KR101395120B1 - Ice making apparatus and refrigerator having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an ice maker and a refrigerator having the ice maker. The ice maker can rapidly cool the ice making tray to shorten the ice making time, and can manufacture transparent ice. The ice maker includes an ice-making tray for freezing water to produce ice, and a cooler guide device for guiding the cool air to the bottom surface of the ice-making tray. The cooler guide device includes a cooler guide plate And a plurality of protrusions provided on an upper surface of the cooler guide plate to guide cold air flowing along the upper surface of the cooler guide plate toward the bottom surface of the ice-making tray.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an icemaker,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator incorporating an ice maker according to the present invention; FIG.

2 is a front view of a refrigerator employing an ice maker according to the present invention.

3 is a detailed view of an ice maker according to the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV 'of FIG.

5 is a perspective view of a cold air guide device of an ice maker according to the present invention, and is a first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a cool air guide device of an ice maker according to the present invention, and is a modification of FIG. 5. FIG.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a cool air guide device for an ice maker according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a cross-sectional view of an ice maker according to the present invention, illustrating a state in which a cool air guide device according to a second embodiment is applied.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

10: main body, 11: refrigerating chamber,

12: freezing room, 17: freezer room evaporator,

21: Refrigerator room evaporator, 26: Ice making room,

30: Deicing device, 31: Ice tray,

32: ice-making device, 33: driving motor,

34: heater, 40: cool air guide device,

41: cool air guide plate, 42: first side guide portion,

43: second side guide portion, 44: third side guide portion,

45: cold air inlet, 46: cold air duct,

47: protrusion, 60: ice storage container,

61: ice outlet, 65: exhaust chute,

70: ice transfer device, 80: ice crushing device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice maker for manufacturing ice and a refrigerator having the ice maker, and more particularly to an ice maker and a refrigerator having the ice maker.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-565621 discloses a refrigerator having a refrigerator compartment at the top and a freezer compartment at the bottom. In the refrigerator room of the refrigerator, an ice making chamber for producing ice is provided.

The ice making chamber is communicated with the freezing chamber through a cooling duct so that cold air can be supplied from the lower freezing chamber side. In the ice making chamber, there are provided an ice making device for making ice and an ice storage container for discharging ice.

The ice making apparatus is provided with an ice-making tray for producing ice with water supplied from the outside, an ice-making device for discharging the ice of the ice-making tray to the ice storage container, and a drive motor for driving the ice- The ice-making tray is provided with a heater for slightly dissolving ice to facilitate the transfer of ice.

However, such a refrigerator has drawbacks in that it takes a long time to perform ice-making since cold air is supplied to the inside of the ice-making chamber so that the temperature inside the ice-making chamber can be lowered so as to reach the freezing condition. That is, there is a problem that it takes much time to cool the ice-making tray.

In addition, since the ice tray of the refrigerator heats the ice tray through the heater when the ice is released from the ice tray, heat is left in the ice tray when the ice tray is to be ice- .

An object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator having the ice maker that can quickly cool an ice tray to shorten an ice making time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator having the ice maker that can quickly remove the heat of the heater remaining in the ice-making tray after the ice tray.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator having the ice maker, in which the lower part of the ice of the ice-making tray is frozen before the upper part,

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided an ice maker comprising: an ice tray for freezing water to produce ice; and a cold air guide for guiding cold air to the bottom surface of the ice- And a plurality of protrusions provided on the upper surface of the cool air guide plate to guide cool air flowing along the upper surface of the cooler guide plate toward the bottom surface of the ice-making tray.

The cool air guide device includes first and second side guide portions extending upward from both sides of the cool air guide plate so that cold air can flow into a space between the bottom surface of the ice-making tray and the upper surface of the cool air guide plate.

The cool air guide device includes a third side guide portion having both ends connected to one ends of the first and second side guide portions and having a cool air inlet, and the cool air duct is connected to the cool air inlet.

Further, the cool air guide device is characterized in that the opposite side of the third side guide portion is opened.

And the plurality of protrusions are elongated in a direction crossing the flow direction of the cool air.

The plurality of protrusions are triangular in cross section.

Further, the plurality of projecting portions are characterized in that both ends thereof are in contact with the first and second side portions.

The plurality of protrusions are spaced apart from each other in the flow direction of the cool air and alternately arranged on both sides.

The ice maker according to the present invention includes an ice-making tray for freezing water to produce ice, and a cold air guide device having a flow path for guiding cold air to the bottom surface of the ice-making tray, And the cross-sectional area becomes narrower.

