GB2208917A

GB2208917A - Ice making container and ice making freezing compartment

Info

Publication number: GB2208917A
Application number: GB8818384A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yukinori Mochizuki; Hiroshige Konishi
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 1987-08-21
Filing date: 1988-08-02
Publication date: 1989-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2008-08-02
Also published as: GB2208917B; KR890004143A; CN1031414A; SG65792G; MY103138A; HK61792A; CN1013054B; GB8818384D0

Abstract

An ice making container comprising a dual structural having an upper space 43 and an impurity space 44 communicating with each other is provided with an outer side wall 52 for covering at least three ends of the container, or an ice making freezing compartment has a bottom wall formed with a recessed portion having walls which cover at least three ends of the ice making container or with a heating source. Icing in the ice making container starts from the upper surface, and the water in the container near the bottom is iced lastly, thereby ensuring that clear ice with impurities is isolated in the impurity space 44. <IMAGE>

Description

ICE MAKING CONTAINER AND ICE MAKING FREEZING COMPARTMENT The present invention relates to an ice making container and an ice making compartment which are capable of easily making clear ice having no bad taste in an freezing compartment and so on in a domestic refrigerator.

One example of the conventional refrigerators as disclosed in e.g. Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 120977/1982 is shown in Figures 16 and 17.

Figure 16 is the front view of the refrigerator with doors removed. Figure 17 is a partially sectional view of the refrigerator. In the Figures, reference numeral 1 designates a freezing compartment, reference numeral 2 designates a refrigerating compartment which is arranged below the freezing compartment 1, and reference numeral 3 designates a fan which is used to blow off cool air into the freezing compartment 1 above the refrigerating compartment 2. Reference numeral 4 desigates an electric motor for driving the fan 3, and reference numeral 5 desigates an evaporator which is arranged below the motor 4.- Reference numeral 6 designates a tray-for making ice.

The cooled air which has been produced at the evaporator 5 is blown off into the freezing compartment 1 by the fan 3 to make ice. The ice making tray 6 as the ice making container has ice making blocks constituted simply by side walls and a bottom wall so as to surround each block.

Reference numeral 7 designates a fan grill for the freezing compartment 3 with the ice making tray 6 provided therein, and reference numeral 8 designates an outlet port for the freezing compartment, which is arranged in an upper portion of the fan grill 7 to blow off the cooled air into the freezing compartment 1. Reference numeral 9 designates an intake port for the freezing compartment 1.

The cooled air which has been blown off into the freezing compartment 1 through the outlet port 8 cools the tray 6 in the freezing compartment, and then the cooled air is returned to the evaporator 5 through the intake port 9.

Reference numeral 10 designates an air guide which is connected to the fan grill just above the intake port 9.

Reference numeral 11 designates an ice making corner which has the air guide 10 and houses the tray 6.

In operation, the cooled air which has been cooled by the evaporator 7 is blown off into the freezing compartment 1 through the outlet port 8 by means of the fan 3 driven by the motor 4. The cooled air is partly taken into the ice making corner 11 at a lower portion in the freezing compartment 1 to pass around each ice making block of the tray 6, and is returned to the evaporator 5 through the intake port 9. While the cooled air is passing around the ice making blocks, it cools them to make ice in the tray 6.

The conventional ice making tray 6 as described above comprises a single tray with a plurality of ice forming compartments. As the structure of the ice making container used in such refrigerator with a freezer, there has been known an ice making container having a dual structure as disclosed in e.g. Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 35438/1980 and shown in Figures 18 and 19. Such dual structure type of ice making container 12 is used while an upper tray 13 having an open top end fit in a lower tray 14 having a greater size than the upper tray. In the Figures, reference numeral 19 designates a plurality of ice forming chambers which are constituted by partition walls 15 formed on the upper tray. Reference numeral 16 designates a communicating hole which is formed in a horizontal bottom portion of each ice forming chamber 19.Reference numeral 17 designates a space formed by fitting the upper tray 13 in the lower tray 14. Reference numeral 18 designates a gap space between the outer surfaces of the partition walls 15 forming the ice forming chambers 19 of the upper tray 12.

