KR100758325B1 - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigerator is provided to uniformly maintain temperature inside a receiving portion of an ice-making portion during compressor stop by including a cooling device forming an independent cooling cycle, and to increase ice-making speed by receiving an evaporator in the receiving portion of the ice-making portion. A refrigerator comprises an ice-making portion(10), a receiving portion(8) of the ice-making portion and a cooling device for ice-making. The ice-making portion has an ice-making tray(11) for generating ice. The receiving portion of the ice-making portion is arranged in a door(5) and receives the ice-making portion. The cooling device for the ice-making is arranged in the door and forms an independent cooling cycle so as to supply cool air to the receiving portion of the ice-making portion. The cooling device for the ice-making includes an evaporator(51), a compressor(52), a condenser(53), an expansion valve(54) and a refrigerant pipe(55).

Description

Refrigerator {REFRIGERATOR}

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

2 is a plan view of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a deicing cooling device in which a refrigerating chamber door is separated into 'A' parts and 'B' parts according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a deicing cooling device in which a refrigerating chamber door is separated into an A 'part and a' B 'part according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerant pipe at the time of opening the door according to the present invention;

6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerant pipe at the time of closing the door according to the present invention;

7 is a control block diagram according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1: refrigerator 3: refrigerator

5: cold room door 8: ice making compartment

8a: Ice making room 9: Temperature sensor

10: ice making unit 11: ice tray

20: dispenser unit 32: input unit

40: ice making temperature sensor 51: ice making evaporator

52: ice maker compressor 53: ice maker condenser

54: expansion valve for ice making 55: refrigerant piping

70 memory unit 80 control unit

81: main control unit 82: ice making control unit

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator in which an independent cooling cycle is formed to supply cold air to an ice making unit.

In general, a refrigerator is a device for freezing or refrigerating food by supplying cold air generated by a cooling device consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator into a refrigerator. These refrigerators have a storage compartment partitioned up and down, the top-mounted freezer (TMF) method in which the freezer is located at the top, the bottom-mounted freezer (BMF) method in which the refrigerating chamber is located at the top, and the SBS (Side By Side) in which the freezer and the refrigerating compartment are divided from side to side. )

Meanwhile, the dispenser of the BMF refrigerator among the three refrigerators described above is disposed in the refrigerating chamber door located above. In the BMF-type refrigerator, a separate ice-making compartment is partitioned in the refrigerating compartment or the refrigerating compartment door in order to extract the ice into the dispenser unit. In the conventional BMF refrigerator, as disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-0041437, a cold air duct including an ice making chamber and an evaporator communicates with a cold air flow path to supply cold air generated in an evaporator to an ice making chamber.

However, such a conventional refrigerator has an indirect cooling method in which ice making is performed by using cold air generated in an evaporator located in a lower freezer area, and thus, the ice making speed is slow. In addition, there is a problem in that the temperature of the ice making chamber increases when the compressor is turned off according to the temperature of the storage chamber. In addition, the cold air passage communicating from the cold air duct in which the evaporator is located to the ice making chamber is lengthened, so that a large pressure resistance is generated on the cold air flow path, so that a blower fan having a large output must be used, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having an improved cooling structure of the ice making unit so as to improve the ice making speed of the ice making unit and maintain the temperature of the ice making unit.

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According to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising a main body cabinet for forming a storage compartment and a door for opening and closing the storage compartment, the refrigerator comprising: an ice making unit having an ice making tray for generating ice; An ice making unit provided in the door to accommodate the ice making unit; An ice making device provided in the door to form an independent cooling cycle to supply cold air to the ice making unit, the ice making machine comprising: an ice making evaporator housed in the ice making unit and generating cold air; An ice maker compressor, which is isolated from the ice maker, and disposed in any one of the main cabinet and the door, an ice maker condenser disposed in any one of the main cabinet and the door, the ice maker condenser and the ice maker evaporator. It is achieved by a refrigerator comprising an expansion valve for ice making and a refrigerant pipe for interconnecting the ice making evaporator, the ice making compressor, the ice making condenser and the ice making expansion valve to a closed loop. do.

The ice making condenser may include an ice making condensation main body disposed at the front of the door and having an accommodation space therein, and a tube-shaped ice making condensing unit accommodated in the ice making condensation main body.

The ice making evaporator and the ice making tray may be integrally coupled.

The ice making apparatus may further include a blowing fan that blows cool air generated from the ice making evaporator to the ice making unit, and further includes a thermoelectric element.

In addition, the apparatus may further include an ice making temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the ice making unit.

