U.S. patent application number 11/176335 was filed with the patent office on 2006-03-23 for refrigerator having a shaved ice supplying device.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Jae Koog An, Ji Hoon Kim.
Application Number | 20060059939 11/176335 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36072454 |
Filed Date | 2006-03-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060059939 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
An; Jae Koog ; et
al. |
March 23, 2006 |
Refrigerator having a shaved ice supplying device
Abstract
The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a shaved
ice supplying device which includes an ice shaver for pulverizing
ice cubes supplied from an ice storing box into shaved ice, and
with a passageway structure for distributing the ice. The
refrigerator comprises an ice supplying device to supply ice cubes,
an ice shaver to pulverize the ice cubes, supplied from the ice
supplying device, into shaved ice, and a dispenser adapted to allow
the ice cubes supplied from the ice supplying device to be directly
dispensed while allowing the shaved ice pulverized by the ice
shaver to be dispensed.
Inventors: |
An; Jae Koog; (Kwangju-City,
KR) ; Kim; Ji Hoon; (Cheju-Si, 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: |
36072454 |
Appl. No.: |
11/176335 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/344 ;
62/320 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25C 2400/08 20130101;
F25C 5/046 20130101; F25C 5/22 20180101; F25C 2400/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
062/344 ;
062/320 |
International
Class: |
F25C 5/02 20060101
F25C005/02; F25C 5/18 20060101 F25C005/18; F25D 23/12 20060101
F25D023/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 22, 2004 |
KR |
2004-75997 |
Claims
1. A refrigerator, comprising: an ice supplying device to supply
ice cubes; an ice shaver to pulverize the ice cubes, supplied from
the ice supplying device, into shaved ice; and a dispenser adapted
to allow the ice cubes supplied from the ice supplying device to be
directly dispensed while allowing the shaved ice pulverized by the
ice shaver to be dispensed.
2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the dispenser
comprises: an ice cube dispensing part to allow the ice cubes to be
dispensed; and a shaved ice dispensing part to allow the shaved ice
to be dispensed, wherein the ice cube dispensing part and the
shaved ice dispensing part are separately provided in the
dispenser.
3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprising: an
ice feeding passageway branched such that the ice supplied from the
ice supplying device is selectively supplied to the ice cube
dispensing part and the shaved ice dispensing part through the ice
feeding passageway.
4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the ice feeding
passageway comprises: an ice cube passageway to guide the ice to
the ice cube dispensing part; a shaved ice passageway to guide the
ice to the shaved ice dispensing part; and a passageway-changing
member provided at a branch point in the ice feeding passageway to
selectively open or close the ice cube passageway and the shaved
ice passageway at the branch point.
5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, further comprising a
motor to drive the passageway-changing member.
6. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the ice shaver is
positioned in the shaved ice passageway.
7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice shaver
comprises: a housing having a cutter therein to pulverize the ice;
and a feeding part to feed the ice to the cutter.
8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the feeding part
comprises a rotor rotatably positioned in the housing and having at
least one spiral-shaped plate, and a motor to drive the rotor.
9. A refrigerator, comprising: a cabinet to define at least one
storage chamber therein; an ice supplying device provided to the
storage chamber to supply ice cubes; at least one door to open or
close the storage chamber; a dispenser provided to an outer surface
of the door to allow the ice to be dispensed; and an ice shaver
positioned in the door to pulverize the ice cubes supplied from the
ice supplying device into shaved ice.
10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein the dispenser
comprises: an ice cube dispensing part to allow the ice cubes to be
dispensed; and a shaved ice dispensing part to allow the shaved ice
to be dispensed, wherein the ice cube dispensing part and the
shaved ice dispensing part are separately provided in the
dispenser, and the door comprises an ice feeding passageway
branched such that the ice supplied from the ice supplying device
is selectively supplied to the ice cube dispensing part and the
shaved ice dispensing part.
11. The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein the ice feeding
passageway comprises: an ice cube passageway to guide the ice to
the ice cube dispensing part; and a shaved ice passageway to guide
the ice to the shaved ice dispensing part wherein the ice shaver is
positioned in the shaved ice passageway.
12. The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein the ice feeding
passageway further comprises: a passageway-changing member provided
at a branch point in the ice feeding passageway to selectively open
or close the ice cube passageway and the shaved ice passageway.
13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, further comprising a
motor to drive the passageway-changing member.
