KR20160045640A - Ice maker - Google Patents

Abstract

An ice maker is provided. The ice maker comprises: a tray having at least one ice making space to store ice making water; an ejector moving ice inside the ice making space; a control box having a motor connected to the ejector; and an ice filing sensing lever having an rotary arm connected to the control box and a body sensing an amount of the moved ice and formed in one end of the arm. The ice maker has at least one protrusion unit protruding from a body to the outside.

Description

Ice-maker {ICE MAKER}

The present invention relates to an ice maker.

A refrigerator is a device that can store foods freshly by refrigeration or freezing. Such a refrigerator may be provided with an ice maker, which is an apparatus for producing ice, and a storage unit, which stores ice produced by the ice maker. In recent years, there have been many cases where ice makers and storage units are installed in refrigerators as demand increases. Ice produced in such an ice maker is dropped into the storage portion and accumulated in the storage portion. In a conventional refrigerator ice maker, a full ice sensing lever connected to a controller of the ice maker operates to detect whether or not the ice cubes have been completely filled. The ice detecting lever is partially rotated downward by a predetermined time unit by a motor connected to the ice detection lever, and the rotation section is reduced as the ice moves in the storage section. At this time, if the ice detection lever can not be rotated below the predetermined height by ice, it is judged as full ice. However, according to the ice-full detection method, when ice is caught adjacent to a portion where the ice-cube detection lever is rotated, the ice can be continuously manufactured and released in a state where the ice can no longer be moved to the storage portion. In this case, since the ice-full detection lever can not normally detect the full ice level, ice may be continuously supplied even after the empty space in the storage unit is filled, and ice may be overflowed to the outside of the storage unit.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2009-0109416 (Oct. 20, 2009)

An object of the present invention is to prevent the ice movement path from being blocked by the ice detection lever during the movement of the ice produced in the freezer to the storage section.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention aims at exposing the ice-making sensing lever to the ice-moving path direction so that ice, which is caught in the ice-making sensing lever when the ice-making sensing lever is rotated, can be moved to the storage unit.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention aims at preventing the ice-making movement path from being blocked by the ice-making detection lever coupled to the outside of the control box, which is curved toward the control box side.

In addition, one embodiment of the present invention aims at forming protrusions formed on the ice-sensing sensing lever to be formed in a columnar or plate-like shape and to be rotated.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a tray comprising: a tray on which at least one ice-making space capable of accommodating ice-making water is formed; An ejector for releasing ice in the ice making space; A control box provided with a motor connected to the ejector; And at least one protrusion formed outwardly from the body, the protrusion being formed at one end of the arm and including a body for detecting the amount of ice that is formed at one end of the arm, An ice maker is provided.

Further, the protruding portion is formed to extend in the vertical direction, and further protrudes downward.

In addition, the protrusions may have a plate shape.

Further, the projecting portion may have a curved surface.

Further, the motor may transmit the rotational force to the ice-sensing detector lever.

Further, the protrusions are opposed to the inner surface of the case located outside the ice maker, the protrusions and the inner surface are positioned at predetermined intervals, and the predetermined interval can be determined so that the ice can pass through.

Further, the body may be curved toward the tray toward the lower side with respect to the vertical direction.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for preventing a movement path of ice from being blocked by the ice sensing lever in a process of moving ice produced in a freezer to a storage unit.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention provides that a freeze detection lever is exposed in a path direction in which ice moves, so that the ice in the freeze detection lever can be moved to the storage unit when the freeze detection lever is rotated.

In addition, one embodiment of the present invention provides that a full ice sensing lever coupled to the outside of the control box is curved toward the control box side so as not to obstruct the movement path of the ice.

In addition, one embodiment of the present invention provides that protrusions formed on the ice-sensing sensing lever are formed in a columnar or plate-like shape and rotated.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 (b) is a perspective view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (c) is a perspective view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view showing the structure of a full ice detection lever according to one embodiment;
FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view of an ice maker according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (b) is a front view showing the structure of a full-
FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of an ice maker showing a moving path of ice cubes according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a front view showing the structure of a ice- , And FIG. 4 (c) is a side view showing the structure of the ice-filled sensing lever according to another embodiment

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, this is merely an example and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the following description, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to the intention or custom of the user, the operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

The technical idea of the present invention is determined by the claims, and the following embodiments are merely a means for effectively explaining the technical idea of the present invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the ice maker may include a control box 200 and a full ice sensing lever 100 inside the case 50. Here, the control box 200 is connected to the tray 210 and the ejector 220, and a motor (not shown) is provided therein. Further, a control unit for controlling the motor may be selectively accommodated.

