US20110185760A1 - Ice maker for refrigerator - Google Patents
Ice maker for refrigerator Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20110185760A1 US20110185760A1 US12/808,377 US80837708A US2011185760A1 US 20110185760 A1 US20110185760 A1 US 20110185760A1 US 80837708 A US80837708 A US 80837708A US 2011185760 A1 US2011185760 A1 US 2011185760A1
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- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- refrigerator
- ice
- evaporator
- ice making
- cooling
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C1/00—Producing ice
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D11/00—Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators
- F25D11/02—Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators with cooling compartments at different temperatures
- F25D11/022—Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators with cooling compartments at different temperatures with two or more evaporators
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B5/00—Compression machines, plants or systems, with several evaporator circuits, e.g. for varying refrigerating capacity
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C1/00—Producing ice
- F25C1/08—Producing ice by immersing freezing chambers, cylindrical bodies or plates into water
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C1/00—Producing ice
- F25C1/22—Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds
- F25C1/24—Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B41/00—Fluid-circulation arrangements
- F25B41/20—Disposition of valves, e.g. of on-off valves or flow control valves
- F25B41/22—Disposition of valves, e.g. of on-off valves or flow control valves between evaporator and compressor
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C5/00—Working or handling ice
- F25C5/02—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice
- F25C5/04—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice without the use of saws
- F25C5/08—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice without the use of saws by heating bodies in contact with the ice
- F25C5/10—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice without the use of saws by heating bodies in contact with the ice using hot refrigerant; using fluid heated by refrigerant
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P60/00—Technologies relating to agriculture, livestock or agroalimentary industries
- Y02P60/80—Food processing, e.g. use of renewable energies or variable speed drives in handling, conveying or stacking
- Y02P60/85—Food storage or conservation, e.g. cooling or drying
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an ice maker employed in a refrigerator.
- the ice maker is configured such that a certain amount of water supplied in an ice making tray is iced by applying cold air and then the ice in the tray is carried to an ice storing container for storage.
- the ice making tray is disposed under a condition having an ice point (freezing point) lower than 0° C., such as a freezing chamber, so as to freeze water by cold air.
- a portion where cold air first reaches starts to be iced and such icing is advanced toward a central direction.
- the is surface of the water which is first contacted by its surrounding cold air start to be iced to form a core of ice.
- Such icing is in progress toward the center of the water once the core of ice is formed, thereby generating ice eventually.
- the related art ice maker is configured to be disposed in the freezing chamber to freeze water using cold air cooling the freezing chamber or configured to freeze water by inducing cold air of the freezing chamber to a refrigerating chamber door even if it is installed in the refrigerating chamber door. Accordingly, a loss occurs due to a convection heat transfer, which lowers icing speed.
- water supplied to the ice making tray contains a certain amount of air.
- air is separated from the water during the process of freezing the water in the ice making tray, so as to exist in the form of air bubble.
- the surface of water is first frozen by the cold air of the freezing chamber.
- such air bubble in the water is not discharged outwardly but remains, which causes a generation of opaque ice.
- an object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker for a refrigerator capable of enhancing an icing speed.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker for a refrigerator capable of facilitating the generation of transparent ice by allowing air bubble separated from water during an icing process to be quickly discharged out of the water.
- a refrigerator including: a refrigerator main body having at least one chamber and at least one door for opening/closing the at least one chamber; a compressor disposed in the refrigerator main body; a condenser disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to the compressor; a cooling evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to the condenser so as to supply cold air into the chamber; and an ice making evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to the condenser so as to freeze water in an ice making tray.
- a refrigerator including: a housing having inlet and outlet allowing introduction and discharge of a refrigerant; and at least one or more ice core portions protruded from one side of the housing to be sunk in water in an ice making tray.
- a refrigerator according to the present invention is further provided with an ice making evaporator in addition to an evaporator for cooling a refrigerating chamber or a freezing chamber and allows the ice making evaporator to be sunk in water for icing, so as to enable a quick generation of transparent ice.
- an ice maker can be disposed either in the refrigerating chamber or a refrigerating chamber door, thus to prevent the ice from being generated with air bubbles remaining in the water, thereby enhancing ice transparency.
- cold air does not have to be induced from the freezing chamber, which allows independent operations of the freezing chamber and the ice maker, resulting in an increase in energy efficiency.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-door bottom freezer type refrigerator having an ice maker according to the present invention
- FIGS. 2 and 5 are block diagrams showing embodiments of a refrigerating cycle applied to the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the ice maker of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 ;
- FIGS. 7 and 8 are horizontal and longitudinal cross-sectional views showing an ice making evaporator in the ice maker shown in FIG. 6 ;
- FIGS. 9 and 10 are schematic views showing a relation between the ice maker of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 and a water supply/drain unit;
- FIGS. 11 and 16 are block diagrams showing other embodiments of a refrigerating cycle applied to the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-door bottom freezer type refrigerator having an ice maker according to the present invention.
- the refrigerator according to the present invention may include a refrigerating chamber 2 disposed at an upper side of a refrigerator main body 1 for storing foods in a fresh state, and a freezing chamber 3 disposed at a lower side of the refrigerator main body 1 for storing foods in a frozen state.
- the refrigerator main body 1 is provided with a refrigerating chamber door 4 and a freezing chamber door 5 respectively for opening/closing the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 .
- a machine room (not shown) in which a compressor 10 (shown in FIG. 2 or the like) and a condenser 20 (shown in FIG. 2 or the like) are disposed is formed at a lower end portion of a rear surface of the refrigerator main body 1 .
- a cooling evaporator 30 (shown in FIG. 2 or the like) connected to the condenser 20 and the compressor 10 for supplying cold air to the refrigerating chamber 2 or the freezing chamber 3 is installed at a rear, lateral or upper surface of the refrigerator main body 1 , or be installed inside a partition wall dividing the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 .
- Only one cooling evaporator 30 may be provided so as to distribute cold air to the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 .
- the cooling evaporator 30 may be provided by being divided into a refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 (shown in FIG. 3 or the like) and a freezing chamber evaporator 32 (shown in FIG. 3 or the like), such that cold air can independently be supplied to the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 .
