APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING ICE FOR A REFRIGERATOR

An apparatus for making ice for a refrigerator unit including: an ice making compartment configured to accommodate an ice tray and to store ice therein; a first cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of at least one side surface of the ice making compartment; and a first refrigerant pipe configured to move a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration cycle, wherein at least one side surface of the ice tray comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate, and the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate that is directed to an outside of the ice making room.

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Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of the Republic of Korea Patent Application Serial Number 10-2015-0085074, having a filing date of Jun. 16, 2015, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a refrigerator, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for making ice for a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND

A refrigerator unit is an apparatus intended to store food items at low temperatures. The refrigerator unit may store foods in a frozen or refrigerated state according to the type of food intended to be stored.

The interior of the refrigerator unit is cooled by cold air that is constantly supplied. The cold air is constantly generated through a heat exchanging operation with a refrigerant based on a refrigeration cycle. The cycle includes a process of compression, condensation, expansion, evaporation. The cold air supplied to the inside of the refrigerator unit is evenly transferred to the inside of the refrigerator by convection to store food, drink, and other items in the refrigerator at a desired temperature.

Generally, a main body of the refrigerator has a rectangular, parallelepiped shape which is open at a front surface. The front surface may provide access to a refrigeration chamber and a freezer chamber located within the body of the refrigerator unit. Further, hinged doors may be fitted to the front side of the main body in order to selectively open and/or close openings to the refrigeration chamber and freezer chamber. In addition, multiple drawers, shelves, receiving boxes, and the like may be provided in the refrigeration chamber and the freezer chamber within the refrigerator unit that are configured for optimally storing various foods, drinks, and other items within a storage space inside the refrigerator unit.

Traditionally, refrigerator units were configured as a top mount type refrigerator in which a freezer chamber is positioned above a refrigeration chamber. Recently, bottom freezer type refrigerator units position the freezer chamber below the refrigeration chamber to enhance user convenience. In the bottom freezer type refrigerator unit, the more frequently used refrigeration chamber is advantageously positioned at the top so that a user may conveniently access the refrigeration chamber without bending over at the waist, as previously required by the top mount type refrigerator unit. The less frequently used freezer chamber is positioned at the bottom.

However, since the freezer chamber is positioned at the lower portion, a bottom freeze type refrigerator unit may lose its design benefits when a user wants to access the lower freezer chamber on a more frequent basis. For example, prepared ice that is stored in the freezer chamber may be a popular item accessed frequently by a particular user. In a bottom freeze type refrigerator unit, since the freezer chamber is positioned below the refrigeration chamber, the user would have to bend over at the waist in order to open the freezer chamber door to access the ice.

In order to solve such a problem, bottom freezer type refrigerators may include a dispenser configured for dispensing ice that is provided in a refrigeration chamber door. In this case, the ice dispenser is also positioned at the upper portion of the refrigerator unit, and more specifically is located above the freezer chamber. In this case, an ice machine for generating ice may be provided in the refrigeration chamber door or in the interior of the refrigeration chamber.

An ice making method for the ice machine may be classified into two types: indirect cooling and direct cooling. An indirect cooling type makes ice by cooling an ice tray that contains water by forced convection supplying cold air to the ice machine. A direct cooling type makes ice by allowing a refrigerant pipe to come into direct contact with the ice tray or water. The indirect cooling type has a drawback in that the cooling speed is lower than that of the direct cooling type. In contrast, the direct cooling type ice making method has an advantage that its cooling speed is quite higher than that of the indirect cooling type ice making method. However, since the refrigerant pipe is arranged in an ice making room in the direct cooling type, the structure of the ice making room becomes complicated. As such, it becomes difficult to manufacture a refrigerator unit following the direct cooling type. Also, because of the complexity, it is difficult to perform work in the ice making room. The difficult manufacturing process severely affects the manufacturing rate of building a direct cooling type refrigerator unit, and also causes the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator unit to be increased. Further, since the refrigerant pipe is arranged inside the ice making room, storage capacity of the ice making room is reduced to that extent.

