KR20090043971A - Ice making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an ice making device, and more particularly, to a refrigerator for improving ice tray structure of the ice making device so that ice making and ice making can be easily performed from the ice making device.

In the ice making apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of ice trays are provided on which ice is supplied and ice is provided, and a plurality of gears are provided on one side of the ice tray and rotate the ice tray. A tray assembly included; And an ice bank provided at one side of the tray assembly and storing ice iced from the ice tray.

According to the ice making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the ice making apparatus is simple and its size can be reduced.

In addition, water is automatically supplied to the ice tray, or the user can be supplied with water manually, there is an advantage that the water supply can be made easily.

In addition, there is an advantage that a plurality of ice can be iced simultaneously from a plurality of ice trays by one operation of a user.

Ice Maker, Water Supply, Tray Assembly, Ice Bank

Description

Ice Making Machine {Ice making apparatus}

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an ice making apparatus.

Refrigerators are generally home appliances that maintain the internal temperature lower than the room temperature, so that food can be stored for a long time in a refrigerated or frozen state.

On the other hand, the refrigerator is formed with a storage compartment, the storage compartment is generally provided with a freezer compartment for storing the food refrigerated and a freezer compartment for freezing.

In addition, the freezing chamber is provided with an ice making device for supplying ice, and the ice making device includes an ice tray for supplying water to make ice, and an ice bank in which the ice produced is dropped and stored.

However, in the related art, only one ice tray is provided due to the limited space of the ice making device, or even if a plurality of ice trays are provided, the capacity of the ice tray is small.

In addition, there is a problem that the structure of the water supply device for supplying water to the ice tray is complicated. In addition, when a plurality of ice trays are provided, it is difficult to directly supply water to the ice tray, and thus there is a problem in that water is automatically supplied by the water supply device.

In addition, there is a disadvantage that the user must put a lot of effort in order to ice the ice made in the ice tray into the ice bank.

Embodiments of the present invention have been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to improve the structure of an ice making apparatus of a refrigerator so as to easily make ice and ice from the ice making apparatus.

In addition, the water is supplied to the ice tray automatically from the water supply device, as well as to allow the user to manually supply the water to the ice tray.

In addition, by improving the structure in which the ice tray is mounted on the ice making apparatus, there is an advantage that the size of the ice tray on which the ice tray is mounted can be reduced.

In addition, by improving the structure of the ice is iced from the ice tray, it is an object that the user can easily move with a small force using the home bar without opening the freezer door.

In the ice making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention for solving the problems as described above, a plurality of ice trays are provided on the same plane and water is supplied to the ice is provided, provided on one side of the ice tray and the ice A tray assembly including a plurality of gears for causing the tray to rotate; And an ice bank provided at one side of the tray assembly and storing ice iced from the ice tray.

Ice making device according to an embodiment of another aspect, the ice bank is stored ice; And a tray assembly provided at one side of the ice bank and supplying ice manufactured to the ice bank, wherein the tray assembly includes a main body forming an appearance, a detachable part selectively seated on the main body, and Included in the detachable portion is an ice tray for producing ice.

According to the embodiment according to the above configuration, the user can automatically receive the water supplied from the outside, there is an advantage that can be directly supplied to the ice tray by selecting the water to be iced.

In addition, since the ice tray is located on the same plane and rotated in the same direction to ice the ice tray, the size of the ice tray to which the ice tray is mounted is reduced.

In addition, the user can access the ice making apparatus using the home bar provided on the freezer compartment door without opening the freezer compartment door, and has the advantage of obtaining ice by using a simple lever operation to move the ice.

Accordingly, there is an advantage that it is possible to minimize the leakage of cold air from the freezer compartment.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described a specific embodiment of the present invention. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can easily suggest other embodiments within the scope of the same idea.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator equipped with an ice making device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the back surface of a freezer compartment door equipped with an ice making device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the refrigerator 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 10 in which food is stored and stored in the refrigerator, and rotatably installed on the front surface of the main body 10. And a freezing compartment door 11 and a refrigerating compartment door 12 for selectively opening and closing the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, respectively. In addition, the main body 10 is formed with a partition (to be described later) for partitioning the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment from side to side.

Hereinafter, a side-by-side type refrigerator having a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment provided at left and right will be described as an example. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is apparent that the freezer is applicable to both a top mount refrigerator provided with an upper side of the refrigerator compartment or a bottom freezer type refrigerator provided with a freezer compartment below the refrigerator compartment.