- the refrigerating chamber 2 is provided with an ice maker 100 for generating ice, and an ice bin 200 for storing ice generated by the ice maker 100 is installed in the refrigerating chamber door 4 .
- the ice maker 100 may be installed above the ice bin 200 in the refrigerating chamber door 4 .
- the ice maker 100 may include an ice making evaporator 110 configuring a refrigerating cycle device together with the compressor 10 , the condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30 , an ice making tray 120 for containing water to be iced as much as the ice making evaporator 110 being sunk, and a container driving unit for rotating the ice making tray 120 by a certain angle so as to drop the generated ice.
- the ice making evaporator 110 is connected to a refrigerating cycle device for cooling a refrigerator which is configured by the compressor 10 , the condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30 , so as to configure a refrigerating cycle device all together.
- the refrigerating cycle device can be configured by one compressor 10 , one condenser 20 connected to a discharge side of the compressor 10 , the cooling evaporator 30 connected to the one condenser 20 , and the ice making evaporator 110 connected in parallel to the condenser 20 together with the cooling evaporator 30 .
- an expanding valve 40 disposed between the condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30 , in more particular, at a portion lower than a diverged point between the cooling evaporator 30 and the ice making evaporator 110 so as to expand a high pressure refrigerant.
- a first refrigerant converting valve 51 implemented as a three-way valve is installed between a discharge side of the compressor 10 and an inlet of the condenser 20 .
- a first outlet of the first refrigerant switching valve 51 allows the connection between the compressor 10 and the condenser 20 whereas a second outlet of the first refrigerant switching valve 51 is connected to a bypass pipe diverged from a main pipe 61 for connecting the discharge side of the compressor 10 to the inlet of the ice making evaporator 110 .
- First and second switching valves 55 and 56 are installed at inlet and outlet sides of the ice making evaporator 110 , respectively. Accordingly, the first and second switching valves 55 and 56 are open upon the icing so as to allow a refrigerant to be introduced into the ice making evaporator 110 via the main pipe 61 , whereas being closed upon an ice separation or a non-operation of icing so as to block the introduction of a refrigerant into the ice making evaporator 110 via the bypass pipe 62 .
- only one of the first and second switching valves 56 especially, the first switching valve 55 may be installed at the inlet side of the ice making evaporator 110 .
- cooling evaporator 30 may be installed as shown in FIG. 2 .
- the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 may independently be installed.
- the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 may independently be provided so as to be connected to each other in parallel.
- a second refrigerant converting valve 52 implemented as a three-way valve for distributing a refrigerant for supply is installed at an inlet of the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 .
- a first outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 52 is connected to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 while a second outlet thereof is connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32 .
- Expanding valves 41 and 42 are independently disposed between the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and between the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 .
- one integral expanding valve may be installed between the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and between the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 .
- the cooling evaporator 30 may be configured such that the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 is connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32 in series.
- a third switching valve 57 implemented as a two-way valve by which a refrigerant selectively flows is installed between the outlet side of the condenser 20 and the refrigerant exclusive evaporator 30 .
- the expanding valve 40 is installed between the third switching valve 57 and the refrigerant exclusive evaporator, namely, the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 .
- FIG. 4 may be configured such that the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 is connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32 in series.
- a third switching valve 57 implemented as a two-way valve by which a refrigerant selectively flows is installed between the outlet side of the condenser 20 and the refrigerant exclusive evaporator 30 .
- the expanding valve 40 is installed between the third switching valve 57 and the refrigerant exclusive evaporator, namely
- a second refrigerant converting valve 52 implemented as a three-way valve for allowing a refrigerant to selectively flow to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 is installed at the outlet side of the condenser 20 .
- a first outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 51 may sequentially be connected in series to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 , and a second outlet thereof may directly be connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32 .
- the expanding valves 41 and 42 are installed respectively between the first outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the inlet side of the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and between the second outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 .
- the expanding valve may be installed as one integral device.
- Unexplained reference numeral 70 denotes a drier
- 80 denotes an accumulator
- the compressor 10 starts operating to compress a refrigerant.
- the compressed refrigerant is discharged into the condenser 20 via the main pipe 61 .
- the refrigerant flown through the condenser 20 is introduced into the cooling evaporator 30 via the expanding valve 40 .
- the refrigerant introduced into the cooling evaporator 30 is recollected to the compressor 10 with generating cold air.
- the cold air generated in the cooling evaporator 30 is supplied each to the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 , so as to keep foods in the refrigerator in a fresh state.
- a refrigerant may be supplied respectively or sequentially to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 , so as to independently cool the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 .
- the first and second switching valves 55 and 56 are open. Accordingly, a refrigerant which flew through the condenser 20 via the first switching valve 55 is partially introduced into the ice making evaporator 110 via the main pipe 61 .
- the refrigerant introduced in the ice making evaporator 110 quickly freezes water contained in the ice making tray 120 while flowing through the ice making evaporator 110 , so as to fast make ice with high transparency.
- the ice making evaporator 110 may be provided with an ice core portion for forming an ice core.
- the ice making evaporator 110 may include a housing 111 having inlet and outlet at both ends in a lengthwise direction and curved in a shape of ‘ ⁇ ’, and at least one or more ice core portions 112 protruded from a lower surface of the housing 111 with a certain length.
- the length of the ice core portion 112 may be formed as long as the lower portion thereof being sunk in the water contained in the ice making tray 120 .
- a refrigerant guiding plate 113 which partitions each ice core portion 112 in a refrigerant flowing direction is formed in the ice core portion 112 to extend from upper side to lower side of an inner circumferential surface of the housing 111 .
- the refrigerant guiding plate 113 is formed shorter than the length of the ice core portion 112 such that front and rear sides of each ice core portion 112 can be communicated with each other at a lower end of the refrigerant guiding plate 113 . Accordingly, a refrigerant can be introduced by the refrigerant guiding plate 113 to evenly circulate the whole ice core portions 112 .
- the ice core portion 112 may separately be fabricated from the housing 11 of the ice making evaporator 110 to be assembled to an outer surface of the housing 111 .