Since the conventional ice making tray or ice making container as used in the conventional refrigerator is constructed as the above, it has a disadvantage in that when water including impurities (such as, mineral inclusion, residual chlorine as the source of bleach odor), such as tap water, is iced in the ice making tray, bad taste of ice having cloudy portions in it is produced because the impurities move into the uniced portion as the water is being iced, and are condensed in the finally iced portion to make cloudy portions. In order to solve such problem, the dual structure type of ice making container 12 comprising the upper tray 13 and the lower tray 14 as described above has been proposed.However, the problem has not been improved by such ice making container because the use of the flat bottom 20 of the ice forming chamber 19 of the upper tray 13 prevents the water with the impurities mixed in it from concentrating into the lower space 17 through the communicating hole 16 of the ice forming chamber 13, and the impurities are accumulated on the bottom 20 of the ice forming chamber 19 to produce cloudy ice in the chamber.

In addition, the water comes into the gap spaces around each ice block of the upper tray, and it is iced therein. Since the ice produced in the gap spaces is coupled to the ice produced in the lower tray, a strong force is required to separate the upper tray and the lower tray. In addition, since the ice in the gap spaces prevents the upper tray from being deformed, it is difficult to take the ice out of the ice blocks. Further, the ice from which the impurities have not been fully separated is mixed with the ice in the upper tray when the ice is taken out of the ice blocks. These are additional problems.

When the ice making container having the dual structure as shown in Figure 19 is used to make ice in the conventional refrigerator as shown in Figure 16, the ice making container is cooled over all ends by the circulating cooled air, the water in the lower tray 14 starts to be iced before the water in the upper tray 13 has been completely iced. This raises a problem wherein the finally iced portion including the impurities is located around the bottom portion in the upper tray 13.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems as described above and to provide an ice making container capable of producing clear ice free from a cloudy portion which is formed by the concentration of impurities, even if water having bad taste, such as tap water with chlorine in it, is iced.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ice making freezing compartment capable of taking full advantage of the ability of a dual structure type of ice making container to separate the impurities at the time of making ice.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ice making container comprising an ice making block having a first bottom and a first inner side wall for surrounding the block, and an impurity block having a second bottom wall and a second inner side wall for surrounding the ice making block, wherein the ice making block is fitted in the impurity block in a detachable manner, there is provided a space between the bottom wall of the ice making block and the bottom wall of the impurity block, the bottom wall and the ice making block is provided with a communicating part for communicating the space above the bottom of the ice making block with the space below the bottom wall of the ice making block, and the ice making block or the impurity block is provided with an outer side wall for covering at least three ends of the ice making container.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice making freezing compartment having the bottom provided with a recessed portion with a wall covering at least three ends of the ice making container or a heating source, in place of the outer side wall of the ice making container.

In accordance with the ice making container of the present invention, the bottom of the ice making block is provided with the communicating part for communicating the side of the impurity block. As a result, when water including impurities is put into an ice forming chamber in the ice making block, the impurities gather at a lower portion in the chamber because they have a higher specific gravity than pure water. They move to the communicating part by the slantted bottom, and a cloudy portion with the impurities concentrated in it is directed to the side of the impurity block. This allows the formation of clear ice in the ice forming chamber.

In addition, in accordacne with the ice making container of the present invention, the ice making container having a dual structure in an communicating manner is provided with outer side walls for covering at least three ends of the container. Whereas, in accordance with the ice making freezing compartment of the present invention, the bottom wall of the freezing compartment is provided with the recessed portion having walls for covering at least three ends of the container or with a heating source. As a result, the icing in the ice making container positively starts from the upper surface of the water, and ends with the lower surface near the bottom.

This ensures the forming of clear ice of pure water, excluding the impurities.

In drawing: Figure 1 is a front view of a refrigerator with an embodiment of an ice making freezing compartment according to the present invention arranged in it, the doors being removed; Figure 2 is a front view of a refrigerator with another embodiment of the ice making freezing compartment arranged in it, the doors being removed for the sake of clarity; Figure 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of the refrigerator shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of an embodiment of an ice making container according to the present invention; Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a transverse cross sectional view of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a plan view of the container shown in Figure 4; Figures 8, 9 and 11 are longitudinal cross sectional view of other embodiments of the container;; Figure 10 is a perspective view of the container shown in Figure 11; Figure 12 is a transverse cross sectional view of the container shown in Figure 10; Figure 13 is a front view of a refrigerator with an embodiment of the ice making freezing compartment according to the present invention arranged in it, the doors being removed for the sake of clarity; Figure 14 is a front view of a refrigerator with another embodiment of the ice making freezing compartment arranged in it, the doors being removed for the sake of clarity; Figure 15 is a vertical cross sectional view of the refrigerator shown in Figure 13; Figure 16 is a front view of a refrigerator with an conventional ice making container housed in it, the doors being removed; Figure 17 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the refrigerator shown in Figure 16;; Figure 18 is a plan view of a conventional ice making container having a dual structure; and Figure 19 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the container shown in Figure 18.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1 through 3 show embodiments of an ice making freezing compartment according to the present invention.

