KR20040074856A - Ice shatter apparatus for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ice crushing device of a refrigerator is provided to improve convenience for users by drawing out ice crushed into the appropriate size and to supply fine ice pieces as well as ice cubes. CONSTITUTION: An ice crushing device of a refrigerator is composed of an ice storage container(61) arranged in a freezer compartment to house ice; a transfer screw rotatively disposed in the ice storage container to transfer the ice; a first crushing unit(65) installed at the lower side of the ice storage container along the ice transfer direction of the screw to crush ice cubes into pieces; and a second crushing unit(85) mounted at the lower side of the first crushing unit along the ice transfer direction to crush the ice pieces into fine ice pieces. The first crushing unit comprises a first crushing chamber(68) formed at the side of the ice storage container; a first rotary cutter(70) installed in the first crushing chamber to rotate integrally together with the transfer screw; a first fixing cutter(69) separated at the predetermined distance and fixed to the side of the first rotary cutter; and a first cut-off plate(71) positioned out of the turning radius of the first rotary cutter to move between a crushing position for guiding the ice transferred by the screw to the first fixing cutter and an opening position for dropping the ice.

Description

Ice Crusher in Refrigerator {ICE SHATTER APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to an ice crushing apparatus of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an ice crushing apparatus of a refrigerator which can provide ice crushed to an appropriate size to enhance user convenience.

The refrigerator includes a main body and a refrigeration system in which at least one cooling chamber is formed to store food in a frozen or refrigerated state. Recently, a dispenser is provided to draw out chilled water or ice without opening the door of the refrigerator.

1 is a view showing an installation state of a dispenser of a conventional refrigerator, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ice crushing device according to line II-II of FIG. As shown in these figures, the refrigerator includes a main body 11 in which the freezing chamber 21 and the refrigerating chamber 31 are formed on the left and right sides, respectively, with partition walls formed in the vertical direction, and the freezing chamber 21 and the refrigerating chamber 31. ) Is provided with a freezer compartment door 23 and a refrigerating compartment door 33 that are coupled to the main body 11 so as to open and close the doors.

An automatic ice maker 25 for automatic ice making is provided in an upper region of the freezing chamber 21, and an ice storage container 41 is provided below the automatic ice maker 25 to accommodate and store the ice dropped from the automatic ice maker 25 therein. ) Is provided.

A water storage tank 35 is provided in the inner lower region of the refrigerating chamber 31 to store water in a refrigerating state, and a water supply to the automatic ice maker 25 and the water storage tank 35 is provided in the rear region of the main body 11. A water supply pipe 37 is provided so that the water supply pipe 37 is provided with a water supply valve 38 so as to open and close the water supply pipe 37.

A filter 36 is provided downstream of the water supply valve 38 along the flow direction of the water, and a flow path switching valve 39 for switching the flow path to the automatic ice maker 25 and the water storage tank 35 downstream of the filter 36. ) Is provided.

The freezing chamber door 23 is provided with a dispenser 27 so that the ice of the ice storage container 41 and the water of the reservoir tank 35 can be withdrawn without opening the freezing chamber 23 and the refrigerating chamber door 33. .

On the other hand, in the front region of the ice storage container 41 along the front and rear direction of the main body 11, a grinding chamber 42 is formed to crush ice cubes produced from the automatic ice maker 25 into pieces of ice of a predetermined size. In addition, the chute 26 is formed to be inclined downward in the lower side of the grinding chamber 42 so that the crushed ice can be drawn out through the dispenser 27.

A conveying screw 44 is rotatably disposed in the ice storage container 41 so as to transport the stored ice to the grinding chamber 42, and a conveying screw 44 in the rear region of the ice storage container 41. It is provided with a screw drive motor 46 to drive the rotation.

The feed screw 44 is formed to have a spiral shape, and a guide 47 having a spiral wing therein is rotatably coupled to the front end thereof. In the central region of the guide 47, a rotation shaft 48 is rotatably formed integrally with the transfer screw 44, and the rotation shaft 48 extends into the grinding chamber 42 along the axial direction.

A plurality of rotary cutters 51 rotatably coupled to the rotary shaft 48 are disposed in the grinding chamber 42, and the rotary cutter 51 is disposed along the axial direction in the lower region of the grinding chamber 42. The fixed cutter 53 is arranged to be spaced apart from the predetermined distance.

