KR20070070807A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A refrigerator is provided to form a scattering preventing part between a fixed tray and a rotation tray for covering an empty space part between the fixed tray and the rotation tray, thereby preventing ice powder from being scattered and vibration of the rotation tray to prevent damage of a power transmission part. A refrigerator includes an ice shaver having a scattering preventing part(90) mounted between a fixed tray(32) and a rotation tray(33) for preventing ice powder from being scattered to the outside by centrifugal force of the rotation tray. The scattering preventing part has a securing part(93) disposed at an upper periphery of the fixed tray for securing the rotation tray, and a protrusion part(95) protruded inward along an inner peripheral surface of the securing part by a predetermined length in the radial direction of the fixed tray for preventing the scattering of the ice powder.

Description

Refrigerator {REFRIGERATOR}

1 is a front view of an inner part of a refrigerator opened in accordance with the present invention;

2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a freezer compartment side of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing that the ice storage unit and the ice machine is mounted on the support member of FIG.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing that the ice machine of Figure 3 is separated from the receiving portion,

5 is an exploded perspective view of the fixing tray and the rotating tray of FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1: body 2: refrigerating chamber

3: freezer 4: cold storage door

5: freezer door 6: door guide

7: shelf 8: storage drawers

10: ice storage unit 11: ice storage container

12: opening 13: drive motor

14: rotating body 15: fixed blade

16 rotary blade 17a, 17b lever

19: front cover

20a, 20b: discharge part 30: ice cutter

32: fixed tray 33: rotary tray

34: blade 35: powder ice discharge unit

37: penetrating portion 38: rotating shaft receiving portion

40: drive unit 45: power transmission unit

46: rotating shaft 51: support member

52: receiving unit 55: ice duct

60: dispenser 61: water lever

63: ice lever 65: operation panel

70: ice tray 71: ice tray

73: ice detection lever 75: ice motor

80: coupling portion 81: locking projection

82: receiving groove 83: seating groove

90: shatterproof part 93: seating part

95: protrusion

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator capable of preventing powder ice from being scattered to the outside of the ice machine during the ice grinding.

Generally, a refrigerator is a device for storing various foods for a long time, and includes a freezer compartment for storing frozen foods below freezing temperature such as meat and fish, and a refrigerator compartment for storing refrigerated foods such as fruits and vegetables. .

The freezer is provided with an ice maker for supplying water from an external water supply device to make ice of a predetermined size, and an ice storage unit for storing ice iced from the ice maker is provided under the ice maker. The ice stored in the ice storage unit is iced into ice cubes or flake ice according to the use and discharged to the outside. The ice discharge structure of the ice storage unit is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1998-0049615.

Recently, a refrigerator having an ice machine which receives ice cubes from an ice storage unit and ices them with powdered ice so as to make and use food such as red bean shaved ice at home has been developed.

However, since a refrigerator equipped with such an ice machine generally rotates and presses the ice cubes toward the blade, the ice cubes are ground into ice.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator which can prevent powder ice from scattering to the outside of the ice machine during ice cutting.

The object of the present invention is a refrigerator comprising a freezing compartment, an ice storage unit provided in the freezing chamber, and an ice machine for receiving ice stored in the ice storage unit to produce powdered ice, wherein the ice machine includes a fixed tray provided with a powdered ice discharge unit. Wow; A blade provided on the powder ice discharge part to ice the ice with powder ice; A rotary tray rotatably coupled to the fixed tray to transfer ice in the fixed tray toward the blade; The refrigerator is disposed between the fixed tray and the rotary tray, and includes a shatterproof portion that prevents the ice cubes from escaping to the outside by the centrifugal force of the rotary tray.

Here, the scattering prevention portion, the seating portion is disposed along the upper circumference of the fixing tray is seated on the rotary tray; It may include a protrusion to protrude to a predetermined length in the inner radial direction of the fixing tray along the inner circumferential surface of the seating portion to prevent the powder ice inside the fixing tray from being separated to the outside.

