KR20100110118A - Refrigerator having ice making room - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A refrigerator having an ice making room is provided to prevent the dewdrop from becoming formed on the outer surface of a refrigerator body and to reduce the flow loss of the cold air by eliminating the need to use a cold air duct. CONSTITUTION: A refrigerator comprises a main body(110), a door, an ice making room(190), and a cold air transfer part(250). A cooling room is formed in the main body. The door opens and closes the cooling room. The ice making room is formed in the cooling room or on the door. The cold air transfer part transfers the cold air to the ice making room by the conduction or the refrigerant. The cooling room comprises a refrigerating room(131) and a freezing room(141) and the ice making room is formed on a refrigerating room door(135) opening and closing the refrigerating room. The cold air transfer part comprises a heat pipe installed in the refrigerating room door.

Description

REFRIGERATOR HAVING ICE MAKING ROOM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with an ice making chamber, and more particularly, to a refrigerator provided with an ice making chamber capable of reducing the use of cold air ducts and reducing adverse effects caused by the use of cold air ducts.

As is well known, a refrigerator is a device that allows food to be stored freshly by refrigeration or freezing. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator body having a cooling chamber formed therein, doors for opening and closing the cooling chamber, and a refrigeration cycle apparatus for providing cold air to the cooling chamber.

The refrigeration cycle apparatus is usually a vapor compression refrigeration system comprising a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser in which the refrigerant is radiated and condensed, an expansion device in which the refrigerant is decompressed and expanded, and an evaporator in which the refrigerant absorbs latent heat of the surroundings and evaporates. It consists of a cycle device.

On the other hand, the refrigerator may be provided with various functions in order to increase the convenience and satisfaction of the user.

For example, the refrigerator is equipped with an ice making system (or apparatus) for making and providing ice cubes.

The ice making system may include an ice maker for making ice cubes and an ice bank positioned below the ice maker and storing ice cubes made by the ice maker.

The ice maker may be mounted inside the door or inside the freezer compartment. In addition, an ice making chamber may be formed in the door or the freezing compartment to accommodate the ice maker.

1 is a perspective view of a conventional refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body 10 having a refrigerator compartment 20 and a freezer compartment 30 therein, and a refrigerator compartment door 25 that opens and closes the refrigerator compartment 20 and the freezer compartment 30, respectively. ) And a freezer compartment door 35.

A refrigerating compartment 20 is formed in an upper region of the refrigerator main body 10, and a refrigerating compartment door 25 is provided on a front surface of the refrigerating compartment 20 to selectively open and close the refrigerating compartment 20. The refrigerating chamber door 25 may be configured in plural.

Any one of the refrigerating chamber doors 25 may be provided with a dispenser 40 so as to withdraw water or ice without opening the refrigerating chamber door 25.

An ice making chamber 50 may be formed in an upper region of the refrigerating chamber door 25 to make ice. An ice maker for making ice cubes of a predetermined shape and an ice bank for storing ice made in the ice maker may be provided inside the ice maker 50.

On the other hand, the refrigerator main body 10 may be provided with a side wall cooling air duct 60 to provide the cold air of the freezing chamber 30 to the ice making chamber 50. The side wall cold air duct 60 is constituted by a pair, one of which forms a cold air supply passage 61a through which the cold air of the freezing chamber 30 is moved to the ice making chamber 50, and the other of the side ice cold duct 60 is the ice making chamber 50. The cold air return path 61b through which cold air returns to the freezing chamber 30 is formed.

By the way, in the refrigerator provided with such a conventional ice-making room, the side wall cold air duct 60 is installed so that it may be buried inside the side wall of the refrigerator main body 10 so that it may not be seen from the outside, Dewling may occur on the outer surface of the refrigerator main body 10 due to the moving cold air.

In addition, an electric heater (not shown) may be installed to prevent dew condensation on the outer surface of the refrigerator main body 10 by the sidewall cold air duct 60, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost and operating the heater. Power consumption increases.

In addition, the side wall cold air duct 60 includes a freezing chamber 30 formed under the refrigerator body 10 and an ice making chamber 50 formed in an upper region of the refrigerating chamber door 25 disposed above the refrigerator body 10. ) Have a relatively long length because they are connected to each other. As a result, the flow loss of cold air is greatly generated.

In addition, in such a conventional refrigerator, since ice is made by using cold air, that is, cold air, the smell in the air may be transferred to the ice during ice making and storage.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide the refrigerator provided with the ice-making room which can eliminate use of side wall cold air duct.