The cold air guiding apparatus includes a cold air guide plate provided at a lower portion of the ice tray and spaced apart from the bottom of the ice tray, and side guide portions extending upward from both sides of the cold air guide plate.

Further, the cold air guide plate has a plurality of steps that gradually increase in height from the upstream to the downstream and gradually decrease again.

In addition, a plurality of triangular ribs for connecting the upper surface of the cool air guide plate and the side guide portion are provided in the cool air passage of the cool air guide device to form a vortex of cool air.

Further, the plurality of triangular ribs are gradually increased in size from the upstream side to the downstream side of the cold air flow path.

Further, the flow path of the cool air guide device is characterized in that the cross-sectional area becomes narrower from the upstream to the downstream, and is expanded again.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising: a main body having a storage compartment; and an ice maker installed in the compartment space inside the storage compartment, wherein the ice maker includes an ice- And a cool air guiding device for guiding cool air to the bottom surface of the ice making tray, wherein the cool air guiding device includes a cool air guide plate provided at a lower portion spaced apart from a bottom surface of the ice tray, And a plurality of protrusions provided on an upper surface of the cool air guide plate.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, a refrigerator to which an ice maker according to the present invention is applied includes a main body 10 having an upper refrigerating chamber 11 and a lower freezing chamber 12 partitioned by a partition wall 13 do.

The refrigerator compartment 11 and the freezer compartment 12 are opened at the front and the upper refrigerating compartment 11 is opened and closed by the first refrigerator compartment door 14 and the second refrigerator compartment door 15, The lower freezing chamber 12 is opened and closed by the freezing chamber door 16. The first refrigerator compartment door 14 and the second refrigerator compartment door 15 are rotatably coupled to both sides of the main body 10 so as to be opened and closed by rotating left and right. As shown in FIG. 1, the freezing chamber door 16 is coupled to the front surface of the drawer-type storage container 16a installed in the freezing chamber 12 so as to move forward and backward and open and close. Of course, the freezing chamber door 16 may not be shown in the drawing, but may be rotatably mounted on the main body 10 and rotated and opened and closed.

A freezer compartment evaporator 17 for cooling the freezer compartment 12 and a freezer compartment circulation fan 18 for circulating the cool air of the freezer compartment 12 are installed in the rear side of the freezer compartment 12. The freezing compartment 12 is provided with an inner panel 19 for partitioning the freezing compartment 12 and a space in which the freezing compartment evaporator 17 and the freezing compartment circulation fan 18 are provided. The cool air circulation passage 20 for the cool air circulation of the cool air circulation path 20 is formed. The cool air circulating flow path 20 guides the air blown by the freezing room circulating fan 18 to be distributed and supplied to the freezing chamber 12.

A refrigerating compartment evaporator 21 for cooling the refrigerating compartment 11 and a refrigerating compartment circulation fan 22 for circulating the refrigerant in the refrigerating compartment 11 are installed in the rear side of the refrigerating compartment 11. A refrigerating compartment 11 is provided in the rear side of the refrigerating compartment 12 and an inner panel 23 for partitioning the refrigerating compartment 11 and a space in which the refrigerating compartment evaporator 21 and the refrigerating compartment blowing fan 22 are installed, The cool air circulation flow path 24 for the cool air circulation of the cool air is formed. That is, in the present invention, the freezing chamber 12 and the refrigerating chamber 11 are cooled by separate evaporators 17 and 21, respectively.

At one corner of the upper part of the refrigerating chamber 11, an ice making chamber 26 partitioned by the heat insulating wall 7 and the internal space of the refrigerating chamber 11 is formed. Cooling air in the freezing compartment 12 under the main body 10 is supplied to the ice making chamber 26 so that the ice making chamber 26 can be maintained at the freezing temperature. To this end, a cool air supply passage 27 for supplying air cooled by the freezer compartment evaporator 17 to the ice making chamber 26 and an air passing through the ice making chamber 26 are connected to the freezing compartment evaporator 17 (See FIG. 2) for returning the cool air return passage 28 (see FIG. A blowing fan 29 for blowing cold air above the freezing compartment evaporator 17 to the cold air supply passage 27 is provided in the lower portion of the cold air supply passage 27.

The ice making chamber 26 is provided with an ice making device 30 for producing ice and an ice storage container 60 for storing the ice produced in the ice making device 30 and provided with an ice discharge port 61 at one side, And an ice crushing device 80 for crushing and discharging the ice discharged into the ice discharge port 61 as necessary.

