KR101542501B1 - Ice maker and a refrigerator with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an ice maker and an ice maker, and more particularly to a refrigerator having a tray having an ice maker space extending in a vertical direction; A water supply device for supplying water into the ice making space; An elevating portion disposed in the tray and elevating the ice produced by the water supplied upward along the ice making space; A conveying unit coupled to the tray, for conveying the ice raised and lowered by the elevating unit to the outside of the tray; And a control unit for controlling operations of the water supply unit, the elevation unit, and the transfer unit, wherein the tray includes a thermal conduction unit and a thermal shutdown unit having a thermal conductivity lower than that of the thermal conduction unit.

Refrigerator, ice maker, heater, bubble layer, cutting.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an icemaker and an ice-

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

The refrigerator is generally used to store foods for a long period of time so as not to damage them, but in recent years, various functions have been added in addition to the function of storing such foods. The automatic ice maker (hereinafter, referred to as 'ice maker') which automatically generates ice and automatically stores the ice in the ice bank is an item that can improve the usability Lt; / RTI >

Such an ice-maker can be divided into a twisting system, an ejector system, and a rotation system according to a method of ice-making the ice-making machine. In the ejector system, the ejector installed on the upper side of the ice-making container pushes down the ice from the ice-making container, and in the rotation mode, the ice- .

However, the conventional ice maker and the refrigerator provided with the ice maker have the following problems.

First, the conventional icemaker generally has a problem that the ice cubes are filled with water in a horizontal ice maker, so that the ice cubes have a large area and the volume of the ice cubes that freeze ice from the ice cubes is large, thereby reducing the effective space of the refrigerator as a whole . In view of this, when the size of the ice tray is reduced, the amount of ice that can be ice-processed at one time is reduced so much that ice can not be rapidly provided when a large amount of ice is needed as in the summer.

Secondly, in the conventional ice maker, the ice is usually dropped or stored downward. In the case of a refrigerator equipped with a dispenser, the ice maker must be positioned higher than the dispenser. However, in a refrigerator of a 3-door bottom freezer type in which a freezing chamber is disposed on the lower side and a refrigerating chamber having a ice-making chamber is disposed on the upper side, the distance between the freezing chamber and the ice- There is a problem that when the cold air in the freezer compartment is transferred to the ice-making compartment, much cold-air loss occurs, thereby reducing the energy efficiency of the refrigerator.

Thirdly, since the ice-making unit and the ice-making unit are operated by mechanisms independent of each other, the conventional ice-making machine has a complicated structure and control, which increases the manufacturing cost of the ice-making machine.

As an alternative solution to this problem, an applicator has proposed an ice maker in which ice is produced in a one-directionally elongated shape and then the ice is cut to a predetermined size using a cutter. In this ice maker, ice is successively generated and conveyed to the upper part of the ice maker through the conveying means, and then is cut by the helix-shaped cutter and is conveyed to the side of the ice maker and collected in the ice bank.

This type of ice maker can reduce the size of the entire ice maker, thereby increasing the effective volume in the refrigerator compartment and simplifying the configuration of the appliance. However, since the drive motor for rotating the helix cutter must be able to generate a high torque in the course of cutting the ice using the helix cutter, a high-capacity motor is required and the cut surface is not clean. In addition, there was a problem that the pieces of ice generated in the cutting process flow into the tray or the inside of the ice bank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to overcome the disadvantages of the related art as described above, and it is a technical object to provide an ice maker capable of cutting ice even by using a small-capacity motor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker capable of minimizing generation of ice operation in the ice cutting process using a cutter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having the above-described ice maker.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tray having an ice-making space extending in a vertical direction. A water supply device for supplying water into the ice making space; An elevating portion disposed in the tray and elevating the ice produced by the water supplied upward along the ice making space; A conveying unit coupled to the tray, for conveying the ice raised and lowered by the elevating unit to the outside of the tray; And a control unit for controlling operations of the water supply unit, the elevation unit, and the transfer unit, wherein the tray includes a thermal conduction unit and a thermal shutdown unit having a thermal conductivity lower than that of the thermal conduction unit.