SUMMARY

In view of the above, embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and a method for making ice for a refrigerator unit that is capable of improving the rate of making ice, which improves ice making speed and increases the amount of ice made in a period. Further, embodiments of the present invention provide a compact apparatus for making ice through the arrangement of a refrigerant pipe on the outside of an ice making compartment.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for making ice for a refrigerator unit. The apparatus may include an ice making compartment configured to accommodate an ice tray and to store ice therein; a first cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of at least one side surface of the ice making compartment; and a first refrigerant pipe configured to move a refrigerant that is circulated by a cooling cycle. At least one side surface of the ice tray comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate. Also, the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate, that surface being directed to an outside of the ice making compartment.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method for making ice for a refrigerator includes: providing a refrigerant that is circulated by a cooling cycle to a first refrigerant pipe; transferring cold air by heat conduction from the first refrigerant pipe to a first cooling plate, wherein the first cooling plate forms at least a portion of at least one side surface of an ice making compartment; transferring the cold air by heat conduction from the first cooling plate to at least one side surface of an ice tray that comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate; and generating ice in the ice tray by the cold air, wherein the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate, that surface being directed to an outside of the ice making compartment.

In accordance with another embodiment, a refrigerator is disclosed and includes a freezer chamber located within a main body of the refrigerator, and a refrigeration chamber located within the main body of the refrigerator. The refrigerator includes an apparatus for making ice. The apparatus includes an ice making compartment configured to accommodate an ice tray and to store ice therein; a first cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of at least one side surface of the ice making compartment; and a first refrigerant pipe configured to move a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration cycle. At least one side surface of the ice tray comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate, and the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate that is directed to an outside of the ice making compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification and in which like numerals depict like elements, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the apparatus for making ice illustrated in FIG. 2, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the various embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While described in conjunction with these embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the disclosure to these embodiments. On the contrary, the disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, functions, constituents, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects and/or features of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator unit 1, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator unit 1 may include a main body 2 having therein a food storage space, and is configured for forming an external appearance or exterior. A barrier 4 is configured for partitioning the food storage space formed in the interior cavity of main body 2, used for storing food and drink contained therein, into a refrigeration chamber R at the top thereof, and a freezer chamber F at the bottom thereof. One or more doors may be configured to selectively isolate the interiors of the chambers from the surrounding environment. For example, refrigeration chamber doors 3 are provided at both front edges of a front surface of the main body 2, and are configured through rotation thereof for selectively shielding the refrigeration chamber R through contact in part with sides of the refrigerator unit. A freezer chamber door 5 is configured for shielding a front opening portion of the freezer chamber F.

In this embodiment, although the apparatus 10 for making ice is illustrated as being provided on one side of an upper portion of the refrigeration chamber R, the location is provided merely for illustration purposes only. Alternatively, the apparatus 10 for making ice may be installed in different position within the interior of the refrigeration chamber R, or at a different position, such as the refrigeration chamber door 3, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus for making ice for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An apparatus 10 for making ice for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an ice making compartment 120 and a refrigerant pipe 160. The ice making compartment is provided in a case 110 that is configured to form the external appearance of the refrigerator unit 1, in one embodiment. The refrigerant pipe 160 is configured to circulate a refrigerant implementing a cooling or refrigeration cycle. The ice making compartment 120 accommodates an ice tray 130 that generates ice, and stores the ice that is generated.

A portion of the ice making compartment 120 may be made from metal having high thermal conductivity. Specifically, at least a portion of at least a side surface of the ice making compartment 120 may be composed of a cooling plate 140 that is made of a material having high thermal conductivity. For example, the cooling plate 140 may be made from aluminum.

The refrigerant pipe 160 is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the cooling plate 140, that surface being directed to an outside of the ice making compartment 120. The refrigerant pipe 160 is attached to the outside surface of the cooling plate 140 by an aluminum tape 170. The other surface of the cooling plate 140, being directed to an inside of the ice making compartment 120, comes in direct contact with at least one side surface of the ice tray 130. As shown, the refrigerant pipe 160 and the cooling plate 140 are in direct contact with each other. Also, the cooling plate 140 and the side surface of the ice tray 130 are in direct contact with each other. As a result, cold air that is generated by the refrigerant pipe 160 is transferred to the cooling plate 140 by thermal conduction, and the cold air, transferred from the refrigerant pipe, is further transferred to the ice tray 130 that comes in contact with the cooling plate 140. Accordingly, water that is contained in the ice tray 130 gradually becomes frozen by the cold air that is directly transferred through the refrigerant pipe 160, the cooling plate 140, and the side surface of the ice tray 130.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side surface 150 of the ice making compartment 120. As shown, only the portion of the side surface 150 that comes in contact with the side surface of the ice tray 130 may be composed of the cooling plate 140.