At the lower side of the fixed cutter 53, the grinding position for guiding the ice transferred into the grinding chamber 42 to the fixed cutter 53 and the ice transferred to the grinding chamber 42 fall to the chute 26. The blocking plate 55 is provided so that rotation is possible between open positions.

By the way, in the ice crushing apparatus of the conventional refrigerator, the rotary cutter 51 which is arrange | positioned and rotated by mutually predetermined distance along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 48 is provided, and the predetermined space | interval is provided between this rotary cutter 51. FIG. By placing the fixed cutter 53, the ice cube iced out by the automatic ice maker 25 is taken out as it is, or in the form of piece ice having a predetermined size, for example, a size of about 10 mm, There is a problem in that it is not possible to provide a fine size of ice, such as shaved ice.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ice crusher of a refrigerator that can provide crushed ice to an appropriate size to enhance user convenience.

1 is a view showing an installation state of a dispenser of a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a cross-sectional view of the ice crushing apparatus according to line II-II of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the ice crusher region of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is an enlarged view illustrating main parts of FIG. 3;

5 is a front view of FIG. 4;

6 is an enlarged view illustrating main parts of FIG. 3;

7 to 9 are views for explaining the operation of the ice crushing apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

61: ice storage container 63: transfer screw

64: screw drive motor 65: first grinding part

68: first grinding chamber 69: first fixing cutter

70: second fixing cutter 71: the first blocking plate

75: first solenoid 85: second grinding portion

88: second grinding chamber 89: second fixing cutter

90: second rotation cutter 91: the first blocking plate

92: cutter drive motor 95: the second solenoid

The object is, according to the present invention, an ice storage container disposed inside the freezer compartment and containing ice therein; A transfer screw rotatably disposed in the ice storage container to transfer ice; A first crushing unit disposed in a downstream side of the ice storage container along an ice conveying direction of the conveying screw to crush ice cubes into pieces of ice; And a second grinding unit disposed downstream of the first grinding unit along the ice conveying direction and crushing the crushed ice crushed by the first grinding unit into fine pieces of ice. Is achieved.

Here, the first grinding unit, a first grinding chamber formed on one side of the ice storage container, a first rotary cutter disposed in the interior of the first grinding chamber to be integrally rotatable with the transfer screw, and the first A first fixed cutter which is fixedly spaced apart at a predetermined distance on one side of the rotary cutter, and crushed to guide the ice transferred by the transfer screw to the first fixed cutter outside the rotation radius of the first rotary cutter. It is preferable to include a first blocking plate rotatably disposed between the position and the open position to allow the ice transported by the transfer screw to fall.

The second grinding unit may be rotatably disposed around the second grinding chamber formed below the first grinding unit and a rotation axis formed in parallel with the rotation axis of the first rotating cutter inside the second grinding chamber. The second rotating cutter, a second fixed cutter fixedly disposed at one side of the second rotating cutter, and a piece of ice that is crushed by the first grinding part and disposed outside the rotation radius of the second rotating cutter. It is effective to include a second blocking plate to guide the two fixed cutters.

It is preferable to further include a cutter rotary drive motor for rotating the second rotary cutter.

It is effective to further include a solenoid for rotating and opening the second blocking plate.

Preferably, the first blocking plate and the second blocking plate are disposed to rotate in opposite directions in the open position.

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

3 is a cross-sectional view of the ice crusher region of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the main portion of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a front view of Figure 4, Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the main portion of FIG. 7 to 9 are views for explaining the operation of the ice crushing apparatus of FIG. The same reference numerals and the same components as the above-described and illustrated configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals for convenience of description, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. As shown in these drawings, the ice crushing apparatus of the present refrigerator comprises an ice storage container 61 disposed inside the freezing chamber 21 and storing ice cubes 62a therein, and an ice storage container 61 of the ice storage container 61. The conveying screw 63 disposed to convey the ice cube 62a therein and the ice cube 62a formed on one side of the ice storage container 61 and conveyed by the conveying screw 63 have a predetermined size. The first crushed portion 65 crushed into the crushed ice 62b and the crushed ice 62b disposed below the first crushed portion 65 and pulverized by the first crushed portion 65 are fine. It is comprised including the 2nd grinding part 85 grind | pulverized by crushed ice 62c.