In detail, the freezer compartment door 11 is provided with a groove bar 20 through which ice is taken out. The home bar 20 includes an opening 21 formed by opening at least a portion of the freezer compartment door 11 and a home bar door 22 selectively shielding the opening 21.

In addition, the rear side of the home bar 20 includes an ice making device 100 to supply water to make ice. The ice making apparatus 100 may be mounted on the rear surface of the freezing compartment door 11.

That is, the ice making apparatus 100 may be fixed to the freezing compartment door 11 so that the front side thereof faces the front of the freezing compartment door 11. In addition, the front surface of the ice making apparatus 100 corresponds to the position of the opening 21 so as to be exposed to the outside when the opening 21 of the home bar 20 is opened while the freezing compartment door 11 is closed. .

In more detail, the ice making apparatus 100 includes a tray assembly including a water supply device 120 to which water is supplied, and a tray (to be described later) for making water supplied from the water supply device 120 into ice. 130, an ice bank 140 in which the manufactured ice is drift from the tray, and an ice making case 110 in which the water supply device 120, the tray assembly 130, and the ice bank 140 are mounted. Included.

In addition, the ice making case 110 forms an appearance of the ice making device 100, and the water supply device 120, the tray assembly 130, and the ice bank 140 are drawer-type to the ice making case 110. Can be mounted.

In addition, the water supply device 120 may be provided on the upper side of the tray assembly 130 so that water can be naturally supplied to the tray assembly 130. In addition, the ice bank 140 may be provided on the lower side of the tray assembly 130 so that the ice manufactured in the tray assembly 130 may be dropped and stored by gravity.

However, the arrangement order of the water supply device 120, the tray assembly 130 and the ice bank 140 will not be limited to the position shown in the figure.

In addition, the operation state of the refrigerator may be displayed on the upper side of the home bar 20, and an operation unit 30 may be disposed for the user to operate the operation of the refrigerator. The operation unit 30 may include a plurality of buttons 31 and a display unit 32. In this case, the display unit 32 may display an operation state of the refrigerator. In addition, the buttons 31 may be configured as buttons 31 for selecting a function of the ice maker 100.

3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an ice making apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of an ice making apparatus in a state in which the ice making case according to the first embodiment of the present invention is removed, 5 and 6 are perspective views showing the tray assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 7 is a bottom perspective view showing the structure of the ice bank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 7, the ice making apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is provided with an ice making case 110 forming an exterior and mounted inside the ice making case 110 and supplied with water. Apparatus 120, a tray assembly 130 in which water supplied from the water supply device 120 is made of ice, and an ice bank 140 in which ice is iced from the tray assembly 130 is stored. .

In detail, the water supply device 120 is supplied to the tray assembly 130 and an inlet 122 through which water is introduced from the outside of the ice making device 100, and water introduced from the inlet 122. A first supply part 123 and a second supply part 124, a separation part 125 that divides the first supply part 123 and the second supply part 124, and a user to the water supply device 120. A pressing part 121 is manipulated to allow water to be supplied from the tray assembly 130 to the tray assembly 130.

In detail, the inlet 122 is provided inside the refrigerator and is connected to a water supply pipe (not shown) through which water is moved. In addition, the inlet 122 may be provided with a shielding member or a valve device to block the inflow of water through the inlet 122 when water is supplied to the water supply device 120 or more than a predetermined level.

In addition, the first supply part 123 and the second supply part 124 are provided at one side of the inlet part 122. Here, the supply parts 123 and 124 may be located below the inlet part 122 so that water flowing from the inlet part 122 may naturally move.

In addition, the first supply part 123 and the second supply part 124 are divided into spaces by the separating part 125, and the water supplied through the first supply part 123 is the tray assembly 130. Falling to the first tray 132, the water supplied through the second supply unit 124 may fall to the second tray 133.

In addition, the first supply part 123 and the second supply part 124 may be selectively opened and closed by an operation of the pressing part 121. To this end, a valve structure may be applied between the pressing part 121 and the supply parts 123 and 124 so that the supply parts 123 and 124 are selectively opened and closed by a pressing operation.

The water supply device 120 may be fixed to the ice making case 110 or may be installed to be drawn out from the ice making case 110. In this case, a guide (not shown) may be provided inside the ice making case 110 to allow the water supply device 120 to be withdrawn.

In addition, when the water supply device 120 may be drawn out, the user may manually supply water to the water supply device 120.

