KR101659923B1 - Refrigerator and refrigerant cycling method for ice making thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and a refrigerant circulation method for ice making thereof. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the refrigerator comprises: a main body which has a food storage space; a door which is installed in the main body, has an ice making room, and opens and closes the food storage space; a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve which are installed in the door; an ice maker which is installed in the ice making room and has a tray for receiving water; and a refrigerant pipe which connects the compressor, the condenser, and the expansion valve to each other and cools the tray through conduction. Therefore, the present invention simplifies the pipe structure of the refrigerator and improves space utilization.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerant circulation method for a refrigerator and a refrigerator,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerant circulation method for freezing a refrigerator and a refrigerator.

A refrigerator is a device intended for low-temperature storage of food, and can be configured to refrigerate or store food according to the type of food to be stored.

The inside of the refrigerator is cooled by the continuously supplied cool air, and the cool air is continuously generated by the heat exchange function of the refrigerant by the refrigeration cycle through the process of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation. The cold air supplied to the inside of the refrigerator is uniformly transferred to the inside of the refrigerator by the convection so that the food inside the refrigerator can be stored at a desired temperature.

Generally, the refrigerator body is in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having an open front, and a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment may be provided inside the refrigerator body. In addition, a refrigerator compartment door and a freezer compartment door may be provided on the front surface of the main body for selectively shielding the opening, and a plurality of drawers, a shelf and a storage compartment for storing various foods in an optimal state may be provided in the storage space inside the refrigerator. Box or the like may be provided.

Conventionally, a top mount type refrigerator in which a freezing compartment is located on the upper side and a refrigerating compartment is located on the lower side has been the mainstream. In recent years, however, a bottom freeze type refrigerator Is also being released. Here, in the case of the bottom freeze type refrigerator, a frequently used refrigerator room is located on the upper side, and a relatively less used freezer room is located on the lower side, so that the user can conveniently use the refrigerator room. However, since the bottom freeze-type refrigerator has the freezing chamber located on the lower side, it is inconvenient for the user to bend the waist to open the freezing chamber door and take out the ice to take out the ice.

In order to solve this problem, a refrigerator has been recently provided with a dispenser for taking out ice from the refrigerator compartment door located above the bottom freeze type refrigerator. In this case, an ice maker for generating ice may be provided in the refrigerator compartment door or the refrigerating compartment.

The ice maker includes an ice-making assembly having an ice tray for generating ice, an ice bucket for storing the generated ice, and a transfer assembly for transferring the ice stored in the ice bucket to the dispenser .

In addition, an ice making duct is provided to communicate the freezing chamber and the ice making device, and the ice making duct is installed on the left or right wall portion of the refrigerator compartment so as to communicate the freezing compartment of the ice making compartment when the door is closed.

Accordingly, when the door is opened, the ice making duct and the ice making chamber are separated. However, when the door is closed, the ice making duct and the ice making chamber communicate with each other. When the door is closed, The cold air for generating ice is provided in the ice making chamber.

However, the conventional refrigerator described above has the following problems.

First, since an ice making duct is installed on the left or right side wall portion of the refrigerating compartment and a structure for heat insulation of the duct is added, the content of the refrigerator is reduced and the piping structure in the refrigerator becomes complicated.

Secondly, there is a problem that the cool air that is transmitted from the freezing chamber to the ice making chamber is delivered only when the door is closed, and the cool air passing through the ice making duct is discharged to the outside when the door is opened.

Thirdly, since the ice making is performed by the indirect cooling method in which ice is generated by the cold air supplied through the ice making duct, there is a problem that the ice making speed is slow because the ice can not be directly cooled.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-0565621 (registered on March 22, 2006)

Embodiments of the present invention provide a refrigerant circulation method for a refrigerator and a refrigerator having a simple structure and maximizing the internal volume because a duct for transmitting cold air is not required even though an ice maker is installed in a refrigerator door do.

Also, it is desirable to provide a refrigerator having a high energy efficiency and a refrigerant circulation method for freezing the refrigerator by cooling the ice making chamber regardless of whether the door is opened or closed.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerant circulating method for freezing a refrigerator and a refrigerator having a rapid ice-making speed by making a direct cooling method in a freezing room provided in a door.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a food processing apparatus comprising: a body having a food storage space; A door installed in the main body and including an ice making chamber for opening and closing the storage space; A compressor installed in the door, a condenser and an expansion valve; An ice maker installed in the ice making chamber, the ice maker including a tray capable of receiving and receiving water; And a refrigerant pipe connecting the compressor, the condenser and the expansion valve, and cooling the tray by conduction.