Figures 1 and 2 are front views of a refrigerator with each embodiment of the ice making freezing compartment arranged in it, the doors being removed for the sake of clarity. Figure 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of the refrigerator as shown in Figure 1.

Explanation on elements designated by the reference numerals 1 through 11 is omitted because these elements have similar to those designated by the same reference numerals in Figure 16.

In Figures 1 through 3, reference numeral 21 designates a refrigerating compartment. Reference numeral 22 designates a vegetable compartment which is arranged below the refrigerating compartment 21 to store vegetables. Reference numeral 23 designates an ice making compartment which is arranged so as to divide a space between the refrigerating compartment 21 and a freezing compartment 1. Reference numeral 24 designates a chilled food compartment which is arranged so as to be located by the side of the ice making compartment 23. Reference numeral 25 designates an upper partition which is placed between the upper ends of the ice making compartment 23 and the chilled food compartment 24, and the frozen food compartment 1.Reference numeral 26 designates a lower partition which is placed between the lower ends of the ice making compartment 23 and the chilled food compartment 24, and the refrigerating compartment 21. Reference numeral 27 designates a vertical partition which is placed between the ice making compartment 23 and the chilled food compartment 24 which are arranged above the lower partition 26. Reference numeral 28 desingates a quick ice making tray as a conventional ice making container, which is put on a partition wall 29 which is located at an upper portion in the ice making compartment 23. An ice making container 30 is housed below the partition wall 29 in the ice making chamber 23.

The ice making chamber 23 can be provided with an ice reservoir 31 as shown in Figure 2, in place of the provision of the partition wall 29. In Figure 3, reference numeral 32 designates an outlet port for the ice making compartment, which is arranged behind the quick ice making tray 28. Reference numeral 33 designates an intake port for the ice making compartment, which is located behind the ice making container 30.

Reference numeral 35 designates a cooled air passage which is formed between the undersurface of the partition wall 29 or the ice reservoir 31 and the uppersurface of the ice making container 30. Reference numeral 36 designates an air guide which constitutes a duct 37 for directing cooled air to the outlet port 32.

In Figures 1 and 2, reference numeral 34 designates a recessed portion which is formed in the bottom of the ice making chamber 23 and has side walls for covering at least three ends of the ice making container 30 to be placed in it. Since the walls of the recessed portion prevents the cooled air from passing by the side surfaces and the bottom surface of the ice making container 30 as put in the recessed portion, the ice making container 30 is cooled only from the upper end by the cooled air flowing through the cooled air passage 35.

Now, an icing process which is carried out in the refrigerator will be explained.

In Figure 3, a portion of the cooled air which has been produced at an evaporator 5 is blown off from the outlet port 8 for the freezing compartment which is formed in a fan grill 7 behind the freezing compartment 1, and cools the inside of the freezing compartment 1. Another portion of the cooled air is blown off into the ice making compartment 23 from the outlet port 32 for the ice making compartment through the duct 37 between the fan grill 7 and the air guide 36. The blown cooled air cools the quick ice making tray 28 which is located at the upper portion in the ice making compartment 23, passes through the cooled air passage 35 between the undersurface of the partition wall 29 or the ice reservoir 31 and the uppersurface of the ice making container 30, and is returned to the evaporator 5 through the intake port 33 for the ice making compartment.The cooled air is circulated as described above. Such circulation of the cooled air allows the cooled air from the outlet port 32 to flow the periphery of the quick ice making tray, including the side surfaces and the bottom surfaces of the tray. As a result, the entire tray is cooled, which shortens the time required for making ice. On the other hand, the ice making container 30 is put in the recessed portion 34 having right and left walls and a rear wall. As a result, the cooled air is prevented from flowing by the side surfaces and the bottom surface of the ice making container 30. In addition, the bottom of the ice making container is heat-insulated by an air layer 49 which is defined by a lower ice making tray 41 and a soft material 48, as shown in Figure 4.As a result, the ice making container 30 is gradually cooled from the upper end by the cooled air flowing through the cooled air passage 35 to make the water ice.

