KR20090103023A - Ice making system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An icing system is provided to reduce the time for icing and to prevent the loss of the cold air energy. CONSTITUTION: An icing system comprises followings. An icing case(110) has a lot of cubes(111). A heat exchanger(130) for icing is arranged on the upper side of the icing case. A plurality of fingers(131) contacts with the water supplied from each tube. The ice is made by making a refrigerant flow through. An ice separating unit(140) supports the both side of the icing case. An ice bank(150) can accommodate the ice discharged from the icing case.

Description

Ice making system {ICE MAKING SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to an ice making system.

In general, an ice making system is a system for producing ice by cooling water. Such an ice making system is installed in various equipment, such as a refrigerator and a water purifier.

The ice making system includes a heat exchanger having a plurality of fingers formed above the water supply case. Since the fingers of the heat exchanger are cooled by a refrigerant, ice is gradually grown on the fingers.

After the ice has sufficiently grown in the fingers for a predetermined time, the refrigerant cycle is reversed so that a high temperature refrigerant is supplied to the heat exchanger. When the fingers are heated, ice falls from the fingers. Ice dropped from the fingers falls into the water supply case. As the water supply case is rotated, the ice is discharged to the ice bank and the cold water tank. In addition, the water remaining in the water supply case is discharged to the cold water tank.

However, the conventional ice making system produces ice in the water supply case and the remaining water is discharged, so the cold energy of the discharged water is lost.

In addition, in order to produce ice again in the ice making system, the water supply case had to be re-supplied and the water re-supplied to the water supply case was cooled again. Thus, energy consumption for ice production is increased, and ice production time is increased.

In addition, since ice grows on the fingers in the state in which the fingers of the heat exchanger are immersed in water, it is difficult to produce ice of various shapes.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide an ice making system that can prevent the loss of cold air energy, the ice generation time can be relatively shortened.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ice making system capable of producing ice of various shapes.

An ice making system according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the ice making case formed with a plurality of cubes; An ice making heat exchanger disposed on an upper side of the ice making case and having a plurality of fingers formed in contact with water supplied to each tube, and having a refrigerant flowing therein to generate ice; A defrosting unit supporting both sides of the ice making case and rotatably installed and discharging ice as the ice making case is lowered by a predetermined height and then rotated by being rotated; And an ice bank in which ice discharged from the ice making case is accommodated.

One or more cubes of different shapes may be formed in the ice making case.

The defrosting unit may include a cam disposed at both sides of the ice making case; A pinion formed on a rotation shaft of the cam; A rack extending downward from both sides of the ice making case and engaged with the pinion to lift the ice making case; And a motor device coupled to the rotation shaft of the cam to rotate the cam.

The cam may be formed in an ellipse shape.

At the edge of the cam, when the ice making case is lowered by a predetermined height, a catching part for engaging both sides of the ice making case and rotating the ice making case may be formed.

Ribs may be formed at both sides of the ice making case so as to be caught by the locking part when the ice making case descends a predetermined height.

A confining jaw may be formed at an edge of the cam to constrain the rib while the rib is caught in the engaging portion.

The ice making heat exchanger may reversely operate the refrigerant cycle after the ice generation is completed to allow the ice to be separated from the finger.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that the loss of cold air energy can be prevented and the ice generation time can be relatively shortened.

According to this invention, there exists an effect which can manufacture ice of various shapes.

1 is a perspective view showing an ice making system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an ice making case is moved downward after ice is generated in the ice making system of FIG. 1.

3 is an enlarged view illustrating a state where the rib of the ice making case of FIG. 1 is fitted to a locking portion of the cam.

4 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an ice making case is rotated in the ice making system of FIG. 1.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which ice is discharged from an ice making case to an ice bank in the ice making system of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: ice making case 111: cube

113: slider 115: rib

120: fixed plate 130: ice making heat exchanger

131: finger 140: defrosting unit

141: cam 143: engaging portion

144: Jaws 146: Pinion

147: rack 149: motor unit

150: ice bank

Specific embodiments of the ice making system according to the present invention for achieving the above object will be described.