Further, the tray may be provided with a refrigerator that functions as an evaporator of a cooling cycle for generating ice in the ice maker.

Also, at least a part of the refrigerant pipe may be configured to contact the lower surface of the tray.

Also, a portion of the refrigerant pipe that contacts the tray may be formed in a U-shape.

Also, a refrigerator may be provided in which a machine room is provided inside the door, the machine room and the ice room are partitioned by a heat insulating member, and the compressor and the condenser are disposed inside the machine room.

The refrigerator may further include a heat insulating member provided between the ice-making chamber and the machine room for partitioning the ice-making chamber and the machine room, wherein the ice-making chamber and the machine room are insulated from each other.

In addition, a through hole may be formed on a surface of the door that forms the machine room, and the machine room may communicate with the outside through the through hole when the door is opened.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator comprising: compressing a refrigerant with a compressor installed in a door of the refrigerator; Condensing the refrigerant in a condenser connected to the compressor installed in the door; Inflating the refrigerant with an expansion valve installed in the door and connected to the condenser; And evaporating the refrigerant so that the tray is cooled by conduction from a refrigerant pipe at least partially in contact with a surface of the tray installed on the door, .

Also, the tray may be provided with a refrigerant circulation method for ice-making a refrigerator, which functions as an evaporator of a cooling cycle for generating ice.

Further, in the condensing step, when the door is opened, the condenser is cooled by outside air introduced into the door from outside through a through hole formed to communicate with the outside, and a refrigerant circulation method for ice making of the refrigerator is provided .

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the piping structure of the refrigerator is simplified, the volume of the refrigerator is maximized, space utilization is improved, the energy efficiency consumed in cooling is increased, and the ice making speed is increased.

1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a door of a refrigerator is opened according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front view of the ice maker shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing a tray and a refrigerant pipe provided in the ice maker shown in FIG. 1;
4 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the structure provided inside the icemaker of FIG.

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

In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a door of a refrigerator is opened according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 10 forming an outer appearance and storing food and the like, a food storage space formed inside the main body 10, And a door 20 provided on both side edges of the front surface of the main body 10 and selectively shielding the main body 10 by rotational movement of the main body 10 .

The door 20 includes an ice making chamber 22 in which an ice maker 100 for generating ice is installed, a machine room 24 including a compressor 242 and a condenser 244, (26) provided between the ice making chamber (22) and the machine room (24) provided between the ice making chamber (24) and the ice making chamber (22).

The door 20 provided with the ice making chamber 22 is provided to open and close the refrigerating chamber R of the main body 10 so that the freezing chamber F can be selectively opened and closed by a door It is not excluded that the ice making room is provided.

Although the ice making chamber 22 is formed on the upper portion of the door 20 and the machine room 24 is formed on the lower portion of the door 20 in the present embodiment, The ice making chamber 22 may be formed at the lower portion of the door 20 and the machine room 24 may be formed at the upper portion of the door 20. [

The heat insulating member 26 may include a foaming agent such as a urethane foam or the like and may be provided to suppress heat exchange between the low temperature ice chamber 22 and the high temperature mechanical chamber.

The door 20 may include a member that closes the surface facing the main body 10 so that the ice making chamber 22 and the machine room 24 are not opened to the outside even when the door 20 is opened. The closure member may have a function of insulating the inner space of the door 20 and the main body 10 when the door 20 is closed. May contain a corresponding blowing agent. However, for convenience of explanation, this closure member is omitted in Fig.

Further, the door 20 may be provided with a heat insulating material at a rim portion so as to prevent the cold air from leaking to the outside, so that the door 20 can be insulated from the outside.

A compressor 242 and a condenser 244 may be provided inside the machine room 24 of the door 20. Further, an expansion valve (not shown) constituting the refrigeration cycle may be disposed inside the machine room 24, but it may be disposed inside the heat insulating member 26.

The compressor 242 may be a compressor that is smaller than the compressor that is generally provided in the body of the refrigerator so that the compressor 242 can be installed in a narrow space inside the door 20. [ An example of such a miniaturized compressor is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0048817.

The condenser 244 is connected to the rear end of the compressor 242 through a refrigerant pipe 248 and the gaseous refrigerant compressed by the compressor 242 at a high temperature and a high pressure can be changed into a liquid state at medium temperature and high pressure. Further, the condenser may be a compact condenser so as to be installed in the inner space of the door (20).