14. A refrigerator comprising: a door to open and close the
refrigerator, the door comprising: an ice dispenser to selectively
supply ice cubes and shaved ice; an ice cube passageway and a
shaved ice passageway to separately feed the ice cubes and the
shaved ice to the ice dispenser; and an ice shaver positioned in
the shaved ice passageway to crush the ice when shaved ice is to be
supplied from the ice dispenser.
15. The refrigerator of claim 14, wherein the ice dispenser
comprises: an ice cube dispensing part to supply the ice cubes; and
a shaved ice dispensing part to supply the shaved ice.
16. The refrigerator of claim 14, further comprises: a
passageway-changing member provided at a branch point within the
door, to selectively open and close the ice cube passageway and the
shaved ice passageway.
17. The refrigerator of claim 16, further comprising a motor to
drive the passageway-changing member.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 2004-75997, filed on Sep. 22, 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 a refrigerator equipped
with a shaved ice supplying device, and, more particularly, to a
refrigerator, which is provided with an ice shaver to pulverize ice
cubes supplied from an ice storing box to shaved ice, and with a
passageway structure for distributing the ice.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Recently, according to an increase of demand for large-sized
refrigerators, side-by-side refrigerators have been actively
developed to meet this demand.
[0006] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional side-by-side
refrigerator comprises a cabinet 1 defining at least one storage
chamber therein, and doors 2 and 3 hinged at one side of the doors
to front sides of the cabinet, respectively, to open or close the
storage chambers. The interior of the cabinet 1 is partitioned into
two storage chambers (i.e., a left side storage chamber and a right
side storage chamber), by means of a vertical partition wall.
Generally, the left side storage chamber serves as a freezing
compartment, and the right side storage chamber serves as a
refrigerating compartment.
[0007] The left side door 2 to open or close the freezing
compartment is provided, at the front side thereof, with a
dispenser 4 adapted to provide ice or water without opening the
door 2, and the right side door 3 to open or close the
refrigerating compartment is provided, at the front side thereof,
with a home-bar 5 adapted to provide a beverage container and the
like without opening the door 3.
[0008] The ice supplied from the dispenser 4 is of a cubic shape,
and is directly supplied from an ice tray. Accordingly, there is an
inconvenience in that, in order to make shaved ice and ice
beverages using such ice cubes, the ice cubes must be pulverized by
means of an additional ice shaver.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention is to
provide a refrigerator including a shaved ice supplying device, and
an ice distributing structure in order to supply various shapes of
ice according to needs of a user.
[0010] 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.
[0011] The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing
a refrigerator including an ice supplying device to supply ice
cubes, an ice shaver to pulverize the ice cubes, supplied from the
ice supplying device, into shaved ice, and a dispenser adapted to
allow the ice cubes supplied from the ice supplying device to be
directly dispensed while allowing the shaved ice pulverized by the
ice shaver to be dispensed.
[0012] The dispenser may include an ice cube dispensing part to
allow the ice cubes to be dispensed, and a shaved ice dispensing
part to allow the shaved ice to be dispensed, wherein the ice cube
dispensing part and the shaved ice dispensing part are separately
provided in the dispenser.
[0013] The refrigerator may further include an ice feeding
passageway branched such that the ice supplied from the ice
supplying device is selectively supplied to the ice cube dispensing
part and the shaved ice dispensing part through the ice feeding
passageway.
[0014] The ice feeding passageway may include an ice cube
passageway to guide the ice to the ice cube dispensing part, a
shaved ice passageway to guide the ice to the shaved ice dispensing
part, and a passageway-changing member provided at a branch point
in the ice feeding passageway to selectively open or close the ice
cube passageway and the shaved ice passageway at the branch
point.
[0015] The refrigerator may further include a motor to drive the
passageway-changing member.
[0016] The ice shaver may be positioned in the shaved ice
passageway.
[0017] The ice shaver may include a housing equipped with a cutter
to pulverize the ice, and a feeding part to feed the ice to the
cutter.
[0018] The feeding part may include a rotor rotatably positioned in
the housing and having at least one spiral-shaped plate, and a
motor to drive the rotor.
[0019] It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a
refrigerator including a cabinet to define at least one storage
chamber therein, an ice supplying device provided to the storage
chamber to supply ice cubes, at least one door to open or close the
storage chamber, a dispenser provided to an outer surface of the
door to allow ice to be dispensed, and an ice shaver to pulverize
the ice cubes supplied from the ice supplying device to shaved
ice.
