KR101732165B1 - Refrigerator including ice tray and ice tray and manufacturing method for ice tray - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator including an ice tray, and an ice tray and an ice tray manufacturing method.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a food processing apparatus comprising: a body including a food storage space; A door that shields the storage space and is installed in the main body; And an ice making device installed in the storage space, wherein the ice making device comprises: a case including a cooling space therein; A cooling unit for cooling the cooling space; And an icemaker assembly having an ice tray disposed in the cooling space to generate ice and having a plurality of independent ice compartments and pressing a metal to produce a single ice tray and a water feeder for supplying water to the ice tray, Wherein the water supply unit comprises: a transfer pipe for transferring water to the ice-making assembly; And a water supply pipe connected to the conveyance pipe and extending along the longitudinal direction of the ice tray on the ice tray, wherein a plurality of water supply holes are formed in the water supply pipe at positions corresponding to the plurality of ice storage spaces, And an ice tray that is supplied to each of the ice-making spaces through each of the water supply holes.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator including an ice tray, an ice tray, and an ice tray. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator,

The present invention relates to a refrigerator including an ice tray, and an ice tray and an ice tray manufacturing method.

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 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 the conventional ice tray, a plurality of ice-making spaces capable of accommodating water are formed on the upper surface of the body, and a water supply hole for supplying water to the ice-making space is formed on one surface of the body. At this time, a water supply groove is formed between the plurality of ice-making spaces, and a plurality of the ice-making spaces are connected to communicate with each other. Accordingly, the water supplied through the water supply hole fills one ice-making space and can move to the next ice-making space through the water-supplying groove, so that water can sequentially fill the plurality of ice-making spaces.

However, in the conventional ice tray, as the water supply groove is provided between the plurality of ice-making spaces, the water supply groove is also filled with water. Accordingly, the ice produced in the ice tray may have a shape corresponding to not only the ice making space but also the water supply groove. That is, the ice produced in the conventional ice tray may have a single lump shape in which a plurality of grains are connected to each other.

In order to solve such a problem, the conventional ice maker has been provided with a cutting portion for cutting ice produced in the form of one lump. Even when cutting the lump-shaped ice with the cutting portion, the size and shape of the ice pieces to be cut are constant There was a problem that it did not.

In addition, the conventional icestra is manufactured by melting and injecting aluminum, and in the case of the injection method, the thickness of aluminum should be about 2 mm or more so that the strength and mechanical properties of the product can be maintained. However, when the thickness of the ice tray is increased, the heat exchange rate of the ice tray is reduced. In the case of the aluminum injection method, there is a problem that the post-processing is complicated and difficult to clean.

Korean Patent No. 10-1320767

Embodiments of the present invention provide an ice tray in which ice can be divided into a plurality of grains.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ice tray and a method of manufacturing the same that can easily manufacture the ice tray.

Also, it is desirable to provide a refrigerator including an ice tray capable of uniformly supplying water to the ice tray.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a food processing apparatus comprising: a body including a food storage space; A door that shields the storage space and is installed in the main body; And an ice making device installed in the storage space, wherein the ice making device comprises: a case including a cooling space therein; A cooling unit for cooling the cooling space; And an icemaker having an ice tray disposed in the cooling space to generate ice and having a plurality of independent ice compartments and pressing a metal to produce water at one time and a water supply unit for supplying water to the ice making space, Wherein the water supply unit comprises: a transfer pipe for transferring water to the ice-making assembly; And a water supply pipe connected to the conveyance pipe and extending along the longitudinal direction of the ice tray on the ice tray, wherein a plurality of water supply holes are formed in the water supply pipe at positions corresponding to the plurality of ice storage spaces, And a refrigerator including an ice tray supplied to each of the ice-making spaces through each of the water supply holes.

Also, a refrigerator including the ice tray may be provided, wherein the diameter of the water supply hole increases as the distance from the conveyance pipe increases.

Also, the water supply pipe may be provided with a refrigerator including an ice tray in which a heater for heating the water supply pipe is provided to surround the outer periphery of the water supply pipe.

The refrigerator may further include an ice tray on the outside of the heater, the heater waterproof member blocking the contact between the heater and the water, the ice tray being provided so as to surround the outer periphery of the heater and the water supply pipe.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice maker comprising: a body for providing an ice-making space in which water is accommodated; And a plurality of partition walls extending upward from the bottom surface of the body and partitioning the ice-making space into a plurality of independent ice-making spaces, wherein the body and the partition walls are made of a metal material, Can be provided.