The compressor 242 and the condenser 244 may be connected to a power supply unit (not shown) provided in the main body 10 to receive electricity for driving. At this time, the cable connecting the compressor 242 and the condenser 244 to the power source device of the main body 10 is installed through a hinge pipe constituting the rotation axis of the door 20.

A through hole 246 formed to communicate with the outside when the door 20 is opened is formed on one side of the door 20 constituting the machine room 24 and the through hole 246 is formed when the door 20 is opened The refrigerant can be condensed in the condenser 244 by cooling the condenser 244 by the outside air flowing into the machine room 24 through the condenser 244. For this, a hole (not shown) for introducing outside air is formed on the surface of the condenser 244, and a structure for heat exchange between the outside air and the refrigerant introduced through the hole may be formed inside the condenser 244 .

The refrigerant pipe 248 connects the compressor 242 and the condenser 244 and extends from the rear end of the condenser 244 to pass through the heat insulating member 26 to the ice making chamber 22 at the upper portion of the door 20 And is connected to the ice maker 100 in the ice making chamber 22.

On the other hand, a specific configuration of the ice maker 100 installed in the ice making chamber 22 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the ice maker of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a tray and a refrigerant pipe provided in the ice maker of FIG. 1, Fig.

2 to 4, the ice maker 100 may include a case 110, an icemaker assembly 120, an ice bucket 130, a transfer assembly 140, and a discharge unit 150.

The ice making assembly 120 is disposed on the upper side in the cooling space and the ice bucket 130 is disposed on the lower side of the ice making assembly 120 .

The icemaker assembly 120 includes a tray 122 that receives a supply of water and provides a frame for generating ice and a rotary unit 124 that rotates the tray 122 to drop the ice produced in the tray 122. [

The tray 122 receives water from a water supply pipe (not shown) and provides a space in which water is cooled by ice. A plurality of molding spaces are formed on the upper surface of the tray 122 so that water can be received. The molding space may have various shapes depending on the shape of the ice to be manufactured, and the quantity of the molding space may be variously adjusted.

The tray 122 may be made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity, and may be made of aluminum, for example. The higher the thermal conductivity of the tray 122, the more the tray 122 can improve the heat exchange rate with the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant pipe.

The bottom of the tray 122 may be in contact with the refrigerant pipe 248 extending from the machine room 24 and the portion of the refrigerant pipe 248 in contact with the tray 122 may be referred to as a contact portion 2482. [ The contact portion 2482 may be formed in a U-shape as shown in FIG. Specifically, it starts to extend from one end of the tray 122, is bent 180 ° in the vicinity of the other end of the tray 122, extends again toward one end of the tray 122, and is connected to the machine room 24.

However, this is merely an example, and the contact portion 2482 may be curved plural times and formed to reciprocate the bottom surface of the tray 122 a plurality of times.

At this time, the bottom surface of the tray 122 and the contact portion 2482 may be simply in surface contact with each other and may be configured to be firmly attached to each other with an adhesive or a fastening member in order to increase heat transfer efficiency.

Thus, the refrigerant expanded and cooled by the expansion valve after being compressed and condensed in the machine room 24 is transferred to the contact portion 2482 of the refrigerant pipe 248, and the transferred refrigerant passes through the contact portion 2482 and the tray 122 to cool the water contained in the interior of the tray 122. The cooled water may be phase-changed into ice, and ice may be generated.

In other words, the contact portion 2482 of the refrigerant pipe 248 functions as a miniaturized evaporator in the cooling cycle.

As described above, in the conventional refrigerator provided with the ice maker on the door, the cool air is generated by heat exchange between the refrigerant and the air, and the generated cool air is supplied to the tray through the cool air duct by the blower or the like. Ice was produced by the method. At this time, since heat exchange performance between the gas and the solid is not good, it takes a long time to generate ice.

However, since the present embodiment generates ice by the direct cooling method through the solid-solid heat exchange between the refrigerant pipe 248 and the tray 122, the heat exchange performance is excellent and the time for generating ice can be drastically shortened have.

On the other hand, the thus produced ice can be dropped by the swivel portion 124 into the ice bucket 130 disposed below the tray 122. Specifically, the upper surface of the tray 122 is rotated toward the lower ice bucket 130 by the rotation of the rotary shaft (not shown) of the rotary unit 124, and when the tray 122 is rotated at a specific angle or more, And the ice contained in the tray 122 may fall into the ice bucket 130 due to the twist.