The apparatus may further include a controller configured to control an operation of the ice making cooling device based on the signal of the ice making temperature sensor.

The apparatus may further include an input unit configured to apply an operation signal to the ice making device, wherein the controller turns the ice making device on or off based on a signal of the input unit.

It may further include a hinge portion through which the refrigerant pipe between the main cabinet and the door penetrates, the hinge portion may include a heat insulating portion for maintaining the heat insulation of the refrigerant pipe.

It may include a refrigerant pipe insulation for maintaining the heat insulation of at least a portion of the refrigerant pipe received in the door.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings for a refrigerator of the BMF method as an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the embodiment of the present invention will be described with respect to the refrigerator of the BMF method, it will be noted that it can be applied to the refrigerator of the SBS method.

1 and 2, the refrigerator 1 according to the present invention includes a main cabinet 2 in which the storage chambers 3 and 4 are formed, and doors 5 and 6 that open and close the storage chambers 3 and 4. And an ice making unit 8 having an ice making unit 10 having an ice making tray 11 that generates ice, an ice making unit 8 having an ice making chamber 8a for receiving the ice making unit 10, and an ice making unit 8 only. And an ice maker for cooling ice (51, 52, 53, 54, 55). The apparatus may further include a controller 80 (refer to FIG. 5) for controlling the operation of the ice makers 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55.

The main cabinet 2 forms an exterior, and internally, the storage chambers 3 and 4 are formed. The front of the main cabinet (2) is coupled to the door (5,6) that rotates opening and closing and sliding opening and closing with respect to the storage compartment (3,4). In the main cabinet 2, an evaporator (not shown), a compressor (7: see FIG. 7), a condenser (not shown), an expansion valve (not shown) which form a cooling cycle for supplying cold air to the storage chambers 3 and 4, respectively. It includes a cooling device (not shown) having a. On the other hand, in the main cabinet 2, the foaming agent 2a is filled and formed so that heat insulation of the storage chambers 3 and 4 may be maintained.

The storage chambers 3 and 4 are partitioned up and down by the partition of the main body cabinet 2 as an example of this invention. The storage compartments 3, 4 are embodiments of the invention and include a refrigerating compartment 3 located above and a freezing compartment 4 located below the partition wall. Here, in the storage chambers 3 and 4, a temperature sensor 9 (see FIG. 7) for sensing the temperature of the storage chambers 3 and 4 is provided. The temperature sensing range of the temperature sensor 9 is set in advance and stored in the memory unit 70 (see FIG. 7) to be described later.

The doors 5 and 6 are coupled to the front of the main cabinet 2 so as to be openable and openable with respect to the storage compartments 3 and 4. The doors 5 and 6 have a refrigerator door 5 coupled by a hinge part 2b to pivotally open and close the refrigerator compartment 3 located at the upper part, and a freezer door 6 sliding and opening and closing with respect to the freezer compartment 4 located at the lower part. ). Here, the inside of the doors 5 and 6 is filled with a foaming agent 2a for maintaining the heat insulation of the doors 5 and 6. On the other hand, as the hinge portion 2b, as an example of the present invention, a refrigerant pipe 55 connected to the ice making evaporator 51 disposed in the refrigerating chamber door 5 is penetrated. Description of the invention related to the hinge portion 2b will be described in detail in the refrigerant pipe 55 to be described later.

The front of the refrigerating chamber door 5 has a dispenser unit 20 for taking out ice and water from the outside without opening the refrigerating chamber door 5, a display 31 indicating the state of the refrigerator 1, and a refrigerator 1 It includes a display unit 30 having an input unit 32 for applying an operation signal of the. On the other hand, the dispenser 20 may be applied to a variety of known structures. Here, a condenser 53 for ice making, which will be described later, is disposed on the front surface of the refrigerating chamber door 5 as an embodiment of the present invention. In the refrigerating chamber door 5, there is provided an ice making unit 8 in which an ice making chamber 8a, which will be described later, which accommodates the ice making unit 10 is formed. In addition, inside the refrigerating chamber door 5, an ice making compressor accommodating portion 5a for accommodating the ice making compressor 52 to be described later among the ice making apparatuses 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 is provided.

The freezer compartment door 6 is installed in one embodiment of the present invention so as to be able to slide open and close with respect to the freezer compartment 4. That is, the freezer compartment door 6 is provided in a drawer method that draws in and out of the freezer compartment 4. However, the freezer compartment door 6 may be hinged to be rotatable and openable with respect to the freezer compartment 4, like the refrigerator compartment door 5.

