ICE-MAKING ASSEMBLY OF REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

Provided is an ice-making assembly of a refrigerator. A tray is removable from a frame to improve cleaning of the tray.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an ice-making assembly of a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND ART

Refrigerators are electric home appliances, which are used for storing foods at low temperatures close to or below zero degrees Celsius according to the kinds and states of the foods.

Particularly, an ice-making assembly for making ice is installed in the refrigerator. In general, the ice-making assembly is installed to a refrigerator compartment or an inner surface of a refrigerator compartment door, or may be installed to a freezer compartment or an inner surface of a freezer compartment door according to the kinds of products.

The related art ice-making assembly includes an ice-making tray functioning as a mold for making ice, a water tank for supplying water to the ice-making tray, and an ice bank for storing ice made in the ice-making tray. In general, the water tank and the ice bank are removably coupled to the ice-making assembly, but the ice-making tray is fixed to the ice-making assembly.

This configuration makes it difficult to clean the ice-making tray.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

Embodiments provide an ice-making assembly adapted to removably couple an ice-making tray thereto.

Embodiments also provide an ice-making assembly adapted such that a space receiving the ice-making tray is selectively open to improve cleaning and maintaining of the ice-making tray.

Technical Solution

In one embodiment, an ice-making assembly of a refrigerator includes: a tray provided with a recess region for making ice; a frame receiving the tray and supporting both side ends of the tray; an ice bank on a lower side of the tray, the ice bank storing the ice made at the tray, the ice falling to the ice bank; a gear assembly at a side surface of the frame, the gear assembly rotating the tray; and a lever providing torque to the gear assembly to rotate the tray, wherein the tray is coupled to the frame such that the tray is slidingly withdrawable.

In another embodiment, an ice-making assembly of a refrigerator includes: a plurality of vertically arranged trays provided with a recess region for making ice; a frame receiving the trays and supporting both side ends of the respective trays; an ice bank on a lower side of the tray, the ice bank storing the ice made at the tray, the ice falling to the ice bank; and a gear assembly at a side surface of the frame, the gear assembly rotating the tray, wherein the trays are removably stored in the frame, and a coupling rib, receiving a rotation shaft of the gear assembly, protrudes from a side surface of each of the trays.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

Advantageous Effects

According to the embodiments, the ice-making assembly for a refrigerator, configured as described above, is adapted such that the tray, where ice is made, is selectively removed, so that the tray is easily removed when the tray is required to be cleaned.

Also, to clean the tray and the inner space of the ice-making assembly, the tray is just withdrawn with the tray door opened, without entirely disassembling the ice-making assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view illustrating an ice-making assembly for a refrigerator, which is installed to a door of the refrigerator, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an ice-making assembly for a refrigerator according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an ice-making device forming an ice-making assembly according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an ice-making device forming an ice-making assembly for a refrigerator according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG. 3.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view illustrating an ice-making assembly 10 for a refrigerator, which is installed to a refrigerator door 5, according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the ice-making assembly 10 is coupled to an inside of the refrigerator door 5. The refrigerator door 5 may be a freezer compartment door or a refrigerator compartment door.

Particularly, the ice-making assembly 10 includes an outer case 11, an ice-making device 100 stored in the outer case 11, an ice bank 200 provided on a lower side of the ice-making device 100 to store ice made in the ice-making device 100, and a water storage 300 provided on an upper side of the ice-making device 100 to store water to be supplied to the ice-making device 100. The water storage 300 and the ice bank 200 are coupled to the ice-making assembly 10 such that the water storage 300 and the ice bank 200 are slidingly withdrawable.

Operation of the ice-making assembly 10 configured as described above will now be described.

To get ice, the water storage 300 is filled with water. In this state, the water storage 300 is coupled to the ice-making assembly 10. Then, the water stored in the water storage 300 is supplied through a predetermined passage to the ice-making device 100.