In the aspect of the present invention, when ice is generated in the ice-making space extending in the up-and-down direction, cold air is not uniformly distributed to the whole but relatively little cold air is delivered from a part thereof, . That is, when cold air is differentially delivered to the water supplied at the time of deicing, air or minerals existing in the water are gathered to form bubbles in a portion where a relatively small amount of cold air is provided. The applicant of the present application paid attention to this point so that the bubble layer was formed by transferring the cold air unevenly to the inside of the tray for providing the ice-making space, through which the driving force required for cutting was reduced and the shape of the cut surface was kept good It is possible.

Here, the heat shielding portion may be disposed to extend in the width direction of the tray. Through this, a bubble layer can be formed along the periphery of the ice, and a cleaner cut surface can be obtained.

In addition, a plurality of heat shielding portions may be arranged in parallel along the ice making space of the tray. At this time, the interval between the respective heat shield portions determines the height of the ice pieces to be generated, and through this configuration, it is possible to generate a plurality of ice operations at a time.

Here, the heat conduction part may be made of a metal material, and the heat barrier part may be made of a synthetic resin material. For example, the heat conduction part may be made of an aluminum alloy, and the heat barrier part may be made of ABS resin.

A plurality of grooves may be formed in the heat conductive portion, and the heat shielding portion may be inserted and fixed in the grooves. In addition, an example in which a plurality of aluminum alloy layers and a plurality of ABS resin layers are alternately stacked to construct a tray can be considered.

The conveying unit may include a conveying guide positioned at an upper portion of the tray. And a cutter member which is rotatably installed in the conveyance guide and cuts a portion of the ice raised and lowered by the elevating portion in contact with the heat shielding portion.

Here, the cutter member may be formed in a spiral shape on the outer circumferential surface thereof, and the ice can be cut by the rotation of the cutter member, and the cutter member can be transferred to one side of the conveyance guide.

Meanwhile, a chute for guiding the ice discharged from the conveyance guide to the lower side of the tray may be mounted on one end of the conveyance guide.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator body in which a storage space is formed; A door which opens and closes the storage space and in which a ice making chamber is formed; Cold air supply means for supplying cold air into the storage space and the ice making chamber; And an ice-maker installed in the ice-making chamber, wherein the ice-maker is provided with a refrigerator which is one of the ice-makers mentioned above.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator body having a storage space and a ice making chamber formed therein; A door opening / closing the storage space; Cold air supply means for supplying cold air into the storage space and the ice making chamber; And an ice-maker installed in the ice-making chamber, wherein the ice-maker is provided with a refrigerator which is one of the ice-makers mentioned above.

Here, an ice dispenser communicating with the ice maker may be installed in the door, and cool air may be supplied to the ice-making chamber through a duct communicating between the cold air supply unit and the ice-making chamber.

In addition, the cold air supply means may further include a compressor, a condenser, an inflator and an evaporator, and further includes a heat conduction member for allowing heat transfer between the evaporator and the ice-making portion of the ice-maker, .

According to aspects of the present invention having the above-described structure, weaknesses in which the strength of the ice produced in the tray is partially weakened are generated. By cutting such weak portions, the torque required for driving the cutter can be reduced, .

Hereinafter, embodiments of an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a three-door bottom freezer type refrigerator to which an ice maker of the present invention is applied.

As shown therein, the refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a freezer compartment 2 for storing and storing food under the refrigerator compartment 1, and a refrigerating compartment 3 for refrigerating and storing food at the upper side of the refrigerator compartment 1 Is formed. The freezing compartment 2 is provided with one freezing compartment door 4 for opening and closing the freezing compartment 2 in a drawable manner and the refrigerating compartment 3 is opened and closed on both sides of the refrigerating compartment 3 from both sides A plurality of refrigerator compartment doors 5 are provided. A machine room in which a compressor and a condenser are installed is formed at the lower rear of the refrigerator main body 1.

An evaporator (not shown) connected to the condenser and the compressor and supplying cool air to the freezer compartment 2 or the refrigerating compartment 3 is connected to the rear surface of the refrigerator body 1, that is, between the outer case and the inner case As shown in Fig. However, the evaporator may be inserted into the sidewall of the freezer compartment or inserted into the upper wall of the freezer compartment, or may be installed inside the barrier compartment defining the freezer compartment 2 and the refrigerating compartment 3. The evaporator may be provided in the freezer compartment so that the cool air is distributed to the freezer compartment 2 and the refrigerating compartment 3. The refrigerating compartment evaporator and the refrigerator compartment evaporator are installed separately so that the cool air is supplied to the freezer compartment 2 and the refrigerating compartment 3, As shown in FIG.

