U.S. patent application number 11/165242 was filed with the patent office on 2006-02-16 for icemaker.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Jae-seung Lee, Kook-jeong Seo, Won-jae Yoon.
Application Number | 20060032262 11/165242 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36076748 |
Filed Date | 2006-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060032262 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Seo; Kook-jeong ; et
al. |
February 16, 2006 |
Icemaker
Abstract
An icemaker to freeze water into ice, includes an ice cube tray
formed with cubes to be filled with the water. The icemaker also
includes an ultrasonic vibrator attached to the ice cube tray, to
apply ultrasonic vibration to the ice cube tray to undulate the
water filled in the cubes. Thus, air included in water filled in
cubes of an ice cube tray is uniformly removed.
Inventors: |
Seo; Kook-jeong; (Seoul,
KR) ; Lee; Jae-seung; (Hwasung-si, KR) ; Yoon;
Won-jae; (Seoul, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STAAS & HALSEY LLP
SUITE 700
1201 NEW YORK AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO.,
LTD.
Suwon-si
KR
|
Family ID: |
36076748 |
Appl. No.: |
11/165242 |
Filed: |
June 24, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/340 ;
62/353 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25C 1/10 20130101; F25C
1/20 20130101; F25C 2305/022 20130101; F25C 5/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
062/340 ;
062/353 |
International
Class: |
F25C 1/00 20060101
F25C001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 12, 2004 |
KR |
2004-63617 |
Claims
1. An icemaker to freeze water into ice, comprising: an ice cube
tray formed with cubes to be filled with the water; and an
ultrasonic vibrator attached to the ice cube tray, to apply
ultrasonic vibration to the ice cube tray to undulate the water
filled in the cubes.
2. The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic
vibrator is attached to an outer side of the ice cube tray.
3. The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic
vibrator is detachably provided in the ice cube tray.
4. The icemaker according to claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic
vibrator is detachably provided in the ice cube tray.
5. The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic
vibrator is plurally provided in the ice cube tray.
6. An icemaker, comprising: an ice cube tray formed with a
plurality of cubes to be filled with water; a driver coupled to the
ice cube tray, to rotate the ice cube tray; a stopper to contact
one end of the rotated ice cube tray, to cause the ice cube tray to
be twisted; a supporting bracket to support the ice cube tray and
driver; an ice reservoir placed under the ice cube tray, to receive
ice released from the ice cube tray; and an ultrasonic vibrator
coupled to the ice cube tray, to vibrate the ice cube tray and
undulate the water filled in the cubes.
7. The icemaker according to claim 6, further comprising: a
rotational shaft provided in the driver; a driver coupling groove
coupled with a rotational shaft of the driver; and a motor provided
in the driver, to generate a rotational force, wherein the
rotational shaft connects the motor with the driver coupling groove
and transfers the rotational force from the motor to the ice cube
tray, rotating the ice cube tray at a predetermined angle.
8. The icemaker according to claim 7, further comprising: a
supporting shaft stably and rotatably supported in the supporting
bracket.
9. The icemaker according to claim 8, wherein the supporting
bracket comprises: a supporting shaft coupling groove at one side
of the supporting bracket to which the supporting shaft is coupled
and supported, the supporting bracket being connected to the ice
cube tray and the driver.
10. The icemaker according to claim 6, wherein the stopper is
provided in one side of the supporting bracket, to stop one side of
the ice cube tray from rotating, twisting the ice cube tray.
11. The icemaker according to claim 6, wherein the driver drives
the ice cube tray to rotate in a state in which one side of the ice
cube tray is supported by the stopper, one side of the ice cube
tray is stopped by the stopper, and an other side continues to
rotate, twisting the ice cube tray.
12. The icemaker according to claim 6, wherein the ultrasonic
vibrator is detachably provided in the ice cube tray.
13. The icemaker according to claim 6, wherein the ultrasonic
vibrator is plurally provided in the ice cube tray.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 2004-63617, filed on Aug. 12, 2004, in the Korean
Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to an icemaker, and more
particularly, to an icemaker having an improved structure of an
ultrasonic vibrator.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Generally, an icemaker is used to freeze water into ice, and
is widely employed in household appliances such as a refrigerator
and a water purifier. Quality of the icemaker is determined
according to transparency and strength of ice made thereby.
[0006] A conventional icemaker includes an ice cube tray, a water
supply to supply water into the ice cube tray, and a driver to
twist the ice cube tray to release the ice from the ice cube tray.
The conventional icemaker also includes an ice reservoir to receive
the ice fallen from the ice cube tray and an air removing unit to
remove air from water filled in the ice cube tray.
[0007] When an icemaking process begins, the water is frozen at a
surface thereof. Thus, the air included in the water cannot be
discharged from the water. The air included in the ice deteriorates
the transparency and the strength of the ice, thereby causing the
ice to be easily broken when the ice is released from the ice cube
tray. To solve this problem, there has been used a method of
undulating the water filled in the ice cube tray. An icemaker,
which undulates the water filled in the ice cube tray includes a
reciprocating unit to reciprocate the ice cube tray or an
ultrasonic vibrator to directly vibrate the water. The icemaker
including the reciprocating unit and ultrasonic vibrator are
disclosed in Korean Patent Application Nos. 1995-18572 and
2001-26283, respectively.
[0008] A structure of the reciprocating unit is complicated and
difficult to install. Also, efficiency of removing the air from
water filled in the ice cube tray is not good.
[0009] The structure of the ultrasonic vibrator is relatively
simple. However, ultrasonic vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator is
not uniformly applied to the water filled in the ice cube tray and
partitioned into a plurality of cubes. Thus, the efficiency of
removing the air from water filled in the ice cube tray is not
uniform.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to
provide an icemaker in which air included in water filled in cubes
of an ice cube tray is uniformly removed.