The ice making freezing compartment according to the present invention allows clear ice without impurities to be produced even if the conventional ice making container 12 as shown in Figures 18 and 19 is used. When the ice making container according to the present invention is used, the production of clear ice without impurities is remarkably ensured.

The explanation on the first and second embodiments of the ice making compartment have been made in reference to the case wherein the quick ice making tray and the ice making container are located one above another in the ice making compartment of a five temperature type of refrigerator. As long as the ice making freezing compartment according to the present invention has a space or air passage enough to carry out icing, clear ice and cloudy ice can be separated whatever space or air passage structure it may have.

The ice making container 12 is preferably formed by a flexible material such as polyethylene in order to absorb cubical expansion which is caused by the icing of the water when the water is iced from the upper surface.

Next, an embodiment of the ice making container according to the present invention will be described in reference to Figures 4 through 7.

Reference numeral 38 designates an ice making container which compises a plurality of independent ice making blocks including a first side wall 45 for enclosing the transverse side of blcok and a bottom wall 39, the blcoks being coupled together so as to have upper opening edge connected to those of the others in series. Each ice making block has the bottom surface 39 formed with a communication part 40 comprising a plurality of apertures.

Reference numeral 41 designates an impurity block which covers the outer sides of the ice making block 38 except the upper opening and the ice making block 38 is detachably fitted in. The impurity block has a second inner side wall 47 gotten in surface contact with the first inner side wall 45 of the ice making block 38. The first inner side wall 45 and the second inner side wall 47 in surface contact establishes a dual structure. Between the bottom wall 39 of the ice making block 38 and the bottom surface 42 of the impurity block 41, there is formed a lower space 44 for making ice with concentrated impurities included in it. On the other hand, above the bottom wall 39 of the ice making block 38, there is provided an upper space 43 for making ice with impurities removed. In addition, the impurity block has an outer prepheral wall 51 so as to surround the second inner side wall.The outer peripheral wall 51 comprises an outer side wall 52 which has an upper end connected to the impurity block 41 and an outer bottom wall 53 which covers the bottom wall 42 of the impurity block 41.

The first inner side wall 45 of the ice making block 38 and the second inner side wall 47 of the impurity block 41 are formed so as to be higher than water level 46 in the ice making block 38. This allows a plurality of ice to be independently taken out of each ice forming chamber easily, being separated from cloudy ice with the impurities included, which is produced in the lower space 44.

The ice making container 30 according to the present invention prevents the water put in the container from being iced from its portions adjacent the side walls, in particular the bottom wall. The reason is that an enclosed space layer 49 which has a low rate of heat transfer and is defined by the second inner side wall 47, the bottom wall 42, the outer side wall 52 and the outer bottom wall 53 is formed outside the second inner side wall 47 and the bottom wall 42 of the impurity block 41.

The presence of a layer having a low rate of heat transfer, such as the enclosed space layer 49, which covers the periphery of the impurity block 41 can solve a problem wherein iced portion including the most impurities is located at an upper position in the ice making container 30, such iced portion is positioned above the bottom surface 39 of the ice making block 38 and it is impossible to separate ice without the impurities from ice with the concentrated impurities included.

The enclosed space layer 49 can be filled with air, or a liquid or a gas which is a low rate of heat transfer.

The impurity block 41 is preferably made of a soft material in order to separate the impurity block 41 from the ice making block 38 more easily.

Now, an icing process of the ice making container according to the present invention will be explained.

When water is poured in the ice making container 30 from the upper opening of the ice making container or the upper end of the ice making block 38, the water is accumulated in the upper space 43 and the lower space 44.