1, the first chill chamber door 14 is provided with a discharge chute 65 for guiding the ice discharged through the ice discharge port 61 of the ice storage container 60 to the outside of the first refrigerator chamber door 14 And an ice storage space 66 for receiving ice discharged through the discharge chute 65 is provided on the front surface of the first refrigerating chamber door 14. [ The discharge chute 65 is formed to be inclined in the projection 77 projecting from the inner surface of the first refrigerator compartment door 14. The discharge chute 65 is aligned with the position of the ice discharge port 61 of the ice storage container 60 when the first refrigerator compartment door 14 is closed.

The ice maker 30 is fixed to the upper portion of the ice making chamber 26 as shown in Figs. The ice maker 30 includes an ice-making tray 31 for producing ice from water supplied from the outside, an ice-making device 32 for discharging the ice of the ice-making tray 31, And a heater 34 for heating the ice-making tray 31 when the ice in the ice-making tray 31 is discharged. The ice maker 30 further includes a cool air guiding device 40 for allowing cool air supplied from the side of the freezing compartment 12 below the main body 10 to the ice making chamber 26 to be directly supplied to the lower portion of the ice- .

As shown in FIG. 3, the ice-making tray 31 is partitioned into a plurality of ice-making spaces 31b by a plurality of partitioning walls 31a so that a large number of ice cubes can be manufactured. As shown in Fig.

The ice making device 32 includes a rotating shaft 32a rotatably coupled to the upper portion of the ice-making tray 31 and a plurality of scrapers 32b extending in the radial direction from the rotating shaft 32a. The plurality of scrapers 32b are provided in the number corresponding to the number of the ice-making spaces 31b so as to enter the ice-making space 31b and discharge the ice. The icemaker 32 discharges the ice cubes in such a manner that the scraper 32b rotates 360 degrees while the drive motor 33 rotates the rotary shaft 32a and scrapes the ice from the respective ice cubes 31b. When the ice is ice-picked, the heater 34 slightly heats the ice-making tray 31 so that the ice in each ice-making space 31b can be easily separated.

The cool air guide device (40) guides the cool air to the lower portion of the ice-making tray (31). 3 to 5 show a cool air guidance device 40 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The cold air guiding device 40 includes a chiller guide plate 41 provided at a lower portion spaced apart from a bottom surface of the ice-making tray 31, first and second side guiding portions 41 extending upward from both sides of the chiller guide plate 41 And a third side guiding portion 44 connecting the first and second side guiding portions 42 and 43 and having a cool air inflow port 45 formed therein. A cool air duct 46 connected to the cool air supply passage 27 formed at the rear of the main body 10 is connected to the cool air inlet port 45 of the third side guide portion 44. The cool air guide device 40 is configured such that cool air supplied from the freezing chamber 12 side of the main body 10 toward the ice making chamber 26 is first supplied to the ice tray 31 to cool the ice tray 31 directly .

A plurality of projections (not shown) are provided on the bottom surface of the cooler guide plate 41 so that the cool air flowing along the inside of the cooler guide device 40 can be raised toward the bottom of the ice-making tray 31 to cool the bottom surface of the ice- 47 are provided.

The plurality of protrusions 47 are elongated in a direction crossing the flow direction of the cool air, and are arranged so as to be spaced apart from each other in the flow direction of cool air. Each of the protruding portions 47 has a triangular section in cross section to facilitate directing the cold air upward (the lower portion of the ice-making tray). Of course, such projections 47 are not necessarily limited to these shapes. The projecting portion may be a semicircular cross section or a wing shape extending upwardly from the cool air guide plate so as to guide upward the cool air flowing along the upper surface of the cooler guide plate.

As shown in FIG. 5, the projecting portion 47 has a length corresponding to the width of the cold air guide plate 41 so that both ends thereof can be in contact with the first and second side guide portions 42 and 43. 6, the protrusions 47 'may have a length shorter than the width of the cold air guide plate 41 and alternately arranged on both sides of the cold air guide plate 41. [

The following describes the cold air supply operation through the cold air guide apparatus.

The cool air supplied to the ice making chamber 26 through the cool air supply passage 27 at the rear of the main body 10 is supplied into the cool air guiding device 40 through the cool air duct 46 in the ice making chamber 26. That is, all of the cool air supplied to the ice making chamber 26 is supplied into the cool air guiding device 40.