- the ice core portion 112 may preferably be implemented as a heat pipe, or a rod made of copper or a material having high thermal conductivity.
- the ice making tray 120 may be formed of a material having high thermal conductivity, and then coupled to a container driving unit 130 for shaking the ice making tray 120 at certain speed, which allows air bubble to be out of water during the icing process.
- the container driving unit 130 may be configured such that the ice making tray 120 is connected to a separate motor which rotates forward and backward and thus the ice making tray 120 slowly bi-directionally rotates within an approximately certain angle for an ice making time period.
- the container driving unit 130 may be configured such that an ice separating motor for rotating the ice making tray 120 in order to separate ice from the ice making container 120 is used so as to allow the ice making tray 120 to bi-directionally rotate even during the ice making, as aforementioned.
- the refrigerant makes a zigzag movement in a longitudinal direction of each ice core portion 112 by the refrigerant guiding plate 113 disposed inside each ice core portion 112 . Accordingly, the refrigerant evenly circulates in each of the ice core portions 112 , which allows each ice core portion 112 to be cooled below a freezing point within a short time.
- a surface temperature of the ice core portion 112 becomes lower than a peripheral temperature, namely, the temperature of the refrigerating chamber 2 . Accordingly, the surface of each ice core portion 112 starts to be frozen.
- Such freezing serves as an ice core so as to freeze water around it.
- the temperature of the surface of water can be maintained higher than the freezing point, whereby the surface of water having air bubble generated therein is not frozen yet.
- the air bubble generated in the water in the ice making tray 120 moves toward the surface of water not frozen yet to be discharged, thereby generating transparent ice without containing air bubble therein.
- Such results can be obtained from the case using a heat pipe or a thermal transfer rod as the ice core portion 112 . That is, since one end of the heat pipe or thermal transfer rod comes into contact with the cold ice making evaporator 110 , the heat pipe or the thermal transfer rod is cooled within a short time. The surface of the heat pipe or the thermal transfer rod is thusly frozen, so as to rapidly freeze such water in the ice making tray 120 . In addition, since air bubble generated in the water in the ice making tray 120 is discharged out of the surface of non-frozen water, the ice generated can have high transparency. Also, during the icing of the water in the ice making tray 120 , the container driving unit 130 is operated to continuously shake the ice making tray 120 , which makes air bubble fast effectively be discharged, thereby further enhancing the transparency of ice.
- the direction of the first refrigerant converting valve 51 is changed such that a refrigerant of the compressor 10 is guided toward the bypass pipe 62 via the second outlet.
- the high temperature refrigerant guided to the bypass pipe 62 is introduced into the inlet of the ice making evaporator 110 .
- the high temperature refrigerant then circulates inside each ice core portion 112 by the refrigerant guiding plate 113 , thereby to increase a surface temperature of the ice core portion 112 within a short time. Accordingly, the surface of the ice core portion 112 and the ice are quickly separated from each other, and thereby ice is dropped in the ice making tray 120 .
- the refrigerating chamber door 4 is provided with a supply/drain unit 300 for supplying or discharging water of the ice making tray 120 .
- the supply/drain unit 300 may include a water tank 310 installed in the refrigerating chamber door 4 for storing a certain amount of water, a water supply/drain line 320 and a water pump 330 for pumping and supplying water to the ice making container 120 upon freezing water of the water tank 310 while pumping and discharging water of the ice making tray 120 upon separating ice.
- a water filter 340 for filtering newly introduced water is further provided at an inlet of the water tank 310 .
- a dispenser line 350 for supplying water to a dispenser may further be connected in the middle of the water supply/drain line 320 .
- a drain pipe 360 for discharging water generated when ice stored in the bottom of the ice storing container 200 is melted may be connected to the water tank 310 or to a drain tray (not shown).
- the aforementioned embodiments are implemented such that the cooling evaporator 30 is connected to the ice making evaporator 110 in parallel; however, these embodiments are implemented such that the cooling evaporator 30 is connected to the ice making evaporator 110 in series.
- the compressor 10 , the condenser 20 , the cooling evaporator 30 and the ice making evaporator 110 are sequentially disposed to configure a closed loop.
- the first refrigerant converting valve 51 is disposed between the compressor 10 and the condenser 20 .
- the second outlet of the first refrigerant converting valve 51 is diverged from the main pipe 61 to be connected to the inlet of the ice making evaporator 110 via the bypass pipe 62 .
- the expanding valve 40 is installed between the condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30 .
- the ice core portions 112 formed as long as being sunk in water in the ice making tray 120 is protruded from the lower surface of the ice making evaporator 110 , as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 .
- Each ice core portion 112 is provided with a refrigerant guiding plate 113 allowing an even circulation of the refrigerant.
- the ice making tray 120 may be coupled to the container driving unit 130 and simultaneously to the supply/drain unit 300 .
- a refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is introduced into the refrigerant evaporator 30 via the condenser 20 to generate cold air.
- Such cold air is supplied each to the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3 of the refrigerant main body 1 , so as to keep food stored in each chamber in the fresh state.
- the refrigerant introduced into the ice making evaporator 110 via the refrigerant evaporator 30 cools the ice core portion 12 of the ice making evaporator 110 in a short time, so as to form ice, whereby an ice making time can drastically be decreased and transparent ice can be creased due to the removal of air bubble.
- the first refrigerant converting valve 51 is used to introduce a high temperature refrigerant into the ice making evaporator 110 via the bypass pipe 62 and thereby the ice core portion 112 of the ice making evaporator 110 is heated to allow a fast separation of the created ice, resulting in facilitating the separation of ice.
- Other components including the ice core portion 112 and an operational effect thereof are the same or similar to the aforementioned embodiments, detailed explanation of which will thusly be omitted.
- the cooling evaporator may be configured by a refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and a freezing chamber evaporator.
- the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 may be connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32 in parallel as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 .
- the cooling evaporator 30 and the ice making evaporator 110 of the refrigerating cycle device in the refrigerator according to the present invention may be connected to each other in series.
- one cooling evaporator can be used to distribute cold air to the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber for supply.
- the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 are independently disposed, so as to connect the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 to each other in series.