Moreover, another object of this invention is to provide the refrigerator provided with the ice-making room which can suppress that the odor in the air of a cooling chamber is transferred to ice.

The present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a refrigerator body formed with a cooling chamber; A door for opening and closing the cooling chamber; An ice making chamber formed in the cooling chamber or the door; And it provides a refrigerator having an ice-making chamber including a cold air transfer unit for transferring cold air to the ice-making chamber by conduction or refrigerant.

Here, the cooling chamber may include a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, and the ice making chamber may be formed in a refrigerating chamber door that opens and closes the refrigerating chamber.

The cold air transfer part may include a heat pipe provided in the refrigerating chamber door.

The refrigerator main body may be provided with a cold air transfer passage for transferring the cold air of the freezer compartment to the refrigerating chamber door.

The cold air transfer passage may include a chamber formed in the refrigerating chamber door, and a connection passage connecting the duct and the chamber.

A cold air discharge port may be formed in the freezing chamber to discharge cold air through the chamber.

The heat pipe disposed inside the chamber may be provided with a plurality of heat fins to increase the heat transfer area.

The cold air transfer passage may further include a duct disposed on the freezing compartment such that one side is connected to the connection passage.

The cold air transfer unit may include a secondary refrigerant circulation unit for transferring cold air by circulation of the refrigerant.

The secondary refrigerant circulation unit may include a first heat exchanger disposed in the ice making chamber, a second heat exchanger in which the first heat exchanger and the refrigerant are circulated so as to be circulated, and the refrigerant via the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger. It may include a pump to be circulated.

The cold air transfer passage may include a chamber formed in the refrigerating chamber door, a connection passage connecting the chamber and the freezing chamber, and the second heat exchanger may be disposed inside the chamber.

A cold air discharge port may be formed in the freezing chamber to discharge cold air through the chamber.

The cold air transfer passage may further include a duct disposed on the freezing compartment such that one side is connected to the connection passage.

The cold air flow passage may be provided with a blowing fan for promoting cold air flow.

The cooling chamber may include a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, and the ice making chamber may be formed to be partitioned from the refrigerating chamber in the refrigerating chamber.

The cold air transfer part may include a heat pipe having one side disposed in the ice making chamber.

On the other hand, according to another field of the present invention, the refrigerator body and the refrigerator body is formed; A plurality of doors that open and close the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment, respectively; An ice making chamber formed in a door that opens and closes the refrigerating compartment; A first cold air transfer unit configured to transfer cold air of the freezer compartment by convection; And a second cold air transfer unit configured to transfer the cold air of the first cold air transfer unit to the ice making chamber by conduction or a coolant.

Here, the second cold air transfer unit may include a heat pipe.

The second cold air transfer unit may be configured to include a secondary refrigerant circulation unit.

The first cold air transfer unit may include a chamber formed in a door that opens and closes the refrigerating compartment, and a connection passage connecting the freezing compartment to the chamber.

The first cold air transfer unit may further include a blowing fan for promoting the flow of cold air.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to exclude the use of the side wall cold air duct, it is possible to exclude the adverse effects due to the use of the side wall cold air duct. That is, dew condensation does not occur on the outer surface of the refrigerator main body, and flow loss of cold air can be reduced. In addition, since the heater is not additionally installed, it is possible to suppress an increase in manufacturing cost and power consumption due to the use of the heater.

In addition, the cold air is not in direct contact with water during ice making, it is possible to suppress the transfer of odor in the air to ice.

In addition, the cold air transfer section by the air can be reduced as much as possible, thereby suppressing the flow loss of the air.

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

2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having an ice making room according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a view of FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the cold air transfer process to the ice maker 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator including the present ice making chamber includes a refrigerator main body 110 having a cooling chamber 130, doors 135 and 145 which open and close the cooling chamber 130, and the cooling chamber ( 130 or an ice making chamber 190 formed in the doors 135 and 145, and a cold air transmitting unit 250 that transfers cold air to the ice making chamber 190 by conduction or refrigerant. Here, the cooling chamber 130 refers to the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber collectively, and the cold air may mean 'cold energy'. Thereby, the use of the conventional side wall cold air duct for delivering cold air to the ice making chamber 190 can be eliminated. In addition, since ice is not directly contacted with cold air during ice making, there is no fear that the odor in the air is transferred to the ice and doubled.