Also, the body and the partition may be provided with an ice tray of an ice maker made of any one of stainless steel, copper and copper alloy.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ice tray of an ice making device for forming a body having a plurality of ice making spaces formed on an upper surface thereof by pressing a metal, and a partition wall partitioning the ice making space.

Embodiments of the present invention can provide an ice tray in which ice can be generated by dividing into a plurality of grains.

Further, it is possible to provide an ice tray capable of easily manufacturing the ice tray and a manufacturing method thereof.

Also, it is possible to provide a refrigerator including an ice tray capable of uniformly supplying water to the ice tray.

1 is a perspective view of an ice tray according to an aspect of the present invention.
2 is a view illustrating an ice making apparatus for a refrigerator including the ice tray of FIG.
3 is an exploded perspective view of the ice maker shown in Fig.
4 is a side cross-sectional view of the ice maker of Fig.
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a structure in which water is supplied to the ice tray of the ice maker shown in FIG. 4;

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 of an ice tray according to an aspect of the present invention.

1, the ice tray 10 provides an ice making space 13 in which water is phase-changed into ice, and a shape of ice produced according to the shape of the ice making space 13 is formed in the ice making space 13 ). ≪ / RTI > Specifically, the ice tray 10 includes a body 11 having a plurality of ice-making spaces 13 in which water is received on an upper surface thereof, a plurality of ice- And a partition wall 12 which is disposed between the ice-making chamber 13 and the ice-making space 13 and separates the plurality of ice-making spaces 13 into separate independent spaces. That is, in the ice tray 10, a conventional water supply groove connecting the plurality of ice-making spaces is omitted.

The ice making space 13 may have various shapes such as a star and a heart shape in addition to the illustrated shapes.

As the thermal conductivity of the ice tray 10 is higher, the ice tray 10 can improve the heat exchange rate between water and cool air. As a result, the ice tray 10 can function as a kind of heat exchanger have. Although not shown, the ice tray 10 may include a cooling rib or the like for increasing the contact area with the cold air.

The ice tray 10, that is, the body 11 and the partition 12 may be manufactured by pressing a metal, and the metal may be stainless steel, copper, copper alloy, or the like. Since the ice tray 10 has a simple structure in which a plurality of the ice-making spaces 13 are formed on the upper surface of the body 1, it is possible to produce a press working method. When the ice tray 10 is manufactured by the press processing method, the manufacturing process can be simplified, thereby improving the productivity and reducing the production cost. As the ice tray 10 has a single structure, it is easy to clean.

In addition, unlike injection molding, which requires a relatively thick thickness to maintain the strength and mechanical properties of the product, the pressing process can produce a relatively thin metal. Therefore, the ice tray 10, which is relatively thin, can transmit the cold of cold air to the water contained in the ice making space 13 more quickly. In addition, since the amount of metal used for manufacturing the ice tray 10 can be reduced, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In this case, when stainless steel, copper or copper alloy having high elongation is used instead of aluminum, which is difficult to process because of low elongation, press working can be performed more easily.

In addition, when the ice tray 10 is made of stainless steel or a brass having an antibacterial effect, which is relatively less corrosive, the ice tray 10 is manufactured by the ice tray 10 rather than the ice tray made of aluminum, The ice can be harmless to the human body.

Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus for a refrigerator including an ice tray according to an aspect of the present invention will be described.

2 is an exploded perspective view of the ice maker shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the ice maker shown in FIG. 2;

2 to 4, the icemaker 20 of the refrigerator including the ice tray 10 according to the present embodiment is configured to uniformly supply water to the ice making space 13 of the ice tray 10 (Not shown) for cooling the inside of the case, an ice-making assembly 200 for mounting the ice tray, an ice bucket 320 for storing the manufactured ice, And a transfer assembly 400 for transferring ice from the bucket 320.

A food storage space formed inside the main body 2 is divided into an upper refrigerating chamber R and a lower freezing chamber F as shown in Fig. A refrigerator compartment door 3 provided at both side edges of the front surface of the main body 2 for selectively shielding the refrigerator compartment R by rotational movement, The freezing chamber door 5 may be provided with a freezing chamber door. The ice making device 10 may be provided on the other side of the refrigerating compartment R. The ice making device 10 may be provided on one side of the refrigerating compartment R, Or at another position such as the refrigerator compartment door 3 or the like.

