Refrigerator and control method therefor

Abstract

A refrigerator comprises: a storage chamber, a cooler, a first tray, a second tray, the first portion and the second portion being configured to define a space formed by the cell to receive a liquid to be phase-changed to form ice, a heater provided adjacent to at least one of the first tray or the second tray; and a controller configured to: operate the heater while the ice is being formed so that gas bubbles dissolved in the liquid within the cell move from a portion of space where the liquid that has phase-changed into the ice to another portion of the space where the liquid is in a fluid state, and when a defrosting start condition is satisfied while the ice is being formed in the space of the cell, perform a defrosting process and reduce an amount of cold supplied by the cooler.

1 . An ice maker comprising:
 a first tray having a first portion of a cell;   a second tray having a second portion of the cell, the first portion and the second portion being configured to define a space formed by the cell to receive a liquid to be phase-changed to form ice;   a cooler configured to supply cold into the cell;   a heater provided to supply heat to the cell; and   a controller configured to control the heater,   wherein the controller controls the heater to provide heat to the ice cell, in at least a partial section, while the cooler supplies the cold, and   wherein the controller reduces a heating amount of the heater, in at least a period that a defrosting start condition is satisfied during an ice making process.   
     
     
         2 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the heating amount of the heater so that the heating amount of the heater after an operation of a defrosting heater is less than the heating amount of the heater before the operation of the defrosting heater, in at least a period that the defrosting start condition is satisfied and the heating amount of the heater exceeds a reference value during the ice making process. 
     
     
         3 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the heating amount of the heater so that the heating amount of the heater after an operation of a defrosting heater is less than the heating amount of the heater before the operation of the defrosting heater, in at least a period that the defrosting start condition is satisfied and a temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is greater than or equal to a reference value. 
     
     
         4 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the controller controls a defrosting heater to be turned on, in at least a period that the defrosting start condition is satisfied. 
     
     
         5 . The ice maker of  claim 4 , wherein the controller controls the defrosting heater to be turned off, in at least a period that a defrosting ending condition is satisfied, and
 wherein the controller increases a heating amount of the heater, in at least a period that the defrosting heater is turned off.   
     
     
         6 . An ice maker comprising:
 a first tray having a first portion of a cell;   a second tray having a second portion of the cell, the first portion and the second portion being configured to define a space formed by the cell to receive a liquid to be phase-changed to form ice;   a cooler configured to supply cold into the cell;   a heater provided to supply heat to the cell; and   a controller configured to control the heater,   wherein the controller controls the heater to provide heat to the ice cell, in at least a partial section, while the cooler supplies the cold, and   wherein the controller maintains a turned-on state of the heater with reducing a cooling power of the cooler, in at least a period that a defrosting start condition is satisfied during an ice making process.   
     
     
         7 . The ice maker of  claim 6 , wherein the controller maintains a heating amount of the heater, in at least a period that the defrosting start condition is satisfied and the heating amount of the heater is less than or equal to a reference value in the ice making process. 
     
     
         8 . The ice maker of  claim 6 , wherein the controller maintains a heating amount of the heater, in at least a period that a defrosting heater is turned on during the ice making process and a temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is less than a reference value. 
     
     
         9 . An ice maker comprising:
 a first tray having a first portion of a cell;   a second tray having a second portion of the cell, the first portion and the second portion being configured to define a space formed by the cell to receive a liquid to be phase-changed to form ice;   a cooler configured to supply cold into the cell;   a heater provided to supply heat to the cell; and   a controller configured to control the heater,   wherein the controller preferentially performs a second transparent ice operation and stops a first transparent ice operation, in at least a period that the first transparent ice operation and the second transparent ice operation response collide,   the first transparent ice operation being an operation performed while a defrosting is not proceeding and the second transparent ice operation being an operation performed while the defrosting is proceeding.   
     
     
         10 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein the controller resumes the first transparent ice operation after the defrosting ends. 
     
     
         11 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein in at least section during the second transparent ice operation, the controller reduces a cooling power of the cooler than a cooling power of the cooler during the first transparent ice operation. 
     
     
         12 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein in at least section during the second transparent ice operation, the controller reduces a heating amount of the heater than a heating amount of the heater during the first transparent ice operation. 
     
     
         13 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein during the first transparent ice operation, the controller controls the heater to provide the heat to the cell in at least partial section while the cooler supplies the cold to the cell, and changes a heating amount of the heater in each of a plurality of pre-divided sections. 
     
     
         14 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein during the second transparent ice operation, the controller is configured to vary a heating amount of the heater. 
     
     
         15 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein during the second transparent ice operation, the controller performs a pre-defrosting process of increasing a cooling power of the cooler more than a cooling power of the cooler before a defrosting start condition is satisfied. 
     
     
         16 . The ice maker of  claim 15 , wherein the controller increases a heating amount of the heater in the pre-defrosting process. 
     
     
         17 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein during the second transparent ice operation, the controller performs a post-defrosting process of increasing a cooling power of the cooler more than a cooling power of the cooler before a defrosting start condition is satisfied. 
     
     
         18 . The ice maker of  claim 17 , wherein the controller increases a heating amount of the heater in the post-defrosting process. 
     
     
         19 . The ice maker of  claim 9 , wherein during the second transparent ice operation, the controller performs a defrosting process of reducing a cooling power of the cooler less than a cooling power of the cooler before a defrosting start condition is satisfied. 
     
     
         20 . The ice maker of  claim 19 , wherein the controller reduces a heating amount of the heater in the defrosting process.