The cooling chamber 130 may include a refrigerating chamber 131 and a freezing chamber 141 respectively formed in upper and lower regions of the refrigerator main body 110. A front side of the refrigerating chamber 131 is provided with a pair of refrigerating chamber doors 135 to open and close the refrigerating chamber 131. The refrigerating chamber door 135 may be rotatably coupled. The front surface of the freezing chamber 141 may be provided with a freezing chamber door 145 to open and close the freezing chamber 141. The freezer compartment door 145 may be configured as a drawer-type door to be movable along the front and rear directions of the freezer compartment 141.

The ice making chamber 190 may be formed in any one of the refrigerating chamber doors 135. The ice making chamber 190 may be formed to open at one side thereof, and the ice making chamber 190 may include an ice making chamber door 195 to open and close the opening of the ice making chamber 190. An ice maker 210 for making ice of a predetermined shape (each ice) and an ice bank 230 for storing ice cubes made by the ice maker 210 may be provided in the ice making chamber 190. Here, the ice maker 210 includes an ice tray 211 provided with a plurality of cells to form ice of a predetermined shape, and an ejector 221 for extracting ice formed on the ice tray 211. Can be configured. The ejector 221 may be configured to include a plurality of ejector pin (s) protruding to correspond to the inside of each of the cells around the axis of rotation and the axis of rotation. When the ejector 221 rotates during the ice, the ice made inside the cell is pressed by the ejector pin and drawn out of the cell. The ice tray 211 may be formed of a metal member to enable heat conduction. One side of the ice tray 211 may be further provided with a plate-shaped side wall portion 215_ The side wall portion 215 may be formed of a metal member.

 Below the ice bank 230 may be a dispenser 240 to draw ice and / or water. The ice bank 230 may be configured to have an ice extractor (eg, an auger) (not shown) for discharging the ice. Ice stored in the ice bank 230 may be withdrawn to the dispenser 240 by the ice extractor if necessary. Accordingly, the user can withdraw the ice of the ice bank 230 to the outside without opening the refrigerating chamber door 135.

On the other hand, the refrigerator main body 110 may be provided with a refrigeration cycle device 150 for providing cold air to the freezing chamber 141 and the refrigerating chamber 131. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the refrigeration cycle apparatus 150 includes a compressor 151 for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser 161 for radiating and condensing the refrigerant, and an expansion device for expanding the pressure under reduced pressure ( 171 and a so-called vapor compression refrigeration cycle having an evaporator 181 in which the refrigerant absorbs latent heat of the surroundings and evaporates.

A machine room 120 may be formed in the rear region of the refrigerator main body 110, and the compressor 151, the condenser 161, and the expansion device 171 may be disposed in the machine room 120. The evaporator 181 may be disposed in a rear region of the freezing compartment 141. In addition, the evaporator 181 may be disposed in the freezing chamber 141 and the refrigerating chamber 131, respectively. Here, cooling fans 165 and 185 may be respectively provided around the evaporator 181 and the condenser 161 constituting the refrigeration cycle device 150 to promote the flow of air. Hereinafter, the case where the evaporator 181 is disposed in the rear region of the freezing chamber 141 will be described by way of example.

The cold air delivery unit 250 is to transfer the cold air (cold energy) made in the evaporator 181 to the ice making chamber 190, and provides cold air (cold energy) to the ice maker 210 by conduction or refrigerant. Can be configured to deliver.

In addition, the cold air delivery unit 250, the first cold air transmission unit 260 for delivering cold air, more specifically cold air, and the second cold air transmission unit 310 for transmitting cold air (cold energy) by conduction. It may be configured to include. The second cold air transfer unit 310 may include a heat pipe 311. The heat pipe 311 may include a tubular body 313 and a working fluid 314 enclosed in the tubular body 313. The inside of the tubular body 313 may be configured to allow the working fluid 314 to be moved by a capillary phenomenon. For example, a groove 315 may be formed on an inner wall surface of the tubular body 313 so that a capillary phenomenon may occur. In addition, any one of a mesh structure (not shown) and a porous member (not shown) may be provided inside the tubular body 313 so that a capillary phenomenon may occur. The working fluid (eg, alcohol, water, mercury, etc.) 314 may be appropriately selected depending on the temperature range used.

One end of the heat pipe 311 is disposed to transfer cold air to the ice maker 210, and the other end thereof extends downward to be disposed in a lower region of the refrigerating chamber door 135. That is, one end of the heat pipe 311 which is arranged to be heat exchanged to the ice maker 210 may be an 'evaporation part 312a' in which the working fluid therein absorbs heat and evaporates, and the other end is The evaporated working fluid 314 may be a 'condensation part 312b' that is cooled and condensed. The condensation unit 312b may include a plurality of heat transfer fins (heat transfer plates) 316 for increasing a heat exchange area.

