Refrigerator and control method therefor

Abstract

A refrigerator may be configured such that a drawer is opened by an opening/closing motor operating by inputting a manipulation of a user and a lifting unit is elevated by a lifting motor, and then the opening/closing motor is again operated, thereby allowing the drawer to be normally closed. After the drawer is normally closed, the opening/closing motor is further operated in a closed direction of the drawer to close the drawer once more to prevent an unintentional slight-opening of the drawer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for controlling a refrigerator, the method comprising:
 moving a drawer to open a storage space of the refrigerator by a first operation of a first motor;   raising a portion of a lifting mechanism provided in the drawer to a set height by a first operation of a second motor when a first sensor detects that the drawer has moved to open the storage space, the first operation of the second motor ending when a second sensor detects that the portion of the lifting mechanism is positioned at the set height;   lowering the portion of the lifting mechanism by a second operation of the second motor;   moving the drawer to close the storage space by a second operation of the first motor after the second operation of the second motor and when the second sensor detects that the lowering of the portion of lifting module is completed; and   applying an additional closing force to the drawer by a third operation of the first motor after the first sensor detects that the drawer has completed moving to close the storage space.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising restraining the drawer after applying the additional closing force to the drawer. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein applying the additional closing force to the drawer by the third operation of the first motor incudes operating the first motor for a set time after the first sensor detects that the drawer has completed moving to close the storage space. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein operating the first motor for the set time includes activating the first motor during the set time to apply a force in a closing direction of the drawer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein applying the additional closing force to the drawer includes performing a plurality of the third operations of the first motor, the first motor being operated for a set period during each of the third operations. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of the third operations of the first motor are performed during a set time after the first sensor detects that the drawer has completed moving to close the storage space. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein during the set time, the first motor is activated during the set periods to apply a force in a closing direction of the drawer and the first motor is deactivated between the set periods. 
     
     
         8 . A method for controlling a refrigerator, the method comprising:
 determining, by a controller, when a drawer of the refrigerator is moved to close a first storage space of the refrigerator;   determining, by the controller, when a door or other drawer of the refrigerator is moved to close a second storage space of the refrigerator after the drawer is moved to close the first storage space; and   operating a first motor to apply a force to the drawer in a closing direction of the drawer when the door or other drawer of the refrigerator is moved to close the second storage space after the drawer is moved to close the first storage space.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising restraining the drawer after operating the first motor to apply the force to the drawer in the closing direction of the drawer. 
     
     
         10 . The control method of  claim 8 , wherein the first motor is operated for a set time from when the door or other drawer of the refrigerator is moved to close the second storage space. 
     
     
         11 . The control method of  claim 10 , wherein the set time is 0.5 seconds. 
     
     
         12 . The control method of  claim 8 , wherein the first motor is periodically operated to apply the force in the closing direction of the drawer for a set period after the door or other drawer of the refrigerator is moved to close the second storage space. 
     
     
         13 . The control method of  claim 12 , wherein the set period is between 1 to 12 hours. 
     
     
         14 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a cabinet having a storage space;   a drawer movably coupled to the cabinet to open and close an opening of the storage space;   a motor that generates a force to move the drawer;   a user input device to receive a command from the user; and   a controller that activates, based on the received command, the motor to apply force to the drawer in a closing direction to move the drawer to close the opening of the storage space and to further apply force to the drawer in the closing direction after the drawer closes the opening of the storage space.   
     
     
         15 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the drawer is restrained after the motor further applies force to the drawer in the closing direction after the drawer closes the opening of the storage space. 
     
     
         16 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the controller activates the motor to further apply force to the drawer for a set time after the drawer closes the opening of the storage space. 
     
     
         17 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the set time is 0.5 seconds. 
     
     
         18 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the controller further activates the motor to further apply force to the drawer in the closing direction during two or more set periods after the drawer closes the opening of the storage space. 
     
     
         19 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a cabinet provided a first storage space and a second storage space;   a door or a first drawer that moves to open and close the first storage space;   a second drawer that moves to open and close the second storage space;   a motor that generates force to move the second drawer; and   a controller that operates the motor to apply force to the second drawer in a closing direction of the second drawer after the door or the first drawer moves to close the first storage space.   
     
     
         20 . The refrigerator of  claim 19 , wherein the controller operates the motor to apply force to the second drawer in the closing direction for a set period after the door or the first drawer moves to close the first storage space.