1 is a perspective view showing an ice making system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the ice making system includes an ice making case 110 in which a plurality of cubes 111 are formed. At least one cube 111 having a different shape may be formed in the ice making case 110. For example, the ice making case 110 may be configured in various forms such as a polygonal cube and a circular cube. In the ice making case 110, ice having various shapes may be generated according to the shape of the cube 111.

A separate heater may not be installed in the ice making case 110. Of course, a separate heater may be installed to melt the interface of the ice attached to the surface of the ice making case 110.

A fixing plate 120 may be disposed at the rear side of the ice making case 110 so that the rear side of the ice making case 110 can be lifted and supported. In this case, a slider 113 (see FIG. 4) is formed to protrude from the edge rear side of the ice making case 110, and the slit 121 is inserted into the fixing plate 120 so that the slider 113 is movable. (See FIG. 4) can be formed. At this time, the slit 121 may be formed long in the vertical direction.

A water supply hose (not shown) or a water supply pipe (not shown) may be connected to the ice making case 110 so that purified water may be supplied from a water purification device (not shown).

An ice making heat exchanger 131 may be disposed above the ice making case 110. The ice making heat exchanger 131 forms part of a refrigerant system.

That is, the refrigerant system includes a compressor (not shown), a first heat exchanger (not shown), an expansion device (not shown), and a second heat exchanger sequentially connected by a refrigerant pipe (not shown). When the refrigerant system drives the refrigerant cycle to one side, the first heat exchanger acts as a condenser and the second heat exchanger acts as an evaporator. In addition, when the refrigerant cycle is reversed, the first heat exchanger acts as an evaporator and the second heat exchanger acts as a condenser. In the ice making system, since the second heat exchanger is disposed above the ice making case 110, the second heat exchanger will be referred to as an ice making heat exchanger 131 below.

A plurality of fingers 131 are formed in the ice making heat exchanger 131. In this case, each of the fingers 131 corresponds to the cube 111 of the ice making case 110, respectively. The cross section of each of the fingers 131 may be formed in a substantially circular shape. In addition, a flow path is formed in the ice making heat exchanger 131 so that the refrigerant flows. In addition, the fingers 131 may be arranged in a plurality of rows.

A defrosting unit 140 may be disposed to support both sides of the ice making case 110. The ice-breaking unit 140 is rotatably installed. The ice-breaking unit 140 rotates to discharge the ice as the ice-making case 110 is lowered by a predetermined height and then rotated.

The defrosting unit 140 may include cams 141 (cams) disposed at both sides of the ice making case 110, pinions 146 (pinion) formed to be coaxial with a rotation axis of the cam 141, and the ice making case ( A rack 147 (rack) extending downward from both sides of the 110 and the motor device 149 coupled to the rotating shaft of the cam 141 to rotate the cam 141.

The cam 141 may be formed in a plate shape. For example, the cam 141 is formed in a substantially elliptical shape and the rotation axis of the cam 141 is arranged to be biased to one side. Therefore, when the distance between the rotation axis and the rim of the cam 141 is farthest to support the ice making case 110, the ice making case 110 is located closest to the ice making heat exchanger 131. do. In addition, when the cam 141 is rotated, the ice making case 110 is moved downward.

A flange portion 142 may be formed along the edge of the cam 141. The flange portion 142 protrudes to be substantially perpendicular to both side surfaces of the cam 141.

The flange 142 of the cam 141 has a locking portion 143 so as to rotate the ice making case 110 as both sides of the ice making case 110 are caught when the ice making case 110 is lowered by a predetermined height. ) May be formed.

The locking portion 143 may be disposed at a position that forms an approximately 90 ° with a line segment connecting the farthest portion of the rotation axis of the ice making case 110 to the edge thereof. In addition, the locking portion 143 may be formed such that the end thereof is bent toward the rib 115 of the ice making case 110 so as to be bent in an approximately “a” shape on the flange portion 142.

As the cam 141 is rotated on both sides of the ice making case 110, ribs 115 may be formed to be caught by the locking part 143 when the ice making case 110 descends a predetermined height.