A cooling space 105 in which ice can be generated is formed in the case 100 and the ice making assembly 200 can be disposed on the upper side inside the cooling space 105. [

The cooling unit is for cooling the cooling space 105. The cooling unit generates cold air and supplies the generated cold air to the ice tray 10 or a cooling pipe for conveying the low temperature coolant to the lower side of the ice tray 10 So that the ice tray 10 can be cooled. The cooling unit may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, which constitute a cooling cycle. Cool air is supplied to the ice tray 10 through a discharge duct 310 and a cooler guide unit 220 by a blower or the like .

In the present embodiment, cold air is supplied to the cooling space 105 as an example.

The icemaker assembly 200 includes a water supply unit 210 for supplying water to the ice tray 10 and the ice tray 10 and a cooling water supply unit 210 for cooling water supplied from the cooling unit to move along the bottom surface of the ice tray 10 The ice tray 10 is provided with a cooler guide 220 for guiding the flow of cool air to the ice tray 10, (230).

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a structure in which water is supplied to the ice tray of the ice maker shown in FIG. 4;

5, the water supply unit 210 supplies water to the ice tray 10 and is connected to a water supply tank or a water supply pipe to transfer the water to the ice making assembly 200, And a water supply pipe 212 connected to the transfer pipe 211 and extending along the longitudinal direction of the ice tray 10 above the ice tray 10. A plurality of water supply holes 215 are formed in the water supply pipe at positions corresponding to the plurality of ice storage spaces 13 and water is supplied to each of the ice storage spaces 13 through the water supply holes 215 .

A heater 213 for preventing the transfer pipe 211 and the water supply pipe 213 from being frozen is inserted into the transfer pipe 211 and the water supply pipe 212 from outside of the transfer pipe 211 and the water pipe 212 It can be provided in the form of wrapping the circumference. A heater waterproofing member 214 is provided on the outside of the heater 213 so as to surround the outer circumference of the transfer pipe 211 and the water supply pipe 212 to block the heater 213 from moisture, It can prevent accidents.

On the other hand, the diameter of the water supply hole 215 may increase as the water supply hole 215 moves away from the transfer pipe 211. This is because the water supplied through the transfer pipe 211 is first supplied to the water supply hole 215 located near the transfer pipe 211 while flowing along the water supply pipe 212, When the diameter of the plurality of the water supply holes 215 is the same as the diameter of the water supply hole 215 located at a point far from the conveyance pipe 211, This is because a lot of water is watered. That is, the amount of water supplied to the ice making space 13 of the ice tray 10 may not be uniform.

On the other hand, when the diameter of the water supply hole 215 is increased as the water supply hole 215 is moved away from the transfer pipe 211 as in the present embodiment, the amount of water supplied to the ice making space 13 can be uniform. The diameter of the water supply hole 215 may be determined by the volume of the ice making space 13, the amount of water and water pressure supplied from the transfer pipe 211 and the water supply pipe 212, the length of the water supply pipe 212, And its size can be set.

The cooling air guide unit 220 has a function of guiding the cool air supplied from the cooling unit to the lower side of the ice tray 10 and includes a discharge duct 310 as a passage through which cool air is supplied from the cooling unit Can be connected. The cool air guide unit 220 includes cool air guide members 221 and 222 connected to at least one side of the discharge duct 310 and includes a first cool air guide member 310 extending from the upper surface of the air discharge duct 310, 221 and a second cool air guide member 222 extending from the lower surface of the discharge duct 310. [

The cool air guided by the cool air guide members 221 and 222 can move toward the bottom of the ice tray 10 and cool water can be exchanged with the ice tray 10, It can be phase-changed into ice.

The thus manufactured ice can be dropped by the rotary part 230 into the ice bucket 320 disposed below the ice tray 10. The upper surface of the ice tray 10 can be rotated toward the lower ice tray 320 by the rotation of the rotary shaft 231. When the ice tray 10 is rotated at a predetermined angle or more, And the ice contained in the ice tray 10 can be dropped into the ice bucket 320 due to the twist.

A plurality of ejectors (not shown) are provided along the longitudinal direction of the rotary shaft 231 so that only the ice is taken out of the ice tray 10 due to the rotation of the ejector without rotating the ice tray 10 Can be.

An ice heater 240 is provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray 10 so that the ice tray 240 can heat the bottom surface of the ice tray 10 when the rotation shaft 231 rotates, can do. The surface of the ice contained in the ice tray 10 is melted by the heating of the ice heater 240 so that the ice can be separated from the ice tray 10.