The first cold air transfer unit 260 is used to transfer the cold air generated in the evaporator 181 to the heat pipe 311 which is the second cold air transfer unit 310, and is formed in the refrigerating chamber door 135. It may be configured to include a chamber 270, the connection passage 280 for connecting the freezing chamber 141 and the chamber 270. Here, the first cold air transfer unit 260 may be defined as a 'cold air transfer channel' in that the cold air (cold air) of the freezing chamber 141 forms a flow path to the heat pipe 311. .

The first cold air transfer unit 260 may further include a duct 291 to intensively blow cool air from the evaporator 181 to the connection flow path 280.

In the lower region of the refrigerating chamber door 135, a lower end portion of the heat pipe 311, that is, a condenser 312b may be disposed to cool the chamber 270. An inlet 272 and an outlet 273 are formed at one side of the chamber 270 to allow inflow and outflow of cold air (cold air). The inlet 272 and the outlet 273 may be formed to penetrate the inside of the protrusion 271 protruding from the refrigerating chamber door 135.

A partition wall 142 is formed between the refrigerating chamber 131 and the freezing chamber 141, and the partition wall 142 is connected to form a movement path of cold air connecting the freezing chamber 141 and the chamber 270. The flow path 280 may be formed. Here, the duct 291 is illustrated to be disposed on the ceiling of the freezer compartment 141, but may be configured to be disposed inside the partition wall 142.

The connection passage 280 may include a cold air outlet passage 282 for providing cold air to the chamber 270 and a cold air inlet passage 283 for returning cold air through the chamber 270. . One end of the cold air flow passage 282 may be connected to communicate with the outlet end of the duct 291, and the other end may be connected to communicate with the inlet 272 of the chamber 270. One end of the cold air inlet flow path 283 of the connection flow path 280 is connected to communicate with the outlet portion 273 of the chamber 270, and the other end of the cold air inflow flow path 283 is the freezing chamber 141. Can be placed on the ceiling. Here, the other end of the cold air inflow passage 283, that is, the ceiling end of the freezer compartment 141 may be defined as a 'cold air outlet' in terms of discharge of cold air into the freezer compartment 141. As a result, cold air passing through the chamber 270 may be directly discharged to the freezing chamber 141.

One end of the cold air flow path 282 of the connection passage 280 and one end of the cold air inflow passage 283 are formed on the bottom surface of the refrigerating chamber 131. Cold air is provided between the inlet portion 272 of the chamber 270 and one end of the cold air outlet passage 282 of the connection passage 280 and between the outlet portion 273 and the one end of the cold air inlet passage 283. A gasket 293 may be provided to prevent leakage of (cold air). In this embodiment, the gasket 293 is provided at the inlet 272 and the outlet 273. Here, the first cold air transfer unit 260 (or cold air flow passage) may be further provided with a blowing fan (not shown) to facilitate the flow of cold air. According to this, since the blower fan having a relatively small capacity is driven to move the cold air into the chamber 270, the number of times of operation (time) of the cooling fan 185 at the relatively large capacity of the evaporator 181 can be reduced. The power consumption can be reduced.

By this configuration, the cold air generated in the evaporator 181 is moved to the connection flow path 280 through the duct 291. The cold air moved to the connection passage 280, more specifically, the cold air outlet passage 282, is introduced into the chamber 270 through the inlet 272. The cold air introduced into the chamber 270 is in contact with the condensation unit 312b of the heat pipe 311, and is heat-exchanged. Flows into. The cold air introduced into the cold air inflow passage 283 is discharged into the freezing chamber 141.

Meanwhile, the working fluid 314 cooled by the condenser 312b of the heat pipe 311 is condensed, and the condensed working fluid 314 is formed on the inner wall surface of the tubular body 313 by capillary action, that is, the groove. Along the 315 is moved to the upper end, that is, the evaporator 312a. The working fluid 314 moved to the evaporator 312a is evaporated by absorbing heat from the surroundings, more specifically, from the ice maker 210. As a result, water inside each cell of the ice maker 210 freezes into ice cubes. The evaporated working fluid 314 is again moved to the condensation unit 312b and condensed, and then moved to the evaporation unit 312a and evaporated while repeating the evaporation process. Meanwhile, the ice made in the ice maker 210 may be stored inside the ice bank 230 through an ice-making process, and may be withdrawn to the dispenser 240 if necessary.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