The cool air supplied to the inside of the cool air guide device 40 flows along the flow path formed by the bottom surfaces of the cool air guide plate 41, the first and second side guide portions 42 and 43 and the ice tray 31, Thereby directly cooling the bottom surface of the base 31. And is discharged into the ice making chamber 26 through the opening 48 opposed to the third side guide portion 44. The cool air flowing in the cool air guide device 40 is guided upward by the plurality of protrusions 47 formed on the upper surface of the cool air guide plate 41 so that it collides with the bottom surface of the ice tray 31, And cooled. Therefore, since the ice-making tray 31 can be cooled more quickly than the conventional ice-making apparatus, the ice-making time can be shortened. Also, since the heat of the remaining heater (34) after the ice is removed from the ice-making tray (31) can be cooled quickly, the ice-making time can be shortened accordingly.

Such cold air supply allows the lower portion of the ice-making tray 31 to be cooled faster than the upper portion. Therefore, the ice inside the ice-making tray 31 starts to freeze from the bottom and reaches the top, so that it can be manufactured in a transparent state. This is because if the ice starts from the bottom and reaches the top, the air can be discharged to the top during the freezing process.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cool air guide device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an ice maker to which the cool air guide device is applied. 7 and 8, the cold air guide device 140 of the second embodiment includes a cold air guide plate 141 and a cold air guide plate 141 installed at a lower portion of the ice tray 31, And a third side guiding part 144 connecting the first and second side guiding parts 142 and 143 and the first and second side guiding parts 142 and 143 extending upward from both sides and having a cool air inlet 145 formed therein . A cool air duct 46 connected to the cool air supply passage 27 formed at the rear of the main body 10 is connected to the cool air inlet port 145 of the third side guide portion 144.

Further, the cold air guide plate 141 has a plurality of steps 141a, 141b, and 141c that gradually increase in height from the upstream side to the downstream side of the cold air flow, and then descend again. That is, the sectional area is gradually narrowed from the upstream to the downstream of the cold air flow passage and then expanded again. This allows the cool air to be guided to the lower portion of the ice-making tray 31 and at the same time the flow velocity becomes the highest at the lower side of the central portion of the ice-making tray 31, In other words, the freezing of the central portion of the ice-making tray 31, which is relatively slow in freezing, can be performed quickly.

In addition, a plurality of triangular ribs 145a, 145b, and 145c are formed at positions spaced apart from each other in the cool air flow path of the cool air guide device 40. [ The triangular ribs 145a, 145b, and 145c connect the upper surface of the cold air guide plate 141 and the side guide portion 143 to form a tapered jaw. Further, the triangular ribs 145a, 145b, and 145c are formed gradually larger toward the downstream from the upstream side of the cooling air flow path. This allows vortices to be formed by the triangular ribs 145a, 145b and 145c so that the contact between the cool air and the bottom surface of the ice-making tray 31 can be improved.

As described in detail above, since the ice maker according to the present invention is guided to be supplied directly to the bottom surface of the ice-making tray by the cold guide device, the ice-making tray can be cooled quickly. Therefore, there is an effect that the ice-making time can be shortened compared to the prior art.

Further, the present invention has the effect of promptly removing the heat of the heater remaining in the ice-making tray after the ice-making operation since the ice is directly sprayed to the bottom surface of the ice-making tray to cool the ice-making tray.

In the present invention, since the bottom surface of the ice-making tray is directly cooled by cold air, the water filled in the ice-making tray is frozen from below. Therefore, there is an effect that transparent ice can be produced.

Claims (21)

delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete An ice-making tray for producing ice by freezing water, and a cool air guiding device having a flow path for guiding cool air to the bottom surface of the ice-making tray, The cold air guiding device includes a cold air guide plate installed at a lower portion spaced apart from the bottom of the ice-making tray, and side guide portions extending upward from both sides of the cold air guide plate, Wherein the cold air guide plate has a plurality of steps for increasing the height of the upper surface of the cooler guide plate from the upstream to the downstream and then lowering again. delete delete 17. The method of claim 16, Wherein a plurality of triangular ribs for connecting the upper surface of the cool air guide plate and the side guide portion are provided in the cool air passage of the cool air guide device to form a vortex of cool air. 20. The method of claim 19, Wherein the plurality of triangular ribs gradually increase in size from an upstream side to a downstream side of the cooling air flow path. An ice-making tray for producing ice by freezing water, and a cool air guiding device having a flow path for guiding cool air to the bottom surface of the ice-making tray, Wherein the flow path of the cool air guide device is narrowed in cross section from upstream to downstream, and then expanded again.

Images