KR20080029201A - Ice dispenser and refrigerator having it - Google Patents

Abstract

An ice taking-out apparatus and a refrigerator having the same are provided to selectively dispense a bulk of ice and ice fragments with a simplified structure. An ice taking-out apparatus comprises an ice making chamber, an ice storing chamber(6), an ice feeding and crushing unit(10), and a dispenser(7). The ice feeding and crushing unit selectively supplies a bulk of ice before crushing and ice fragments after crushing. The ice feeding and crushing unit includes a main body(11) having a hollow section to feed the bulk of ice stored in the ice storing chamber and to crush the ice into ice fragments, an auger(15) rotatably installed in the interior of the main body, and a motor(19) for driving the auger. The auger consists of a rod section(16) having a small diameter rod part and a spiral part(17) formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rod section to feed the bulk of ice.

Description

Ice dispenser and refrigerator with same {Ice dispenser and Refrigerator having it}

1 is a view schematically showing a part of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

2 is a view schematically showing an ice feed grinding device of the refrigerator ice extraction device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view schematically showing an ice feed grinding device of a refrigerator ice extraction device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a view schematically showing an ice feed grinding device of a refrigerator ice extraction device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view schematically showing an ice feed grinding device of a refrigerator ice extraction device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an ice feed grinding device of the refrigerator ice extraction device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of symbols on the main parts of the drawings *

1. Body 2,3. Storage room

4.door 5.ice making room

6 .. Ice Storage Container 7 .. Ice Dispenser

10,20,30,40,50..the feed mill 11,21,31,41.

12,22,32,42 .. Ice ice outlet 13,23,33,43.Flake ice outlet

15,25,35,45 .. August 16,26,36,46.

17,27,37,47..Spirals 18,28,38,48..Extensions

19,29,39.49..motor

The present invention relates to an ice extraction apparatus, and more particularly, to an ice extraction apparatus and a refrigerator provided with the same, which can provide a whole ice and a piece of ice at the same time.

Conventional refrigerators include an ice maker provided at an upper side of the freezer as disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,442,954, an ice container provided in front of the ice maker to store ice falling from the ice maker, and a dispenser provided under the ice container to provide ice to the outside of the door. It is provided in the inside of the ice container and includes a spiral conveying member for conveying the ice in the ice state and a crushing member for making the ice into pieces.

Therefore, when the user operates the dispenser, the conveying member of the ice container rotates by a motor to eject an appropriate amount of ice, wherein the ice is discharged in the state of ice through only the conveying member according to the user's selection, or passes through the grinding member. While being crushed into pieces and discharged into the dispenser.

However, such a conventional refrigerator has a problem in that it takes up a lot of internal space of a limited refrigerator because the conveying means for providing the ice and the grinding means for providing the crushed ice are provided separately from each other. In addition, the conventional refrigerator has a disadvantage in that the noise is high and a high power motor must be used because a metal cutter is used as a crushing device for producing crushed ice.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice extraction device and a refrigerator having the same structure and simple noise while being able to selectively discharge the ice and flake ice There is.

Ice extraction apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is an ice extraction container having an ice storage container, an ice transfer grinding device installed on the outlet side of the ice storage container, and a dispenser to selectively discharge ice and crushed ice In the apparatus, the conveying pulverizing device conveys the ice at the time of selecting the ice cubes and grinds the ice at the same time as the conveying ices.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transfer grinding apparatus includes a main body having a hollow portion, an auger rotatably installed on the hollow portion, and having a spiral portion on an outer circumference thereof, and a motor for driving the auger, The auger consists of a rod portion with a smaller diameter and an extension portion with a progressively larger diameter.

In addition, the main ice discharge port and the crushed ice discharge port is sequentially provided along the rotation direction of the auger, the rod portion and the expansion portion is disposed in a section corresponding to each discharge port.

In addition, an opening and closing member for selectively opening and closing each discharge port is provided between the whole ice discharge port and the crushed ice discharge port.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the main body of the transfer grinding device is provided with both the ice discharge port and the crushed ice discharge port, respectively, and the motor is rotated forward and backward to load or expand the ice introduced into the main body of the auger It is moved to one of the parts and discharged to each discharge port.

In addition, at least one fracture protrusion is provided on an inner circumferential surface of the body hollow part corresponding to the expansion part.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transfer grinding apparatus includes a main body having a hollow portion, an auger rotatably installed on the hollow portion, and having a spiral portion on an outer circumference thereof, and a motor for driving the auger, The hollow portion is composed of a large hollow inner portion and a small hollow portion that gradually decreases the inner diameter.