6 is a perspective view of a refrigerator provided with an ice making room according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a view for explaining an ice making process of FIG. 6. Hereinafter, the same or equivalent components as those described above and illustrated in the drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals for convenience of description, and detailed descriptions of some overlapping components will be omitted.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the refrigerator including the present ice making chamber includes a refrigerator main body 110 having a refrigerator compartment 131 and a freezer compartment 141, and a refrigerator compartment 131 and a freezer compartment 141, respectively. Refrigeration chamber door 135 and the freezing chamber door 145 to open and close, an ice making chamber 190 formed in the refrigerator compartment door 135, and a cold air transfer for transferring cold air to the ice making chamber 190 by conduction or refrigerant. It may be configured to include a portion 350.

The refrigerator compartment 131 and the freezer compartment 141 may be partitioned up and down by the partition wall 142 in the refrigerator main body 110. A pair of refrigerating chamber doors 135 may be rotatably provided on the front surface of the refrigerating chamber 131, and the freezing chamber 141 opens and closes the freezing chamber 141 while sliding along the front and rear directions of the freezing chamber 141. A freezer door 145 may be provided.

The ice making chamber 190 may be formed in any one of the refrigerating chamber doors 135. An opening may be provided in the ice making chamber 190, and an ice making chamber door 195 may be provided in the opening to open and close the ice making chamber 190.

An ice maker 210 is provided in the ice making chamber 190 to make ice, and an ice bank 230 is disposed below the ice maker 210 so as to store ice made in the ice maker 210. .

An evaporator 181 may be disposed in a rear region of the freezer compartment 141, and a cooling fan 185 may be provided at one side of the evaporator 181 to promote the flow of cold air.

On the other hand, the cold air transmission unit 350 may be configured to transfer the cold air of the freezing chamber 141 to the ice making chamber 190 by using a refrigerant. Here, the coolant of the cold air transfer unit 350 may be referred to as a "secondary coolant" to distinguish from the "primary coolant" of the refrigeration cycle.

The cold air transfer unit 350 may include a secondary refrigerant circulation unit (or device) 351 to be heat exchanged while the secondary refrigerant is circulated.

The secondary refrigerant circulation unit 351 is the first heat exchanger (353) and the second refrigerant is formed so that each of the secondary refrigerant is spaced apart from each other and are connected to each other by the refrigerant pipe 355 so that the secondary refrigerant can circulate And a pump 356 disposed between the heat exchanger 354 and the first heat exchanger 353 and the second heat exchanger 354 to pump the secondary refrigerant. One of the first heat exchanger 353 and the second heat exchanger 354 is arranged to be heat-exchangeable to the ice maker 210, and the other is arranged to receive cold air. In the present embodiment, a case in which the first heat exchanger 353 is arranged to be heat-exchangeable on the ice maker 210 side, more specifically, behind the side wall portion 215 of the ice maker 210 will be described.

The cold air transfer unit 350 may further include a cold air transfer path 361 that transfers cold air made from the evaporator 181 to the second heat exchanger 354.

The cold air flow passage 361 is connected to the chamber 270 formed in the refrigerating chamber door 135 and the freezing chamber 141 and the chamber 270 to connect the cold air, that is, the cold air, 280. It can be configured to have.

The chamber 270 may be formed in a lower region of the refrigerating chamber door 135, and a second heat exchanger 354 of the secondary refrigerant circulation unit 351 may be disposed in the chamber 270. As a result, cold air generated in the evaporator 181 may be transferred to the secondary refrigerant circulation unit 351. The chamber 270 may be provided with an inlet 272 and an outlet 273 to allow cold air to flow in and out.

The connection passage 280 may be formed in the partition wall 142 partitioning the refrigerating chamber 131 and the freezing chamber 141.

The cold air transfer passage may further include a duct 291 for intensively moving the cold air generated in the evaporator 181 to the connection passage 280.

By such a configuration, the cold air generated in the evaporator 181 moves along the duct 291 of the cold air flow passage 361, and connects the passage 280 and the inlet 272 to the chamber 270. It is moved inside. The cold air heat-exchanged with the second heat exchanger 354 in the chamber 270 is discharged into the freezing chamber 141 through the outlet 273 and the connection passage 280.