An automatic ice maker 25 is installed in the upper upper region of the freezing chamber 21 to generate ice cubes 62a. The ice maker 25 is provided at the lower side of the automatic ice maker 25 to accommodate / store the ice dropped from the automatic ice maker 25. The ice storage container 61 is arranged along the front and rear directions so that it can be. A spiral conveying screw 63 is disposed in the ice storage container 61 so as to transport the ice cube 62a stored therein, and a conveying screw 63 is disposed in the rear region of the ice storage container 61. A screw drive motor 64 is provided to rotate the drive. The conveying screw 63 is provided with a guide 67 having a spiral wing therein, and a first rotation shaft 66 is formed at the shaft center of the guide 67 so as to be integrally rotatable with the conveying screw 63. have.

On the other hand, the first grinding unit 65, the first grinding chamber 68 is formed so that the bottom region is opened on one side of the ice storage container 61, the first fixedly disposed inside the first grinding chamber (68) The first fixed cutter 69, the first rotary cutter 70 formed integrally rotatable to the first rotary shaft 66 extending into the first grinding chamber 68, and the first rotary cutter 70 Between the grinding position which is disposed outside the rotation radius and guides the ice cube 62a flowing into the first grinding chamber 68 to the first fixed cutter 69, and the open position in which the ice cube 62a falls down. It is configured to include a first blocking plate 71 which is arranged to be rotatable.

The first rotary cutter 70 is formed of a plurality of pairs disposed along the radial direction of the first rotary shaft 66 so as to be spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the first rotary shaft 66 and have a phase difference of 180 degrees with respect to the rotary direction. The first fixed cutter 69 having one side coupled to the first rotating shaft 66 in a relative motion with respect to the first rotating shaft 66 is disposed between the first rotating cutters 70.

An operating lever 73 is coupled to one side of the first blocking plate 71 so that the first blocking plate 71 can rotate between the grinding position and the open position, and the other end of the operating lever 73 is a screw driving motor. It is disposed on one side of 64 and is coupled to the first solenoid 75 for rotating the operating lever 73 so as to be capable of relative movement.

The second grinding portion 85 is formed so that the upper and lower surface portions are respectively opened to the lower side of the first grinding chamber 68 at the lower side where the crushed ice 62b crushed by the first grinding portion 65 falls. A plurality of second rotary cutters rotatably disposed around the second grinding chamber 88 and the second rotary shaft 86 arranged in parallel with the first rotary shaft 66 in the second grinding chamber 88. A second fixed cutter 89 disposed between the second rotary cutter 90 along the axial direction of the second rotary shaft 86 and having one side coupled to the second rotary shaft 86 so as to be relatively rotatable with respect to the second rotary shaft 86. And a pulverization position and a first crushing unit disposed outside the rotation radius of the second rotary cutter 90 to guide the crushed ice 62b falling from the first crushing unit 65 to the second fixed cutter 89. It is comprised including the 2nd blocking plate 91 which rotates between the opening positions which make the ice cube 62b falling from 65 fall to the chute 26. As shown in FIG.

The second rotary cutter 90 is spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance along the axial direction of the second rotary shaft 86 and one side is rotatably coupled to each other along the radial direction of the second rotary shaft 86 and with respect to the rotational direction. A plurality of pairs having a phase difference of 180 degrees with each other are formed. The second fixed cutter 89 is fixedly disposed between the second rotary cutters 90 along the axial direction to correspond to the size of the finely crushed ice 62c to be finally crushed, and one side of the second grinding chamber 88. The cutter driving motor 92 is provided to rotate the second rotary cutter 90.

The second blocking plate 91 is disposed to rotate in a direction opposite to the first blocking plate 71 with respect to the rotating shaft disposed in parallel with the rotating shaft of the first blocking plate 71. One side of the 91 is provided with an operating lever 93 so that the second blocking plate 91 can be rotated. On one side of the operation lever 93, the second solenoid 95 is coupled to allow relative movement so as to rotate the operation lever 93.

By this configuration, when the ice cube 62a is to be drawn out, the controller (not shown) controls the first solenoid 75 so that the first blocking plate 71 is rotated to an open position as shown in FIG. 7. In addition, the screw drive motor 64 is controlled to rotate the feed screw 63. When the transfer screw 63 starts to rotate, the ice cube 62a stored inside the ice storage container 61 is transferred to the first grinding chamber 68 side by the spiral of the transfer screw 63, and the guide 67 It flows into the 1st grinding chamber 68 by the inside. The introduced ice cube 62a falls downward and is drawn out to the dispenser 27 through the chute 26.

When the crushed ice 62b is to be drawn out, the controller controls the second solenoid 95 while simultaneously placing the first blocking plate 71 at the crushing position as shown in FIG. 8. Make sure that 91 is in the open position. When the feed screw 63 starts to rotate, the ice cube 62a inside the ice storage container 61 flows into the first grinding chamber 68, and the introduced ice cube 62a passes through the first blocking plate 71. Guided to the first fixing cutter 69 and supported. At this time, while rotating the first rotary cutter 70, the ice cube 62a supported by the first fixed cutter 69 and the first blocking plate 71 is crushed into pieces of ice 62b having a predetermined size. The crushed ice 62b passes through the second grinding chamber 88, falls to the chute 26, and flows out to the dispenser 27.

On the other hand, when you want to withdraw the fine-sized ice (62c) of the fine size used for the shaved ice, etc., as shown in Figure 9, the control unit is the first blocking plate 71 and the second blocking plate 91, respectively, grinding position The screw drive motor 64 is rotated so that the feed screw 63 is rotated. The conveyed ice cube 62a is crushed into pieces of ice 62b by the first grinding unit 65 and dropped into the second grinding chamber 88, and the dropped ice cube 62b is dropped into the second blocking plate 91. Guided to the second fixing cutter (89). At this time, the control unit controls the cutter drive motor 92 so that the second rotary cutter 90 is rotated, the piece of ice 62b supported by the second blocking plate 91 and the second fixed cutter (89) It is pulverized into fine pieces of ice 62c by the second rotating cutter 90 which is rotated, and then is dropped and drawn out to the outside through the chute 26.

As described above, according to the present invention, an ice storage container disposed inside the freezer compartment to store ice, a transfer screw disposed to transfer the ice stored inside the ice storage container, and along the conveying direction of the ice; The first crushing unit is formed on the downstream side of the ice storage container to crush the conveyed ice into pieces of ice of a predetermined size, and the crushed ice crushed by the first crushing unit is disposed on the downstream side of the first crushing unit. There is provided a refrigerator ice crushing device that can enhance the user's convenience by providing a second crushing unit for crushing into fine pieces of ice so as to extract ice of an appropriate size.

Claims (6)

An ice storage container disposed inside the freezer compartment and containing ice therein; A transfer screw rotatably disposed in the ice storage container to transfer ice; A first crushing unit disposed in a downstream side of the ice storage container along an ice conveying direction of the conveying screw to crush ice cubes into pieces of ice; And a second grinding unit disposed on a downstream side of the first grinding unit along the ice conveying direction and crushing the crushed ice crushed by the first grinding unit into fine pieces of ice. The method of claim 1, The first grinding unit may include a first grinding chamber formed at one side of the ice storage container, a first rotating cutter disposed in the first grinding chamber to be integrally rotatable with the transfer screw, and the first rotating cutter. A first fixed cutter fixedly spaced apart from one side of the first fixed cutter, and a grinding position for guiding the ice transferred by the transfer screw to the first fixed cutter outside the rotation radius of the first rotary cutter; And a first blocking plate rotatably disposed between the open positions to allow the ice transferred by the transfer screw to fall. The method of claim 2, The second grinding unit may be rotatably disposed around the second grinding chamber formed below the first grinding unit and a rotation axis formed in parallel with the rotation axis of the first rotating cutter inside the second grinding chamber. The second rotating cutter, a second fixed cutter fixedly disposed at one side of the second rotating cutter, and a piece of ice that is crushed by the first grinding part and disposed outside the rotation radius of the second rotating cutter. Ice breaker of the refrigerator, characterized in that it comprises a second blocking plate to guide the fixed cutter. The method of claim 3, Ice crushing apparatus of the refrigerator further comprising a cutter rotation drive motor for rotating the second rotary cutter. The method of claim 3, Ice crusher of the refrigerator further comprises a solenoid for opening and closing the second blocking plate. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, And the first blocking plate and the second blocking plate are arranged to rotate in opposite directions in the open position.