[0020] The dispenser may include an ice cube dispensing part to
allow the ice cubes to be dispensed, and a shaved ice dispensing
part to allow the shaved ice to be dispensed, wherein the ice cube
dispensing part and the shaved ice dispensing part being separately
provided in the dispenser, and the door may be provided with an ice
feeding passageway branched such that the ice supplied from the ice
supplying device is selectively supplied to the ice cube dispensing
part and the shaved ice dispensing part.
[0021] The ice feeding passageway may include an ice cube
passageway to guide the ice to the ice cube dispensing part, and a
shaved ice passageway to guide the ice to the shaved ice dispensing
part, wherein the ice shaver may be positioned in the shaved ice
passageway.
[0022] The ice feeding passageway may include a passageway-changing
member positioned at a branch point in the ice feeding passageway,
to selectively open or close the ice cube passageway and the shaved
ice passageway.
[0023] The refrigerator may further include a motor to drive the
passageway-changing member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention
will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the
following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings, of which:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a
conventional side-by-side refrigerator;
[0026] FIG. 2 is a side sectional elevation illustrating an
interior of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a front sectional view illustrating main
components of the refrigerator of FIG. 2;
[0028] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the part A of FIG. 2; and
[0029] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an ice
shaver of the refrigerator of FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0030] 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 the
like elements throughout the drawings. The embodiments are
described below to explain the present invention by referring to
the figures.
[0031] FIG. 2 is a side sectional elevation illustrating the
interior of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the
present invention, and FIG. 3 is a front sectional view
illustrating a main component of the refrigerator of FIG. 2.
[0032] In FIGS. 2 and 3, a refrigerator according to an embodiment
of the present invention includes a cabinet 11 defining at least
one storage chamber 10 therein, and at least one door 12 hinged to
a front side of the cabinet to open or close the storage chamber
10. The cabinet 11 and the door 12 are made of a thermally
insulated wall to shield heat transfer from the outside.
[0033] The storage chamber 10 includes a plurality of shelves 13 to
locate food containers and the like thereon, and having a plurality
of drawers 14 to store vegetables, fruits, and the like therein.
The storage chamber 10 includes an evaporator 15 at a rear side of
an upper portion thereof, as a component of a typical cooling cycle
to cool the storage chamber 10. The door 12 is provided, at an
inside surface thereof facing the storage chamber 10, and includes
a plurality of door guards 16 to place beverage cans or bottles
therein.
[0034] A machinery chamber 17 is formed at a rear side of a lower
portion of the cabinet 11 to operate the refrigerator, and includes
a compressor 18 as a component of the typical cooling cycle
necessary to operate the refrigerator.
[0035] The door 12 is provided at an outer surface thereof with a
dispenser 20, which allows ice to be easily dispensed without
opening the door 12. An ice supplying device 30 is provided at an
upper portion of the storage chamber 10, and supplies the ice to
the dispenser 30.
[0036] The ice chamber 30 includes an ice tray 31 to freeze water
into ice having a predetermined size and shape, a water supplying
pipe 32 to supply water to the ice tray 31, an ice storing box 33
located below the ice tray 31 to store ice cubes frozen in the ice
tray 31, a spiral-shaped feeding spring 34 to feed the ice from the
ice storing box 33 to the dispenser 20 of the door 12, and a motor
35 to drive the feeding spring 34. The front end of the ice storing
box 33 is opened downwardly to form an ice exit 33a, through which
the ice is supplied to the dispenser 20.
[0037] The dispenser 20 includes an ice cube dispensing part 21 to
allow the ice cubes supplied from the ice supplying device 30 to be
directly dispensed, and a shaved ice dispensing part 22 to allow
shaved ice to be dispensed after pulverizing the ice cubes supplied
from the ice supplying device 30 to the shaved ice. The ice cube
dispensing part 21 and the shaved ice dispensing part 22 are
operating levers, which are subjected to an operation for drawing
out the ice.
[0038] An ice feeding passageway 23 is formed in the door 12 from a
portion below the ice exit 33a of the ice supplying device 30, and
branched into the ice cube dispensing part 21 and the shaved ice
dispensing part 22 therein. The ice feeding passageway 23 consists
of an ice cube passageway 23a connected to the ice cube dispensing
part 21, and a shaved ice passageway 23b connected to the shaved
ice dispensing part 22.