In addition, the tray assembly 130 includes a first tray 132 and a second tray 133 which is provided with water supplied from the supply parts 123 and 124 so that ice having a predetermined shape can be manufactured. The first tray 132 and the second tray 133 may be spaced apart from each other and may be located side by side on the same plane.

In addition, a plurality of ribs may protrude from the first tray 132 and the second tray 133 so that ice of each shape can be formed.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the tray assembly 130 is provided with a lever 131 for operating the ice of the trays 132 and 133 by the user, and a rear side of the lever 131. A plurality of gears 134, 135, 136 that rotate in a predetermined direction by the operation of the lever 131, that is, the gear assembly is included.

In detail, the gears 134, 135, and 136 are engaged with the first gear 134 and the first gear 134 which are rotated in the same direction as the direction in which the lever 131 is rotated by the operation of the lever 131. And a second gear 135 and a third gear 136 rotated in a predetermined direction by the rotation of the first gear 134.

Here, the first gear 134 is connected to the lever 131. That is, the first gear 134 may be viewed as a main gear that rotates by a user's operation, and the second gear 135 and the third gear 136 may be rotated by the rotation of the first gear 134. It can be seen as a driven gear that is rotated in dependence.

In addition, the trays 132 and 133 are provided with rotation shafts 137 and 138 for connecting the trays 132 and 133 to the second gear 135 and the third gear 136.

In detail, the rotation shafts 137 and 138 include a first rotation shaft 137 inserted into the first tray 132 and a second rotation shaft 138 inserted into the second tray 133.

In addition, the second gear 135 is connected to one side of the first rotation shaft 137, and the other side of the first rotation shaft 137 is coupled to the rear inner side of the tray assembly 130. The third gear 136 is connected to one side of the second rotation shaft 138, and the other side of the second rotation shaft 138 is coupled to an inner side of the rear surface of the tray assembly 130.

Accordingly, when the second gear 135 and the third gear 136 are rotated in a predetermined direction, the rotation shafts 137 and 138 rotate in the direction in which the connected gear is rotated, respectively. In addition, since one side of the rotary shafts 137 and 138 is connected to the gears 135 and 136 and the other side is fixed to one surface of the tray assembly 130, the first tray 132 and the second tray 133 are eventually Will be twisted.

Meanwhile, although the lever 131 and the gears 134, 135, and 136 are shown in front of the tray assembly 130 in FIGS. 5 and 6, alternatively, the lever 131 and the gears 134, 135, and 136 may be located in the rear of the tray assembly 130. Could be

Hereinafter, the operation of the tray assembly 130 will be briefly described.

First, when the user operates the lever 131 and the lever 131 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the first gear 134 is rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the lever 131.

Then, the second gear 135 and the third gear 136 meshes with the first gear 134 and rotates counterclockwise. The first rotation shaft 137 is rotated counterclockwise according to the rotation of the first gear 134, and the second rotation shaft 138 is counterclockwise according to the rotation of the second gear 135. Is rotated.

As a result, the trays 132 and 133 connected to the rotary shafts 137 and 138 are also rotated counterclockwise. Since one side of the rotary shafts 137 and 138 is fixed, the trays 132 and 133 are twisted. As a result, the ice inside the trays 132 and 133 may be separated from the trays 132 and 133.

However, unlike shown, the lever 131 may be rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and accordingly, the second gear 135 and the third gear 136 will be rotated in the clockwise direction.

On the other hand, unlike shown in Figure 5, the ice tray may be provided with three or more, the number of gears that are operated accordingly may be provided with four or more. However, in this case, the same principle as that of the tray operation of the first embodiment may be applied.

With the above configuration, a plurality of trays may be provided in a limited space, and a plurality of ices may be taken out of the trays 132 and 133 by one operation.

Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the ice making apparatus 100 may not include the water supply device 120. In this case, the user may directly supply water to the trays 132 and 133. Since the trays 132 and 133 are located on the same plane, it may be easy for a user to directly supply water.

In addition, an ice bank 140 is provided below the tray assembly 130 in which ice separated from the trays 132 and 133 is stored.

In detail, an auxiliary drawer 145 is provided below the ice bank 140 to allow the ice bank 140 to be drawn out from the ice making case 110.

In addition, the auxiliary withdrawal unit 145 may be withdrawn or withdrawn from the ice making case 110. In addition, at least one side of the auxiliary lead-out unit 145 is provided with a protrusion 141 to allow the auxiliary lead-out unit 145 to engage with the ice making case 110.