However, according to another embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 3, one side surface of the ice making compartment 120, that comes in contact with the ice tray 130, may be entirely composed of a cooling plate 140′. In this case, the cold air of the refrigerant pipe 160 is transferred by heat conduction through a portion of the cooling plate 140′ that comes in direct contact with the ice tray 130. In addition, the cold air of the refrigerant pipe 160 is transferred by thermal convection to the ice tray 130 through a part of the cooling plate 140′ that does not come in contact with the ice tray 130. As such, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 of the apparatus 10 for making ice is capable of achieving a higher ice making speed, when compared to the ice making speed of the apparatus 10 for making ice of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the apparatus 10 for making ice illustrated in FIG. 2, in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the apparatus 10 for making ice includes a refrigerant pipe 160 that is configured on the outside of the ice making compartment 200. By arranging the refrigerant pipe 160 on the outside of the ice making compartment 120, an internal structure of the ice making compartment 120 can be simplified, and the storage capacity of the ice making compartment 120 can be increased.

Further, since the existing cold air supply ducts that are used to supply the cold air to the ice making compartment 120 can be removed, productivity of manufacturing units can be improved through the reduction of components of a refrigerator unit. Also, because there are less components, the manufacturing cost of a refrigerator unit is lowered.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus 10 for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to the embodiments as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a part or the whole of one side surface 150 of the ice making compartment 120 is composed of the cooling plate 140 or 140′. In FIG. 5, the apparatus 10 for making ice includes an upper surface adjacent to the side surface of the ice making compartment 120 as illustrated in FIG. 5, wherein at least a portion of the upper surface of the ice making compartment 120 may be composed of a cooling plate 145.

As shown in FIG. 5, a refrigerant pipe 165 may also be attached to the cooling plate 145 that forms at least a portion of the upper surface of the ice making compartment 120. In one embodiment, the refrigerant pipe 165 may be attached to one of opposing surfaces of the cooling plate 145, that surface being directed to the outside of the ice making compartment 120. The refrigerant pipe 165 may be attached by aluminum tape 170.

In addition, the cooling plate 145 that forms at least a portion of the upper surface of the ice making compartment 120 may also be made of a material having high thermal conductivity. For example, the cooling plate 145 may be made from aluminum.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The structures and features of the components of the apparatus 10 for making ice as described above in FIGS. 2 and 3 will now be described in relation to the flow diagram of FIG. 6 illustrating a method for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for making ice includes providing a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration or cooling cycle to a first refrigerant pipe 160 (S210); transferring cold air by heat conduction from the first refrigerant pipe 160 to a first cooling plate 140, wherein the first cooling plate forms at least a portion of at least one side surface of an ice making compartment 120 (S220); transferring the cold air by heat conduction from the first cooling plate 140 to at least one side surface of an ice tray 130 that comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate 140 (S230); and generating ice in the ice tray 130 using the cold air (S240). More particularly, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first refrigerant pipe 160 is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate 140, that surface being directed to the outside of the ice making compartment 120.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for making ice, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The structures and features of the components of the apparatus 10 for making ice as described above in FIG. 5 will now be described in relation to the flow diagram of FIG. 7 illustrating a method for making ice according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for making ice includes providing a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration or cooling cycle to a first refrigerant pipe 160 (S310); transferring cold air by heat conduction from the first refrigerant pipe 160 to a first cooling plate 140 that forms at least a portion of at least one side surface of an ice making compartment 120 (S320); transferring the cold air by heat conduction from the first cooling plate 140 to at least one side surface of an ice tray 130 that comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate 140 (S330); providing the refrigerant that is circulated by the refrigeration or cooling cycle to a second refrigerant pipe 160 (S340); transferring the cold air by heat conduction from the second refrigerant pipe 160 to a second cooling plate 140 that forms at least a part of an upper surface of the ice making compartment 120 (S350); transferring the cold air by thermal convection from the second cooling plate 140 into the ice making compartment 120 (S360); and generating ice in the ice tray 130 using the cold air that is transferred from the first cooling plate 140 and the second cooling plate 140 (S370). In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the first refrigerant pipe 160 is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate 140, that surface being directed to the outside of the ice making compartment 120. Also, the second refrigerant pipe 165 is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the second cooling plate 145, that surface being is directed to the outside of the ice making compartment 120.

According to the method for making ice of FIG. 7, the ice is generated by the cold air that is transferred by heat conduction from the first cooling plate 140 to the ice tray 130, and the cold air that is transferred by thermal convection from the second cooling plate 145 to the ice making compartment 120. As such, the advantages of both the direct cooling type ice making method and the indirect cooling type ice making method can be used.

As described above, the apparatus and the method for making ice for a refrigerator according to the embodiments of the present invention can improve the speed of making ice, and increase the amount of ice made within a period of time.

Further, since the refrigerant pipe is arranged on the outside of the ice making compartment, the apparatus for making ice can be simplified.