- the present invention has been implemented from the perspective of examples applied to a bottom freezer type refrigerator in which a refrigerating chamber is disposed at an upper side and the freezing chamber is disposed.
- the present invention can be applied to a top mount type refrigerator having a refrigerating chamber disposed below the freezing chamber or a side-by-side type refrigerator having refrigerating chamber and freezing chamber disposed side by side.
- the present invention can be applied to other types of ice makers using a refrigerating cycle device other than the refrigerators.
Abstract
Disclosed is an ice maker for a refrigerator. The ice maker is further provided with an ice making evaporator in addition to an evaporator for cooling a refrigerating chamber of a freezing chamber, and the ice making evaporator is sunk in water to generate ice, thereby quickly creating transparent ice. The ice maker can also be disposed in the refrigerating chamber or a refrigerating chamber door, thus to prevent ice from being formed with air bubble remaining in water, resulting in enhancing transparency of ice. In addition, even if the ice maker is disposed in the refrigerating chamber door, cold air is not needed to be induced from the freezing chamber, which allows independent operations of the freezing chamber and the ice maker, thereby increasing energy efficiency.
Description
- The present invention relates to an ice maker employed in a refrigerator.
- In recent time, large-sized refrigerators are provided with ice makers therein for making ice pieces. The ice maker is configured such that a certain amount of water supplied in an ice making tray is iced by applying cold air and then the ice in the tray is carried to an ice storing container for storage.
- In such ice maker, the ice making tray is disposed under a condition having an ice point (freezing point) lower than 0° C., such as a freezing chamber, so as to freeze water by cold air. Hence, a portion where cold air first reaches starts to be iced, and such icing is advanced toward a central direction. For example, the is surface of the water which is first contacted by its surrounding cold air start to be iced to form a core of ice. Such icing is in progress toward the center of the water once the core of ice is formed, thereby generating ice eventually.
- However, the related art ice maker is configured to be disposed in the freezing chamber to freeze water using cold air cooling the freezing chamber or configured to freeze water by inducing cold air of the freezing chamber to a refrigerating chamber door even if it is installed in the refrigerating chamber door. Accordingly, a loss occurs due to a convection heat transfer, which lowers icing speed.
- Furthermore, water supplied to the ice making tray contains a certain amount of air. Such air is separated from the water during the process of freezing the water in the ice making tray, so as to exist in the form of air bubble. However, as mentioned above, during the icing process, the surface of water is first frozen by the cold air of the freezing chamber. As a result, such air bubble in the water is not discharged outwardly but remains, which causes a generation of opaque ice.
- Therefore, to solve the problems of the related art ice maker for a refrigerator, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker for a refrigerator capable of enhancing an icing speed.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker for a refrigerator capable of facilitating the generation of transparent ice by allowing air bubble separated from water during an icing process to be quickly discharged out of the water.
- To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a refrigerator including: a refrigerator main body having at least one chamber and at least one door for opening/closing the at least one chamber; a compressor disposed in the refrigerator main body; a condenser disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to the compressor; a cooling evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to the condenser so as to supply cold air into the chamber; and an ice making evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to the condenser so as to freeze water in an ice making tray.
- In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator including: a housing having inlet and outlet allowing introduction and discharge of a refrigerant; and at least one or more ice core portions protruded from one side of the housing to be sunk in water in an ice making tray.
- A refrigerator according to the present invention is further provided with an ice making evaporator in addition to an evaporator for cooling a refrigerating chamber or a freezing chamber and allows the ice making evaporator to be sunk in water for icing, so as to enable a quick generation of transparent ice. Also, an ice maker can be disposed either in the refrigerating chamber or a refrigerating chamber door, thus to prevent the ice from being generated with air bubbles remaining in the water, thereby enhancing ice transparency. In addition, even if the ice maker is disposed in the refrigerating chamber door, cold air does not have to be induced from the freezing chamber, which allows independent operations of the freezing chamber and the ice maker, resulting in an increase in energy efficiency.
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-door bottom freezer type refrigerator having an ice maker according to the present invention; -
FIGS. 2 and 5 are block diagrams showing embodiments of a refrigerating cycle applied to the refrigerator shown inFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the ice maker of the refrigerator shown inFIG. 1 ; -
FIGS. 7 and 8 are horizontal and longitudinal cross-sectional views showing an ice making evaporator in the ice maker shown inFIG. 6 ; -
FIGS. 9 and 10 are schematic views showing a relation between the ice maker of the refrigerator shown inFIG. 1 and a water supply/drain unit; and -
FIGS. 11 and 16 are block diagrams showing other embodiments of a refrigerating cycle applied to the refrigerator shown inFIG. 1 . - Hereinafter, description will be given in detail of a refrigerator according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-door bottom freezer type refrigerator having an ice maker according to the present invention. - As shown in