On the other hand, the secondary refrigerant cooled by heat exchange in the second heat exchanger 354 is pumped by the pump 356 is moved to the first heat exchanger (353). The refrigerant moved to the first heat exchanger 353 cools the ice maker 210 while exchanging heat with the ice maker 210. As a result, water of the ice maker 210 is frozen to form ice cubes having a predetermined shape. The refrigerant having cooled the ice maker 210 is moved to the second heat exchanger 354 again to be cooled and condensed, and then pumped by the pump 356 to be moved to the first heat exchanger 353. The ice making process is performed. The ice made by the ice maker 210 may be stored inside the ice bank 230 at the lower side and, if necessary, may be taken out through the dispenser 240 formed in the refrigerating chamber door 135.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

8 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator provided with an ice making room according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a process of transferring cold air to the ice maker of FIG. 8. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the refrigerator having the present ice making chamber includes a refrigerator main body 110 having a refrigerator compartment 131 and a freezer compartment 141, and a refrigerator compartment 131 and a freezer compartment 141, respectively. Refrigerating chamber doors 135 and freezing chamber doors 145 to open and close, an ice making chamber 190 formed in the refrigerator compartment doors 135, and a cold air transfer unit for transferring cold air to the ice making chamber 190 by conduction or refrigerant. 400 can be configured to include.

The refrigerator compartment 131 and the freezer compartment 141 are respectively formed in the upper region and the lower region of the refrigerator main body 110, and the refrigerator compartment door 135 and the freezer compartment door 145 are respectively formed in the refrigerator compartment 131 and the freezer compartment 141. Each is provided.

The ice making chamber 190 may be formed in any one of the refrigerating chamber doors 135, and an ice maker 210 may be provided in the ice making chamber 190 to make ice of a predetermined shape. An ice bank 230 may be installed at a lower side of the ice maker 210 to store ice made by the ice maker 210. The dispenser 240 may be provided at the lower side of the ice bank 230 so that the ice can be withdrawn without opening the refrigerating chamber door 135 from the outside.

The cold air delivery unit 400 may be configured to deliver cold air by conduction or refrigerant.

The cold air transfer unit 400 may be configured to include a heat pipe 311 or a secondary refrigerant circulation unit 351. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described by taking an example in which the cold air transmitting unit 400 includes the bottom pipe 311.

The cold air transfer unit 400 may further include a cold air transfer passage 410 that transfers cold air from the freezing chamber 141 to the heat pipe 311. The cold air transfer passage 410 may include a chamber 270 formed in the refrigerating chamber door 135 and a connection passage 280 connecting the chamber 270 and the freezing chamber 141. . The lower end of the heat pipe 311 may be disposed in the chamber 270 to be heat exchangeable. The lower end portion of the heat pipe 311, that is, the condensation portion 312b may be provided with a plurality of heat transfer fins 316 to increase the heat exchange area.

The connection passage 280 may include a cold air outlet passage 282 through which cold air from the freezer compartment 141 flows into the chamber 270, and return the cold air through the chamber 270 to the freezer compartment 141. A cold air inflow passage 283 is provided.

Each side of the cold air flow passage 282 and the cold air inflow passage 283 is disposed on the bottom surface of the refrigerating chamber 131, respectively. The cold air outlet passage 282 and the cold air inlet passage 283 communicate with the inlet portion 272 and the outlet portion 273 of the chamber 270 when the refrigerating chamber door 135 is closed.

The cold air transfer passage may further include a blower fan 420 to blow cold air (cold air) into the chamber 270. Accordingly, the driving frequency and time of the relatively large cooling fan 185 disposed on the evaporator 181 can be reduced, thereby reducing power consumption and reducing vibration and / or noise generated during driving. can do. The blowing fan 420 may be disposed in the cold air outlet passage 282.

By such a configuration, when the blowing fan 420 starts to rotate during ice making, the cool air of the freezing chamber 141 passes through the connection flow path 280, more specifically, through the cold air discharge flow path 282. It is introduced into the chamber 270 via the inlet 272 of the). The cold air introduced into the chamber 270 is in contact with the condensation unit 312b of the heat pipe 311 to be heat-exchanged, and to the cold air inflow channel 283 of the connection channel 280 through the outlet unit 273. Inflow. The cold air introduced into the cold air inflow passage 283 is discharged into the freezing chamber 141. On the other hand, the working fluid 314 inside the condensation part 312b of the heat pipe 311 is cooled and condensed, and is moved to the upper evaporation part 312a by capillary action. The working fluid 314 moved to the evaporator 312a repeats the process of being moved to the condenser 312b after being evaporated by heat exchange (endotherm) with the ice maker 210.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. 10 is a perspective view of a refrigerator provided with an ice making room according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of FIG. 10. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the refrigerator including the present ice making chamber includes a refrigerator main body 110 having a cooling chamber 130, doors 135 and 145 which open and close the cooling chamber 130, and It may include an ice making chamber 430 formed in the cooling chamber 130 or the doors 135 and 145, and a cold air transmitting unit 450 which transfers cold air to the ice making chamber 430 by conduction or refrigerant.