Specifically, the tray 210 may have at least one or more ice-making spaces for receiving de-iced water. At this time, a water supply unit (not shown) for receiving the iced water is separately provided, and the iced water can be supplied from the water supply unit to the ice-making space when the ice-making space is empty. Of course, in the case where ice-making water is supplied by the water supply unit, it is an embodiment among various embodiments in which ice-making water is filled in the ice-making space, and includes various watering methods by manual or iced water supply means.

Here, the supplied ice-making water may change from a liquid state to a solid state by a temperature equal to or lower than a freezing point of ice-making water supplied in the freezer. For example, when the ice-making water is water, the temperature inside the freezer can be maintained at a temperature of 0 degree or less, and the ice-making water is water even in the following description.

The ice-making water whose state has changed to the solid state ice (1) by the environment of the freezer can be transferred to the ice (1) state. This means that ice is removed from the tray 210 and transferred to the storage unit 30. [ In the ice making space of the tray 210, the inner surface of the ice making space and the ice 1 can be fixed in the ice making process due to a change in the state of the ice making water. Therefore, a temperature exceeding 0 degrees can be transferred to the contact area by applying heat to the contact area between the ice 1 and the inner surface of the ice-making space so that the ice 1 can be easily removed. For this heat transfer process, a part of the tray 210 may be combined with the heat generating member. When the control unit is provided in the control box 200, the heating member may be connected to the control unit to generate heat at a predetermined time, and the heating member may be, for example, a surface heater.

After this process, the ice 1 can be removed from the ice making space by the ejector 220. Here, the ejector 220 is connected to a motor accommodated in the control box 200 so that the ejector pin 221 can be rotated around a rotation axis (not shown). The rotary shaft is formed in the longitudinal direction with respect to the tray 210 in which a plurality of ice-making spaces are accumulated in the longitudinal direction, and the ejection pin 221 Is positioned, and the ice 1 can be removed by the rotating ejector pin 221. The ice 1 removed from the ice-making space is transferred to the storage unit 30, which may include the gap between the ice-sensing lever 100 and the inner surface of the case 50.

In this case, the detector lever 100 is connected to the motor and is rotatable in predetermined intervals through the rotational force of the motor, and can be positioned to face the inner surface of the case 50. A protrusion 140 protruding toward the inner surface of the case 50 may be formed on the ice-making detection lever 100.

That is, the full ice level sensing lever 100 is provided with a rotation unit 110 connected to a motor accommodated in the control box 200, a body 130 extending from the arm 120 including the rotation unit 110, . ≪ / RTI > The protrusion 140 may protrude from the body 130, which is located opposite to the inner surface of the case 50.

In general, the full ice level sensing device may not be exposed to the outside by the cover formed from the control box, and this structure may be such that, even if the full ice level sensing lever is rotated, It is difficult to move the ice, which may be caught between the ice maker and the ice maker, Therefore, the ice-making sensing lever 100 is exposed to the outside and the protrusion is formed, so that the ice 1 caught by the movement of the ice-making sensing lever 100 can be moved to the storage unit 30. [

Meanwhile, when the storage unit 30 becomes full through the repeated removal process, the full ice level sensing apparatus 100 can detect the full ice level. The full ice level sensing apparatus 100 may be connected to a control unit and a motor provided in the control box 200, and may rotate the motor by a predetermined angle according to a predetermined time interval or a predetermined number of freezing intervals determined by the control unit. Since the full ice level sensing apparatus 100 can be further lowered as the rotation angle is larger, the ice 1 stored in the storage unit 30 can be contacted even if the ice 1 is relatively small. Therefore, the standard of the freezing can be determined according to the downward degree of the ice-full sensing lever 100 by the motor.

Further, the motor may be connected to, for example, the first motor and the second motor such that the full ice level sensing lever 100 and the ejector 220 can be independently operated.

Further, the motor may be connected to the full ice sensing lever 100 and the ejector 220 through gears that can be decelerated or accelerated in the control box 200, respectively.

2 (b) is a perspective view of the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (b) is a perspective view of the ice maker according to the embodiment of the present invention. c) is a front view showing the structure of the ice-making sensing lever 100 according to one embodiment

2 (a), when the ice 1 is caught between the inner surface of the case 50 and the protrusion 140 during the movement of the ice 1, the ice 1 is not moved to the storage unit 30 , The ice-sensing detector 100 may be partially rotated to move the ice 1 to the storage unit 30.

Here, referring to FIG. 2 (b), the protruding portion 140 may include a curved surface on the outwardly projecting surface. The curved surface may be curved so that the ice 1 is stagnated at the upper end and the inner surface of the case 50 is curved so that the inner surface of the case 50 The ice detection lever 100 may function as a guide surface for guiding the ice 1 to the storage unit 30 when the ice detection lever 100 can not be moved.