An ice making chamber 51 for making and storing ice is formed on the upper inner wall surface of the refrigerating chamber door 5 and an ice maker 100 for making ice is installed in the ice making chamber 51. A dispenser 52 is installed on the lower side of the ice making chamber 51 so as to allow the ice made by the ice maker 100 to be drawn out from the outside of the refrigerator.

When the load is detected in the freezer compartment (2) or the refrigerating compartment (3), the compressor operates to generate cool air in the evaporator, and a part of the cool air is supplied to the freezer compartment (2) And another portion of the cool air generated in the evaporator is supplied to the ice making chamber 51 through a duct (not shown). The cool air supplied to the ice making chamber 51 is recovered into the freezing chamber 2 or supplied to the refrigerating chamber 3 after the ice maker 100 installed in the ice making chamber 51 is heat-exchanged to make ice. The ice made by the ice maker 100 repeats a series of processes of drawing out the ice according to the demand of the dispenser 52.

2 is a perspective view illustrating the ice-maker 100. As shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ice maker 100 includes an ice tray 110 provided with an ice making space therein. One or more trays 110 may be provided depending on the capacity of the refrigerator or the ice making capacity, but may be provided in plural. If there are a plurality of trays, the plurality of trays 110 may be arranged in a row, but may be arranged in a double row in consideration of the relationship with peripheral components. For example, to minimize the fore and aft width of the trays 110, it is preferable to arrange them in a line on the same plane, and to arrange them in a double row in order to minimize the lateral width. In addition, the arrangement of the trays 110 can be appropriately adjusted as needed.

The tray 110 includes a freezing portion 114 made of a metal having high thermal conductivity such as aluminum and a heat shielding portion 112 disposed in parallel with the freezing portion 114 at a predetermined interval do. The ice-making unit 114 and the heat-blocking unit 112 are arranged in a row to form an ice-making space 116 extending vertically.

The heat shielding part 112 is made of an ABS resin having a thermal conductivity lower than that of the aluminum alloy of the ice-making part 114, thereby lowering the heat transfer rate as compared with the ice-making part made of the aluminum alloy. Therefore, when cool air is supplied to the tray, water in contact with the ice making part 114 made of the aluminum alloy is relatively quickly frozen, and the water in contact with the heat blocking part 112 contains air, minerals So that a bubble is formed.

When cold air is continuously supplied in this state, the water in contact with the heat shielding portion 112 is frozen, but the bubble is frozen in the state where the bubble is present, so that a bubble layer is formed in the ice. The bubble layer thus formed has relatively low strength as compared with the non-bubble layer, and breakage occurs around the bubble layer when an impact is applied from the outside. Further, even when cut by a cutter to be described later, it can be cut with less force than other parts.

If the thickness of the heat barrier layer is too small, a sufficient level of bubble layer is not formed. If the thickness is excessively large, the bubble is dispersed and the effect of reducing the strength is reduced. Therefore, it is preferable to select an appropriate thickness in consideration of the temperature of the cool air to be supplied, the thickness ratio between the heat shielding layer and the freezing portion, and the like.

2, a plurality of ribs 118 partitioning the ice-making space 116 are formed in the ice-making space. The ribs 118 are arranged side by side along the width direction of the tray, and the shape of the ice formed by the shape of the rib 118 determines the shape of the ice. 2, the ice making space 116 has a rectangular cross section, but is not limited thereto, and may be formed to have any polygonal or circular cross section. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the ribs 118 are spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the tray. As a result, the ice cubes are connected to each other in the width direction of the tray. Therefore, when the ice positioned near both ends of the tray is raised and lowered by the screw to be described later, the remaining ice coarse angles existing at the same height are raised and lowered together.

Here, the pair of screws 120 are rotatably installed near both ends of the tray. A thread is formed on the surface of the screw 120, and the thread is exposed to the inside of the ice-making space 116. Accordingly, when the water is ice-cooled, the water is de-iced while being engaged with the threads. When the screw 120 rotates, the water is raised and lowered along the ice-making space 116 of the tray while being engaged with the threads. A rotating shaft 122 is formed integrally with a screw at a lower portion of the screw 120. The rotating shaft 122 is rotationally driven by a driving unit described later.