FIG. 1 , the refrigerator according to the present invention may include a refrigeratingchamber 2 disposed at an upper side of a refrigerator main body 1 for storing foods in a fresh state, and afreezing chamber 3 disposed at a lower side of the refrigerator main body 1 for storing foods in a frozen state. The refrigerator main body 1 is provided with a refrigeratingchamber door 4 and afreezing chamber door 5 respectively for opening/closing the refrigeratingchamber 2 and thefreezing chamber 3. A machine room (not shown) in which a compressor 10 (shown inFIG. 2 or the like) and a condenser 20 (shown inFIG. 2 or the like) are disposed is formed at a lower end portion of a rear surface of the refrigerator main body 1. A cooling evaporator 30 (shown inFIG. 2 or the like) connected to thecondenser 20 and thecompressor 10 for supplying cold air to the refrigeratingchamber 2 or thefreezing chamber 3 is installed at a rear, lateral or upper surface of the refrigerator main body 1, or be installed inside a partition wall dividing the refrigeratingchamber 2 and thefreezing chamber 3. Only onecooling evaporator 30 may be provided so as to distribute cold air to the refrigeratingchamber 2 and thefreezing chamber 3. Alternatively, thecooling evaporator 30 may be provided by being divided into a refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 (shown inFIG. 3 or the like) and a freezing chamber evaporator 32 (shown inFIG. 3 or the like), such that cold air can independently be supplied to the refrigeratingchamber 2 and thefreezing chamber 3. - The refrigerating
chamber 2 is provided with anice maker 100 for generating ice, and anice bin 200 for storing ice generated by theice maker 100 is installed in the refrigeratingchamber door 4. Although not shown in the drawings, theice maker 100 may be installed above theice bin 200 in the refrigeratingchamber door 4. - The
ice maker 100, as shown inFIGS. 2 to 5 , may include anice making evaporator 110 configuring a refrigerating cycle device together with thecompressor 10, thecondenser 20 and thecooling evaporator 30, anice making tray 120 for containing water to be iced as much as theice making evaporator 110 being sunk, and a container driving unit for rotating theice making tray 120 by a certain angle so as to drop the generated ice. - The
ice making evaporator 110, as aforementioned, is connected to a refrigerating cycle device for cooling a refrigerator which is configured by thecompressor 10, thecondenser 20 and thecooling evaporator 30, so as to configure a refrigerating cycle device all together. For example, as shown inFIG. 2 , the refrigerating cycle device can be configured by onecompressor 10, onecondenser 20 connected to a discharge side of thecompressor 10, thecooling evaporator 30 connected to the onecondenser 20, and theice making evaporator 110 connected in parallel to thecondenser 20 together with thecooling evaporator 30. Also, there is further provided an expandingvalve 40 disposed between thecondenser 20 and thecooling evaporator 30, in more particular, at a portion lower than a diverged point between thecooling evaporator 30 and theice making evaporator 110 so as to expand a high pressure refrigerant. A firstrefrigerant converting valve 51 implemented as a three-way valve is installed between a discharge side of thecompressor 10 and an inlet of thecondenser 20. A first outlet of the firstrefrigerant switching valve 51 allows the connection between thecompressor 10 and thecondenser 20 whereas a second outlet of the firstrefrigerant switching valve 51 is connected to a bypass pipe diverged from amain pipe 61 for connecting the discharge side of thecompressor 10 to the inlet of theice making evaporator 110. - First and
second switching valves ice making evaporator 110, respectively. Accordingly, the first andsecond switching valves ice making evaporator 110 via themain pipe 61, whereas being closed upon an ice separation or a non-operation of icing so as to block the introduction of a refrigerant into theice making evaporator 110 via thebypass pipe 62. Alternatively, only one of the first andsecond switching valves 56, especially, thefirst switching valve 55 may be installed at the inlet side of theice making evaporator 110. - Here, only one
cooling evaporator 30 may be installed as shown inFIG. 2 . Alternatively, as shown inFIG. 3 , therefrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32 may independently be installed. In this case, the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32 may independently be provided so as to be connected to each other in parallel. A secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 implemented as a three-way valve for distributing a refrigerant for supply is installed at an inlet of the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32. A first outlet of the secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 is connected to the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 while a second outlet thereof is connected to thefreezing chamber evaporator 32. Expandingvalves refrigerant converting valve 52 and the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and between the secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32. Alternatively, one integral expanding valve may be installed between the secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 and therefrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and between the secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32. - On the other hand, the
cooling evaporator 30, as shown inFIG. 4 , may be configured such that therefrigerating chamber evaporator 31 is connected to thefreezing chamber evaporator 32 in series. In this case, athird switching valve 57 implemented as a two-way valve by which a refrigerant selectively flows is installed between the outlet side of thecondenser 20 and the refrigerantexclusive evaporator 30. The expandingvalve 40 is installed between thethird switching valve 57 and the refrigerant exclusive evaporator, namely, the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31. However, as shown inFIG. 5 , a secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 implemented as a three-way valve for allowing a refrigerant to selectively flow to the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32 is installed at the outlet side of thecondenser 20. A first outlet of the secondrefrigerant converting valve 51 may sequentially be connected in series to the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32, and a second outlet thereof may directly be connected to thefreezing chamber evaporator 32. In this case, the expandingvalves refrigerant converting valve 52 and the inlet side of the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and between the second outlet of the secondrefrigerant converting valve 52 and thefreezing chamber evaporator 32. Alternatively, the expanding valve may be installed as one integral device. -
Unexplained reference numeral 70 denotes a drier, and 80 denotes an accumulator. - Operation and effect of the refrigerator according to the present invention having such configuration will now be described.