In addition, a plurality of ejectors (not shown) are provided along the longitudinal direction of the pivot shaft so that the ice tray 122 can be discharged only by the rotation of the ejector without rotating the tray 122.

The transfer assembly 140 serves to transfer the ice toward the discharge portion 150 and may include an auger 142, a motor housing 144, and an auger motor 146.

The auger 142 may be a pivoting member with a wing having a screw or spiral shape and is rotated by an auger motor 146. The auger 142 is accommodated in the ice bucket 130 and the ice accumulated in the ice bucket 130 is inserted between the wings of the auger 142 to be transported toward the discharge portion 150 upon rotation of the auger 142 . In addition, the auger motor 146 can be received in the auger motor housing 144.

The discharging unit 150 may be connected to a dispenser (not shown) provided in the door 20, and ice delivered by the transporting assembly 140 may be supplied to the user through the dispenser at the user's option. Although not shown, the discharge unit 150 may be provided with a cutting member capable of cutting ice to a predetermined size.

Hereinafter, the function and effect of the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described.

The refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant pipe 248 through the compressor, the condenser, and the expansion valve provided in the door 20 that opens and closes the main body 10 can be cooled. The refrigerant thus cooled is supplied to the contact portion 2482 where the refrigerant pipe 248 contacts the tray 122, and is directly cooled from the refrigerant to the tray 122.

Water can be supplied to the tray 122 by water supply means not shown and the water supplied to the tray 122 is phase-changed and ice can be generated as the contact portion 2482 cools it.

At this time, the refrigerant can flow to the contact portion 2482 by the compressive force provided through the compressor 242. [

The ice produced in the tray 122 is lowered by the operation of the rotary part 124 and can be accumulated in the ice bucket 130 disposed below the tray 122. [

The refrigerant transferred to the contact portion 2482 through the expansion valve and heat-exchanged with the tray 122 may be transferred to the machine room 24 through the refrigerant pipe 248. The refrigerant transferred to the machine room 24 is supplied to the compressor 248, The refrigeration cycle may be started.

According to the embodiment of the present invention as described above, the piping structure of the refrigerator is simplified, the content is maximized in the refrigerator, space utilization is improved, energy efficiency consumed in cooling is increased, and ice making speed is increased.

While the present invention has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the basic idea disclosed herein. Skilled artisans may implement a pattern of features that are not described in a combinatorial and / or permutational manner with the disclosed embodiments, but this is not to depart from the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be readily made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1: Refrigerator 10: Body
20: door 22: ice making room
24: machine room 26:
100: Ice-maker 110: Case
120: Deicing assembly 122: Tray
124: Rotation part 130: Ice bucket
140: transfer assembly 142: auger
144: motor housing 146: auger motor
242: compressor 244: condenser
246: Through hole 2482: Contact portion

Claims (9)

A body having a food storage space;
A door installed in the main body and including an ice making chamber for opening and closing the storage space;
A machine room installed inside the door, the machine room including a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve;
An ice maker installed in the ice making chamber, the ice maker including a tray capable of receiving and receiving water; And
And a refrigerant pipe connecting the compressor, the condenser and the expansion valve, and cooling the tray by conduction,
A through hole is formed in a surface of the machine room,
And the machine room communicates with the outside through the through hole when the door is opened.
Refrigerator. The method according to claim 1,
Said tray serving as an evaporator of a refrigeration cycle for producing ice in said ice-
Refrigerator. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least a part of the refrigerant pipe is configured to contact the lower surface of the tray,
Refrigerator. The method of claim 3,
Wherein a portion of the refrigerant pipe which contacts the tray is formed in a U-
Refrigerator. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the machine room and the ice-making chamber are partitioned by a heat insulating member,
Wherein the compressor and the condenser are disposed inside the machine room,
Refrigerator. delete Compressing the refrigerant with a compressor installed in the door of the refrigerator;
Condensing the refrigerant in a condenser connected to the compressor installed in the door;
Inflating the refrigerant with an expansion valve installed in the door and connected to the condenser; And
And evaporating the refrigerant so that the tray is cooled by conduction from a refrigerant pipe at least partially in contact with a side of a tray installed in the door,
In the condensing step,
Wherein the condenser is cooled by outside air flowing from the outside through the through hole formed to communicate with the outside when the door is opened,
A refrigerant circulation method for ice making of a refrigerator. 8. The method of claim 7,
Said tray serving as an evaporator of a cooling cycle for the production of ice,
A refrigerant circulation method for ice making of a refrigerator. delete

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