Also, since a apparatus for making ice is more compact due to the outside location of the refrigerant piping, the storage capacity of the apparatus for making ice and/or the refrigerator unit can be increased.

Further, since cold air supply ducts for supplying the cold air to the ice making compartment are not required, thereby lessening the number of components and the complexity of a refrigerator unit, productivity of manufacturing refrigerator units can be improved. Also, because the improved refrigerator unit has less components and is less complex, the cost of manufacturing the refrigerator unit is lessened.

While the present invention has been described with respect to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be understood that a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may substitute and change components without any limitation and these substitutions and changes also belong to the scope of the present invention. The illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. It should be construed that the present invention has the widest range in compliance with the basic idea disclosed in the invention. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Although it is possible for those skilled in the art to combine and substitute the disclosed embodiments to embody the other types that are not specifically disclosed in the invention, they do not depart from the scope of the present invention as well. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention. Further, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/or illustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied as desired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or described herein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps do not necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated or discussed. The various example methods described and/or illustrated herein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustrated herein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.

Embodiments according to the invention are thus described. While the present disclosure has been described in particular embodiments, it should be appreciated that the invention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments.

Claims

1. An apparatus for making ice for a refrigerator, comprising;

an ice making compartment configured to accommodate an ice tray and to store ice therein;
a first cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of at least one side surface of the ice making compartment; and
a first refrigerant pipe configured to move a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration cycle,
wherein at least one side surface of the ice tray comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate, and the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate that is directed to an outside of the ice making compartment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first refrigerant pipe is fixed to the first cooling plate by an aluminum tape.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first cooling plate is made of a material having high thermal conductivity.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first cooling plate is made of aluminum.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a second cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of an upper surface of the ice making compartment; and
a second refrigerant pipe configured to move the refrigerant that is circulated by the refrigeration cycle,
wherein the second refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the second cooling plate that is directed to the outside of the ice making compartment.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second refrigerant pipe is fixed to the second cooling plate by an aluminum tape.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second cooling plate is made of a material having high thermal conductivity.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second cooling plate is made of aluminum.

9. A method for making ice for a refrigerator, comprising:

providing a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration cycle to a first refrigerant pipe;
transferring cold air by heat conduction from the first refrigerant pipe to a first cooling plate that forms at least a portion of at least one side surface of an ice making compartment;
transferring the cold air by heat conduction from the first cooling plate to at least one side surface of an ice tray that comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate; and
generating ice in the ice tray using the cold air,
wherein the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate that is directed to an outside of the ice making compartment.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing the refrigerant that is circulated by the cooling cycle to a second refrigerant pipe;
transferring cold air by heat conduction from the second refrigerant pipe to a second cooling plate that forms at least a part of an upper surface of the ice making compartment; and
transferring the cold air by heat conduction from the second cooling plate into the ice making compartment,
wherein the second refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the second cooling plate that is directed to the outside of the ice making compartment.

11. A refrigerator, comprising:

a freezer chamber located within a main body of the refrigerator;
a refrigeration chamber located within the main body of the refrigerator; and
an apparatus for making ice, wherein the apparatus comprises: an ice making compartment configured to accommodate an ice tray and to store ice therein; a first cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of at least one side surface of the ice making compartment; and a first refrigerant pipe configured to move a refrigerant that is circulated by a refrigeration cycle, wherein at least one side surface of the ice tray comes in direct contact with the first cooling plate, and the first refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the first cooling plate that is directed to an outside of the ice making compartment.

12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the first refrigerant pipe is fixed to the first cooling plate by an aluminum tape.

13. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the first cooling plate is made of a material having high thermal conductivity.

14. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the first cooling plate is made of aluminum.

15. The refrigerator of claim 13, further comprising:

a second cooling plate configured to form at least a portion of an upper surface of the ice making compartment; and
a second refrigerant pipe configured to move the refrigerant that is circulated by the refrigeration cycle,
wherein the second refrigerant pipe is attached to one of opposing surfaces of the second cooling plate that is directed to the outside of the ice making compartment.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second refrigerant pipe is fixed to the second cooling plate by an aluminum tape.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second cooling plate is made of a material having high thermal conductivity.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second cooling plate is made of aluminum.

Patent History
Publication number: 20160370054
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 27, 2015
Publication Date: Dec 22, 2016
Inventor: Sung Jin YANG (Seoul)
Application Number: 14/838,140
Classifications
International Classification: F25C 1/04 (20060101); F25D 17/02 (20060101); F25D 23/00 (20060101); F25C 1/24 (20060101);