In this case, the rib 115 may be fitted to the locking part 143 when the cam 141 is rotated approximately 90 ° while lowering the ice making case 110. In addition, when the cam 141 is continuously rotated while the rib 115 is fitted to the locking portion 143, the ice making case 110 is rotated based on the rotation axis of the cam 141. At this time, since the ice making case 110 is rotated together with the cam 141, the ram and the pinion 146 are engaged with each other and remain stopped, and the rack 147 is cam 141 together with the ice making case 110. It is rotated around the axis of rotation. Therefore, the ice in the ice making case 110 is discharged downward.

In addition, on the flange of the cam 141, a restraining jaw (not shown) to restrain the rib 115 while the rib 115 of the ice making case 110 is fitted to the locking portion 143 of the cam 141. 144 (see FIG. 3) may be formed.

The rack 147 may be integrally formed with the ice making case 110 or manufactured separately and coupled to both sides of the ice making case 110. The rack 147 supports both sides of the ice making case 110. The rack 147 and the pinion 146 are formed with gears to be engaged with each other.

The motor device 149 may include a gear box (not shown) coupled to the rotating shaft of the cam 141 and a motor (not shown) for driving the gear box. Of course, the motor device 149 may be a motor in which a drive shaft is directly connected to the rotation shaft of the cam 141.

An ice bank 150 may be disposed below the ice making case 110 so that ice discharged from the ice making case 110 may be accommodated as the ice making case 110 is rotated. The ice bank 150 may have a box shape in which an upper side thereof is opened.

A lower portion of the ice bank 150 may be provided with a sensing unit (not shown) for sensing the weight or pressure of the ice making case 110. Based on the information detected by the sensing unit, it may be determined how much ice is filled in the ice bank 150.

The ice making system as described above can be applied to various products such as a water purifier, an ionizer, and a refrigerator.

The operation of the ice making system according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.

1 is a perspective view showing an ice making system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, purified water is supplied to the ice making case 110 from a water purifier. When a predetermined amount of purified water is supplied to the ice making case 110, the purified water is filled in the plurality of cubes 111. In this case, the fingers 131 of the ice making heat exchanger 131 are immersed in the water of the cube 111.

As the refrigerant cycle is driven, a low temperature low pressure refrigerant flows through the ice making heat exchanger 131. In this case, the cool air of the ice making heat exchanger 131 is provided to the purified water of the cube 111 through the fingers 131.

Ice is grown on the fingers 131 of the ice making heat exchanger 131. At this time, various types of ice are frozen in the fingers 131 according to the shape of the cube 111.

In addition, since the surface of each cube 111 is disposed farthest from the fingers 131 and exchanges heat with outside air, the ice of each cube 111 is frozen at the latest on the surface of each cube 111. Stuck.

The refrigerant system is driven in reverse before the ice freezes on the surface of each cube 111. Here, the time that the ice is attached to the surface of each cube 111 is varied in consideration of the refrigerant temperature flowing through the ice making heat exchanger 131, the temperature of the purified water initially supplied, the size of the cube 111 and the like. Can be determined.

Of course, when the heater is installed in the ice making case 110, the ice may be cooled until the ice completely adheres to the surface of each cube 111. In this case, the heater may be operated to melt ice at the interface of each cube 111 of the ice making case 110.

The high temperature refrigerant compressed by the compressor flows into the ice making heat exchanger 131 to act as a condenser. The refrigerant supplied to the ice making heat exchanger 131 heats the fingers 131. Therefore, the interface of the ice on the surface of each finger 131 is melted and the ice falls from each finger 131. In addition, the ice dropped from the finger 131 is accommodated in each cube 111.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an ice making case is moved downward after ice is generated in the ice making system, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view illustrating a state in which ribs of the ice making case are fitted to a locking portion of a cam.

Referring to FIG. 2, when it is determined that the ice making heat exchanger 131 acts as a condenser for a predetermined time, the controller supplies power to the motor device 149 to rotate the cam 141. At this time, as the pinion 146 rotates, the rack 147 is engaged with the pinion 146 to descend. As the pinion 146 descends, the ice making case 110 descends.

The rib 115 of the ice making case 110 slides along the flange portion 142 of the cam 141. In addition, the slider 113 (see FIG. 4) of the ice making case 110 is lowered along the slit 121 (see FIG. 4) of the fixing plate 120.