The protrusion 140 may protrude further toward the inner side of the case 50 toward the lower side with respect to the vertical direction. The shape of the protrusion may function to sense the height of ice (1) stored in the storage part (30). Specifically, when the ice 1 is transferred from the ice-making space to the storage unit 30 and the ice 1 is accumulated, the storage unit 30 can be filled up to a predetermined height. In order to sense this, it is possible to detect the height of the accumulated ice 1 by rotating downward.

Referring to FIG. 2 (c), the ice-sensing detector 100 may be moved downward or pivoted until it is contacted with the accumulated ice 1 to sense the height of the accumulated ice 1. At this time, it can be detected that the ice is accumulated in a large amount as the distance to which the ice-cube detection lever 100 is moved downward is short, and when the height of the predetermined ice 1 is set as ice- The supply and disconnection process of the water supply system can be stopped. Here, the projecting portion 140 protruding further downward means enlarging the area of the detection lever 100 contacting the ice 1, thereby enlarging the sensing target area.

If the protrusion 140 formed on the ice-making sensing lever 100 is formed so as to protrude further from the lower side toward the upper side, the ice- The projecting portion 140 can be further projected from the upper side to the lower side so that the area of the lower side of the projecting portion 140 is wide.

FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view of an ice maker according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (b) is a front view showing the structure of a full ice detection lever according to another embodiment.

3 (a), the ice-maker may be configured such that the ice-cube detection lever 100a coupled to the control box 200 has different shapes from the ice-cube detection lever 100 and the protrusions 140a and 140 have. Therefore, the difference between the shapes of the projections 140 and 140a will be described below. The full ice level sensing lever 100a can be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

The ice-sensing detection lever 100a is positioned opposite to the inner surface of the case 50, and a plate-shaped protrusion 140a can protrude toward the inner surface. The plate-like protrusion 140a is interposed between the inner surface of the case 50 and the ice-maker in the process of moving the ice 1 to the ice- It is possible to rotate the predetermined section around the rotation section 110. [0064] The ice (1) caught by the rotation can be moved to the storage part (30) by its own weight.

If the protrusion 140a formed on the ice-making sensing lever 100 is formed so as to protrude further from the lower side toward the upper side, the ice- The protrusion 140 can be further protruded from the upper side to the lower side so that the area of the lower side of the protrusion 140a is wider.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of an ice maker showing a moving path of ice cubes according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a front view showing the structure of a ice- And FIG. 4C is a side view showing the structure of the ice-cube detection lever 100b according to another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the ice maker may be configured such that the full ice sensing lever 100b coupled to the control box 200 is different from the ice sensing lever 100 or 100a and the bodies 130 and 130a. Therefore, the following description will be made mainly on the differences between the shapes of the bodies 130 and 130a.

The lever sensing lever 100b can be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). The ice 1 released from the tray 210 can be moved to the storage portion. The movement path of the ice 1 to be moved may include a space between the ice-cube sensing lever 100b and the inner surface of the case 50 and the body 130a to prevent the space from being obstructed by the protrusion 140. [ May be curved inward.

The inner side means the side of the control box 200 from the ice-making sensing lever 100b and the control box may be curved to the opposite side of the ice-making sensing lever 100b so that the body 130a is curved inward.

The space through which the ice 1 between the ice-sensing detector 100b and the inner surface of the case 50 can pass can be ensured without being obstructed by the protrusion 140. [ In this case, the ice maker may be positioned such that the inner surface of the case 50 and the ice maker are spaced apart from each other by a greater amount than the size of the ice.

4 (c), the protrusion 140 of the ice-cube sense lever 100b is illustrated as a protrusion 140 having a curved protruding surface. However, when the body 130a is curved, 100b are not limited thereto and may be in the form of various protrusions.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, . Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, but should be determined by equivalents to the appended claims, as well as the appended claims.

1: Ice
30:
50: Case
100, 100a, 100b: full ice detection lever
110:
120, 120a:
130, 130a: body
140, 140a:
200: control box
210: tray
220: Ejector
221: Ejector pin

Claims (7)

Wherein at least one ice making space in which iced water is accommodated is formed;
An ejector for releasing ice in the ice making space;
A control box provided with a motor connected to the ejector; And
And a body for sensing the amount of ice formed on one end of the arm, the ice detecting lever being connected to the control box,
Wherein at least one projecting portion protruding outward from the body is formed.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the projecting portion extends in the vertical direction and further protrudes downward.
The method of claim 2,
Wherein the protrusion has a plate shape.
The method of claim 2,
Wherein the protrusion has a curved surface.
The method according to claim 1,
And the motor transmits a rotational force to the ice-making detecting lever.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the projecting portion is opposed to the inner surface of the case located outside the ice maker and the protruding portion and the inner surface are positioned at predetermined intervals and the predetermined interval is determined so that the ice can pass through.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the body is curved toward the tray toward a lower side with respect to a vertical direction.

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