The ice making unit 10 receives ice from an external water supply device (not shown), and an ice making tray 11 that generates ice in a predetermined shape, and an ice making unit 12 that ices the ice generated in the ice making tray 11. ), An ice detection sensor (not shown) which transmits a control signal to the controller 80 to detect the temperature of the ice making tray 11 and to operate the ice making unit 12, and the ice iced by the ice making unit 12. Ice storage container 13 for storing the. As an example of the present invention, the ice making unit 10 is accommodated in the ice making unit 8 in which the ice making chamber 8a is formed. Meanwhile, an ice making temperature sensor 40 for detecting a temperature of the ice making chamber 8a is disposed in the ice making receiving unit 8.

The ice making tray 11 receives water from an external water supply device through a water supply hose (not shown) connected through the hinge portion 2b. The water supplied to the ice making tray 11 is iced according to the shape of the ice making tray 11. For example, ice having a semicircular or crescent shape may be produced, or an ice cube having an almost cuboid shape may be produced. The ice making tray 11 may be arranged anywhere in the ice making chamber 8a, but is preferably arranged where cold air is sufficiently supplied.

The ice making unit 12 operates to ice the ice generated in the ice making tray 11 under the control of the controller 80 based on the detected signal of the ice detecting sensor to the ice storage container 13. The ice maker 12 may include an ejector (not shown) for discharging the ice of the ice making tray 11 and a motor (not shown) for rotating the ejector. Here, the motor of the ice portion 12 may use a variety of known motors.

The ice storage container 13 stores the ice iced by the ice-covering unit 12. Ice storage container 13 is preferably located at the bottom of the ice making tray (11). Above the ice storage container 13, the ice detection lever (not shown) for measuring the amount of ice in the ice storage container 13 is disposed.

The ice making unit 8 forms an ice making chamber 8a for receiving the ice making unit 10. The ice making unit 8 is provided in the refrigerating chamber door 5 as an embodiment of the present invention. The ice making unit 8 is provided with an ice making evaporator 51 which will be described later among the ice making units 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 in addition to the ice making unit 10.

The ice making apparatuses 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 are, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the ice making evaporator 51 accommodated in the ice making compartment 8 to generate cold air, and the ice making apparatus. The deicing compressor 52 disposed in the refrigerating chamber door 5 and separated from the section 8, the deicing condenser 53 disposed in the doors 5 and 6, the deicing condenser 52 and the deicing evaporator The ice making expansion valve 54 provided between the 51 and the ice making evaporator 51, the ice making compressor 52, the ice making condenser 53, and the ice making expansion valve 54 are interconnected by a closed loop. Refrigerant piping 55 is included. In addition, the ice making apparatuses 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 include a thermoelectric element (not shown). Here, the thermoelectric device may be a Peltier device having high efficiency by using a semiconductor such as bismuth (Bi) or tellurium (Te).

The ice making apparatuses 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 are disposed in the refrigerating chamber door 5 as an embodiment of the present invention, but may be disposed inside the freezing chamber door 6. The ice makers 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 form an independent cooling cycle to supply cold air to the ice making unit 8 in which the ice making unit 10 is accommodated.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ice making evaporator 51 is partitioned and disposed in one region of the ice making chamber 8 a as the first embodiment of the present invention. In the ice making chamber 8a of the first embodiment of the present invention, a blowing fan 60 is provided to supply cold air generated in the ice making evaporator 51 to the ice making unit 10. Here, since the separation distance between the blower fan 60 and the ice-making unit 10 and the ice-making evaporator 51 is short, it is preferable to use a thing with a small output.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4, the ice making evaporator 51, as a second embodiment of the present invention, is integrally coupled with the ice making tray (11). That is, the ice making evaporator 51 is an embodiment of the present invention, which is integrally coupled to the lower part of the ice making tray 11.

The ice maker compressor 52 is an embodiment of the present invention, and is housed in the ice maker compartment 5a separated from the ice maker 8. However, the ice making compressor 52 may be housed together with the compressor 7 in a machine room (not shown) in which a compressor 7 which forms a cooling cycle for supplying cold air to the storage chambers 3 and 4 is accommodated. Here, the ice making compressor 52 is used as an embodiment of the present invention, having a size of 100 × 160 × 160 mm. That is, the ice making compressor 52 uses what has a small size so as to operate the cooling cycle which supplies cold air only to the ice-making chamber 8a.

The ice making condenser 53 includes an ice making condensation base body 53a disposed on the front side of the refrigerating chamber door 5 and a tube-shaped ice making condensing unit 53b accommodated inside the ice making condensation base body 53a. do. The ice making condenser 53 may also be housed together with the condenser in the machine room in which the condenser which forms a cooling cycle for supplying cold air to the storage chambers 3 and 4, like the ice making compressor 52 described above.