- That is, the
compressor 10 starts operating to compress a refrigerant. The compressed refrigerant is discharged into thecondenser 20 via themain pipe 61. The refrigerant flown through thecondenser 20 is introduced into the coolingevaporator 30 via the expandingvalve 40. The refrigerant introduced into the coolingevaporator 30 is recollected to thecompressor 10 with generating cold air. The cold air generated in the coolingevaporator 30 is supplied each to the refrigeratingchamber 2 and the freezingchamber 3, so as to keep foods in the refrigerator in a fresh state. - Here, in case where the cooling
evaporator 30 is configured by the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and the freezingchamber evaporator 32 which are connected to each other in parallel or in series, a refrigerant may be supplied respectively or sequentially to the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and the freezingchamber evaporator 32, so as to independently cool the refrigeratingchamber 2 and the freezingchamber 3. - In the meantime, in case where a refrigerating cycle device of the refrigerator carries out an ice making operation, the first and
second switching valves condenser 20 via thefirst switching valve 55 is partially introduced into theice making evaporator 110 via themain pipe 61. The refrigerant introduced in theice making evaporator 110 quickly freezes water contained in theice making tray 120 while flowing through theice making evaporator 110, so as to fast make ice with high transparency. - Here, the
ice making evaporator 110 may be provided with an ice core portion for forming an ice core. - To this end, the
ice making evaporator 110, as shown inFIGS. 6 to 8 , may include ahousing 111 having inlet and outlet at both ends in a lengthwise direction and curved in a shape of ‘Π’, and at least one or moreice core portions 112 protruded from a lower surface of thehousing 111 with a certain length. The length of theice core portion 112 may be formed as long as the lower portion thereof being sunk in the water contained in theice making tray 120. - A
refrigerant guiding plate 113 which partitions eachice core portion 112 in a refrigerant flowing direction is formed in theice core portion 112 to extend from upper side to lower side of an inner circumferential surface of thehousing 111. Therefrigerant guiding plate 113 is formed shorter than the length of theice core portion 112 such that front and rear sides of eachice core portion 112 can be communicated with each other at a lower end of therefrigerant guiding plate 113. Accordingly, a refrigerant can be introduced by therefrigerant guiding plate 113 to evenly circulate the wholeice core portions 112. - The
ice core portion 112 may separately be fabricated from the housing 11 of theice making evaporator 110 to be assembled to an outer surface of thehousing 111. In this case, theice core portion 112 may preferably be implemented as a heat pipe, or a rod made of copper or a material having high thermal conductivity. - The
ice making tray 120 may be formed of a material having high thermal conductivity, and then coupled to acontainer driving unit 130 for shaking theice making tray 120 at certain speed, which allows air bubble to be out of water during the icing process. For example, thecontainer driving unit 130 may be configured such that theice making tray 120 is connected to a separate motor which rotates forward and backward and thus theice making tray 120 slowly bi-directionally rotates within an approximately certain angle for an ice making time period. Alternatively, thecontainer driving unit 130 may be configured such that an ice separating motor for rotating theice making tray 120 in order to separate ice from theice making container 120 is used so as to allow theice making tray 120 to bi-directionally rotate even during the ice making, as aforementioned. - With the ice making evaporator having such configuration, while a refrigerant introduced into the inlet of the
housing 111 flows toward the outlet thereof, the refrigerant makes a zigzag movement in a longitudinal direction of eachice core portion 112 by therefrigerant guiding plate 113 disposed inside eachice core portion 112. Accordingly, the refrigerant evenly circulates in each of theice core portions 112, which allows eachice core portion 112 to be cooled below a freezing point within a short time. A surface temperature of theice core portion 112 becomes lower than a peripheral temperature, namely, the temperature of the refrigeratingchamber 2. Accordingly, the surface of eachice core portion 112 starts to be frozen. Such freezing serves as an ice core so as to freeze water around it. In addition, as theice making tray 120 is disposed in the refrigeratingchamber 2 or the refrigeratingchamber door 4, the temperature of the surface of water can be maintained higher than the freezing point, whereby the surface of water having air bubble generated therein is not frozen yet. Hence, the air bubble generated in the water in theice making tray 120 moves toward the surface of water not frozen yet to be discharged, thereby generating transparent ice without containing air bubble therein. - Such results can be obtained from the case using a heat pipe or a thermal transfer rod as the
ice core portion 112. That is, since one end of the heat pipe or thermal transfer rod comes into contact with the coldice making evaporator 110, the heat pipe or the thermal transfer rod is cooled within a short time. The surface of the heat pipe or the thermal transfer rod is thusly frozen, so as to rapidly freeze such water in theice making tray 120. In addition, since air bubble generated in the water in theice making tray 120 is discharged out of the surface of non-frozen water, the ice generated can have high transparency. Also, during the icing of the water in theice making tray 120, thecontainer driving unit 130 is operated to continuously shake theice making tray 120, which makes air bubble fast effectively be discharged, thereby further enhancing the transparency of ice. - Next, when the surface of the
ice core portion 112 is frozen, the direction of the firstrefrigerant converting valve 51 is changed such that a refrigerant of thecompressor 10 is guided toward thebypass pipe 62 via the second outlet. The high temperature refrigerant guided to thebypass pipe 62 is introduced into the inlet of theice making evaporator 110. The high temperature refrigerant then circulates inside eachice core portion 112 by therefrigerant guiding plate 113, thereby to increase a surface temperature of theice core portion 112 within a short time. Accordingly, the surface of theice core portion 112 and the ice are quickly separated from each other, and thereby ice is dropped in theice making tray 120. Prior to this process, by removing the water from theice making tray 120, when the ice dropped in theice making tray 120 is collected in anice storing container 200 disposed below theice making tray 120, it can be prevented that water cannot be poured together with the ice in theice storing container 200. - To this end, as shown in
FIG. 9 , the refrigeratingchamber door 4 is provided with a supply/drain unit 300 for supplying or discharging water of theice making tray 120. The supply/drain unit 300 may include awater tank 310 installed in the refrigeratingchamber door 4 for storing a certain amount of water, a water supply/drain line 320 and awater pump 330 for pumping and supplying water to theice making container 120 upon freezing water of thewater tank 310 while pumping and discharging water of theice making tray 120 upon separating ice. Awater filter 340 for filtering newly introduced water is further provided at an inlet of thewater tank 310. Adispenser line 350 for supplying water to a dispenser may further be connected in the middle of the water supply/drain line 320. A drain pipe 360 for discharging water generated when ice stored in the bottom of theice storing container 200 is melted may be connected to thewater tank 310 or to a drain tray (not shown). - In the meantime, other embodiments of the refrigerating cycle device in the refrigerator according to the present invention will now be described.