Since the first inner side wall 45 of the ice making block 38 and the second inner side wall 47 of the impurity block 49 are in surface contact with each other to establish liquid sealing. This can prevent the water in the lower space 44 from coming around the outer periphery of the first inner side wall 45. In addition, since the ice in the lower space 44 is coupled to the ice in the upper space 43 only at the communication part 40 after having iced, it is possible to separate the ice making block 38 and the impurity block 39 by a small force. The absence of the iced mass between the adjacent first inner walls 45, which might prevent deformation of the ice making block 38, allows easy deformation of the ice making block, such as torsion. As a result, it is easy to take the ice out of the upper space 43 of the ice making block 38, and there is no possibility that the ice including the impurities is mixed with the ice without the impurities at the time of taking the ice without the impurities out of the ice making block.

The surface contact combination of the first inner wall 45 of the ice making block 38 and the second inner wall 47 of the impurity block 39 constituts a dual wall structure. The spaces 43 and 44 which are located one above another communicate each other through the communication part 40 which comprises a plurality apertures formed in the bottom wall 39 of the independent ice making block 38 in the ice making upper tray 38.

Since the ice making container is gradually cooled from the upper opening end, icing starts from the space 43 of the ice making block 38, and icing is finally made in the space 44 of the impurity block 41. When the tap water is poured into the container, the impurities such as residual chlorine and mineral inclusion move to an uniced portion during icing, and is concentrated in a finally iced portion to produce a cloudy portion. As a result, the portion that has been iced first is clear ice which has no flavor or impurities like pure water. Thus, the clear ice is produced in the space 43 of the ice making block 38, and the cloudy ice is produced in the space 44 of the impurity block 41.

The second side wall 47 of the impurity block 41 is formed so as to be higher than water level 46 in the ice making block 38, and the ice produced in the impurity block 41 is independent from the ice in the other impurity blocks. As a result, a force is applied on both ends of the ice making tray, and the ice making upper tray 38 and the ice making lower tray 41 are simultaneously twisted to deform the ice making tray, thereby taking the produced ice out of the tray like the conventional ice tray having a single structure. Since the upper space 43 and the lower space 44 communicate each other only at the communication part 40, the ice in the upper space 43 and the ice in the lower space 44 are separated at the same time as the upper tray and the lower tray are twisted.

Next, other embodiments of the ice making container according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 8 through 12.

Figure 8 shows an embodiment wherein an additional layer 57 having a low rate of heat transfer is provided with the undersurface of the enclosed space layer as shown in Figure 4 so as to ensure that the ice making container is prevented from being cooled by the bottom wall of the ice making compartment. A similar effect can be obtained by thickening the outer bottom wall 53 in place of the provision of the separate layer 57.

Figure 9 shows another embodiment of the container wherein the second inner side wall 47 and the bottom wall 42 of the impurity block 39 constituting the enclosed space layer as shown in Figure 4, and the outer side wall 52 and the outer bottom wall 48 constituting the outer peripheral wall 51 are constituted as separate bodys. The embodiment as shown in Figure 9 is superior in being capable of producing the impurity block by a single process, though the impurity block 41 having the enclosed space layer 49 as shown in Figure 4 requires at least two processes in production.

By the way, the communication part 40 is not limited to have circular apertures like the embodiments. Any shape of apertures can be applied as long as each aperture is small. Instead of the apertures, a slit having a narrow width can be formed.

When the communication part 40 has a plurality of apertures or slits in the whole surface of the bottom of 39 of the ice making block 38, the impurity can move from the upper space 43 into the lower space 44 easily during icing.

The embodiments of the ice making container according to the present invention as shown in Figures 4 through 9, themselves, have the space layers covering the impurity blocks. In order to produce the impurity block with the enclosed air layer for the ice making container as shown in Figures 4 through 7, there are required two processes wherein the second inner side wall and the outer peripheral wall are separately made and then both walls are bonded together. With regard to the ice making container as shown in Figure 8, there are required an additional process wherein the additional layer 57 is affixed. Regard to the ice making container as shown in Figure 9, the number of parts as required is three though the number of the processes does not increase.

Now, another embodiment of the ice making container wherein the number of the processes and the number of the parts are small will be described in reference to Figures 10 through 12.

In the Figures, parts similar or corresponding to those in Figures 4 through 6 are indicated by the same reference numerals as Figures 4 through 6, and explanation on these parts will be omitted for the sake of clarity.

The ice making container as shown in Figures 10 through 12 is different from the container as shown in Figures 4 through 6 in that it does not have an outer bottom wall and it is provided with a handle 56 in an outer side wall 55 at a position that is located at the side of the front door of the freezing compartment when the container is put in it.