Then, the water supplied to the ice-making device 100 is frozen by chilly air supplied into the ice-making device 100. When the ice has been frozen in the ice-making device 100, the ice is removed from the ice-making device 100 and stored in the ice bank 200. The ice is taken out by removing the ice bank 200 from the ice-making assembly 10.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an ice-making assembly for a refrigerator according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the ice-making device 100 forming the ice-making assembly according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the ice-making device 100 forming the ice-making assembly for a refrigerator according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, the ice-making device 100 includes trays 110 where ice is made, a frame 150 receiving the trays 110, a lever 120 rotating the trays 110, and a gear assembly coupled to an end of the tray 110 to transmit torque of the lever 120. The trays 110 are selectively withdrawn from or inserted into the frame 150.

Particularly, the trays 110 include an upper tray 112 and a lower tray 114, and the trays 110 are rotatably coupled to an inside of the frame 150.

A rotation shaft 115, rotatably coupled to the frame 150, protrudes from a side surface of each tray 110, and a coupling rib 116, illustrated in FIG. 4, coupling with the gear assembly 130 protrudes from another side surface of the tray 110. The coupling rib 116 is bent a plurality of times to form an open side, and is coupled to a shaft of the gear assembly 130 when the tray 110 is installed to the frame 150.

Also, when the upper tray 112 rotates, to prevent ice removed from the upper tray 112 from falling to the lower tray 114, the rotation shaft 115 of the lower tray 114 is coupled to the frame 150 at a position spaced a predetermined distance backward from the rotation shaft 115 of the upper tray 112.

The trays 110 are coupled to the gear assembly 130 and then rotated by the torque generated at the lever 120. The trays 110 rotate in a rotation direction of the lever 120.

The lever 120 is rotatably coupled to a side surface of the frame 150, and particularly, to a right surface of the frame 150, and thus provides the torque to the gear assembly 130. It will be appreciated that the lever 120 may be provided to a left surface of the frame 150.

The gear assembly 130 includes a driving gear 131 integrally connected to the lever 120, a connection gear rotatably engaging with the driving gear 131, and driven gears rotatably engaging with the connection gear and coupling with the coupling ribs 116 of the trays 110. The gear assembly 130 is covered against the outside by a side cover 153.

The connection gear includes an upper connection gear 133 engaging with the driving gear 131, and a lower connection gear 134 operating integrally with the upper connection gear 133. The driven gears include an upper driven gear 136 engaging with the lower connection gear 134 at one position of the lower connection gear 134 and rotating the upper tray 112, and a lower driven gear 137 engaging with the lower connection gear 134 at another position of the lower connection gear 134 and rotating the lower tray 114.

The connection gears 133 and 134, and the driven gears 136 and 137, configured as described above, are rotatably coupled to the side surface of the frame 150. Ends of the driven gears 136 and 137 pass through driven gear holes 151 and 152 provided to the side surface of the frame 150 and are coupled to the trays 110, respectively.

Thus, shafts 139 of the driven gears 136 and 137 are fitted into the coupling ribs 116 of the trays 110, respectively. In other words, when the trays 110 are horizontally inserted into the frame 150, the shafts 139 are fitted into the coupling ribs 116, so that torque of the driven gears 136 and 137 is transmitted to the trays 110. The shafts 139 have a non-circular cross section, so that the trays 110 and the driven gears 136 and 137 integrally rotate.

It will be appreciated that the coupling ribs 116 may be provided to the driven gears 136 and 137, and the shafts 139 may be provided to the trays 110.

When the lever 120 is pulled downward, the driving gear 131 rotates, and then the connection gears 133 and 134 engaging with the driving gear 131 rotate in an opposite direction to a rotation direction of the driving gear 131. Then, according to the rotating of the connection gears 133 and 134, the lower connection gear 134 rotates the driven gears 136 and 137 in the rotation direction of the driving gear 131. Then, one side surface of the frame 150, and particularly, an inner surface, opposite to the surface provided with the gear assembly 130, is provided with a rotation-limiting member limiting the rotating of the trays 110. The rotation-limiting member may be a protrusion. Particularly, the trays 110 are rotated a predetermined angle by the rotation-limiting member, and then twisted. Through the twisting of the trays 110, ice made in the tray 110 is released and falls to the ice bank 200.