The protrusion 141 is inserted into the ice making case 110 to form a first guide hole 112 that guides the withdrawal of the auxiliary withdrawal unit 145.

In addition, in the ice bank 140, the ice bank 140 is withdrawn from the auxiliary lead-out unit 145 forward. Then, at least one side of the ice bank 140, the engaging projection 142 is formed to be engaged with the auxiliary withdrawal unit 145 in the process of drawing out the ice bank 140.

In addition, a second guide hole 146 is formed in the auxiliary lead-out unit 145 to insert the locking protrusion 142 to guide the entry and exit of the ice bank 140.

The ice bank 140 looks at the process of withdrawing and withdrawing from the ice making case 110.

First, when the user pulls the ice bank 140, the ice bank 140 and the auxiliary withdrawal unit 145 are drawn out to the front of the ice making case 110. If the protrusion 141 is caught by one side of the first guide hole 112 and the auxiliary lead-out unit 145 is no longer drawn out, the ice bank 140 is an upper side of the auxiliary lead-out unit 145. It is slid out from and pulled out.

Here, the maximum limit that the ice bank 140 can be drawn out in front of the auxiliary lead-out unit 145 is when the locking protrusion 142 is caught on one side of the second guide hole 146.

Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the water supply device is not provided separately, and the configuration of the tray assembly is different from that of the first embodiment, and thus the description will be mainly focused on differences.

8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an ice making apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of an ice making apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is an I of FIG. 8. Sectional view taken along the line I '.

8 to 10, the ice making apparatus 200 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a tray assembly 230 for supplying water to produce ice, and a lower side of the tray assembly 230. Provided is an ice bank 240 in which ice is stored from the tray assembly 230.

In detail, the tray assembly 230 is coupled to the main body 231 forming an appearance, a detachable part 232 detachably coupled to the inside of the main body 231, and the detachable part 232. The third tray 233 and the fourth tray 234, which are made of ice, the lever 250 that the user manipulates for ice, and the plurality of gears 235, 236, 237 which are rotated by the operation of the lever 250 are provided. Included.

In more detail, the detachable portion 232 is provided with a plurality of mounting protrusions 238a for allowing the detachable portion 232 to be seated on the main body 231. The main body 231 is provided with a mounting groove 238b into which the mounting protrusion 238a is inserted while the detachable part 232 is seated on the main body 231. In addition, the detachable part 232 has a shape in which the inside of the tray 233 and 234 is empty.

In addition, the trays 233 and 234 are provided with rotation shafts 239 for allowing the trays 233 and 234 to be coupled to the detachable portion 232 and for allowing the trays 233 and 234 to rotate. The rotation shaft 239 is inserted into the trays 233 and 234, respectively, and protrudes forward and backward of the trays 233 and 234.

In detail, the trays 233 and 234 are respectively coupled to the detachable portion 232 by the rotation shaft 239. One side of the rotation shaft 239 protrudes from the front surfaces of the trays 233 and 234 so as to be rotatably inserted into the front surface of the detachable portion 232, and protrudes forward of the detachable portion 232.

In addition, the rotation shaft 239 may be coupled to the first driven gear 236 and the second driven gear 237. That is, the rotation shaft 239 may be inserted into the driven gears 236 and 237 while the detachable part 232 is seated on the main body 231.

Although not shown, grooves may be formed in the driven gears 236 and 237 to allow the rotation shaft 239 to be inserted therein.

On the other hand, the other side of the rotating shaft 239 is protruded from the rear of the trays 233 and 234 is fixed to the inner side of the rear of the detachable portion 232. Accordingly, when the trays 233 and 234 are rotated as the rotary shaft 239 is rotated, one side of the rotary shaft 239 may be rotated, but the other side is fixed to the detachable portion 232, so that the trays 233 and 234 are eventually rotated. The twisted effect occurs.

In addition, since the trays 233 and 234 are arranged side by side on the same plane, the user can easily supply water directly to the trays 233 and 234.

Hereinafter, the process of ice-making and ice-melting by this embodiment is demonstrated.

First, a user may lift the detachable part 232 upward to separate water from the main body 231 to supply water to the trays 233 and 234. Thereafter, the third tray 233 and the fourth tray 234 are directly filled with water, and the detachable part 232 is seated on the main body 231 again. Then, the mounting protrusion 238a of the detachable portion 232 is inserted into the mounting groove 238b of the main body 231.