- That is, the aforementioned embodiments are implemented such that the cooling
evaporator 30 is connected to theice making evaporator 110 in parallel; however, these embodiments are implemented such that the coolingevaporator 30 is connected to theice making evaporator 110 in series. - For example, as shown in
FIG. 11 , thecompressor 10, thecondenser 20, the coolingevaporator 30 and theice making evaporator 110 are sequentially disposed to configure a closed loop. The firstrefrigerant converting valve 51 is disposed between thecompressor 10 and thecondenser 20. The second outlet of the firstrefrigerant converting valve 51 is diverged from themain pipe 61 to be connected to the inlet of theice making evaporator 110 via thebypass pipe 62. The expandingvalve 40 is installed between thecondenser 20 and the coolingevaporator 30. - Even in this case, the
ice core portions 112 formed as long as being sunk in water in theice making tray 120 is protruded from the lower surface of theice making evaporator 110, as shown inFIGS. 6 to 8 . Eachice core portion 112 is provided with arefrigerant guiding plate 113 allowing an even circulation of the refrigerant. As shown in the aforementioned embodiments, theice making tray 120 may be coupled to thecontainer driving unit 130 and simultaneously to the supply/drain unit 300. - In the refrigerant according to the above embodiment, a refrigerant discharged from the
compressor 10 is introduced into therefrigerant evaporator 30 via thecondenser 20 to generate cold air. Such cold air is supplied each to the refrigeratingchamber 2 and the freezingchamber 3 of the refrigerant main body 1, so as to keep food stored in each chamber in the fresh state. Simultaneously, the refrigerant introduced into theice making evaporator 110 via therefrigerant evaporator 30 cools theice core portion 12 of theice making evaporator 110 in a short time, so as to form ice, whereby an ice making time can drastically be decreased and transparent ice can be creased due to the removal of air bubble. On the other hand, upon separating ice, the firstrefrigerant converting valve 51 is used to introduce a high temperature refrigerant into theice making evaporator 110 via thebypass pipe 62 and thereby theice core portion 112 of theice making evaporator 110 is heated to allow a fast separation of the created ice, resulting in facilitating the separation of ice. Other components including theice core portion 112 and an operational effect thereof are the same or similar to the aforementioned embodiments, detailed explanation of which will thusly be omitted. - Also, the cooling evaporator according to this embodiment may be configured by a refrigerating
chamber evaporator 31 and a freezing chamber evaporator. In this case, the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 may be connected to the freezingchamber evaporator 32 in parallel as shown inFIGS. 12 and 13 . - Alternatively, the cooling
evaporator 30 and theice making evaporator 110 of the refrigerating cycle device in the refrigerator according to the present invention may be connected to each other in series. In this case, as shown inFIG. 14 , one cooling evaporator can be used to distribute cold air to the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber for supply. Otherwise, as shown inFIGS. 15 and 16 , the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and the freezingchamber evaporator 32 are independently disposed, so as to connect the refrigeratingchamber evaporator 31 and the freezingchamber evaporator 32 to each other in series. - The configuration of the refrigerating cycle device according to these embodiments, other configuration including the ice core portion and their operational effects are the same or similar to the aforementioned embodiments, detailed explanation of which will thusly be omitted.
- The present invention has been implemented from the perspective of examples applied to a bottom freezer type refrigerator in which a refrigerating chamber is disposed at an upper side and the freezing chamber is disposed. However, the present invention can be applied to a top mount type refrigerator having a refrigerating chamber disposed below the freezing chamber or a side-by-side type refrigerator having refrigerating chamber and freezing chamber disposed side by side. Also, the present invention can be applied to other types of ice makers using a refrigerating cycle device other than the refrigerators.
- [Pretext]
- Cooling evaporator, ice making evaporator, ice core portion, ice making tray.
Claims (31)
1. A refrigerator comprising:
a refrigerator main body having at least one chamber and at least one door for opening/closing the at least one chamber;
a compressor disposed in the refrigerant main body;
a condenser disposed in the refrigerant main body and connected to the compressor;
a cooling evaporator disposed in the refrigerant main body and connected to the condenser for supplying cold air into the at least one chamber; and
an ice making evaporator disposed in the refrigerant main body and connected to the condenser for freezing water contained in an ice making tray.
2. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the cooling evaporator is connected to the ice making evaporator in parallel.
3. The refrigerator of claim 2 , wherein the cooling evaporator is provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are connected to each other in parallel.
4. The refrigerator of claim 2 , wherein the cooling evaporator is provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are connected to each other in series.
5. The refrigerator of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of cooling evaporators are connected to each other in parallel.
6. The refrigerator of claim 3 , wherein a plurality of expanding valves are disposed between each of the cooling evaporators and the condenser.
7. The refrigerator of claim 2 , wherein a valve for restricting the flow of refrigerant is disposed at at least one portion between the condenser and the ice making evaporator or between the ice making evaporator and the compressor.
8. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the cooling evaporator is connected to the ice making evaporator in series.
9. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the cooling evaporator is provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are connected to each other in series.
10. The refrigerator of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of cooling evaporators are connected to each other in parallel.
11. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the cooling evaporator is provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are connected to each other in parallel.
12. The refrigerator of claim 11 , wherein the ice making evaporator is connected in series to one of the plurality of cooling evaporators.
13. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the ice making evaporator is disposed downstream of the cooling evaporator.
14. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the ice making evaporator is disposed upstream of the cooling evaporator.
15. The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein a plurality of expanding valves are disposed between each of the cooling evaporators and the condenser.
16. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the cooling evaporator and the ice making evaporator are connected to one condenser.
17. The refrigerator of claim 16 , wherein the one condenser to which the cooling evaporator and the ice making evaporator are connected is connected to one compressor.
18. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein a refrigerant converting valve is disposed at a discharge side of the compressor, and a bypass pipe for guiding a high temperature refrigerant upon separating ice is connected between the refrigerant converting valve and an inlet of the ice making evaporator.
19. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the ice making evaporator comprises a housing having inlet and outlet allowing introduction and discharge of a refrigerant, and at least one or more ice core portions each protruded from one side of the housing by a certain length as long as being sunk in water of the ice making tray.
20. The refrigerator of claim 19 , wherein the housing is formed in a shape of a pipe having inlet and outlet at both sides thereof, and the ice core portions are formed individually along the lengthwise direction of the housing.
21. The refrigerator of claim 20 , wherein the housing is curved at least one more times on a plane.
22. The refrigerator of claim 19 , wherein the ice core portions are integrally formed at one side surface of the housing.
23. The refrigerator of claim 22 , wherein a refrigerant guiding plate extends in a lengthwise direction inside each ice core portion, to divide the ice core portion in an approximately orthogonal direction to the flowing direction of a refrigerant such that the divided parts of each ice core portion are communicated with each other at the lower end thereof.
24. The refrigerator of claim 19 , wherein the ice core portion is attached to an outer surface of the housing.
25. The refrigerator of claim 24 , wherein the ice core portion is configured as a heat pipe or a rod formed of a material having high thermal conductivity.
26. The refrigerator of claim 19 , wherein the ice making tray is coupled to a container driving unit which shakes the ice making tray.
27. The refrigerator of claim 19 , wherein the ice making tray is configured to supply water to the same upon icing water while being coupled to a water supply/drain unit for draining water of the same upon separating ice.
28. The refrigerator of claim 27 , wherein the water supply/drain unit comprises a water tank, and water supply/drain line and water pump for pumping water of the water tank so as to supply the pumped water to the ice making tray or to drain the pumped water out of the ice making tray.
29. The refrigerator of claim 28 , wherein an ice storing container for storing ice created in the ice making tray is further provided at one side of the ice making tray, and a drain pipe for discharging water generated when ice is melted is connected to the ice storing container.
30. The refrigerator of claim 29 , wherein the drain pipe is connected to the water tank.
31. The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the ice making evaporator is disposed in a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator main body or a refrigerating chamber door.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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KR1020070133719A KR101452762B1 (en) | 2007-12-18 | 2007-12-18 | Refrigerator |
KR10-2007-0133719 | 2007-12-18 | ||
PCT/KR2008/005976 WO2009078562A1 (en) | 2007-12-18 | 2008-10-10 | Ice maker for refrigerator |
Publications (1)
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US20110185760A1 true US20110185760A1 (en) | 2011-08-04 |
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US12/808,377 Abandoned US20110185760A1 (en) | 2007-12-18 | 2008-10-10 | Ice maker for refrigerator |
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EP (1) | EP2232170B1 (en) |
KR (1) | KR101452762B1 (en) |
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WO (1) | WO2009078562A1 (en) |
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- 2008-10-10 US US12/808,377 patent/US20110185760A1/en not_active Abandoned
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- 2008-10-10 EP EP08861091.0A patent/EP2232170B1/en active Active
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US20120111049A1 (en) * | 2009-08-11 | 2012-05-10 | Sung-Kyoung Kim | Refrigerator |
US20130000334A1 (en) * | 2010-03-26 | 2013-01-03 | Hyun-Young Kim | Cold water tank |
US9897374B2 (en) * | 2010-03-26 | 2018-02-20 | Woongjin Coway Co., Ltd | Cold water tank |
US9879891B2 (en) * | 2011-02-17 | 2018-01-30 | Mahle International Gmbh | Unitary heat pump air conditioner having a compressed vapor diversion loop |
US20140190189A1 (en) * | 2011-02-17 | 2014-07-10 | Delphi Technologies, Inc. | Unitary heat pump air conditioner having a compressed vapor diversion loop |
US20120324914A1 (en) * | 2011-06-22 | 2012-12-27 | Whirlpool Corporation | Water circulation and drainage system for an icemaker |
US20120324918A1 (en) * | 2011-06-22 | 2012-12-27 | Whirlpool Corporation | Multi-evaporator refrigerator |
US8695359B2 (en) * | 2011-06-22 | 2014-04-15 | Whirlpool Corporation | Water circulation and drainage system for an icemaker |
US20140238054A1 (en) * | 2011-10-24 | 2014-08-28 | Whirlpool Corporation | Multiple evaporator control using pwm valve/compressor |
US9605884B2 (en) * | 2011-10-24 | 2017-03-28 | Whirlpool Corporation | Multiple evaporator control using PWM valve/compressor |
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US10415865B2 (en) | 2012-10-08 | 2019-09-17 | Whirlpool Corporation | Refrigerator with wet ice storage |
US20140109605A1 (en) * | 2012-10-19 | 2014-04-24 | Yi Qu | Pressure Regulation of an Air Conditioner |
US8931288B2 (en) * | 2012-10-19 | 2015-01-13 | Lennox Industries Inc. | Pressure regulation of an air conditioner |
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US10240851B2 (en) * | 2016-02-26 | 2019-03-26 | Hefei Midea Refrigerator Co., Ltd. | Refrigerator |
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US20170248357A1 (en) * | 2016-02-29 | 2017-08-31 | General Electric Company | Stand-Alone Ice Making Appliances |
US10119740B2 (en) * | 2016-04-11 | 2018-11-06 | Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Corporation | Refrigerator |
US20170292750A1 (en) * | 2016-04-11 | 2017-10-12 | Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Corporation | Refrigerator |
US20180017307A1 (en) * | 2016-07-13 | 2018-01-18 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Ice maker and refrigerator having the same |
US10539355B2 (en) * | 2016-07-13 | 2020-01-21 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Ice maker and refrigerator having the same |
US20190195543A1 (en) * | 2017-12-22 | 2019-06-27 | Electrolux Home Products, Inc. | Direct cooling ice maker |
US10539354B2 (en) * | 2017-12-22 | 2020-01-21 | Electrolux Home Products, Inc. | Direct cooling ice maker |
US11022358B2 (en) | 2017-12-22 | 2021-06-01 | Electrolux Home Products, Inc. | Direct cooling ice maker |
US11181309B2 (en) | 2017-12-22 | 2021-11-23 | Electrolux Home Products, Inc. | Direct cooling ice maker |
US11674729B2 (en) | 2017-12-22 | 2023-06-13 | Electrolux Home Products, Inc. | Direct cooling ice maker |
JP2021509944A (en) * | 2018-11-28 | 2021-04-08 | 合肥美的電冰箱有限公司Hefei Midea Refrigerator Co.,Ltd. | refrigerator |
US11098929B2 (en) * | 2019-01-10 | 2021-08-24 | Haier Us Appliance Solutions, Inc. | Fast switching multiple evaporator system for an appliance |
US11255593B2 (en) * | 2019-06-19 | 2022-02-22 | Haier Us Appliance Solutions, Inc. | Ice making assembly including a sealed system for regulating the temperature of the ice mold |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
KR20090066099A (en) | 2009-06-23 |
EP2232170A4 (en) | 2015-11-04 |
CN101903718A (en) | 2010-12-01 |
WO2009078562A1 (en) | 2009-06-25 |
KR101452762B1 (en) | 2014-10-21 |
EP2232170A1 (en) | 2010-09-29 |
EP2232170B1 (en) | 2018-10-10 |
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Owner name: LG ELECTRONICS INC., KOREA, REPUBLIC OF Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:SUH, KWANG-HA;LEE, TAE-HEE;PARK, HONG-HEE;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:024550/0685 Effective date: 20100608 |
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