In addition, the shatterproof part is formed integrally with the fixing tray, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and lowering the product cost.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Prior to the description, as a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described as a side-by-side refrigerator (Side by Side) as an example, but the application of the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 is a front view in which a part of the inside of the refrigerator is opened according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the freezer compartment side of the refrigerator of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing that an ice storage unit and an ice machine are mounted on the support member of FIG. 2. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing that the ice machine of FIG. 3 is separated from the receiving part, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the fixing tray and the rotating tray of FIG. 3.

The refrigerator according to the present invention includes a freezing compartment (3), an ice storage unit (10) provided in the freezing chamber (3), and an ice machine (30) for receiving the ice stored in the ice storage unit (10) to produce powdered ice. .

1 is a front view in which a part of the inside of the refrigerator according to the present invention is opened. Referring to the drawings, in the refrigerator according to the present invention, the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 are partitioned left and right by an intermediate partition. The front openings of each of the refrigerating chambers 2 and the freezing chamber 3 are provided with a refrigerating chamber door 4 and a freezing chamber door 5 for opening and closing the openings, and inside the doors 4 and 5 to accommodate parallel flow and the like. Door guides 6 which can be arranged are arranged up and down. In the refrigerator compartment 2 formed in the right side of the main body 1, the some shelf 7 which divides the inside of the refrigerator compartment 2 is arrange | positioned up and down at the upper part, and the several drawer 8 is provided in the lower part.

Referring to FIG. 2, an ice making chamber 70 is provided above the freezing chamber 3. The ice making chamber 70 is provided with an ice making tray 71 for making ice by receiving water from an external water supply source and an ice storage unit 10 for storing ice iced from the ice making tray 71. Meanwhile, the freezer door 5 has a dispenser 60 for receiving the ice of the ice storage unit 10 from the outside and an ice duct for guiding the ice discharged from the ice storage unit 10 to the dispenser unit 60. 55 is provided. The dispenser unit 60 includes an operation panel 65 for selecting a type of discharged ice and inputting a control command related to driving, an ice lever 63 for discharging ice, and a water lever 61 for receiving water. do. Here, reference numerals 73 and 75 denote an ice motor 75 to rotate the ice detection lever 73 and the ice tray 71 for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage unit 10 at a predetermined angle. Indicates.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ice storage unit 10 stores ice iced from the ice making tray 71 and has an ice storage container 11 having an opening 12 for discharging the stored ice to the outside, and ice. Front cover formed with a rotating body 14 for conveying the ice stored in the storage container 11 toward the opening 12, a drive motor 13 for driving the rotating body 14 and the discharge parts (20a, 20b) ( 19).

Here, referring to FIG. 4, a lower portion of the ice storage unit 10 may further include a support member 51 for supporting the ice storage unit 10. In the front of the support member 51, that is, the freezing chamber door 5 side is provided with an accommodating portion 52 in which the ice machine 30 is detachably received. Receiving portion 52 may be provided in a shape corresponding to the shape of the ice machine 30.

4 and 5, the ice machine 30 includes a fixed tray 32 provided with the powder ice discharge part 35, a blade 34 provided inside the powder ice discharge part 35, and a fixed tray. Rotating tray (33) rotatably coupled to (32) for conveying and pressing the received ice toward the blade (34), and scattered to be disposed between the fixed tray 32 and the rotary tray to prevent powder ice from scattering Prevention portion 90 is included. Here, the driving unit 40 for driving the rotary tray 33 may be further included.

The fixing tray 32 accommodates the ice discharged from the ice storage unit 10 and is detachably coupled to the accommodation unit 52. One side of the fixing tray 32 is provided with a powder ice discharge part 35 so that the ice cubes can be discharged to the outside. The fixing tray 32 may be provided in a dish shape so that the rotary tray 33 is rotatably received therein. For example, as shown in Figure 5, it may be provided in a bowl shape having an inclined side wall. The through part 37 (see FIG. 5) is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the fixing tray 32 so that the rotation shaft 46 connected to the driving part 40 can pass therethrough. The powder ice discharge part 35 is provided in the fixing tray 32 so that the ice powder powder is discharged to the outside.