In the embodiment, the ice making container 54 is covered with the outer wall 55 from three directions, i.e.

the left and right sides and the rear side. As a result, the cooled air hardly passes through a space 57 which is located around the second inner side wall 47 of the impurity block 41 and inside the outer side wall 55.

This allows the ice making container to be cooled from above the ice making block 38 and the water in the impurity block to be iced lastly, thereby insuring that ice without the impurities is produced in the ice making block.

Although the ice making container having the enclosed space layer as described above is superior in terms of the difference in the manner of cooling the ice making block 38 and the manner of cooling the impulity block 41, the ice making container as shown in Figures 10 through 12 is superior in that the provision of the handle 59 facilitates to put the container into and take it out of the freezing compartment, and it does not require the second process such as affixing and bonding because only.

two parts, i.e. the ice making block 38 and the impurity block 41 are needed.

In addition, since the ice making block 38 as shown in Figure 10 through 12 can be deformed by e.g. torsion, it is easy to take the ice out of the space 43 in the ice making block 38. Because the impurity block 41 can be also deformed by e.g. torsion, it is easy to separate the ice from the walls of the space 44 in the impurity block 41. It is possible to use the ice as produced in the impulity block 41 to cool food without putting into the drinks, which offers an additional advantage.

It is sufficient that the outer side wall 55 of the ice container extends at least adjacent the bottom wall 42 of the impurity block 41 as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

It is sufficient that the outer side wall 55 of the ice making container is formed in at least the three directions as shown in Figures 10 through 12.

In addition, although the outer side wall 55 of the ice making container is formed integrally with the impurity block 41, the same effect is obtained by forming the outer side wall 55 integrally with the ice making block 38.

In the respective embodiments as described above, the lower portion of the container is cooled later than the upper portion. Now, another embodiment of the present invention wherein heat is supplied to the lower portion to relay the icing in the lower portion in comparison with the icing in the upper portion will be described in reference to Figures 13 through 15.

In the Figures, parts similar or corresponding to those as shown in Figures 1 through 3 are indicated by the same reference numerals. Explanation on the parts is omitted for the sake for the clarity.

In the Figures, reference numerals 58, 59 and 60 designate heat insulating walls covering the oppose side surfaces and the bottom surface of the recessed poriton 34. Reference numeral 61 designates a heater as a heating source, which is provided in the heat insulating wall as the bottom wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the ice making container 30. In this embodiment, the conventional ice making container as shown in Figures 18 and 19 or the ice making containers as shown in Figures 4 through 12 can be used as the ice making container 30.

In operation, a portion of the cooled air which has been produced by the evaporator 5 is blown off out of the freezing compartment outlet port 8 which is formed in the fan grill 7 behind the freezing compartment 1, and cools the inside of the freezing compartment 1. The remaining portion of the cooled air is blown off into the ice making compartment 23 from the ice making compartment outlet port 32 through the duct 37 between the fan grill 7 and the air guide 36. The blown cooled air cools the quick ice making tray 28 which is located in an upper portion in the ice making compartment 23, passes through the cooled air passage between the under surface of the partition 29 or the ice reservoir 31 and the upper surface of the ice making container 30, and then returns to the evaporator 5 through the ice making compartment intake port 33.The circulation of the cooled air is done as just stated.

Such structre of the air passage in the ice making compartment 23 allows the cooled air having a low temperature to be provided directly to the quick ice making tray 28 in a high flow rate to cooled it, thereby shortening the time required for making ice. On the other hand, with regard to the ice making container 30, the returning cooled air having a relatively increased temperature passes over the upper surface of the container, and icing gradually starts from the upper surface of the container 30 because the container is put in the recessed portion 34 whose heat insulating walls 58, 59 and 60 cover the opposite side surfaces and the bottom surface of the container. In addition, the bottom surface of the container is intermittently heated by the heater 61 for a certain time to ensure that the water in the container is gradually iced form the upper surface.

In the ice making container 30 on which the cooled air is blown, the icing possitively starts from the upper surface of the upper ice making block, and the water in the impurity block is iced after the heater 61 is turned off. Accordingly, while the water in the ice making block is being iced, the impurities such as the mineral inclusion and the residual chlorine which are included the tap water and the source of the smell like bleach order move into the space in the impurity block with uniced water reserved in it, and are concentrated in the impurity block. The water in the inside of the impurity block which has been heated by the heater 61 is iced lastly.

