, the moving ice blade 344 continues to push the broken ice, so that the broken ice is discharged through the second outlet 313a.

• • 102: when the refrigerator obtains an end ice-taking signal, controlling the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor to stop rotating.

The end ice-taking signal can be obtained from outside. For example, the user inputs the ice-taking signal to the refrigerator by pressing and holding the button. When the user releases the press of the button, the end ice-taking signal is inputted to the refrigerator.

In this way, the end ice-taking signal is obtained. Compared with a predetermined ice taking time, the amount of ice can be controlled according to the user's needs, which can meet the user's demands and improve the user experience.

• • 103: controlling the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor to reverse operation for a first time period.

Specifically, after the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 stop rotating, the adjacent ice cubes close to the first outlet 312b in the ice storage chamber 312a are easy to condense together. During the next operation, the ice cubes that are condensed together cannot be smoothly pushed out through the first outlet 312b, resulting in blocking the first outlet 312b. In addition these ice cubes are in contact with the ice pushing screw 342, and introduce a large resistance to the ice pushing screw 342 during a next activation. Thus, the ice pushing motor 341 may be overloaded or even burned next time. In addition, the ice cubes are easy to be stuck between the moving ice blade 344 and the fixed ice blade 345 between the inner wall of the ice crushing chamber 314 and the moving ice blade 344, causing the ice crushing blade to be in a stressed state. This also introduces some resistances to the the ice crushing motor 343 during the next operation, and may lead to overload or damages of the ice crushing motor 343.

In this step, after the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 stop rotating, the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 are controlled to reverse operation. Then, the ice pushing screw 342 will drive part of the ice cubes to move away from the first outlet 312b (i.e., retreat), so that the ice cubes close to the first outlet 312b become far away from the first outlet 312b and the ice cubes near the first outlet 312b are avoided from being condensed together. In addition, because the ice cubes are retreated and become at the rear side of the ice pushing screw 342. There is no ice blocking the front side of the ice-pushing screw 342. Thus, at the next operation, the front side of ice-pushing screw 342 will not be subjected to the resistance from the ice cubes, so as to avoid the overload or damage of the ice-pushing motor 341 is overloaded due to excessive starting current of the ice-pushing motor 341. At the same time, when the ice crushing motor 343 reversely operates, the moving ice blade 344 will rotate in the direction far away from the ice cubes, so that the ice cubes will not be stuck between the moving ice blade 344 and the ice fixing blade 345 or between the inner wall of the ice crushing chamber 314 and the moving ice blade 344. In this way, the moving ice blade 344 is in not stressed. Furthermore, because the ice cubes are not in contact with the moving ice blade 344, the moving ice blade 344 does not have resistance during the next operation, thereby avoid the situation that the ice crushing motor 343 is overloaded and burned out due to the excessive starting current of the ice crushing motor 343.

It is noted that the reverse operation of the ice crushing motor 343 refers to controlling the ice crushing motor 343 to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation direction during the previous operation. For example, when the ice crushing motor 343 was running last time to perform the whole ice taking operation, the ice crushing motor 343 rotated in the first direction. Then, in the reverse operation, the ice crushing motor 343 is controlled to rotate in the opposite direction to the first direction (i.e., the second direction). When the ice crushing motor 343 was running last time to perform the ice crushing operation, the ice crushing motor 343 rotates in the second direction. Then, in the reverse operation, the control ice crushing motor 343 rotates in the opposite direction (i.e., the first direction).

The first time period can be between 0.2 seconds and 1 second.

In order to facilitate the user to take ice without opening the refrigerator door 200, the refrigerator comprises an ice outlet channel 313c and an ice outlet valve 35. The ice outlet channel 313c has a relative ice inlet and an ice outlet 21. The ice inlet is connected to the ice crushing chamber 314, and the ice outlet 21 is connected to the outside of the refrigerator. The ice outlet valve 35 is rotatably arranged at the ice outlet 21 to open or close the ice outlet 21.