The transfer assembly 400 may include an auger 410 and an auger motor 420 for transferring ice toward the discharge unit 600. The auger 410 may be a pivoting member having a blade having a screw or spiral shape and is rotated by the auger motor 420. The auger 410 is received in the ice bucket 320 and the ice accumulated in the ice bucket 320 is inserted between the wings of the auger 410 so that, 0.0 > 600 < / RTI > The auger motor 420 may be received in the auger motor housing 430.

The dispenser 600 may be connected to a dispenser (not shown) provided in the refrigerator door 3, and the ice delivered by the transport assembly 400 may be supplied to the user through the dispenser Can be supplied.

Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the icemaker of the refrigerator including the ice tray according to one aspect of the present invention will be described.

Water can be uniformly supplied to the ice-making space 13 of the ice tray 10 through the water-supplying unit 210 in the ice maker 20 according to the present embodiment. The water supplied through the transfer pipe 211 moves along the longitudinal direction of the water supply pipe 212 and flows through the water supply holes 215 through the plurality of water supply holes 215 formed in the water supply pipe 212. [ To the ice-making space 13 disposed below the ice-making space 13. At this time, since the diameter of the water supply hole 215 increases as the distance from the transfer pipe 211 increases, the amount of water falling per unit time even if the position of the water supply hole 215 is far from the transfer pipe 211 Is larger than the water supply hole (215) near the transfer pipe (211), the amount of water supplied to the plurality of ice making spaces (13) can be uniform.

When the water supply is completed by the water supply unit 210, cool air generated through the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve, and the evaporator can be supplied to the cooling space 105 through the discharge duct 310, The water contained in the ice tray 10 disposed in the cooling space 105 can be frozen.

The cold air moves along the bottom surface of the ice tray 10 and exchanges heat with the bottom surface of the ice tray 10, thereby cooling the water contained in the ice tray 10 with ice. At this time, the heater 213 is provided in the transfer pipe 211 and the water supply pipe 212 to prevent the transfer pipe 211 and the water supply pipe 212 from being frozen by cold air. In addition, the heater 213 can be prevented from being in contact with water by the heater water-proof member 214, so that a short circuit accident can be prevented.

The ice cooled in the ice making space 13, which is independently partitioned by the plurality of the partitions 12, may have a granular shape in which the ice cubes are separated. The ice produced in the ice tray 10 can be melted due to the heating of the ice heater 240, so that the ice can be separated from the ice tray 10. Thereafter, the rotation of the rotary shaft 231 causes the ice to fall down and accumulate in the ice bucket 320.

The ice produced in the icemaker 20 of the refrigerator including the ice tray 10 according to the present embodiment is divided into a plurality of pieces, so that no additional cutting device is required. Since the shape of the generated ice may be completely the same as the shape of the ice making space 13, the appearance of the ice can be excellent and various shapes of ice such as stars, hearts, and the like can be manufactured.

In addition, since water can be supplied to the plurality of ice-making spaces 13 by the cooling unit 210, the amount of water supplied to the ice-making space 13 can be uniform.

While the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments of a refrigerator, an ice tray, and an ice tray including the ice tray according to the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto. Should be construed as having the broadest scope of thought. 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: Ice tray
11: Body 12:
13: ice making space 20: ice making device
100: Case 105: Cooling space
200: Deicing assembly 210: Cooling unit
211: transfer pipe 212: water pipe
213: heater 214: waterproof member
215: water supply hole 230:
310: Discharge duct 320: Ice bucket
400: transfer assembly 600:

Claims (7)

A body including a food storage space;
A door that shields the storage space and is installed in the main body; And
And an ice making device installed in the storage space,
The ice-
A case including a cooling space therein;
A cooling unit for cooling the cooling space; And
And an icemaker having an ice tray disposed in the cooling space to generate ice and having a plurality of independent ice compartments and pressing the metal to produce ice at one time and a water supply unit for supplying water to the ice making space,
The water-
A transfer pipe for transferring water to the ice-making assembly; And
And a water supply pipe connected to the transfer pipe and extending along the longitudinal direction of the ice tray on the ice tray,
The water supply pipe,
A plurality of water supply holes formed in a bottom surface of the water supply pipe at positions corresponding to the plurality of the ice storage spaces, the water being supplied to each of the ice storage spaces, the diameter of the water supply holes being increased as the distance from the feed pipe is increased;
A heater for surrounding the outer periphery of the water supply pipe to heat the water supply pipe; And
And a heater watertight member surrounding an outer periphery of the heater and the water supply pipe to block contact between the heater and water.
delete delete delete delete delete delete

Images