As a result, the impurites are precipitated in the space in the impurity block wherein the icing is done lastly, and are trapped in the ice to produce a cloudy portion. The portion that has been iced firstly is clear ice without flavor, which is just like the ice made of pure water which does not almost include the impurities.

The ice making container is formed so as to be slighly deformable in order to prevent the ice from rising from the upper surface.

Although in this embodiment, the quick ice making tray and the ice making container are located one above another in the ice making compartment in a five door type of refrigerator, any type of the air passage structure can separate clear ice and cloudy ice as long as the heating source is provided adjacent to the bottom surface of the ice making container. It is possible to omit the heat insulating walls 58 and 59 that make the cooled air difficult to blown on the side surface of the ice making container.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An ice making container comprising an ice making block having a bottom wall and a first inner side wall for surrounding the periphery of the block, and an impurity block having a bottom wall and a second inner side wall for surrounding the periphery of the ice making block, wherein the ice making block is adapted to be detachably fit in the impurity block, there is porvided at a space between the bottom wall of the ice making block and the bottom wall of the impurity block, and the ice making block has a part of the bottom wall formed with a communicating portion which communicates between a space above and a space below the bottom wall of the ice making block, characterized in that there is an outer side wall which covers at least three ends of the periphery of the impurity block.

2. The ice making container of Claim 1, wherein the first inner side wall is adapted to be in surface contact with the second inner side wall.

3. The ice making container of Claim 1, wherein the impurity block has its bottom end covered by an outer bottom wall which extends form the outer side wall.

4. The ice making container of Claim 3, wherein the impurity block has at least the bottom wall provided with a layer having a low rate of heat transfer.

5. The ice making container of Claim 4, wherein the layer having a low rate of heat transfer comprises an enclosed space layer.

6. The ice making container of Claim 1, wherein the communication portion comprises a plurality of apertures.

7. The ice making container of Claim 1, wherein the communication portion comprises a slit.

8. The ice making container of Claim 1, wherein a plurality of ice making blocks are provided in the impurity block.

9. An ice making freezing compartment which is adapted to house an ice making container comprising an ice making block having a bottom wall and a first inner side wall for surrounding the periphery of the block, and an impurity block having a bottom wall and a second inner side wall for surrounding the periphery of the ice making block, wherein the ice making block is adapted to be detachably fit in the impurity block, there is porvided at a space between the bottom wall of the ice making block and the bottom wall of the impurity block, and the ice making block has a part of the bottom wall formed with a communicating portion which communicates between a space above and a space below the bottom wall of the ice making block, characterized in that the freezing compartment has the bottom surface formed with a recessed portion which has walls for covering at least three ends of the ice making container.

10. The ice making freezing compartment of Claim 9, wherein there is provided a cooled air passage above the ice making container.

11. The ice making freezing compartment of Claim.9, wherein the ice making container has the first inner side wall gotten in surface contact with the second inner side wall.

12. The ice making freezing compartment of Claim 9, wherein a heating source is provided at the bottom of the recessed portion.

13. An ice making freezing compartment which is adapted to house an ice making container comprising an ice making block having a bottom wall and a first inner side wall for surrounding the periphery of the block, and an impurity block having a bottom wall and a second inner side wall for surrounding the periphery of the ice making block, wherein the ice making block is adapted to be detachably fit in the impurity block, there is porvided at a space between the bottom wall of the ice making block and the bottom wall of the impurity block, and the ice making block has a part of the bottom wall formed with a communicating portion which communicates between a space above and a space below the bottom wall of the ice making block, characterized in that a heating source for carrying out heating for a certain time during icing is provided in the bottom wall of the freezing compartment, which is adjacent to the bottom surface of the ice making container.

14. The ice making freezing compartment of Claim 13, wherein the ice making container has the first inner side wall bottom gotten in surface contact with the second inner side wall.

15. The ice making freezing compartment of Claim 13, wherein there is formed an cooled air passage above the ice making container.

16. The ice making freezing compartment of Claim 13, wherein the freezing compartment has the bottom wall formed with a recessed portion having walls which cover at least three ends of the ice making container.

17. An ice making container and freezing compartment, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.