When the above-mentioned ice making compressor 52 or ice making condenser 53 is disposed in the machine room, the refrigerant pipe 55 to be described later is connected to each other through the hinge portion 2b.

The ice making condensation base body 53a is provided in a plate shape in which an accommodation space is formed to accommodate the ice making condensing unit 53b therein. The ice making condensation base body 53a is preferably made of a metal material such that heat generated from the ice making condensing unit 53b is cooled in contact with the outside air.

The ice making condensation part 53b is accommodated in the accommodation space of the ice making condensation base body 53a. The ice making condensation part 53b has a tube shape. The ice-making condensation part 53b is distributed over the whole surface of the ice-making condensation base body 53a. That is, the heat transfer area of the ice making condensing unit 53b is maximized so that the heat generated from the ice making condensing unit 53b is easily cooled in contact with the outside air.

An ice making expansion valve 54 is disposed between the ice making evaporator 51 and the ice making condenser 53. The ice making expansion valve 54 may be smaller than the expansion valve forming a cooling cycle for supplying cold air to the storage chambers 3 and 4. This is because the cooling performance of the ice making apparatuses 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 according to the present invention is smaller than that of the cooling apparatus which cools the storage chambers 3,4.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the refrigerant pipe 55 is a deicing evaporator 51, an ice making compressor 52, an ice making condenser 53, an ice making expansion valve 54 by a closed loop. Connect. When the ice maker compressor 52 or the ice maker condenser 51 is provided in the main cabinet 2 of the ice makers 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55, the main cabinet 2 and the refrigerating chamber door ( 5) It is preferable to use a flexible material for the refrigerant pipe 55a (see FIG. 4A). Thus, it is possible to prevent the refrigerant pipe 55 from being damaged by the opening and closing operation of the refrigerating chamber door 5. The refrigerant pipe 55b accommodated in the refrigerating chamber door 5 is twisted by opening and closing the refrigerating chamber door 5. That is, the damage to the refrigerant pipe 55b accommodated in the refrigerating chamber door 5 is prevented.

Here, the refrigerant pipe 55a between the main cabinet 2 and the refrigerating chamber door 5 is connected to each other through the aforementioned hinge portion 2b. The refrigerant pipe 55b accommodated in the refrigerating chamber door 5 is surrounded by the refrigerant pipe insulation unit 55c for maintaining heat insulation. On the other hand, the hinge part 2b rotates the heat insulation part 2c formed so that the refrigerant pipe 55a between the main body cabinet 2 and the refrigerating chamber door 5 may be insulated, and the main body cabinet 2 and the refrigerating chamber door 5. The hinge part body 2d which connects possibly is included.

As shown in FIG. 7, the temperature range detected by the temperature sensor 9 installed in the storage chambers 3 and 4 and the ice making temperature sensor 40 installed in the ice making chamber 8a is stored in the memory unit 70 in advance. do. The temperature range stored in the memory unit 70 may be preset at the time of shipment of the refrigerator 1 or may be arbitrarily set by the user.

The control unit 80 transmits a signal sensed to the temperature sensors 9 of the storage chambers 2 and 3 to control the operation of the compressor 7 and the ice making units 51, 52, 53, And an ice making control unit 82 for controlling the operation of 54 and 55.

The main controller 81 compares the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 9 with a temperature preset in the memory unit 70 to turn the compressor 11 on or off.

On the other hand, the ice making control unit 82 operates the ice making compressor 52 to supply cold air to the ice making unit 10 when the operation signal is applied from the input unit 32, and the sensed temperature and memory of the ice making temperature sensor 40 The ice making compressor 52 may be stopped by comparing the temperature set in the unit 70. Here, various control methods may be applied to the ice making controller 82 based on the operation signal of the input unit 32 and the signal of the ice making temperature sensor 40.

With this configuration, the assembly process and the operation process of the ice making unit 10 and the ice making apparatus 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention are as follows. .

The ice-making accommodation part 8 in which the ice-making chamber 8a which accommodates the ice-making part 10 is provided in the refrigerating chamber door 5 is provided. In the ice making unit 8, an ice making evaporator 51 is disposed at a distance from the ice making unit 10 and the ice making unit 10, or the ice making tray 11 and the ice making evaporator 51 are integrally combined. . At this time, when the ice making evaporator 51 is disposed at a distance away from the ice making unit 10, a blowing fan 60 is installed between the ice making evaporator 51 and the ice making unit 10.

