Ice maker and refrigerator having the same

Abstract

Disclosed herein are an ice maker and a refrigerator having the same. The ice maker includes an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells, a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray, a plurality of blades corresponding to the plurality of ice making cells to block the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twist the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated, and a protrusion formed on the ice making tray to assist the removal of the ice cubes from the ice making cells. The ice maker removes the ice cubes from the ice making tray by a twisting-type deicing process using the plurality of blades and the protrusion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2009-0056482, filed on Jun. 24, 2009 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments relate to an ice maker, which has an improved deicing performance and applies both indirect refrigeration-type and direct refrigeration-type cooling methods, and a refrigerator having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, storage chambers to store various foods in an optimal state for a long time are provided in a refrigerator. The storage chambers include a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, which are divided from each other. Recently, a refrigerator, in which an ice maker to make ice cubes is provided in a storage chamber, has been developed.

Ice makers are divided into an indirect refrigeration-type ice maker, which makes ice cubes using cool air circulating in a freezing chamber, and a direct refrigeration-type ice maker, which makes ice cubes using a refrigerant pipe of a refrigerating cycle. Each of these ice makers includes an ice making tray containing water to make ice cubes, an ejector to remove the ice cubes from the ice making tray, and a storage container to store the ice cubes removed by the ejector.

Deicing methods in the ice maker having the above structure are divided into a heating type and a twisting type. Here, in the heating type deicing method, a heater installed at the lower end of the ice making tray made of aluminum heats the ice making tray and thus melts the surfaces of ice cubes, and then the ejector is rotated and thus removes the ice cubes from the ice making tray. In the twisting type deicing method, the ice making tray made of plastic is twisted and thus removes ice cubes from the ice making tray.

However, the heating type deicing method uses the high-capacity heater in a deicing process, and thus has a high power consumption rate and causes a rise in the temperature of an ice making chamber or a storage chamber.

Further, the twisting type deicing method uses the ice making tray made of plastic, and thus causes a difficulty in application to an ice maker including an ice making tray made of aluminum.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is one aspect to provide an ice maker, which has an improved deicing performance and applies both indirect refrigeration-type and direct refrigeration-type cooling methods, and a refrigerator having the same.

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a refrigerator including a plurality of storage chambers, and an ice maker disposed in one of the storage chambers to make ice cubes, and the ice maker includes an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells to receive water to make the ice cubes, a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray, a plurality of blades corresponding to the ice making cells to remove the ice cubes from the ice making cells, and a protrusion formed on the ice making tray to assist the removal of the ice cubes from the ice making cells.

The protrusion may be protruded inwardly from the end of one side of the ice making tray.

The protrusion may have at least one of a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, and a hemispherical shape.

The plurality of blades may block the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twist the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated.

At least one of the plurality of blades may have a different length. As the plurality of blades becomes distant from the driving unit, the plurality of blades may have a longer length. Blades, corresponding to the ice making cells formed at both ends of the ice making tray, may have a shorter length than those of other blades.

At least one of the plurality of blades may be formed at a different angle from the remaining blades. The ice maker may further include a cooling unit to freeze water supplied to the ice making tray. The cooling unit may include a heat exchanger and an air blower unit to supply cool air to the ice maker.

The cooling unit may include an ice making pipe, along which a refrigerant flows so as to freeze water supplied to the ice making cells directly into the ice cubes, and a cooling case to accommodate the ice making pipe.

The plurality of blades may be disposed above the ice making tray, and be fixed to the cooling case.

At least one part of the cooling case may be disposed in the ice making cells.

The foregoing and/or other aspects may be achieved by providing an ice maker of a refrigerator including an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells, to which water is supplied, a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray, a cooling unit to convert the water supplied to the ice making tray into ice cubes, a plurality of blades fixed to the cooling unit and corresponding to the ice making cells to remove the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated, and a protrusion to assist the removal of the ice cubes from the ice making cells formed at the upper end of one side of each of the respective ice making cells.

The protrusion may be protruded inwardly from the end of one side of the ice making tray. The protrusion may have at least one of a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, and a hemispherical shape. The plurality of blades may block the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twist the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated.

The cooling unit may include a heat exchanger and an air blower unit to supply cool air to the ice maker. The cooling unit may include an ice making pipe, along which a refrigerant flows so as to freeze water supplied to the ice making cells directly into the ice cubes, and a cooling case to accommodate the ice making pipe.