When the cam 141 is rotated about 90 °, the rib 115 is fitted to the locking portion 143 of the cam 141. When the rib 115 is fitted to the catching part 143, the rack 147 is engaged with the pinion 146 to maintain a stopped state, so that the ice making case 110 does not descend anymore.

4 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an ice making case is rotated in the ice making system.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the cam 141 is continuously rotated while the rib 115 of the ice making case 110 is fitted to the locking portion 143 of the cam 141, the ice making case 110 may be used. ) Rotates along the rotation axis of the cam 141.

At this time, since the rib 115 is fitted to the locking portion 143 and the rack 147 is engaged with the pinion 146 to be stopped, the ice making case 110 is not separated from the cam 141. . In addition, since one side of the rib 115 is restrained by the restraining jaw 144 (see FIG. 3) in the state in which the rib 115 is fitted to the locking part 143, the ice making case 110 may have a cam 141. Will not be separated further). Therefore, even if the ice making case 110 is rotated, it can be prevented from falling down.

In addition, the slider 113 of the ice making case 110 is removed from the slit 121 of the fixing plate 120.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which ice is discharged from the ice making case to the ice bank in the ice making system.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the cam 141 is further rotated, the ice making case 110 is inverted, and the ice accommodated in the plurality of cubes 111 is discharged to the ice bank 150.

At this time, since all the water becomes ice in the ice making case 110, the ice making case 110 does not discharge the purified water to the ice bank 150. Therefore, almost all of the cold air of the refrigerant system is used to produce ice, so that the loss of cold air energy can be prevented.

In addition, since all of the water supplied to the ice making case 110 becomes ice, it may not cool much water unnecessarily. Thus, the ice generation time can be relatively shortened.

In addition, since the ice of various shapes are generated in the ice making case 110 according to the shape of the cube 111, the user can take out a variety of ice of the desired shape.

Next, as the motor device 149 is reversely rotated, the cam 141 is rotated in reverse to the above and returned to its original position. Since the process of returning the cam 141 is the reverse of the above, description thereof will be omitted.

As the above process is repeated, a predetermined amount of ice is stored in the ice bank 150. In this case, when the weight or pressure of the ice bank 150 is detected to be greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the controller may stop the ice manufacturing process. In addition, when the ice bank 150 detects that the weight or pressure is less than or equal to the predetermined value, the controller may restart the ice manufacturing process.

The present invention prevents the loss of cold air energy, relatively shortens the ice generation time, and can produce ice of various shapes, and thus, there is a marked industrial applicability.

Claims (8)

An ice making case in which a plurality of cubes are formed; An ice making heat exchanger disposed on an upper side of the ice making case and having a plurality of fingers formed in contact with water supplied to each tube, and having a refrigerant flowing therein to generate ice; A defrosting unit supporting both sides of the ice making case and rotatably installed and discharging ice as the ice making case is lowered by a predetermined height and then rotated by being rotated; And And an ice bank in which ice discharged from the ice making case is accommodated. The method of claim 1, The ice making system, characterized in that at least one cube of a different shape is formed. The method of claim 1, The ice-breaking unit is: Cams disposed on both sides of the ice making case; A pinion formed on a rotation shaft of the cam; A rack extending downward from both sides of the ice making case and engaged with the pinion to lift the ice making case; And And a motor device coupled to the rotating shaft of the cam to rotate the cam. The method of claim 3, wherein And the cam has an ellipse shape. The method of claim 3, wherein Ice making system, characterized in that the engaging portion for rotating the ice making case is caught on both sides of the ice making case when the ice making case is lowered by a predetermined height. The method of claim 5, wherein Both sides of the ice making case, the ice making system, characterized in that ribs are formed so as to be caught in the engaging portion when the ice making case is lowered by a predetermined height. The method of claim 6, An ice making system, characterized in that the restraining jaw is formed on the edge of the cam to restrain the rib while the rib is caught in the engaging portion. The method of claim 1, And the ice making heat exchanger reverses the refrigerant cycle after the ice production is completed so that the ice is separated from the finger.