In addition, the main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the ice cube discharge port, respectively, and the motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice flow into the main body or small hollow portion of the main body to discharge to each discharge port.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transfer grinding apparatus includes a main body having a hollow portion, an auger rotatably installed on the hollow portion, and having a spiral portion on an outer circumference thereof, and a motor for driving the auger, The auger consists of a large pitch portion with a large spiral pitch and a small pitch portion with a progressively reduced pitch interval.

In addition, the main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, and the motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice introduced into the main body to the large pitch portion or small pitch portion of the auger to discharge to each discharge port.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator having an ice extracting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a refrigerator according to the present invention. Referring to the drawings, the refrigerator generally includes a main body 1 having a plurality of storage compartments 2 and 3 partitioned into a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, a door 4 for rotating and opening each storage compartment, and an ice extraction device. , The ice extraction device is composed of an ice making chamber (5), an ice storage container (6), an ice feed grinding device (10) and a dispenser (7).

The ice making chamber 5 is used to form ice, and is provided at an upper portion of the storage compartment 3 or the door 4, and the ice storage container 6 is provided with a door for storing the ice made in the ice making chamber 5 by dropping it. It is provided inside of 4).

In addition, the transfer grinding device 10 is supplied with ice from the ice storage container (6) for selectively supplying the ice or crushed ice crushed ice to the ice dispenser 7 formed on the front of the door (4) It is provided on the lower side of the ice storage container (6).

Figure 2 shows the ice transfer grinding apparatus 10 of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the drawings, the ice conveying grinding device 10 of the present invention is a refrigerator that can selectively supply the ice before grinding and the crushed ice after grinding, at the same time transporting the ice stored in the ice storage container (6) It consists of a main body 11 having a hollow so as to be crushed into pieces ice, an auger 15 rotatably installed in the main body 11, and a motor 19 for driving the auger.

The upper part of the main body 11 is installed to communicate with the ice discharge port 6a of the ice storage container 6, and the discharge ports 12 and 13 are separately provided at the lower part so as to selectively discharge the ice and pieces of ice. Each ice ice discharge port 12 and the crushed ice discharge port 13 are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the ice. Preferably, when the user selects ice ice between the discharge holes 12 and 13, the ice ice discharge port 12 Is opened and the flake ice discharge port 13 is closed, and when the crushed ice is selected, the opening and closing member 14 is provided to operate in reverse. The opening and closing member 14 is provided to open or close each of the discharge ports 12 and 13 automatically or manually.

The auger 15 consists of a rod-shaped rod portion 16 having a small diameter and a spiral portion 17 formed on the outer circumference of the rod portion so as to move the ice. Therefore, the ice flowing into the main body 11 is sandwiched between the adjacent spirals 17 by the rotating auger 15 to move from one side of the main body 11 to the other side. Such augers preferably use an Archimedes screw. On the other hand, the diameter of the rod 16 is small enough that the outer diameter of the rod forming the ice conveying space together with a pair of neighboring spirals 17 and the inner peripheral surface of the hollow portion of the main body conveys the ice without damage. It means.

In addition, the rod portion 16 according to the present embodiment includes an expansion portion 18 whose diameter gradually expands inclined. That is, when the diameter of the rod 16 rotates in the limited space of the main body 11 as shown in FIG. 2 is expanded, the ice is crushed finely while being compressed during the movement of the relatively narrow space to move. The size of the crushed ice can be adjusted using the degree of inclination of the expansion portion 18. At this time, the height of the spiral portion 17 formed on the outer surface of the expansion portion 18 is formed to be relatively lower than the height of the spiral portion 17 of the rod portion 16 to be rotatable in the main body 11, the auger 15 The height of the entire spiral 17 is the same.

Next, an operation of the refrigerator having an ice conveying and grinding device according to an embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

Ice formed in the ice making chamber (5) is moved to the ice storage container (6) after a predetermined time elapses, and when the user operates the ice dispenser (7) provided in the door, the ice is discharged from the ice storage container (6) It passes through 6a and the transfer grinder 10, and it goes out to the outside.

For example, when the user selects ice cubes, the ice cube discharge port 12 of the main body 11 is opened and the ice cube discharge port 13 is closed. Therefore, the ice introduced into the transfer grinder 10 through the ice outlet 6a of the ice storage container 6 is crushed in the spiral section 17 of the rod 16 along the rotation direction of the auger 15. It is transported without, and then exits into the ice dispenser 7 without damage through the ice discharge port 12 before entering the expansion section 18 section.

On the contrary, when the flake ice is selected, the whole ice discharge port 12 of the main body 11 is sealed and the flake ice discharge port 13 is opened. Therefore, the ice introduced into the conveying grinding device 10 is moved along the rotational direction of the auger 15 while moving in the spiral portion 17 of the rod part 16 without crushing, but the expansion part 18 continuously provided. In the crushed ice state by the narrowed space between the spiral portion 17, and then exits the ice dispenser 7 through the crushed ice discharge port 13 provided at the end of the main body.