[0039] A passageway-changing member 24 is positioned at a branch
point in the ice feeding passageway 23 to selectively guide the ice
supplied from the ice supplying device 30 to the ice cube
passageway 23a or to the shaved ice passageway 23b. The
passageway-changing member 24 is hingably positioned in the ice
feeding passageway 23 with one side thereof acting as a rotational
shaft. When the passageway-changing member 24 is positioned at the
location "a" of FIG. 3, the ice cube passageway 23a is closed while
the shaved ice passageway 23b is opened, and when the
passageway-changing member 24 is positioned at the location "b" of
FIG. 3, the ice cube passageway 23a is opened while the shaved ice
passageway 23b is closed. In FIG. 4, a driving shaft of a motor 25
for driving the passageway-changing member 24 is connected to one
end of the rotational shaft of the passageway-changing member
24.
[0040] An ice shaver 40 is positioned on the shaved ice passageway
23b to pulverize the ice cubes supplied from the ice supplying
device 30 into shaved ice.
[0041] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the construction of the ice
shaver 40 will now be described as follows. The ice shaver 40 is
embedded in the door 12, and includes a cup-shaped housing 41
having a convex bottom, a rotor 42 rotatably positioned within the
housing 41, and a motor 43 to drive the rotor 42.
[0042] The housing 41 is opened at an upper portion thereof such
that the rotor 42 can be inserted thereto, and provided at the
center thereof with a cylindrical rotational shaft 41b extending
from the bottom 41a of the housing 41. A slit 41c is radially
formed on the bottom 41a of the housing 41 to discharge the
pulverized shaved ice, and is connected at one side thereof to a
cutter 41d for pulverizing the ice. A guide 41e having a
predetermined length is formed below the slit 41c to guide the
shaved ice provided into the slit 41c to the shaved ice dispensing
part 22.
[0043] The rotor 42 is positioned in the housing 41 to be rotated
therein. The rotor 42 includes a central portion 42a having a bore
formed therein to allow the rotational shaft 41b of the housing 41
to be inserted into the bore, a cylindrical surrounding portion 42b
spaced a predetermined distance from the central portion 42a, and a
spiral-shaped intermediate plate 42c provided between the central
portion 42a and the surrounding portion 42b. When the rotor 42 is
rotated in the direction of the arrow, the intermediate plate 42c
serves to feed the ice cubes toward the cutter 41d while
compressing the ice cubes against the bottom 41a of the housing 41.
As a result, the ice cubes is pulverized into the shaved ice by the
cutter 41d fixed to the bottom 41a of the housing 41, and is then
discharged to the slit 41c as the pulverized ice.
[0044] A predetermined gear 42d is formed around an outer
peripheral surface at an upper portion of the surrounding portion
42b of the rotor 42, and is engaged with a pinion 44 rotated by a
driving motor 43.
[0045] Operation for obtaining the ice from the refrigerator
according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be
described.
[0046] When a user wants to obtain ice cubes from the dispenser 20
of the refrigerator, the ice cube dispensing part 21 is pushed by
means of a container, such as a cup, and then the motor 35 of the
ice supplying device 35 is operated to allow the ice cubes to be
discharged from the ice storing box 33 through the ice exit 33a.
The ice cubes discharged through the ice exit 33a is dropped into
the ice feeding passageway 23. The passageway-changing member 24
provided at the branch point in the ice feeding passageway 23 is
converted to the location b of FIG. 3, and the ice cubes discharged
through the ice exit 33a passes through the ice cube passageway
23a, and is then supplied to the dispenser 20.
[0047] When the user wants to obtain shaved ice from the dispenser
20 of the refrigerator, the shaved ice dispensing part 22 is
operated. Similar to the case of obtaining the ice cubes from the
refrigerator, the motor 35 of the ice supplying device 35 is
operated to allow the ice cubes to be discharged from the ice
storing box 33 through the ice exit 33a. The passageway-changing
member 24 is driven by the motor 25, and is converted to the
location a of FIG. 3, where the ice cube passageway 33a is closed
while the shaved ice passageway 23b is opened, thereby allowing the
ice to be fed to the ice shaver 40. In the ice shaver 40, the rotor
42 driven by the motor 43 moves the ice cubes dropped into the
rotor 42 downward. Then, the ice cubes moved downward is pulverized
into shaved ice by means of the cutter 41d while being rotated on
the bottom 41a of the housing 41 in a state of being compressed by
the rotor 42. The shaved ice is discharged to the slit 41c, and is
then supplied to the dispenser 20.
[0048] As apparent from above description, according to the present
invention, there is an advantageous effect in that, as the
refrigerator is provided with the ice shaver for supplying shaved
ice, and the ice distributing structure for dispensing the ice,
various shapes of ice can be supplied according to needs of the
user.
[0049] Although a few embodiments of the invention 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 invention, the scope of which
is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *