KR20050033295A - Refrigerator's ice maker and extractor - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for making and extracting ice in a refrigerator is provided to easily extract ice while reducing loss of cool air by withdrawing an ice storing unit without opening a freezing compartment door. A freezing compartment door(54) is installed at a front of a freezing compartment main body to be opened and shut. An ice making element is distortionally installed at the freezing compartment main body of the freezing compartment door inside for making ice. An ice storing unit(80) is installed at the freezing compartment main body to be withdrawn from the front of the freezing compartment door for storing ice manufactured at the ice making element. An operating element is protruded out of the front of the freezing compartment door. If the freezing compartment door is shut, the operating element is connected with the ice making element for distortionally operating the ice making element.

Description

Ice making and taking out device of refrigerator {REFRIGERATOR'S ICE MAKER AND EXTRACTOR}

The present invention relates to an ice manufacturing and taking out device of a refrigerator which can easily take out ice by making ice in a freezer compartment, and in particular, it can be taken out without opening the freezer door, which is convenient to use and can prevent leakage of cold air. Ice making and taking out device of the refrigerator can improve the overall cooling efficiency of the refrigerator.

In general, a refrigerator is mainly formed of a top mount type refrigerator, in which a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment are formed up and down, and a freezer door and a refrigerating compartment door can be opened and closed in the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment, respectively. Accordingly, many side by side type refrigerators are formed on both sides of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment, and the freezer compartment door and the refrigerating compartment door are configured to be opened and closed with both end portions pivoted.

Usually, in a top-mounted refrigerator, ice can be obtained by allowing the user to pour water directly into the ice tray located in the freezer, while the side-by-side refrigerator automatically separates the ice instead of pouring it directly. Ice can be obtained by a semi-automatic deicing method that can be used or by an automatic deicing method that can pour water automatically and separate ice automatically.

Of course, such a side-by-side refrigerator has a large capacity of the freezing compartment or the refrigerating compartment through which cold air can be circulated, and thus, when the freezing compartment door or the refrigerating compartment door is opened and closed, the cold air loss increases and the efficiency decreases. Ice outlets are formed to allow the user to obtain the ice produced by the method from the outside, and the home bar is installed on the refrigerating chamber door side so as to open and close a simple water or drink in the refrigerating chamber.

However, in order to manufacture ice in the side-by-side type refrigerator by the automatic ice making method, a separate water supply passage for supplying water must be formed and a flow path for guiding the ice to the ice ejection side must be formed, resulting in a complicated structure. As the cost increases, semi-automatic ice making is widely used.

Referring to the conventional refrigerator for producing ice by the semi-automatic ice making method as described above with reference to Figure 1 specifically, the freezer compartment (2) and the refrigerating compartment body 12, the freezing compartment (F) and the refrigerating compartment (R) is formed separately It is provided side by side, the freezer compartment door 4 and the refrigerating compartment door 14 is installed on the front of the freezer compartment body 2 and the refrigerating compartment body 12 so as to be opened and closed, respectively, inside the freezer compartment body 2 and the refrigerating compartment body 12. A plurality of shelves 6 and 16 are installed in multiple stages, and a plurality of door baskets 8 and 18 are detachably installed inside the freezing compartment door 4 and the refrigerating compartment door 14 to provide various foods and the like. It is possible to put the stored goods to contain.

In particular, a tray 32 having a plurality of ice-making grids for freezing ice is installed inside the freezing chamber body 2, and a handle 34 formed to protrude from the tip of the tray 32 is provided. When the tray 34 is rotated, ice is removed from the tray 32 while the tray 32 is rotated, and an upper surface of the tray 32 is removed to store ice stored in the tray 32 under the tray 32. The open ice reservoir 36 is installed to be slid out to the front.

Of course, the tray 32 is connected to the handle 34 to the outer casing 30, the upper and lower surfaces are opened, and is installed to support the outer casing 30 by a spring (not shown), so that the user When the 34 is rotated, the tray 32 is twisted and stored in the ice storage unit 36 at the lower side.

Looking at the process of obtaining ice in the refrigerator adopting the semi-automatic ice making method as described above, the user pours water into the tray 32 while the freezer compartment door 4 is opened, and the freezer compartment door 4 is closed. After the ice is frozen in the state, the ice is released after a time has elapsed. The ice is removed from the tray 32 by turning the handle 34 while the freezer door 4 is opened again. After falling into the ice storage unit 36, the water is filled in the tray 32 again, and the ice storage unit 36 may be pulled out by sliding out the ice storage unit 36.

As described above, in the case of adopting a structure for ice-making by a semi-automatic ice making method of the refrigerator according to the prior art, the tray 32 and the ice storage unit 36 are provided inside the freezer compartment 2 so that the freezer compartment door ( 4) Since the ice can be removed from the tray 32 in the open state and the ice can be taken out from the ice storage unit 36, the freezer door 4 must always be opened to take out the ice. In addition, there is a problem that the cooling efficiency is lowered due to the loss of cold air.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, and provides a ice making and taking out device of the refrigerator which adopts a semi-automatic ice making method and at the same time removes the ice from the tray without opening the freezer door. Its purpose is to.

Ice production and take-out apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention for solving the above problems is a freezing chamber door that is installed to be opened and closed on the front of the freezer compartment body, the ice making means to be installed in the freezer compartment body inside the freezer door to be twistable And an ice storage unit detachably installed on the freezer compartment body to store the ice produced by the ice making means, and installed to protrude on the front side of the freezer compartment door to close the freezer compartment door when the freezer door is closed. And an operation means capable of torsionally actuating the ice making means.

In the present invention, the ice making means has an outer casing having an upper and a lower surface open, and a fixing part fixed to the outer casing is formed at the center, and a movable part twistable with respect to the fixing part is formed at both ends, and a plurality of ice making means are provided. It characterized in that it comprises a tray provided with a grid.

Here, the moving parts are formed on both sides of the fixing part, and are connected to the operation means by a connection member so as to interlock with the operation means, wherein the connection member is a wire provided along the side wall of the moving part.

In the present invention, a guide plate is further installed between the ice making means and the ice storage portion so that the ice dropped from the ice making means is guided to the ice storage portion, and the ice produced by the ice making means can be accurately guided to the ice storage portion. It is preferable that the ice storage unit is installed below the ice making means, and the guide plate is installed to be inclined downward toward the ice storage unit by the ice making means.

In the present invention, the operation means is connected to the connection knob installed on the front end of the tray, and the front of the freezer compartment door rotatably connected to the connection knob when the freezer compartment door is closed by rotating the connection knob to the ice making means It is characterized by consisting of a dial knob that can be torsionally operated.

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

Figure 2 is a view showing the internal structure of the refrigerator according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the ice production and extraction apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention, Figure 4 is an ice making means of the refrigerator according to the present invention is shown Top view.

As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator according to the present invention includes a freezing compartment body 52 and a refrigerating compartment body 62 formed side by side in a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment separately, and on the front surface of the freezer compartment body 52 and the refrigerating compartment body 62. The freezer compartment door 54 and the refrigerating compartment door 64 are installed to be opened and closed, respectively, and a plurality of shelves 56 and 66 are provided in multiple stages inside the freezer compartment body 52 and the refrigerating compartment body 62, and the freezer compartment door is provided. A plurality of door baskets 58 and 68 are detachably installed inside the refrigerator compartment door 64 and a storage article including various foods and the like can be placed therein, in particular, the freezer compartment body 52. An ice making means 70 for manufacturing ice is installed on the inner side, and an ice storage part 80 for storing the ice separated from the ice making means 70 is installed to be pulled out from the front surface of the freezing compartment door 54.

In addition, when the freezing compartment door 54 is closed, the freezing compartment door 54 may be connected to the ice making means 70 to twist the ice making means 70 to remove ice from the ice making means 70. The operation means 90 is configured to be further included so as to.

Specifically, the ice making means 70 has an outer casing 72 fixed to the inside of the freezing compartment body 52 and the shelf 56 so that the upper and lower ends thereof are open and closed at the front and rear ends of the outer casing 72. In addition to being fixed, both sides are rotatably installed, and a plurality of ice making grids are provided to make ice trays, and the trays are fixed parts 74 having a front and rear end fixed to an inner center of the outer casing 72. And, it is installed to be connected to both sides of the fixing portion 74 is divided into a moving portion 76 installed to be able to rotate to the fixed portion 74.

At this time, a sealing is made at the lower end between the fixing part 74 and the moving part 76 so that water does not leak.

Of course, the outer casing 72 is installed such that the front end is located on the inner front side of the freezer compartment body 52 and the rear end is located on the inner rear side of the freezer compartment body like the shelf 56.

Here, in order to allow the movable part 76 to be rotatable with respect to the fixing part 74, the moving part 76 is provided with connecting members 78 at both ends, and the connecting member 78 is provided with the connecting member 78. It is installed to be connected to the operation means 90 when the operation means 90 to operate the torsional rotation of the moving unit 76 through the connecting member 78.

At this time, the connecting member 78 is a wire installed in both longitudinal sidewalls of the moving unit 76 in the longitudinal direction, the front end is installed so as to be connected to the operation means 90 through the outer casing (72).

Looking in more detail, the fixing portion 74 is a fixing projection (74a, 74b) formed to protrude to the front and rear end is fitted and fixed inside the outer casing 72, the moving portion 76 is the connecting member at the front end (78) protrudes so that the connecting member (78) penetrates the front end of the outer casing (72), and the rotating protrusions (76a, 76b) protruding on both sides of the rear end are rotatable inside the outer casing (72). The outer casing 72 is provided with a pair of protrusions 72a and 72b so as to be positioned outside the rotating protrusions 76a and 76b, and the pair of protrusions 72a and 72b and the pair of protrusions 72a and 72b. A spring S is installed such that the pair of rotational projections 76a and 76b are connected to the projections close to each other.

At this time, the spring (S) is installed so that the rotary projections (96a, 96b) is wound in the circumferential direction, one end is fixed to the rotation projections (96a, 96b), the other end is located close to the projection (72a) It is installed to be fixed to, 72b) provides a restoring force to be relaxed and restored to its original state when the rotating projections (96a, 96b) is rotated.

together. The ice storage unit 80 is installed inside the freezer compartment body 52 to be slidably withdrawn on the front side of the freezer compartment door 54 so as to be positioned below the ice making means 70, so that ice falling from the upper side may be stored. An ice receiving space 80a having an open top surface is formed, and a handle (not shown) may be formed on the front surface to facilitate the user's withdrawal.

At this time, the ice storage unit 80 is to be formed larger than the area of the ice receiving space (80a) the ice making means 70 should be able to store all the ice falling from the ice making means (80a).

However, when the ice receiving space (80a) is formed smaller than the area of the ice making means 70 in the ice storage unit 80 as described above, the ice falling from the ice making unit 70 is the ice storage unit 80 Separate guide plate 100 is installed to be guided to), the guide plate 100 is formed so that the rear end is fixed to the lower end of the rear end of the outer casing 72 and the front end is the ice storage unit 80 It is installed to be inclined downward so as to be positioned at the rear end of the upper side.

On the other hand, the operation means 90 is a dial knob 92 rotatably installed on the freezer compartment door 54 so that the front surface is exposed on the front surface of the freezer compartment 54, and when the freezer compartment door 54 is closed The connection knob 94 is rotatably installed at the front end of the outer casing 72 so as to be connected to the dial knob 92 and connected to the front end of the connection member 78.

Here, the dial knob 92 has a disc shape formed in a stepped shape, and an assembling groove 92a formed horizontally in the center of the rear surface thereof is exposed to the front side of the freezer compartment door 54 and the rear side thereof is in the freezer compartment door 54. It is rotatably installed in the freezer compartment door 54 so as to be exposed to the side, the connecting knob 94 is a disk shape formed so that the connecting member 78 is connected to both sides in the assembly groove (92a) in the front center. An assembly protrusion 94a protruding horizontally to be fitted is formed to be rotatably installed in front of the outer casing 72.

At this time, when the freezing compartment door 54 is closed to the freezing compartment body 52, the assembling protrusion 94a of the connection knob 94 is fitted into the assembling groove 92a of the dial knob 92 side. Therefore, by operating the dial knob 92 outside the freezer compartment door 54, rotational force is converted while passing through the connection knob 94 and the connection member 78, thereby moving the moving part 76 to the fixed part 74. Allow the torsional rotation about) to remove the ice.