Meanwhile, a heater (not shown) is installed in the ice making part 114 to heat the ice to be smoothly conveyed. The heater may be a hot-wire heater wound around the outer circumferential surface of the ice-making unit. In addition, a conductive polymer, a plate heater with a positive thermal coefficient, an AL thin film, And the like.

In addition, the heater is attached to the outer circumferential surface of the ice-making part 114, but it may be embedded in the ice-making part 114 or may be provided on the inner circumferential surface of the ice- Further, the heater may be realized by forming the tray with a heatable resistor so that at least a part of the ice making part 114 generates heat when the electric power is applied, and serves as a heater without using a separate heater.

The heater may be formed as a heat source by being spaced apart from the freezing portion 114 by a predetermined distance without contacting the freezing portion 114. Examples of other heat sources include a light source for irradiating light to at least one of the ice and the ice-making unit 114, and a magnetron for irradiating a microwave to at least one of the ice and the ice-making unit 114. As described above, a heat source such as a heater, a light source, or a magnetron directly applies thermal energy to at least one of the ice and the ice-making unit 114 or the boundary thereof to melt a part of the interface between the ice and the ice-making unit 114 give. Accordingly, when the screw 120 is operated, the ice is separated from the ice-making part 114 by the screw 120 even if the interface with the ice-making part 114 is not thawed.

A water supply port 119 is formed at the center of the bottom of the ice-making part 114. The water supply port 119 may be formed not only on the center of the bottom surface but also on the side surface. Water is supplied from the water supply source to the inside of the ice-making unit 114 through the water supply port 119.

Meanwhile, a cylindrical conveyance guide 130 is installed at the upper end of the tray 110. The inner space of the conveyance guide 130 is communicated with the ice making space 116 formed in the tray 110 so that the ice moved up and down from the tray 110 enters into the conveyance guide 130 . The thus conveyed ice is conveyed to the right end of the conveying guide 130 while being cut by the helical cutter 132. The spiral cutter 132 is rotatably mounted in the conveying guide 130 and a portion of the spiral cutter 132 which contacts the bottom surface of the conveying guide 130 is conveyed in accordance with the rotation of the helical cutter 132 And moves to the right side of the guide 130.

At this time, the lift height of the ice is adjusted by the screw so that the portion where the bubble layer is formed is in contact with the spiral cutter 132. Such control of the screw is performed by the control unit 180 to be described later.

The right end of the transport guide 130 is closed by the end cap 134 to prevent the transported ice from escaping to the outside. A rotary plate 142, to which one end of the spiral cutter 132 is fixed, is positioned at the left end of the conveying guide 130. The rotary plate 142 is rotationally driven by an actuator 140 having a drive motor installed therein, whereby the spiral cutter 132 can be rotated.

In addition, a second actuator 160 is installed on the lower side of the actuator 140. The second actuator 160 rotatably drives the screw 120. A first bevel gear 124 is mounted on a rotating shaft 122 positioned below the screw 120. [ The first bevel gear 124 is formed with a gear portion at a lower portion thereof, and a belt 126 is wound around the gear portion. The first bevel gear 124 is engaged with a second bevel gear 162 fixed to the output shaft of the driving motor installed in the second actuator 160.

Accordingly, when the drive motor in the second actuator 160 rotates, the screw 120 is rotated through the second bevel gear 162 and the first bevel gear 124, and the screw 120 Is rotationally driven by the belt 126.

On the other hand, a chute 150 is provided below the right end of the transport guide 130. The chute 150 has a pipe shape extending in the vertical direction of the tray 110 and an outlet 152 through which the transferred ice is discharged is positioned at the end of the chute. The upper end of the chute 150 is communicated with the inner space of the conveyance guide 130 so that the ice transferred by the helical cutter 132 flows into the chute 150 and flows through the outlet 152 And is transported to the outside. The thus transferred ice is taken out to the outside through the above-mentioned dispenser or stored in the ice bank. Here, a crusher for finely crushing the ice transferred to the outlet side may be included.