On the other hand, Figure 3 shows an ice conveying grinding device 20 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The ice transfer grinding apparatus 20 of this embodiment is described below with respect to the ice transfer grinding apparatus 10 of the above-described embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, the ice outlet 6a of the ice storage container 6 is installed to communicate with the center side of the main body 21, and the ice cube outlet 22 and the piece ice outlet 23 are provided at both ends of the body. Each is installed. In addition, the motor 29 for rotationally driving the auger 25 is provided to enable forward and reverse rotation.

Therefore, when the user selects the ice cube, the ice introduced into the main body 21 moves to the left side of FIG. 3 by the one-way rotation of the motor 29 so that only the rod part 26 of the auger 25 passes. The ice cube outlet 22 exits without crushing. On the contrary, when the user selects the crushed ice, the ice introduced into the main body 21 passes only to the expansion part 28 of the auger 25 while moving to the right side of FIG. 3 by the other direction rotation of the motor 29. , Finely crushed to exit the piece ice discharge port (23). After passing through the discharge ports 22 and 33, the ice cubes or ice cubes are moved to the dispenser 7.

As described above, since the rotating directions of the auger 25 are opposite to each other in the separate discharge of the ice cube and the piece ice according to the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 29, the problem of discharging the piece ice during the conventional ice cube discharge occurs. I never do that.

On the other hand, Figure 4 shows an ice conveying grinding device 30 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The ice transfer grinding apparatus 30 of this embodiment is described below with respect to the ice transfer grinding apparatus 10 of the above-described embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the ice outlet 6a of the ice storage container 6 is installed to communicate with the vicinity of the center of the main body 31, the ice cube outlet 32 and the crushed ice discharge port 33 is the body 31 It is provided at both ends of the spaced apart, and the motor 39 for driving the auger 35 to rotate is provided to enable forward and reverse rotation. In addition, the main body 31 is made of a large hollow portion (31a) and a small hollow portion (31b) of the inner diameter is gradually reduced, the auger (35) is made of only the rod portion 36 constant diameter, the main body 31, Corresponding to the hollow portions 31a and 31b, the heights of the spiral portions 37a and 37b become constant or gradually smaller.

Accordingly, when the user selects the ice cube, the ice introduced into the main body 31 moves to the left side of FIG. 4 by the one-way rotation of the motor 39, and passes through the public study part 31a of the main body, thereby eliminating crushed ice. The discharge port 32 is exited. On the contrary, when the user selects the crushed ice, the ice introduced into the main body 31 moves to the right side of FIG. 4 by the rotation of the motor 39 in the other direction, and the hollow portion has a narrow inner diameter toward the crushed ice discharge port 33. Since it passes 31b, it is crushed finely and exits the flake ice discharge port 33.

On the other hand, Figure 5 shows a refrigerator transfer grinding apparatus 40 according to another embodiment of the present invention, the ice transfer grinding apparatus 40 of the present embodiment and the ice transfer grinding apparatus 10 of the above-described embodiment The difference is as follows.

According to this embodiment, the ice outlet 6a of the ice storage container 6 is provided to communicate with the vicinity of the center of the body 41, the ice cube outlet 42 and the ice cube discharge port 43 is the body 41 Respectively installed at both ends of the motor 49 driving the auger 45 to rotate. In addition, the auger 45 does not have an extension and is composed of only a rod portion 46 having a small diameter, and the spiral portion 47 provided on the outer circumference of the rod portion 46 has a pitch with a constant pitch portion 47a and a constant pitch. Is made up of a pit portion 47b which is gradually reduced.

Accordingly, when the user selects the ice cube, the ice introduced into the main body 41 passes through the large pitch portion 47a while moving to the left side of FIG. 5 by the one-way rotation of the motor 49. 42) exit. On the contrary, when the user selects the crushed ice, the ice moves to the right side of FIG. 5 by the other direction rotation of the motor 49, and passes through the peach pitch 47b. Will go out.

On the other hand, Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator transfer grinding device 50 according to another embodiment of the present invention, the crushing projection 51 so that the grinding is easily made on one inner peripheral surface of the main body 11 is crushed ice cube Will be prepared. These crushing protrusions 51 are applicable to all of the above embodiments, and can be used by appropriately modifying the wedge-shaped single protrusions or the continuous protrusions of the sand shape.

As described above in detail, the ice extracting device of the refrigerator according to the present invention comprises an auger of the conveying pulverizing device which is provided for selectively discharging the ice cubes and pieces of ice as a rod portion having a smaller diameter and an expansion portion that gradually increases in diameter. When the ice is selected, the ice is transported to the rod, and when the ice is selected, the ice is transported to the expansion and pulverized.