Looking at the operation of the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

While the refrigerator is operating, cold air is circulated in the freezer compartment 52 and the refrigerating compartment body 62 to freeze and store the stored food in the freezer compartment F, and to store the stored food in the refrigerator compartment R. Will be saved.

In this case, when the user wants to freeze ice to obtain ice, the water is poured into a deicing lattice on the side of the moving unit 76 while the freezing chamber door 54 is opened, and the freezing chamber door 54 is closed. When the ice is rotated by a predetermined time in, rotating the dial knob 92 causes the ice to be guided by the guide plate 100 away from the ice making unit 70 and stored in the ice storage unit 80.

At this time, looking at the process of falling ice from the ice making means 70, as the dial knob 92 is rotated, the connection knob 94 and the connection member 78 is rotated in conjunction, the connection member 78 Ice is removed from the ice making grid as the moving part 76 fixed to both side walls is torsionally rotated with respect to the fixing part 74.

Of course, when the user rotates the dial knob 92, the moving part 76 is torsionally rotated with respect to the fixing part 74 and the spring S is relaxed, and the user rotates the dial knob 92. When released, the moving unit 76 and the dial knob 92 are horizontally restored while the spring S is restored.

When the ice is stored in the ice storage unit 80 as described above, the user can store the ice storage unit from the front surface of the freezer compartment door 54 in the state where the freezer compartment door 54 is closed to the freezer compartment body 52 whenever necessary. Since the ice stored in the ice storage space 80a may be taken out by taking out 80, it is possible to prevent loss of cold air.

The ice making and extracting apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention configured as described above is provided with ice making means for manufacturing ice inside the freezer body, and operating means for removing the ice by twisting the ice making means to some freezer doors. It is installed to be exposed, and since the ice storage unit for storing the ice removed from the ice making means is installed to be withdrawn from the freezer door, it is not necessary to always open the freezer door to take out ice, which is convenient to use and loss of cold air. Since it can be reduced there is an advantage to increase the cooling efficiency.

1 is a view showing the internal structure of a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a view showing the internal structure of a refrigerator according to the present invention;

3 is a cross-sectional view showing an ice making and taking apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a plan view showing the ice making means of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

52: freezer compartment body 54: freezer compartment door

62: refrigerator compartment body 64b: refrigerator compartment door

70 ice making means 72 outer casing

74: fixed part 76: moving part

78: connecting member 80: ice storage unit

90: operation means 92: dial knob

94: connection knob 100: guide plate

Claims (7)

A freezer door provided to be opened and closed at the front of the freezer body, An ice making means which is installed in the freezing compartment body inside the freezing compartment door to be twistable to produce ice; An ice storage unit installed in the freezer compartment main body to be pulled out from the front surface of the freezer compartment and storing ice produced by the ice making means; It is installed so as to protrude on the front of the freezer compartment door when the freezer compartment door is closed, the ice making and take-out apparatus of the refrigerator comprising a control means that is connected to the ice making means to twist the ice making means. The method of claim 1, The ice making means includes an outer casing with upper and lower surfaces open; A fixing part fixed to the outer casing is formed in the center and a moving part provided to be rotatable to the fixing part is formed at both ends, and includes a tray having a plurality of ice making grids. Ice making and taking out device. The method of claim 2, The moving parts are respectively formed on both sides of the fixing portion, ice manufacturing and extracting apparatus of the refrigerator, characterized in that connected to the operation means by a connecting member so as to interlock with the operation means. The method of claim 3, wherein The connecting member is an ice making and taking device of the refrigerator, characterized in that the wire is installed along the side wall of the moving part. The method of claim 1, And a guide plate is installed between the ice making means and the ice storage part so that the ice falling from the ice making means is guided to the ice storage part. The method of claim 5, wherein The ice storage unit is installed on the lower side of the ice making means, the guide plate is ice manufacturing and extracting device of the refrigerator, characterized in that installed inclined downward toward the ice storage unit rotor. The method of claim 1, The operation means is connected to the connection knob installed on the front end of the tray and rotatably installed on the front of the freezer compartment door and connected to the connection knob when the freezer compartment door is closed to rotate the connection knob to twist the ice making means. Ice making and taking apparatus of the refrigerator, characterized in that consisting of a dial knob.