The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing an ice maker of a refrigerator including an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells, to which water is supplied, a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray, a cooling unit to convert water supplied to the ice making tray into ice cubes, an ejector fixed to one side surface of the cooling unit corresponding to the ice making cells, and a protrusion formed at the upper end of one side of each of the respective ice making cells of the ice making tray, wherein the protrusion is formed at a side of each of the respective ice making cells opposite another side of each of the respective ice making cells, where the ejector is disposed.

The protrusion may be protruded inwardly from the end of one side of the ice making tray. The protrusion may have at least one of a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, and a hemispherical shape. The plurality of blades may block the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twist the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the overall appearance of a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal-sectional view of a freezing chamber of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an ice maker of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views illustrating ejectors of the ice maker of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an ice making tray shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are partially enlarged views of FIG. 6; and

FIGS. 8A to 8C are views illustrating a deicing process of the ice maker of the refrigerator in accordance with the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator includes a main body 10 forming the external appearance of the refrigerator, and storage chambers are formed in the main body 10. The storage chambers are divided from each other by a diaphragm 15, and the left storage chamber serves as a freezing chamber 30 and the right storage chamber serves as a refrigerating chamber 20.

A heat exchanger 34 and an air blower fan 35, which generate cool air and supply the cool air to each of the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30, are installed at the rear portion of each of the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30. Further, a machinery chamber 36, in which a compressor and a condenser to compress a refrigerant, condense the compressed refrigerant, and transmit the condensed refrigerant to the heat exchanger 34 are installed, is provided at the lower region of the rear portion of the main body 10.

Doors 21 and 31 to selectively open and close the insides of the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30 are respectively installed at the front surfaces of the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30. Plural guards 22 and 32 to receive food are installed in multiple stages on the rear surfaces of the respective doors 21 and 31, and reception members 23 and 33, such as plural racks and drawers, are installed in the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30. Shelves 11, 12 are also installed in the refrigerating chamber 21 and freezing chamber, respectively.

The refrigerator further includes an ice maker 100 installed in the freezing chamber 30 to make ice cubes, an ice bank 40 to store the ice cubes made by the ice maker 100, and a dispenser 50 to discharge the ice cubes from the ice bank 40 to the front surface of the door 31. Although the term ice ‘cubes’ is used, the shape of the ice is not necessarily cubical. The ice bank 40 and the dispenser 50 are the same as those which are conventionally used and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Recently, a refrigerator having an ice making chamber provided in a refrigerating chamber has been placed on the market, and the embodiment may be applied to the ice making chamber of such a refrigerator.

The ice maker 100 includes a support frame 110 installed at the upper portion of the inside of the freezing chamber 30. As shown in FIG. 3, an ice making tray 120, a driving unit 130 to rotate the ice making tray 120, a cooling unit 140 to make ice cubes in the ice making tray 120, and an ejector 150 to remove the ice cubes from the ice making tray 120 are mounted on the support frame 110.

First, plural ice making cells 121 having a semicircular shape, which contain water supplied from the outside through a water supply pipe to make ice cubes, are formed on the ice making tray 120. In order to twist the ice making tray 120 to remove the ice cubes from the respective ice making cells 120, the ice making tray 120 made of plastic is more effective. Further, a protrusion 123 to assist the removal of the ice is formed on one side of the upper end of the ice making tray 120, and a detailed description thereof will be given later.

The driving unit 130 includes a driving motor 131 to rotate the ice making tray 120. The driving unit 130 is journalled to the ice making tray 120, as shown in FIG. 3, and serves to rotate the ice making tray 120 in the support frame 110 according to the rotation of the driving motor 131. The driving unit 130 further includes an ice fullness sensing lever 133 to sense whether or not the ice bank 40 is completely filled with ice cubes.

The cooling unit 140 includes an ice making pipe 143 extended from the heat exchanger 34 such that a refrigerant flows along the ice making pipe 143, and a cooling case 141 to accommodate the ice making pipe 143. The ice making pipe 143, along which the refrigerant flows, as described above, serves to convert water supplied to the ice making tray 120 directly into ice cubes. The lower end of the cooling case 141, as shown in FIG. 3, is formed in a semicircular shape, and a designated part of the lower end of the cooling case 141 is disposed in the respective ice making cells 121 of the ice making tray 120.

The ejector 150, as shown in FIG. 3, includes a support member 151 mounted on one side of the cooling case 141, and plural blades 153 extended from the support member 151 to correspond to the respective ice making cells 121. The plural blades 153 serve to block the ice cubes made in the respective ice making cells 121 and thus remove the ice cubes from the respective ice making cells 121, when the ice making tray 120 is rotated.