The rotary tray 33 is disposed above the fixed tray 32 and rotates about the rotating shaft 46 to transfer and pressurize ice in the fixed tray 32 toward the blade 34. Rotating tray 33 may be provided in various shapes, for example, may be provided to correspond to the internal shape of the fixing tray (32). In the central portion of the rotary tray 33, the rotary shaft accommodating part 38 is provided to accommodate the rotary shaft 46 penetrating the through part 37. The rotating shaft 46 and the rotating shaft accommodating part 38 may be coupled in various ways. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, male threads are formed on the circumferential surface of the rotating shaft 46, and the rotating shaft may be accommodated. A female thread of the part 38 may be formed to be screwed into place. At this time, it is preferable that the fastening direction in which the rotating shaft 46 and the rotating shaft accommodating part 38 are fastened is opposite to the rotating direction of the rotary tray 33.

The power transmission unit 45 for receiving the power of the drive unit 40 is coupled to the lower end of the rotary shaft 46. The drive unit 40 is preferably connected to the rotary shaft 46 is provided with a drive motor to rotate the rotary tray 33. A power transmission unit 45 may be provided between the driving unit 40 and the rotating shaft 46 to control the rotation speed of the driving unit and the rotating shaft 46.

Inside the rotary tray 33 is provided with a rotary blade (33a) for conveying pressurized ice toward the blade (34). Rotating blades 33a may be provided in various numbers as necessary, for example, may be provided in three. In addition, the rotary blade 33a may be provided inclined in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

The blade 34 is provided inside the powder ice discharge part 35 to ice the ice pressurized by the rotary tray 33 into powder ice. Here, the number and shape of the blades 34 may be provided in various ways as necessary.

The coupling unit 80 detachably couples the ice machine 30 to the accommodation unit 52. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the coupling part 80 is provided at the outer circumferential surface of the fixing tray 32, and is provided at the accommodation part 52 to accommodate the locking protrusion 81. It may include a receiving groove (82). Here, it may further include a seating groove 83 is connected to the receiving groove 82 is seating projection 81 is seated. On the contrary, the locking protrusion 81 is provided in the receiving portion 52, and the receiving groove 82 may be provided on the outer circumferential surface of the fixing tray 32, of course.

In this case, when mounting the ice machine 30 to the support member 51, the locking protrusion 81 of the fixing tray 32 is seated in the seating groove 83, and then the locking protrusion 81 is moved by a predetermined distance. It is to be accommodated in the receiving groove (82). Similarly, when removing the ice machine 30, the fixing tray 32 is rotated in the opposite direction to move the locking protrusion 81 from the accommodation groove 82 to the seating groove 83, and then support the ice machine 30. It is separated from the member 51.

Shatterproof unit 90 is disposed along the upper circumference of the fixing tray 32, the seating portion 93 on which the rotary tray 33 is seated, and the inner side of the fixing tray 32 along the inner circumferential surface of the seating portion 93. It includes a protrusion 95 protruding in a predetermined length in the radial direction to prevent the powder ice inside the fixing tray 32 to escape to the outside. Shatterproof unit 90 may be provided as a separate member, as shown in Figure 5, it may be protruded from the upper portion of the fixing tray 32 may be formed integrally with the fixing tray (32).

As shown in Figure 5, the mounting portion 93 is provided in the cross-section of the L-shape along the upper circumference of the fixing tray (32). The rotary tray 33 is seated at an upper portion of the seating portion 93, and a protrusion 95 protruding in the inner radial direction of the fixing tray 32 along the inner circumferential surface of the seating portion 93 at the lower portion of the seating portion 93. Is formed.

The protruding portion 95 protrudes inward from the inner surface of the seating portion 93 to a predetermined length so as to prevent the powder ice from flying out of the ice machine 30 due to the centrifugal force by the rotation of the rotary tray 33. Here, the predetermined length at which the protrusion 95 protrudes is preferably a length within a range that does not interfere when the rotary blade 33a of the rotary tray 33 rotates.

Meanwhile, as described above, the protrusion 95 may protrude inward in the direction of the rotation axis 46 from the inner circumferential surface of the fixing tray 32 to be integrally formed with the fixing tray 32.

Here, the scattering prevention unit 90 is supported by the fixing tray 32, it is preferable to be disposed as close as possible to the rotary tray 33 within the range that does not interfere with the rotation of the rotary tray 33.

Hereinafter, a process of discharging powdered ice in a refrigerator having the above-described structure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

When the user selects the discharge of the powder ice through the operation panel 65, the drive motor 13 rotates the rotating body 14 to transfer the ice stored in the ice storage container 11 toward the opening 12. At this time, the first lever 17a is in the open position and the second lever 17b is in the closed position. Therefore, the ice discharged to the opening 12 is not discharged to the second discharge portion 20b, but is placed on the second lever 17b, and is received by the rotary blade 16 to be rotated and transported. On the other hand, when the ice conveyed by the rotary blade 16 passes the highest point and falls by its own weight, at this time is guided by the leading blade of the rotary blade 16 is not dropped to the fixed blade 15 without the first discharge portion ( 20a).

On the other hand, when ice cubes are introduced into the ice machine 30 communicated with the second discharge unit 20b, the ice cubes, which are conveyed and pressed by the rotary tray 33, are iced by the blade 34, and the powder ice discharge unit ( 35). The discharged powder ice is discharged to the dispenser unit 60 through the ice duct 55.

At this time, if the rotary tray 33 of the ice machine 30 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the ice is also rotated in the same direction by the rotary tray 33, so that the rotating ice is iced by the blade 34 do. Here, a part of the ice ice is discharged to the powder ice discharge unit 35 is supplied to the dispenser unit 60, and the rest of the ice ice is rotated and scattered by the rotary blade 33a. At this time, the shatterproof unit 90 prevents the powdered ice from flying out of the ice machine 30, and the ice hit the shatterproof unit 90 falls and rests on the fixing tray 32 again. Thus, the powdered ice may be rotated again by the rotary blade 33a to be discharged to the powdered ice discharge unit 35.

On the other hand, the process of the discharge of ice cubes and pieces of ice briefly described as follows. At the ice ice discharge, the first lever 17a is in the closed position, and only the second lever 17b is in the open position. Therefore, the ice pushed out to the opening 12 by the rotating body 14 is discharged to the 2nd discharge part 20b as it is.

At the time of crushed ice discharge, both the first lever 17a and the second lever 17b are in the closed position. Therefore, the ice pushed out by the opening 12 is rotated by the rotary blade 16, and is crushed between the fixed blade 15 and discharged to the second discharge portion 20b.

Refrigerator according to the present invention by preventing the scattering portion between the fixed tray and the rotary tray, it is possible to prevent the ice falling off the ice machine by the centrifugal force of the rotary tray during the ice, and the scattered ice ice storage container or It can be prevented from adsorbing outside the ice machine and deteriorating the appearance.

In addition, the scattering prevention unit covers the empty space between the fixed tray and the rotary tray, thereby preventing the rotation of the rotary tray during rotation of the rotary tray to prevent damage to the power transmission unit connected to the rotary tray.

As described above, the refrigerator according to the present invention may be provided with a shatterproof portion on the ice machine during ice cutting to prevent the powdered ice from being scattered to the outside of the ice machine.

Claims (3)

In the refrigerator comprising a freezing chamber, an ice storage unit provided in the freezing chamber, and an ice machine for receiving the ice stored in the ice storage unit to produce powdered ice, The ice machine, A fixed tray provided with a powder ice discharge unit; A blade provided on the powder ice discharge part to ice the ice with powder ice; A rotary tray rotatably coupled to the fixed tray to transfer ice in the fixed tray toward the blade; And a scattering prevention unit disposed between the fixed tray and the rotary tray to prevent the ice cubes from escaping to the outside by the centrifugal force of the rotary tray. The method of claim 1, The scattering prevention unit, A seating part disposed along an upper circumference of the fixing tray to seat the rotary tray; And a protrusion for protruding a predetermined length in an inner radial direction of the fixing tray along an inner circumferential surface of the seating portion to prevent powder ice inside the fixing tray from escaping to the outside. The method of claim 1, The scattering prevention unit is characterized in that the refrigerator is formed integrally with the fixing tray.

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