Inner side surface of the frame 150, and particularly, an opposite surface to the surface provided with the gear assembly 130, is provided with shaft insertion holes into which the rotation shafts 115 of the trays 110 are inserted. The shaft insertion holes include an upper shaft insertion hole 156 into which the rotation shaft 115 of the upper tray 112 is inserted, and a lower shaft insertion hole 157 into which the rotation shaft 115 of the lower tray 114 is inserted. The lower shaft insertion hole 157 is disposed on a lower rear side of the upper shaft insertion hole 156 to prevent ice, separated from the upper tray 112, from falling to the lower tray 114.

Tray guides are recessed to a predetermined depth in the side surface of the frame 150 provided with the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157. Particularly, the tray guides have lengths ranging from a front end of the inner surface of the frame 150 to the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157. The tray guides include an upper tray guide 154 guiding movement of the rotation shaft 115 of the upper tray 112, and a lower tray guide 155 guiding movement of the rotation shaft 115 of the lower tray 110. The tray guides 154 and 155 may extend for a width greater than an outer diameter of the rotation shaft 115, and the width may decrease from the front end of the side surfaces of the frame 150 toward the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157. Accordingly, a great assembly tolerance in an initial position for installing the trays 110 improves assembling thereof, but finally, the rotation shafts 115 of the trays 110 are accurately inserted into the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157. Thus, when the trays 110 are installed to the frame 150, the trays 110 are accurately coupled to the frame 150 without an effort for maintaining high accuracy.

Catch protrusions 158 are provided to connections between the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157 and the tray guides 154 and 155, respectively. Upsides of the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157 are provided with catch ribs 170, and the catch ribs 170 are bent at least one time. Particularly, a bent portion 171 of each catch rib 170 is disposed vertically over the catch protrusion 158. A distance between the bent portion 171 and the catch protrusion 158 is designed to be smaller than the diameter of the rotation shaft 115. The catch ribs 170 are designed to have a predetermined elastic force.

According to this configuration, when the trays 110 are inserted into the frame 150, the rotation shafts 115 are guided rearward along the tray guides 154 and 155. Also, since the connections between the tray guides 154 and 155 and the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157, that is, inlets of the shaft insertion holes 156 and 157 decrease in width, a predetermined force is required to push the trays 110. Then, the catch rib 170 is slightly bent upward to increase the width of the inlet, and at the same time, the rotation shaft 115 is placed on the shaft insertion hole 156. When the rotation shaft 115 is placed on the shaft insertion hole 156, the catch rib 170 returns to its original state to decrease the inlet's width again. Thus, the rotation shaft 115 is prevented from being removed out of the upper shaft insertion hole 156 while the tray 110 rotates.

A tray door 160 is rotatably coupled to an open front surface of the frame 150. The tray door 160 is coupled to hinge-coupling parts 159, disposed in upper and lower ends of the front surface of the frame 150, so as to selectively cover the front surface of the frame 150. Thus, while ice removed from the trays 110 falls to the ice bank 200, the ice is prevented from scattering out of the ice-making assembly 10. The tray door 160 is provided with chilly air introduction holes 162 to supply chilly air to the ice-making device 100.

Hereinafter, operation of the ice-making device 100 configured as described above will now be described.

To clean an inner space of the ice-making device 100 and the trays 110, the tray door 160 is opened and the trays 110 are withdrawn. Particularly, when the trays 110 are pulled forward, the rotation shafts 115 pass by the inlets defined by the catch protrusions 158 and the bent portions 171 of the catch ribs 170 and then go out of the shaft insertion hole 156 and 157. At the same time, the shafts 139 are removed from the coupling ribs 116, and the trays 110 slide along the tray guides 154 and 155 and are withdrawn forward.