In order to twist the ice making tray 120 when the ice making tray 120 is rotated, the plural blades 153 are extended from the support member 151 such that at least one of the plural blades 153 has a different length. As the blades 153 become distant from the driving unit 130, the blades 153 have a longer length. That is, in the embodiment, when the ice making tray 120 is rotated, the ice cubes made in the respective ice making cells 121 are sequentially blocked by the blades 153, which are distant from the driving unit 130, thereby twisting the ice making tray 120 and thus removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells 121.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the blades 153a, corresponding to the ice making cells 121 formed at both ends of the ice making tray 120, among the plural blades 153 may have a shorter length than those of other blades 153. An ice making speed of the ice making cells 121 formed at both ends of the ice making tray 120 is slower than that at other ice making cells 121. Therefore, in order to uniformly maintain the ice making speed of the respective ice making cells 121, this structure allows the ice making cells 121 formed at both ends of the ice making tray 120 to make an ice cube having a smaller size than that of other ice making cells 121. For this reason, the ice making cells 121 formed at both ends of the ice making tray 120 may have a smaller size than that of other ice making cells 121.

Further, in order to twist the ice making tray 120 when the ice making tray 120 is rotated, secondary blades 153′ may be formed at different angles, as shown in FIG. 5.

Ice cubes made in the respective ice making cells 121 are attached to the lower end of the cooling case 141. Therefore, when the ice cubes made in the respective ice making cells 121 are removed from the ice making cells 121, the ice cubes are separated from the lower end of the cooling case 141 as well as from the ice making cells 121.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, the protrusion 123 to separate the ice cubes from the lower end of the cooling case 141 is formed on the ice making tray 120. The protrusion 123 is protruded from one side of the upper end of the ice making tray 120 toward the center of the ice making tray 120, and although the ice cubes 140 are not separated from the cooling unit 140 at an initial stage of the deicing process, the ice cubes 140 are separated from the cooling unit 140 by the protrusion 123 when the ice making tray 120 is rotated by more than a designated angle.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, the protrusion 123a, 123b, or 123c may be formed in a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, or a hemispherical shape. Here, the protrusion 123a, 123b, or 123c is protruded by a designated length so that the ice cubes are not rotated together with the rotation of the ice making tray 120 if the ice cubes receive more than a specific load when the ice making tray 120 is rotated.

Although this embodiment exemplarily describes the direct refrigeration-type ice maker, in which ice cubes are made in the ice making tray 120 by the cooling unit 140 provided with the ice making pipe 143, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that an indirect refrigeration-type ice maker, in which ice cubes are made in the ice making tray 120 by cool air generated by the heat exchanger 34 and the air blower fan 35, may be employed. Of course, in case of the indirect refrigeration-type ice maker, the protrusion 123 need not be formed on the ice making tray 120.

Hereinafter, the operation and effects of the refrigerator in accordance with the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In order to make ice cubes, water is supplied to the respective ice making cells 121 of the ice making tray 120, as shown in FIG. 8A. After water is supplied to the ice making cells 121, a refrigerant flows along the ice making pipe 143 of the cooling unit 140, and when a designated time has elapsed, water in the respective ice making cells 121 is frozen and thus converted into ice cubes having a designated size.

After the ice cubes are made in the ice making tray 120, the ice cubes are removed from the ice making tray 120 and are dropped into the ice bank 40. Now, a deicing process of the ice making tray 120 will be described in detail. First, as shown in FIG. 8B, the ice making pipe 143 is controlled such that the refrigerant does not flow along the ice making pipe 143, and the ice making tray 120 is rotated by operating the driving unit 130. When the ice making tray 120 is rotated, the ice cubes formed in the respective ice making cells 121 are also rotated.

If the ice making tray 120 is rotated by more than a designated angle, the ice cubes are blocked by the fixed plural blades 153 above the ice making tray 120. Here, the plural blades 153 are configured such that as the blades 153 become distant from the driving unit 130, the blades 153 have a longer length. Thereby, the ice cubes distant from the driving unit 130 sequentially contact the blades 153. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8C, when the ice making tray 120 is rotated, the ice making tray 120 is twisted by the plural blades 153, thereby separating the ice cubes from the ice making cells 121.

