| CPC F25C 5/08 (2013.01) [F25C 1/18 (2013.01); F25C 1/24 (2013.01); F25C 1/25 (2018.01); F25D 29/00 (2013.01); F25C 2400/06 (2013.01); F25C 2400/10 (2013.01); F25C 2700/06 (2013.01); F25C 2700/12 (2013.01)] | 21 Claims |
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1. A refrigerator comprising:
a storage chamber;
a cold air supply configured to perform at least one of supplying cold air or absorbing heat; and
an ice maker comprising:
a first tray configured to form a first portion of a cell;
a second tray configured to form a second portion of the cell, the first and second portions configured to form a space in which liquid is phase-changed to ice, wherein the second tray is configured to move with respect to the first tray to a first position, a second position, or a third position;
a heater provided adjacent to at least one of the first tray or the second tray;
a sensor configured to determine a position of the second tray when the second tray moves and output a first signal and a second signal; and
a controller configured to control the heater and the position of the second tray, such that:
after liquid is completely supplied to the space when the second tray is in the second position, the second tray is moved to the first position such that the first and second portions are aligned,
after the liquid has completely phase-changed to ice, the second tray is moved in a first direction to the third position such that the first and second portions are completely spaced apart;
after the ice is completely separated from the second tray when the second tray is at the third position, the second tray is moved in a second direction opposite to the first direction to the second position such that the first and second portions are at least partially spaced from each other,
when the second tray is at the first position, the heater is configured to be turned on in so that air bubbles dissolved in the liquid within the space move from where ice is forming in the liquid toward the liquid that is still in a liquid state,
after an initialization operation has been started, when the second signal is output from the sensor, the second tray is moved for a first predetermined amount of seconds in the second direction and then move for a second predetermined amount of seconds in the first direction, and
when the first signal is configured to be output from the sensor after the second tray moves for the second predetermined amount of seconds in the first direction, the second tray is moved in the first direction until the second signal is output, indicating that the second tray is provided at the second position,
wherein the controller is configured to control at least one of a cooling power of the cold air supply or a heating amount of the heater to vary according to a mass per unit height of liquid within the space, and
wherein the controller is configured to control the cold air supply such that the cooling power is a first cooling power at a first mass per unit height and a second cooling power at a second mass per unit height, the first cooling power being greater than the second cooling power and the first mass per unit height being greater than the second mass per unit height, while the heating amount of heater is maintained to be constant.
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