The refrigerator compartment 131 and the freezer compartment 141 are respectively formed in the upper region and the lower region of the refrigerator main body 110, and the refrigerator compartment door 135 and the freezer compartment door 145 are respectively formed in the refrigerator compartment 131 and the freezer compartment 141. Each is provided.

An evaporator 181 may be provided in the rear region of the freezing chamber 141. One side of the evaporator 181 may be provided with a cooling fan 185 for promoting the flow of cold air.

Any one of the refrigerating chamber doors 135 may be provided with a dispenser 240 so as to withdraw ice to the outside without opening the refrigerating chamber door 135.

Meanwhile, an ice making chamber 430 may be formed in the upper upper region of the refrigerating chamber 131. The ice making chamber 430 may include a case 431 for forming an ice making chamber 430 therein to be partitioned from the refrigerating chamber 131, and an ice making chamber door 435 for opening and closing a front opening of the case 431. It may be provided with. According to this, since the interior of the ice making chamber 430 is partitioned from the interior of the refrigerating chamber 131, it is possible to prevent the smell of the internal air of the refrigerating chamber 131 from transferring to ice.

An ice maker 440 for making ice of a predetermined shape may be provided inside the ice maker 430. An ice bank 460 may be provided at the lower side of the ice maker 440 in the ice maker 430 to store the ice made by the ice maker 440.

The cold air transmission unit 450 may include a heat pipe 311 for transmitting cold air by conduction.

One end of the heat pipe 311 may be connected (arranged) to the evaporator 181 to be heat exchanged, and the other end of the heat pipe 311 may be heat exchanged to the ice maker 440 of the refrigerating chamber 131. Can be. That is, the condenser 312b of the heat pipe 311 is connected to the evaporator 181, and the evaporator 312a of the heat pipe 311 is connected to the ice maker 440. As a result, the cold air of the evaporator 181 may be immediately transmitted to the ice maker 440. According to this, since water and / or ice inside the ice making chamber 430 do not come into contact with the outside air during ice making, it is possible to prevent the smell from being transferred to the ice and soaking. Here, the heat pipe 311 may be configured to be disposed inside the inner walls of the freezing chamber 141 and the refrigerating chamber 131, more specifically, the inner case 112b. That is, the heat pipe 311 is disposed inside the inner case 112b and the outer case 112a before the foaming operation of the refrigerator main body 110, and the foam member 112c. By foaming it may be configured to be buried between the inner case (112b) and the foam member (112c). Here, both ends of the heat pipe 311, that is, the evaporator 312a and / or the condenser 312b may be disposed to be exposed to the ice maker 440 and the evaporator 181 for heat exchange.

In addition, the heat pipe 311 is disposed outside the inner case 112b, that is, on the freezing chamber 141 and the refrigerating chamber 131, and finishes the outer wall of the heat pipe 311 with a heat insulating material (not shown). It can also be processed.

By this configuration, the working fluid 314 of the condensation unit 312b of the heat pipe 311 is cooled and condensed by the evaporator 181, and moved to the evaporation unit 312a by capillary action. The working fluid 314 moved to the evaporator 312a absorbs heat from the ice maker 440 and evaporates, and the ice maker 440 is cooled to form ice. The working fluid 314 evaporated from the evaporator 312a is moved to the condenser 312b, cooled and condensed, and then moved to the evaporator 312a and evaporated to repeat the ice making process. . The ice made and separated by the ice maker 440 may be stored inside the ice bank 460 on the lower side and, if necessary, drawn out to the outside through the dispenser 240 formed in the refrigerating chamber door 135. have.

10 and 11 illustrate the case where the evaporator is installed in the freezing chamber by way of example, but the evaporator may be installed in the refrigerating chamber. In this case, the heat pipe may be installed to be connected to the evaporator installed in the refrigerating chamber, and accordingly, the length of the cold air transfer unit, that is, the heat pipe may be shortened, and the configuration may be simplified.

In the above, specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described. However, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit or essential features thereof, so the embodiments described above should not be limited by the details of the detailed description.