[0011] Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will
be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part,
will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice
of the invention.
[0012] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention
are also achieved by providing an icemaker to freeze water into
ice. The icemaker includes an ice cube tray formed with cubes to be
filled with the water, and an ultrasonic vibrator attached to the
ice cube tray, to apply ultrasonic vibration to the ice cube tray
to undulate the water filled in the cubes.
[0013] According to an aspect of the present invention, the
ultrasonic vibrator is attached to an outer side of the ice cube
tray.
[0014] According to an aspect of the present invention, the
ultrasonic vibrator is detachably provided in the ice cube
tray.
[0015] According to an aspect of the present invention, the
ultrasonic vibrator is plurally provided in the ice cube tray.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from
the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction
with the accompany drawings of which:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an icemaker, according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the icemaker of
FIG. 1;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an operation of
the icemaker of FIG. 1; and
[0020] FIG. 4 is a plan view of an ice cube tray of the icemaker of
FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of
the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to
like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in
order to explain the present invention by referring to the
figures.
[0022] As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, an icemaker according to an
embodiment of the present invention includes an ice cube tray 20
formed with a plurality of cubes 22, a driver 30 coupled with the
ice cube tray 20, to rotate the ice cube tray 20, and a stopper 40
cto contact one end of the rotated ice cube tray 20 to cause the
ice cube tray 20 to be twisted. The icemaker also includes a
supporting bracket 50 to support the ice cube tray 20 and the
driver 30, an ice reservoir 60 placed under the ice cube tray 20 to
receive ice released from the ice cube tray 20, and an ultrasonic
vibrator 70 coupled to the ice cube tray 20, to vibrate the ice
cube tray 20.
[0023] The ice cube tray 20 has a rectangular shape, and its
opposite sides thereof are provided with a driver coupling groove
24 to be coupled with a rotating shaft (not shown) of the driver
30. The ice cube tray 20 also includes a supporting shaft 26 to be
stably and rotatably supported in the supporting bracket 50.
[0024] The plurality of cubes 22 of the ice cube tray 20 are
arranged along longitudinal and transverse directions, allowing the
ice cube tray 20 to make a plurality of ice pieces. Ice may be
released from the cube 22 when the driver 30 rotates and twists the
ice cube tray 20.
[0025] The driver 30 includes a motor (not shown) to generate a
rotational force. The driver 30 also includes the rotating shaft
(not shown) to connect the motor with the driver coupling groove 24
and to transfer the rotational force from the motor to the ice cube
tray 20, rotating the ice cube tray 20 at a predetermined angle.
The driver 30 may be selected among well-known drivers.
[0026] The stopper 40 is provided in one side of the supporting
bracket 50, to stop one side of the ice cube tray 20 from rotating,
twisting the ice cube tray 20. A shape and position of the stopper
may vary as long as the ice cube tray 20 is supported and
twisted.
[0027] The supporting bracket 50 is connected to the ice cube tray
20 and the driver 30. The supporting bracket 50 has a supporting
shaft coupling groove 52 at one side to which the supporting shaft
26 of the ice cube tray 20 is coupled and supported.
[0028] The ultrasonic vibrator 70 vibrates the ice cube tray 20 and
indirectly undulates water filled in the cubes 22 of the ice cube
tray 20, discharging air from the water. Thus, the air is uniformly
removed from the water filled in the cubes 22 of the ice cube tray
20.
[0029] The ultrasonic vibrator 70 is attached to an outer side of
the ice cube tray 20. A position of the ultrasonic vibrator may
vary as long the ice cube tray vibrates. Further, the ultrasonic
vibrator may be plurally provided as necessary.
[0030] Also, the ultrasonic vibrator may be detachably provided in
the ice cube tray 20. Therefore, when the quality of the ice is not
important, for example, when a shattered ice is needed, the
ultrasonic vibrator may be detached from the ice cube tray 20.
[0031] According to the configuration above, operations of the
icemaker will be described hereinbelow with respect to FIG. 3.
[0032] First, the cubes 22 of the ice cube tray 20 is filled with
water supplied from a water supply. Then, the water filled in the
cubes 22 is frozen into the ice by driving a freezing unit (not
shown). While the water is frozen into the ice, the ultrasonic
vibrator 70 vibrates the ice cube tray 20, discharging the air from
the water.
[0033] After the water is frozen in to the ice, the driver 30
drives the ice cube tray 20 in order to release the ice from the
cubes 22. The ice cube tray 20 rotates at a predetermined angle and
contacts the stopper 40 provided in one side of the supporting
bracket 50.
[0034] The driver 30 continues to drive the ice cube tray 20 to
rotate in a state in which one side of the ice cube tray 20 is
supported by the stopper 40, one side of the ice cube tray 20 is
stopped by the stopper 40 and the other side thereof continues to
rotate, thereby twisting the ice cube tray 20. Thus, the ice is
released from the cubes 22 and fallen into the ice reservoir 60
placed under the ice cube tray 20.
[0035] In the above-described embodiment, the ultrasonic vibrator
70 is applied to the icemaker to twist the ice cube tray 20 and to
release the ice from the ice cube tray 20. However, the ultrasonic
vibrator may be applied to the icemaker including a heater and an
ice releasing blade to release the ice from the ice cube tray. In
this case, the ultrasonic vibrator should be placed such that the
ultrasonic vibrator is not affected by the heater.
[0036] As described above, the present invention provides an
icemaker in which an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to an ice cube
tray, so that the ultrasonic vibrator is easily installed and air
is uniformly discharged from water filled in cubes of the ice cube
tray, enhancing the transparency and the strength of the ice.
[0037] Although a few embodiments of the present invention have
been shown and described, it will 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 invention, the
scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their
equivalents.
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