Icemaker and refrigerator comprising the same

Abstract

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

1 . A refrigerator, comprising: 
 an icemaker comprising a heater to partially melt ice cubes produced in a mold section for a predetermined period of time such that the ice cubes can be discharged to an outside from the mold section, a motor to rotate an ejector at a predetermined angle, the ejector serving to discharge the ice cubes to the outside, an ejector sensor to detect a rotated position of the ejector, a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of the mold section, and an ice-filling detection sensor to detect a rotated position of an ice-filling detection lever; and    a main printed circuit board to supply power to a freezing compartment and the icemaker.    
   
   
       2 . The refrigerator according to  claim 1 , wherein the icemaker further comprises a printed circuit board for ice-making to control the heater and the motor in response to detection signals sent from the ejector sensor, the temperature sensor and the ice-filling detection sensor to the printed circuit board for ice-making while receiving the power supplied from the main printed circuit board.  
   
   
       3 . The refrigerator according to  claim 1 , wherein the main printed circuit board controls at least one of the heater and the motor of the icemaker.  
   
   
       4 . The refrigerator according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the heater, the motor, the ejector sensor, the temperature sensor, and the ice-filling sensor of the icemaker are connected with the main printed circuit board via a line.  
   
   
       5 . The refrigerator according to  claim 1 , wherein the main printed circuit board further includes a microcomputer storing a program to delay, interlink and change an operation of the icemaker according to a condition table input as operation and control information of the refrigerator.  
   
   
       6 . A refrigerator, comprising: 
 an icemaker to perform automatic ice-making operation of freezing water supplied from an outside to produce ice cubes;    a first printed circuit board to control a freezing operation for a freezing compartment of the refrigerator; and    a power supply unit shared by the icemaker and the first printed circuit board.    
   
   
       7 . The refrigerator according to  claim 6 , wherein the icemaker includes a group of sensors to detect information for the automatic ice-making operation.  
   
   
       8 . The refrigerator according to  claim 6 , wherein the first printed circuit board includes a first microcomputer to control the freezing operation of the freezing compartment.  
   
   
       9 . The refrigerator according to  claim 8 , wherein the first printed circuit board further comprises a driving unit to drive the icemaker, and the first microcomputer may drive the driving unit to control the automatic ice-making operation of the icemaker.  
   
   
       10 . The refrigerator according to  claim 8 , wherein the first printed circuit board controls the automatic ice-making operation of the icemaker in response to the information for the automatic ice-making operation sent from the group of sensors positioned in the icemaker to the first microcomputer.  
   
   
       11 . An icemaker of a refrigerator comprising a first printed circuit board to control a freezing operation for a freezing compartment of the refrigerator, the first printed circuit board comprising a power supply unit, wherein the icemaker performs an automatic ice-making operation after receiving power supplied from the power supply unit of the first printed circuit board.  
   
   
       12 . The icemaker according to  claim 11 , wherein the icemaker further comprises a group of sensors to detect information for the automatic ice-making operation.  
   
   
       13 . The icemaker according to  claim 11 , wherein the first printed circuit board includes a driving unit to drive the icemaker, and the automatic ice-making operation of the icemaker is controlled through driving of the driving unit by a first microcomputer.