An ice making compressor accommodating portion 5a spaced apart from the ice making chamber 8a in the refrigerating chamber door 5 is accommodated in the ice making compressor 52. The ice-making condenser 53 which has the ice-making condensation base body 53a which accommodates the ice-making condensation part 53b in front of the refrigerating chamber door 5 is arrange | positioned. An expansion valve 54 for ice making is disposed between the ice making condenser 53 and the ice making evaporator 51.

The ice making evaporator 51, the ice making compressor 52, the ice making condenser 53 and the ice making expansion valve 54 are interconnected by a closed loop by the refrigerant pipe 55.

On the other hand, after installing the ice making coolers (51, 52, 53, 54, 55) in the refrigerating chamber door (5), water to the ice making tray (11) from the external water supply device to take out the ice to the dispenser unit (20) To supply. The icemakers 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 are operated to ice the water supplied to the ice maker 11.

The icemakers 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55 operate to apply cold air to the ice making chamber 8a by applying an operation signal to the input unit 32 provided in the display unit 30. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the ice is taken out to the dispenser unit 20 and an operation stop signal of the input unit 32 is applied to stop the operation of the icemakers 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55.

On the other hand, when power is applied to the refrigerator 1, the compressor 7 for cooling the storage chambers 3 and 4 and the ice making compressor 52 for cooling the ice making chamber 8a operate together.

When the detected temperature of the ice making temperature sensor 40 provided in the ice making chamber 8a is compared with the preset temperature stored in the memory unit 70, and the temperature of the ice making chamber 8a is high, the ice making compressor 52 is continuously operated. When the temperature of the ice making chamber 8a is low, the ice making compressor 52 is stopped.

Thereby, the ice-making cooling apparatus which forms the independent cooling cycle which supplies cold air to an ice-making part can be maintained, and the temperature in an ice-making part can be maintained even when the compressor which cools a storage chamber is stopped.

In addition, since the ice making evaporator is accommodated in the ice making container, a cold air flow path is unnecessary, and thus a high output blower fan is not installed, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. In addition, an ice making evaporator is accommodated in the ice making unit to improve an ice making speed of the ice making unit.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an ice making device for forming an independent cooling cycle for supplying cold air only to the ice making part, so that the temperature in the ice making part can be maintained even when the compressor for cooling the storage compartment is stopped. have.

In addition, since the ice making evaporator is accommodated in the ice making container, a cold air flow path is unnecessary, and thus a high output blower fan is not installed, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

In addition, an ice making evaporator may be accommodated in the ice making unit to provide a refrigerator capable of improving an ice making speed of the ice making unit.

Claims (11)

delete A refrigerator having a main body cabinet forming a storage compartment and a door for opening and closing the storage compartment, An ice making unit having an ice making tray for generating ice; An ice making unit provided in the door to accommodate the ice making unit; A deicing cooling device provided in the door to form an independent cooling cycle to supply cold air to the ice making unit; The ice making device is, An ice making evaporator housed in the ice making unit and generating cold air; An ice making compressor which is isolated from the ice making receiving unit and disposed in any one of the main cabinet and the door; An ice making condenser disposed on any one of the main cabinet and the door; An expansion valve for ice making provided between the ice making condenser and the ice making evaporator; And a refrigerant pipe interconnecting the ice making evaporator, the ice making compressor, the ice making condenser, and the ice making expansion valve to a closed loop. The method of claim 2, The ice making condenser, It is disposed on the front of the door, the condensation main body for the ice making the receiving space therein, And a tubular ice-making condensation unit accommodated in the ice-making condensation main body. The method of claim 3, And the ice making evaporator and the ice making tray are integrally coupled to each other. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The icemaker's refrigerator further comprises a blower fan that blows cold air generated from the icemaker's evaporator to the ice maker. The method of claim 5, The ice-making cooling device further comprises a thermoelectric element. The method of claim 6, A refrigerator further comprising an ice making temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the ice making unit. The method of claim 7, wherein And a control unit for controlling the operation of the ice making cooling device based on the signal of the ice making temperature sensor. The method of claim 8, Further comprising an input unit for applying an operation signal to the ice making cooling device, And the control unit turns on or off the ice making cooling device based on a signal of the input unit. The method of claim 2, Further comprising a hinge portion through which the refrigerant pipe between the main cabinet and the door penetrates, The hinge unit, characterized in that the refrigerator comprises a heat insulation for maintaining the heat insulation of the refrigerant pipe. The method of claim 10, And a refrigerant pipe insulation unit for maintaining heat insulation of at least a portion of the refrigerant pipe received in the door.

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