Then, when the cold air of the freezer compartment is supplied to the ice making apparatus 200, the water is made of ice.

Thereafter, when the user rotates the lever 250 clockwise or counterclockwise to obtain ice, the driving gear 235 connected to the lever 250 is in the same direction as the direction in which the lever 250 is rotated. Is rotated.

Then, the first driven gear 236 and the second driven gear 237 meshed with the main gear 235 are rotated in the opposite direction to the main gear 235.

In addition, one side of the rotation shaft 239 coupled to the driven gears 236 and 237 rotates in the same direction as the direction in which the driven gears 236 and 237 rotate. However, since the other side of the rotation shaft 239 is fixed to the main body 231, the rotation shaft 239 is not rotated as a whole, and torsion occurs.

Accordingly, torsion occurs in the third tray 233 and the fourth tray 234 coupled to the rotation shaft 239, so that the ice is separated from the trays 233 and 234 and falls to the ice bank 240. .

9, the tray assembly 230 is not provided with the detachable portion 232, and the third tray 233 and the fourth tray 234 are directly connected to the main body 231. Of course, it can be combined.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the trays 233 and 234 are lifted upward from the main body 231 to be separated from the tray assembly 230, and are seated downward toward the main body 231 and mounted on the tray assembly 230. Combined.

However, unlike the trays 233 and 234, the trays 233 and 234 may slide out toward the front of the main body 231, and may be configured to slide toward the rear of the main body 231. That is, the trays 233 and 234 may be slidably coupled to the main body 231 in a drawer type. In this case, the main body 231 may be provided with a guide for moving the trays 233 and 234.

Another embodiment is proposed within the scope of the present invention.

In addition to the second embodiment described above, a water supply device for automatically supplying water above the tray assembly may be added. In addition, the water supply device may be applied to the water supply device in the first embodiment.

By applying the water supply device as described above, the user can not only allow the ice to be manufactured through automatic water supply, but also directly supply the desired water so that the ice can be manufactured.

1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator equipped with an ice making device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the back of the freezer compartment door is provided with an ice making device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an ice making apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of the ice making apparatus in a state in which the ice making case according to the first embodiment of the present invention is removed.

5 and 6 are perspective views showing the tray assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a bottom perspective view showing the structure of the ice bank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an ice making apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

9 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of an ice making apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 8;

Claims (14)

A tray assembly including a plurality of ice trays supplied with water to produce ice and located on the same plane, and a plurality of gears provided on one side of the ice tray and configured to rotate the ice tray; And And an ice bank provided at one side of the tray assembly and storing ice iced from the ice tray. The method of claim 1, Is provided on one side of the ice tray, the ice making apparatus further comprises a water supply device for supplying water to the ice tray. The method of claim 2, The ice making apparatus further comprises a plurality of water supply unit for supplying water to the plurality of ice trays. The method of claim 3, wherein The water supply apparatus, the ice making apparatus further comprises a partition portion for allowing the water supply portion to be partitioned. The method of claim 1, In the plurality of gears, A driven gear connected to the plurality of ice trays, Ice making device comprising a main gear for transmitting power to the driven gear. The method of claim 5, wherein The tray assembly, the ice making apparatus further comprises a lever connected to the cogwheel gear to provide a rotational force to the cogwheel gear. The method of claim 1, And the ice tray is detachably coupled to the tray assembly. The method of claim 1, It is coupled to the ice tray, the ice making apparatus further comprises a rotating shaft for transmitting the rotational force of the gear to the ice tray. An ice bank in which ice is stored; And Is provided on one side of the ice bank, includes a tray assembly for supplying the ice produced in the ice bank, The tray assembly, An ice making apparatus including a main body forming an appearance, a detachable part selectively seated on the main body, and an ice tray coupled to the detachable part to manufacture ice. The method of claim 9, The tray assembly further includes a gear assembly for rotating the ice tray and a lever operable to drive the gear assembly. The method of claim 10, And the ice tray is connected to the gear assembly when the detachable part is seated on the main body. The method of claim 10, The tray assembly, It is coupled to the ice tray, ice making apparatus further comprises a rotating shaft for transmitting the rotational force of the gear assembly to the ice tray. The method of claim 9, The ice tray is provided with a plurality of ice trays. The method of claim 9, Ice making apparatus further comprises a water supply device for supplying water to the ice tray.

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