Therefore, in this embodiment, before the refrigerator obtains an ice-taking signal and activates the ice-pushing motor 341 and the ice-crushing motor 343, the ice-out valve 35 is controlled to be open, so that the ice-out valve 35 connects the outside of the refrigerator to the ice-crushing chamber 314 and the ice cubes in the ice-storage chamber 312a can be discharged through the ice-crushing chamber 314 and the ice-out channel 313C. After the refrigerator obtains the end ice taking signal and controls the ice-pushing motor 341 and the ice-crushing motor 343 to stop rotating, the ice-out valve 35 is controlled to be close, so that the ice-out valve 35 isolates the outside of the refrigerator from the ice-crushing chamber 314, thereby preventing the external heat from entering the refrigerator through the ice-out channel 313C to melt the ice cubes.

Because some users tend to embed and install the refrigerator in the cabinet, when the ice outlet 21 is arranged on the side wall of the refrigerator box 100, the ice cannot be taken. In order to improve the versatility of the refrigerator to allow the user to easily take ice in all kinds of installation types, the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator door 200 and the ice outlet 21 is arranged on the refrigerator door 200.

In an embodiment, the step of activating the ice-pushing motor 341 and the ice-crushing motor 343 when the refrigerator obtains the ice-taking signal comprises: when the refrigerator door 200 is open, not activating the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343; and when the refrigerator door 200 is close, activating the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343.

In this way, when the refrigerator door 200 is open, the ice storage chamber 312a and the ice crushing chamber 314 are separated. At this time, the first outlet 312b of the ice storage chamber 312a is not connected to the first inlet of the ice crushing chamber 314. The control method can prevent the ice cubes from falling through the first outlet 312b of the ice storage chamber 312a by controlling the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 not to be activated.

It is noted that when the refrigerator is in the state of taking ice, when the user accidentally opens the refrigerator door 200, the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 are controlled to stop immediately. This prevents the ice cubes from falling through the first outlet 312b of the ice storage chamber 312a.

It is understandable that the refrigerator can be equipped with a sensor to detect whether the door 200 is open or closed. For example, a refrigerator can be equipped with a laser sensor or an infrared sensor.

Please refer to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is another flow chart of the control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The control method comprises steps 201-206. The steps 202 and 204 are the same as steps 102 and 103 as stated in the control method of the refrigerator, and are not described in detail here. The steps 201-206 are as follows:

• • 201: when the refrigerator obtains the ice extraction signal, after activating the ice-pushing motor for a third time period, activating the ice-crushing motor.

The activation time of the ice crushing motor 343 is later than the activation time of the ice pushing motor 341. That is, the ice pushing motor 341 starts first, and the ice crushing motor 343 starts later. This setting can avoid the excessive starting current caused by the simultaneous activation of the two motors and can protect the circuit.

The third time period can be between 0.2 seconds and 1 second.

• • 202: when the refrigerator obtains an end ice-taking signal, controlling the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor to stop rotating.
  • 203: stopping the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor for a second long time period.

Before controlling the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 to reverse operation for the first time period, the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 are controlled to stop and wait for the second long time. That is, instead of controlling the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 to reverse operation immediately after stopping the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343, in this embodiment, the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343 are controlled to stop and wait for the second long time. This mechanism could extend the life time of the ice pushing motor 341 and the ice crushing motor 343.

The second duration can be between 0.1 seconds and 0.5 seconds.

• • 204: controlling the ice pushing motor and the ice crushing motor to reverse operation for a first time period.
  • 205: after a fourth time period, closing the ice valve.

Because when the ice crushing motor 343 is reversely operating, the ice cubes that have not yet discharged from the ice crushing chamber through the second outlet may be being discharged through the second outlet. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control method waits for the fourth time period after the fourth time period after the ice crushing motor completely reverses operation and then controls the ice outlet valve to be close. In this way, it may give enough time to allow the ice cubes to be discharged through the second outlet and prevent the ice outlet valve from being closed too early to make the ice cubes fall on the ice outlet valve.

Please refer to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is another flow chart of the control method of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the control method further comprises:

• • 301: when the refrigerator obtains a water intake signal, opening the water intake valve port. 413.