After that, the trays 110 and the inner space of the frame 150 are cleaned and installed to the frame 150. An install process of the trays 110 is reverse to the removal process.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An ice-making assembly of a refrigerator, the assembly comprising:

a tray provided with a recess region for making ice;

a frame receiving the tray and supporting both side ends of the tray;

an ice bank on a lower side of the tray, the ice bank storing the ice made at the tray, the ice falling to the ice bank;

a gear assembly at a side surface of the frame, the gear assembly rotating the tray; and

a lever providing torque to the gear assembly to rotate the tray,

wherein the tray is coupled to the frame such that the tray is slidingly withdrawable.

2. The ice-making assembly according to claim 1, wherein a rotation shaft protrudes from a side surface of the tray, and

an inner side surface of the frame is provided with a guide guiding movement of the rotation shaft, and a shaft insertion hole into which the rotation shaft is inserted.

3. The ice-making assembly according to claim 2, wherein the guide is recessed with a length ranging from a front end of the frame to the shaft insertion hole, and

the guide decreases in width toward the shaft insertion hole.

4. The ice-making assembly according to claim 2, wherein a width of an inlet of a connection between the guide and the shaft insertion hole is less than a diameter of the rotation shaft.

5. The ice-making assembly according to claim 2, wherein a catch protrusion is provided to a connection between the guide and the shaft insertion hole.

6. The ice-making assembly according to claim 5, wherein the inner side surface of the frame is provided with a catch rib defining a portion of the shaft insertion hole, and

the catch rib is provided with a bent portion bent toward the catch protrusion.

7. The ice-making assembly according to claim 6, wherein when the rotation shaft passes by the catch protrusion, the catch rib is elastically deformed.

8. The ice-making assembly according to claim 1, wherein a front surface of the frame is open, and a tray door is rotatably coupled to a front end of the frame.

9. An ice-making assembly of a refrigerator, the assembly comprising:

a plurality of vertically arranged trays provided with a recess region for making ice;

a frame receiving the trays and supporting both side ends of the respective trays;

an ice bank on a lower side of the tray, the ice bank storing the ice made at the tray, the ice falling to the ice bank; and

a gear assembly at a side surface of the frame, the gear assembly rotating the tray,

wherein the trays are removably stored in the frame, and a coupling rib, receiving a rotation shaft of the gear assembly, protrudes from a side surface of each of the trays.

10. The ice-making assembly according to claim 9, wherein the coupling rib defines an opening into which the rotation shaft is fitted, and

the gear assembly and the tray integrally rotate in a state where the coupling rib has received the rotation shaft.

11. The ice-making assembly according to claim 9, wherein the gear assembly comprises:

a driving gear coupled to an end of a lever;

a connection gear engaging with the driving gear; and

driven gears engaging with the connection gear and respectively coupled to the trays through a shaft member.

12. The ice-making assembly according to claim 11, wherein the coupling ribs selectively receive rotation shafts of the driven gears to respectively transmit torque of the driving gear to the trays.

13. The ice-making assembly according to claim 11, wherein the gear assembly rotates the trays in a same direction.

14. The ice-making assembly according to claim 11, wherein a rotation shaft of the driven gear has a non-circular cross section.

15. The ice-making assembly according to claim 11, wherein the connection gear comprises:

an upper connection gear engaging with the driving gear; and

a lower connection gear engaging with the driven gear and integrally provided with the upper connection gear.

16. The ice-making assembly according to claim 9, further comprising a cover covering the gear assembly.

17. The ice-making assembly according to claim 9, wherein a rotation shaft of one of the trays, provided on a lower side, is horizontally spaced from a rotation shaft of another of the trays, provided on an upper side.

18. The ice-making assembly according to claim 9, wherein a rotation shaft of one of the trays, provided on a lower side, is spaced a predetermined distance rearward from a rotation shaft of another of the trays, provided on an upper side.