In addition, the ice extracting device of the refrigerator according to the present invention gradually narrows the space where the ice is transported by the auger to form crushed ice, compresses and crushes the ice, so that the noise is not only small but also conveyed unlike conventional metal cutters. The pulverizer can be formed of reinforced plastics.

Claims (19)

In the ice extraction device having an ice storage container, an ice feed grinding device provided on the discharge port side of the ice storage container, and a dispenser for selectively discharging the ice cubes and ice cubes, The conveying pulverizing device is characterized in that the ice is transported when the ice is selected, the ice extraction device, characterized in that the ice is transported and crushed at the time of selecting the piece ice. According to claim 1, wherein the transfer grinding device A main body having a hollow portion, Auger rotatably installed in the hollow portion and provided with a spiral portion on the outer periphery, Provided with a motor for driving the auger, The auger is an ice extraction device, characterized in that consisting of a rod portion having a small diameter and expansion portion that gradually increases in diameter. The method of claim 2, The main ice discharge port and the crushed ice discharge port are sequentially provided along the rotational direction of the auger, And the rod part and the expansion part are disposed in sections corresponding to the respective discharge ports. The method of claim 3, wherein Ice extraction device, characterized in that the opening and closing member for selectively opening and closing each discharge port is provided between the ice and the ice discharge port. The method of claim 2, The main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, And the motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice introduced into the main body to any one of the rod portion or the expansion portion of the auger and discharge the ice to each discharge port. The method of claim 2, Ice extraction device, characterized in that at least one crushing projection is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the hollow body corresponding to the expansion portion. According to claim 1, wherein the transfer grinding device A main body having a hollow portion, Auger rotatably installed in the hollow portion and provided with a spiral portion on the outer periphery, Provided with a motor for driving the auger, The hollow portion ice extraction device, characterized in that consisting of a large hollow inner portion and a large hollow portion of the inner diameter is gradually reduced. The method of claim 7, wherein The main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, And the motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice introduced into the main body to the large or small hollow portion of the main body and to discharge the ice to each discharge port. The method of claim 7, wherein Ice extraction device, characterized in that at least one crushing projection is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the small hollow portion. According to claim 1, wherein the transfer grinding device A main body having a hollow portion, Auger rotatably installed in the hollow portion and provided with a spiral portion on the outer periphery, Provided with a motor for driving the auger, The auger is an ice extraction device, characterized in that the large pitch spacing of the spiral pitch, and the pitch pitch is gradually reduced pitch. The method of claim 10, The main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, The motor is rotated forward and reverse to move the ice introduced into the main body to the augmented pitch or small pitch of the auger and ejected to each discharge port. The method of claim 10, Ice extraction device, characterized in that at least one crushing projection is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the hollow body corresponding to the pit pitch. In the refrigerator provided with a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, an ice maker, and an ice extracting device, The ice extracting device is installed on the ice storage container and the discharge port of the ice storage container, and the ice transport grinding device for transporting the ice at the time of selecting ice cubes and transporting and grinding the ice at the time of selecting the ice cubes, ice cubes and pieces A refrigerator comprising a dispenser through which ice is selectively discharged. The method of claim 13, wherein the transfer grinding device A main body having a hollow portion, Auger rotatably installed in the hollow portion and provided with a spiral portion on the outer periphery, Provided with a motor for driving the auger, The auger is a refrigerator, characterized in that consisting of a rod portion having a small diameter and expansion portion that gradually increases in diameter. The method of claim 14, The main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, The motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice introduced into the main body to any one of the rod portion or the expansion portion of the auger to discharge to each discharge port. The method of claim 13, wherein the transfer grinding device A main body having a hollow portion, Auger rotatably installed in the hollow portion and provided with a spiral portion on the outer periphery, Provided with a motor for driving the auger, The hollow portion is a refrigerator, characterized in that consisting of a large hollow portion having a large inner diameter and a small hollow portion gradually decreasing the inner diameter. The method of claim 16, The main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, And the motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice introduced into the main body to the public or small hollow part of the main body and discharge the ice to each discharge port. The method of claim 13, wherein the transfer grinding device A main body having a hollow portion, Auger rotatably installed in the hollow portion and provided with a spiral portion on the outer periphery, Provided with a motor for driving the auger, The auger comprises a large pitch portion with a large pitch spacing in the spiral portion, and a pitch portion with a pitch decrease gradually. The method of claim 18, The main body is provided with both the ice discharge port and the flake ice discharge port, respectively, And the motor rotates forward and backward to move the ice introduced into the main body to a large pitch portion or a small pitch portion of the auger and discharge the ice to each discharge port.

Images