“Water intake” means that the user takes ice water through the water storage tank 42 of the water supply device 400 of the refrigerator. Here the water intake signal can be obtained by an external input. For example, the refrigerator can be provided with a third button. When the user presses the third button for a long time, the water intake signal can be input to the control system of the refrigerator. When the user releases the press to the third button, the end water intake signal is input to the refrigerator.

• • 302: when the refrigerator obtains a water injection signal, opening the water injection valve port 412.

“Water injection” means that the refrigerator fills water to the ice-making device 300 through its own water supply device 400. Here, the water injection signal is input by the sensor embedded in the refrigerator. When the sensor detects that there is no ice cube in the ice-making tray, the water injection signal is input to the control system of the refrigerator, so that the water supply device 400 could inject water into the ice-making device 300.

• • 303: when the refrigerator obtains the water intake signal and the water injection signal simultaneously, opening the water intake valve port 413; and after the water intake is finished, opening the water injection valve port 412.

Because the water intake signal is input through the user, and the water injection signal is input by the sensor inside the refrigerator, it is inevitable that the water intake signal and the water injection signal are generated at the same time. Because the water inlet valve port 411 of the water supply device 400 is connected to the household water pipe, the water supply device 400 all rely on the tap water pressure to supply water to the ice-making device 300 and the water for the user. So, if the water injection process and the water supply and intake process are carried out at the same time, then the water pressure may not be strong enough. As a result, the amount of water injected into the ice-making tray may not be enough for generating the needed ice cubes. In other words, this may result in incomplete ice cubes and a low water volume for the user, which affects the user's water intake experience.

Thus, in this embodiment, when the refrigerator simultaneously obtains the water intake signal and the water injection signal, the control water intake valve port 413 is first opened. After the user completely takes water, the water injection valve port 412 is then controlled to open, so that the water injection process and the water intake process are independently performed in turn without causing the reduction of water pressure. This ensures that the user obtains a larger and stable water volume when taking water and thus improves the user's water intake experience; Moreover, it can ensure that the amount of water injected into the ice-making tray meets the water level requirements required for making ice cubes, so as to ensure the integrity of the ice cubes manufactured. Moreover, by opening the water intake valve 41 first (that is, to perform the water intake process first, and then perform the water injection process), the user can get ice water immediately when the user would like to take water. There is no need to wait for the water injection to be completed, and thus the user experience is further improved.

• • 304: when the refrigerator obtains the water intake signal during water injection, closing the water injection valve port 412 and opening the water intake valve port 413 simultaneously; and opening the water injection valve port 412 after the water intake is finished.

Because the water intake signal is input by the user, and the water injection signal is input by the sensor inside the refrigerator, it is inevitable that the user needs to take water when the water supply device 400 is supplying water to the ice-making device 300. In order to avoid reducing the water pressure, in this case, the water injection valve port 412 is closed and the water intake valve port 413 is open simultaneously. Then, the water injection valve port 412 is opened after the water intake is finished (that is, the water injection is stopped first, and the user is given priority to take water). After the water intake is completed, the water injection of the ice making device 300 is resumed.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the refrigerator is provided with a plurality of ice-making trays. when the refrigerator receives a signal for injecting water to the plurality of ice-making trays, the water-injection valve port 412 is controlled inject water into the plurality of ice-making trays in turn.

Similarly, the water injection process of each ice tray is independent from that of another ice tray, and the water pressure is not reduced, so as to ensure that the water injected into each ice tray meets the water level requirements required to make the ice cubes.

The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a storage medium storing computer program executable by a processor to perform the steps of the control method of the refrigerator provided in the above embodiment.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have their own emphasis, and the part that is not detailed in a certain embodiment may be referred to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

The above is a detailed introduction to the control method, refrigerator and storage medium of refrigerator provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, and the principle and embodiment of the present disclosure are described in this article by applying specific examples, and the description of the above embodiment is only used to help understand the method of the present disclosure and its core idea. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present disclosure, there will be changes in the specific embodiment and the scope of application, and in summary, the contents of this specification should not be understood as a restriction on the present disclosure.