The water supply port 119 is connected to a water supply valve 174 through a water supply pipe 170 and the water supply valve 174 is connected to a water supply pump 172. At this time, the water supply pump 172 may be omitted and the water supply source and the water supply valve 174 may be directly connected. The water supply source may be a water supply source, or may be a water supply tank separately provided in the refrigerator. The water supply valve 174 and the water supply pump 172 are controlled by the control unit 180 so that an appropriate amount of water can be supplied into the ice making space. To this end, a water level sensor may be installed in the tray, or a flow rate sensor may be installed to sense a flow rate of the water flowing through the water supply pipe. The controller 180 is electrically connected to the actuator 140 and the second actuator 160 to control the operation of the driving motor.

5 is a sectional view showing the tray. 5, a plurality of grooves 114a are formed in the inner wall of the ice-making part 114 so as to be parallel to each other in the vertical direction. Inside the grooves 114a, a heat- Is inserted and fixed. As described above, the heat shielding part 112 is made of ABS resin, and the heat transfer amount from the cold air is smaller than that of the aluminum alloy, so that a bubble layer is formed inside the generated ice as shown in the figure.

6, the first and second heat blocking portions 112 and 112 'are stacked in the vertical direction of the tray, as shown in FIG. 6, .

Meanwhile, the ice-maker 100 is not necessarily installed in the door but may be installed in a refrigerator. That is, the ice making chamber may be located in the refrigerating chamber or the freezing chamber, and the outlet of the chute may be located above the dispenser or the ice bank located in the door.

In addition, as a method of cooling the ice making chamber, an indirect cooling method in which cold air heat-exchanged through the evaporator is supplied to the ice making chamber through a duct, or an indirect cooling method in which the ice making chamber is cooled through the heat conductive member positioned between the evaporator and the ice- A cooling system may also be used.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a refrigerator having an ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the ice maker shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a photograph showing ice generated by the ice maker shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the ice maker shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

5 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the tray shown in FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of another embodiment of the tray shown in Fig.

Claims (14)

A tray having an ice-making space extending in a vertical direction; A water supply device for supplying water into the ice making space; An elevating portion disposed in the tray and elevating the ice produced by the water supplied upward along the ice making space; A conveying unit coupled to the tray, for conveying the ice raised and lowered by the elevating unit to the outside of the tray; And And a control unit for controlling operations of the water supply unit, the elevating unit, and the transfer unit, The tray may include: The ice maker includes a freezing portion and a heat blocking portion which are formed of different materials and are arranged in a line and form the ice making space extending up and down, Wherein the heat shielding portion is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity lower than that of the ice making portion. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the heat blocking portion extends in the width direction of the tray. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein a plurality of heat shielding portions are arranged in parallel along the ice making space of the tray. The method of claim 3, Wherein the ice-making part is made of a metal material, and the heat-shielding part is made of a synthetic resin material. 5. The method of claim 4, Wherein a plurality of grooves are formed in the ice making part, and the heat blocking part is inserted and fixed inside the groove. The method according to claim 1, The transfer unit A conveyance guide positioned at an upper portion of the tray; And And a cutter member rotatably installed in the conveyance guide and cutting a portion of the ice raised and lowered by the elevating portion in contact with the heat shielding portion. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the cutter member has a spiral blade formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the cutter member feeds the cut ice to one side of the conveyance guide. 9. The method of claim 8, And a chute for guiding the ice discharged from the conveyance guide to the tray lower side is mounted on one end of the conveyance guide. A refrigerator body having a storage space formed therein; A door opening / closing the storage space; An ice making chamber formed in the refrigerator body or the door; Cold air supply means for supplying cold air into the storage space and the ice making chamber; And And an ice maker installed in the ice making chamber, The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the ice-maker is a refrigerator. delete 11. The method of claim 10, And an ice dispenser communicating with the ice maker is installed on the door. 11. The method of claim 10, And cool air is supplied to the ice-making chamber through a duct that communicates between the cold-air supply unit and the ice-making chamber. 11. The method of claim 10, Wherein the cold air supply means includes a compressor, a condenser, an inflator and an evaporator, Further comprising a heat conduction member for allowing heat transfer between the evaporator and the ice-making portion of the ice-maker.

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