Further, during the deicing process of the ice making cells 121, the ice cubes are easily separated from the cooling unit 140 as well as from the ice making cells 121 so as to improve a deicing performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the ice making tray 120 is rotated by more than a designated angle, the ice cubes are separated from the cooling unit 140, i.e., the lower end of the cooling case 141, by the protrusion 123 formed on the ice making tray 120.

Accordingly, since the ice cubes are removed from the ice making tray 120 and the cooling unit 140 by the plural blades 153 and the protrusion 123 of the ice making tray 120, this embodiment improves a deicing performance as compared with a heating-type deicing process. Moreover, in case that the deicing process of this embodiment is used together with the heating-type deicing process, deicing may be more effectively achieved.

Further, although this embodiment describes the twisting-type deicing process using the plural blades 153, the embodiment may be applied to both a direct refrigeration-type ice maker using a cooling unit and an indirect refrigeration-type ice maker using cool air.

As is apparent from the above description, in an ice maker and a refrigerator having the same in accordance with one embodiment, a twisting-type deicing process using plural blades when an ice making tray is rotated is applied and thus a deicing performance is improved, and both a direct refrigeration-type ice maker using a cooling unit and an indirect refrigeration-type ice maker using cool air are applied.

Although a few embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the embodiments, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising:

a plurality of storage chambers; and

an ice maker disposed in one of the storage chambers to make ice cubes, the ice maker including:

an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells to receive water to make the ice cubes;

a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray;

a plurality of blades corresponding to the ice making cells to remove the ice cubes from the ice making cells; and

a protrusion formed on the ice making tray to assist the removal of the ice cubes from the ice making cells.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is protruded inwardly from an end of one side of the ice making tray.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the protrusion has at least one of a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, and a hemispherical shape.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of blades blocks the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twists the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the plurality of blades has a different length.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein respective lengths of the blades increase with distance from the driving unit.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein blades, corresponding to the ice making cells formed at both ends of the ice making tray have a shorter length than other ones of the blades.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of blades is circumferentially offset from the other blades.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice maker further includes a cooling unit to freeze the water supplied to the ice making tray.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein the cooling unit includes a heat exchanger and an air blower unit to supply cool air to the ice maker.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein the cooling unit includes an ice making pipe, along which a refrigerant flows to thereby freeze the water supplied to the ice making cells directly into the ice cubes, and a cooling case to accommodate the ice making pipe.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of blades is disposed above the ice making tray, and is fixed to the cooling case.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein at least one part of the cooling case is disposed in the ice making cells.

14. An ice maker of a refrigerator, comprising:

an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells, to which water is supplied;

a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray;

a cooling unit to convert the water supplied to the ice making tray into ice cubes;

a plurality of blades fixed to the cooling unit and corresponding to the ice making cells to remove the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated; and

a protrusion to assist the removal of the ice cubes from the ice making cells formed at the upper end of one side of each of the respective ice making cells.

15. The ice maker according to claim 14, wherein the protrusion is protruded inwardly from the end of one side of the ice making tray.

16. The ice maker according to claim 15, wherein the protrusion has at least one of a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, and a hemispherical shape.

17. The ice maker according to claim 14, wherein the plurality of blades blocks the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twists the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated.

18. The ice maker according to claim 14, wherein the cooling unit includes a heat exchanger and an air blower unit to supply cool air to the ice maker.

19. The ice maker according to claim 14, wherein the cooling unit includes an ice making pipe, along which a refrigerant flows to thereby freeze the water supplied to the ice making cells directly into the ice cubes, and a cooling case to accommodate the ice making pipe.

20. An ice maker of a refrigerator, comprising:

an ice making tray including a plurality of ice making cells, to which water is supplied;

a driving unit to rotate the ice making tray;

a cooling unit to convert water supplied to the ice making tray into ice cubes;

an ejector fixed to one side surface of the cooling unit corresponding to the ice making cells; and

a protrusion formed at the upper end of one side of each of the respective ice making cells of the ice making tray,

wherein the protrusion is formed at a side of each of the respective ice making cells opposite another side of each of the respective ice making cells, where the ejector is disposed.

21. The ice maker according to claim 20, wherein the protrusion is protruded inwardly from the end of one side of the ice making tray.

22. The ice maker according to claim 20, wherein the protrusion has at least one of a pyramidal shape, a columnar shape, and a hemispherical shape.

23. The ice maker according to claim 20, wherein the plurality of blades blocks the ice cubes made in the ice making cells and thus twists the ice making tray while removing the ice cubes from the ice making cells when the ice making tray is rotated.