Further, even when the embodiments not listed in the detailed description have been described, it should be interpreted broadly within the scope of the technical idea defined in the appended claims. It is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

1 is a perspective view of a conventional refrigerator,

2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having an ice making room according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

5 is a view for explaining a cold air transfer process to the ice maker of FIG.

6 is a perspective view of a refrigerator provided with an ice making room according to another embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a view for explaining the ice making process of FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator having an ice making room according to another embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a view for explaining a cold air transfer process to the ice maker of FIG.

10 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having an ice making room according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of FIG. 10.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: refrigerator body 131: refrigerator

135: refrigerator door 141: freezer

145: freezer door 181: evaporator

185 cooling fan 190 ice maker

210: ice maker 215: side wall

230: ice bank 240: dispenser

250: cold air transfer unit 260: first cold air transfer unit

270 chamber 271 projection

272: inlet 273: outlet

280: connection flow path 282: cold air flow path

283: cold air inflow passage 291: duct

293: gasket 300: second cold air transfer unit

311: heat pipe 312a: evaporation unit

312b: condenser 313: tubular body

314: working fluid 315: groove

Claims (21)

A refrigerator body in which a cooling chamber is formed; A door for opening and closing the cooling chamber; An ice making chamber formed in the cooling chamber or the door; And A cold air transfer unit configured to transfer cold air to the ice making chamber by conduction or refrigerant; Refrigerator having an ice making room comprising a. The method of claim 1, The cooling chamber includes a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, wherein the ice making chamber is formed in a refrigerator compartment door that opens and closes the refrigerator compartment. The method of claim 2, And the cold air transfer unit comprises a heat pipe provided in the refrigerating chamber door. The method of claim 3, The refrigerator main body of the refrigerator is provided with an ice making chamber, characterized in that the cold air transfer passage for transmitting the cold air of the freezer compartment to the refrigerating chamber door. The method of claim 4, wherein The cold air transfer passage includes a chamber formed in the refrigerating chamber door, and a connection passage connecting the duct and the chamber. The method of claim 5, And a cold air discharge port is formed in the freezing chamber to discharge cold air through the chamber. The method of claim 5, The heat pipe disposed inside the chamber is provided with a plurality of heat transfer fins to increase the heat transfer area, the refrigerator with an ice-making compartment, characterized in that. The method of claim 5, The cold air transfer passage further comprises a duct disposed in the freezer compartment such that one side is connected to the connection passage. The method of claim 2, And the cold air transfer unit includes a secondary refrigerant circulation unit configured to transfer cold air by circulation of the refrigerant. 10. The method of claim 9, The secondary refrigerant circulation unit may include a first heat exchanger disposed in the ice making chamber, a second heat exchanger in which the first heat exchanger and the refrigerant are circulated so as to be circulated, and the refrigerant via the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger. A refrigerator with an ice-making compartment, comprising a pump to circulate. The method of claim 10, The cold air passage includes a chamber formed in the refrigerating chamber door, a connection passage connecting the chamber and the freezing chamber, wherein the second heat exchanger is disposed inside the chamber. . The method of claim 11, And a cold air discharge port is formed in the freezing chamber to discharge cold air through the chamber. The method of claim 11, The cold air transfer passage further comprises a duct disposed in the freezer compartment such that one side is connected to the connection passage. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 13, And a blower fan for promoting cold air flow in the cold air transfer passage. The method of claim 1, The cooling chamber includes a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, and the ice making compartment is formed in the refrigerating compartment so as to be partitioned from the refrigerating compartment. The method of claim 15, And the cold air transfer part comprises a heat pipe having one side disposed in the ice making chamber. A refrigerator body having a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment; A plurality of doors that open and close the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment, respectively; An ice making chamber formed in a door that opens and closes the refrigerating compartment; A first cold air transfer unit configured to transfer cold air of the freezer compartment by convection; And A second cold air transfer unit configured to transfer the cold air of the first cold air transfer unit to the ice making chamber by conduction or a refrigerant; Refrigerator having an ice making room comprising a. The method of claim 17, And the second cold air transfer unit comprises a heat pipe. The method of claim 17, And the second cold air transfer unit includes a secondary refrigerant circulation unit. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, And the first cold air transfer unit comprises a chamber formed in a door that opens and closes the refrigerating compartment, and a connection flow path connecting the freezer compartment and the chamber. 21. The method of claim 20, And the first cold air transfer unit further comprises a blower fan for promoting the flow of cold air.

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