U.S. patent application number 12/808377 was filed with the patent office on 2011-08-04 for ice maker for refrigerator.
This patent application is currently assigned to LG Electronics Inc.. Invention is credited to Tae-Hee Lee, Joon-Hwan Oh, Hong-Hee Park, Kwang-Ha Suh.
Application Number | 20110185760 12/808377 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40795667 |
Filed Date | 2011-08-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110185760 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Suh; Kwang-Ha ; et
al. |
August 4, 2011 |
ICE MAKER FOR REFRIGERATOR
Abstract
Disclosed is an ice maker for a refrigerator. The ice maker is
further provided with an ice making evaporator in addition to an
evaporator for cooling a refrigerating chamber of a freezing
chamber, and the ice making evaporator is sunk in water to generate
ice, thereby quickly creating transparent ice. The ice maker can
also be disposed in the refrigerating chamber or a refrigerating
chamber door, thus to prevent ice from being formed with air bubble
remaining in water, resulting in enhancing transparency of ice. In
addition, even if the ice maker is disposed in the refrigerating
chamber door, cold air is not needed to be induced from the
freezing chamber, which allows independent operations of the
freezing chamber and the ice maker, thereby increasing energy
efficiency.
Inventors: |
Suh; Kwang-Ha; (Seoul,
KR) ; Lee; Tae-Hee; (Seoul, KR) ; Park;
Hong-Hee; (Seoul, KR) ; Oh; Joon-Hwan; (Seoul,
KR) |
Assignee: |
LG Electronics Inc.
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
40795667 |
Appl. No.: |
12/808377 |
Filed: |
October 10, 2008 |
PCT Filed: |
October 10, 2008 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/KR2008/005976 |
371 Date: |
April 4, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/344 ;
62/340 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25B 5/00 20130101; F25C
1/24 20130101; F25C 1/08 20130101; F25D 11/022 20130101; F25C 5/10
20130101; F25B 41/22 20210101; Y02P 60/85 20151101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/344 ;
62/340 |
International
Class: |
F25C 5/18 20060101
F25C005/18; F25C 1/00 20060101 F25C001/00; F25C 1/24 20060101
F25C001/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 18, 2007 |
KR |
10-2007-0133719 |
Claims
1. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator main body having at
least one chamber and at least one door for opening/closing the at
least one chamber; a compressor disposed in the refrigerant main
body; a condenser disposed in the refrigerant main body and
connected to the compressor; a cooling evaporator disposed in the
refrigerant main body and connected to the condenser for supplying
cold air into the at least one chamber; and an ice making
evaporator disposed in the refrigerant main body and connected to
the condenser for freezing water contained in an ice making
tray.
2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the cooling evaporator is
connected to the ice making evaporator in parallel.
3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the cooling evaporator is
provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are
connected to each other in parallel.
4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the cooling evaporator is
provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are
connected to each other in series.
5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the plurality of cooling
evaporators are connected to each other in parallel.
6. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein a plurality of expanding
valves are disposed between each of the cooling evaporators and the
condenser.
7. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein a valve for restricting the
flow of refrigerant is disposed at at least one portion between the
condenser and the ice making evaporator or between the ice making
evaporator and the compressor.
8. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the cooling evaporator is
connected to the ice making evaporator in series.
9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the cooling evaporator is
provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are
connected to each other in series.
10. The refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the plurality of cooling
evaporators are connected to each other in parallel.
11. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the cooling evaporator is
provided in plurality, and the plurality of cooling evaporators are
connected to each other in parallel.
12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the ice making evaporator
is connected in series to one of the plurality of cooling
evaporators.
13. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the ice making evaporator
is disposed downstream of the cooling evaporator.
14. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the ice making evaporator
is disposed upstream of the cooling evaporator.
15. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein a plurality of expanding
valves are disposed between each of the cooling evaporators and the
condenser.
16. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the cooling evaporator and
the ice making evaporator are connected to one condenser.
17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the one condenser to
which the cooling evaporator and the ice making evaporator are
connected is connected to one compressor.
18. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein a refrigerant converting
valve is disposed at a discharge side of the compressor, and a
bypass pipe for guiding a high temperature refrigerant upon
separating ice is connected between the refrigerant converting
valve and an inlet of the ice making evaporator.
19. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the ice making evaporator
comprises a housing having inlet and outlet allowing introduction
and discharge of a refrigerant, and at least one or more ice core
portions each protruded from one side of the housing by a certain
length as long as being sunk in water of the ice making tray.
20. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein the housing is formed in
a shape of a pipe having inlet and outlet at both sides thereof,
and the ice core portions are formed individually along the
lengthwise direction of the housing.
21. The refrigerator of claim 20, wherein the housing is curved at
least one more times on a plane.
22. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein the ice core portions are
integrally formed at one side surface of the housing.
23. The refrigerator of claim 22, wherein a refrigerant guiding
plate extends in a lengthwise direction inside each ice core
portion, to divide the ice core portion in an approximately
orthogonal direction to the flowing direction of a refrigerant such
that the divided parts of each ice core portion are communicated
with each other at the lower end thereof.
24. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein the ice core portion is
attached to an outer surface of the housing.
25. The refrigerator of claim 24, wherein the ice core portion is
configured as a heat pipe or a rod formed of a material having high
thermal conductivity.
26. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein the ice making tray is
coupled to a container driving unit which shakes the ice making
tray.
27. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein the ice making tray is
configured to supply water to the same upon icing water while being
coupled to a water supply/drain unit for draining water of the same
upon separating ice.
28. The refrigerator of claim 27, wherein the water supply/drain
unit comprises a water tank, and water supply/drain line and water
pump for pumping water of the water tank so as to supply the pumped
water to the ice making tray or to drain the pumped water out of
the ice making tray.
29. The refrigerator of claim 28, wherein an ice storing container
for storing ice created in the ice making tray is further provided
at one side of the ice making tray, and a drain pipe for
discharging water generated when ice is melted is connected to the
ice storing container.
30. The refrigerator of claim 29, wherein the drain pipe is
connected to the water tank.
31. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the ice making evaporator
is disposed in a refrigerating chamber of the refrigerator main
body or a refrigerating chamber door.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to an ice maker employed in a
refrigerator.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] In recent time, large-sized refrigerators are provided with
ice makers therein for making ice pieces. The ice maker is
configured such that a certain amount of water supplied in an ice
making tray is iced by applying cold air and then the ice in the
tray is carried to an ice storing container for storage.
[0003] In such ice maker, the ice making tray is disposed under a
condition having an ice point (freezing point) lower than 0.degree.
C., such as a freezing chamber, so as to freeze water by cold air.
Hence, a portion where cold air first reaches starts to be iced,
and such icing is advanced toward a central direction. For example,
the is surface of the water which is first contacted by its
surrounding cold air start to be iced to form a core of ice. Such
icing is in progress toward the center of the water once the core
of ice is formed, thereby generating ice eventually.
[0004] However, the related art ice maker is configured to be
disposed in the freezing chamber to freeze water using cold air
cooling the freezing chamber or configured to freeze water by
inducing cold air of the freezing chamber to a refrigerating
chamber door even if it is installed in the refrigerating chamber
door. Accordingly, a loss occurs due to a convection heat transfer,
which lowers icing speed.
[0005] Furthermore, water supplied to the ice making tray contains
a certain amount of air. Such air is separated from the water
during the process of freezing the water in the ice making tray, so
as to exist in the form of air bubble. However, as mentioned above,
during the icing process, the surface of water is first frozen by
the cold air of the freezing chamber. As a result, such air bubble
in the water is not discharged outwardly but remains, which causes
a generation of opaque ice.
DISCLOSURE
Technical Solution
[0006] Therefore, to solve the problems of the related art ice
maker for a refrigerator, an object of the present invention is to
provide an ice maker for a refrigerator capable of enhancing an
icing speed.
[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide an ice
maker for a refrigerator capable of facilitating the generation of
transparent ice by allowing air bubble separated from water during
an icing process to be quickly discharged out of the water.
[0008] To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with
the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly
described herein, there is provided a refrigerator including: a
refrigerator main body having at least one chamber and at least one
door for opening/closing the at least one chamber; a compressor
disposed in the refrigerator main body; a condenser disposed in the
refrigerator main body and connected to the compressor; a cooling
evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body and connected to
the condenser so as to supply cold air into the chamber; and an ice
making evaporator disposed in the refrigerator main body and
connected to the condenser so as to freeze water in an ice making
tray.
[0009] In another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a refrigerator including: a housing having inlet and
outlet allowing introduction and discharge of a refrigerant; and at
least one or more ice core portions protruded from one side of the
housing to be sunk in water in an ice making tray.
[0010] A refrigerator according to the present invention is further
provided with an ice making evaporator in addition to an evaporator
for cooling a refrigerating chamber or a freezing chamber and
allows the ice making evaporator to be sunk in water for icing, so
as to enable a quick generation of transparent ice. Also, an ice
maker can be disposed either in the refrigerating chamber or a
refrigerating chamber door, thus to prevent the ice from being
generated with air bubbles remaining in the water, thereby
enhancing ice transparency. In addition, even if the ice maker is
disposed in the refrigerating chamber door, cold air does not have
to be induced from the freezing chamber, which allows independent
operations of the freezing chamber and the ice maker, resulting in
an increase in energy efficiency.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-door bottom
freezer type refrigerator having an ice maker according to the
present invention;
[0012] FIGS. 2 and 5 are block diagrams showing embodiments of a
refrigerating cycle applied to the refrigerator shown in FIG.
1;
[0013] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the ice maker of the
refrigerator shown in FIG. 1;
[0014] FIGS. 7 and 8 are horizontal and longitudinal
cross-sectional views showing an ice making evaporator in the ice
maker shown in FIG. 6;
[0015] FIGS. 9 and 10 are schematic views showing a relation
between the ice maker of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 and a
water supply/drain unit; and
[0016] FIGS. 11 and 16 are block diagrams showing other embodiments
of a refrigerating cycle applied to the refrigerator shown in FIG.
1.
MODE FOR INVENTION
[0017] Hereinafter, description will be given in detail of a
refrigerator according to the present invention with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-door bottom
freezer type refrigerator having an ice maker according to the
present invention.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator according to the
present invention may include a refrigerating chamber 2 disposed at
an upper side of a refrigerator main body 1 for storing foods in a
fresh state, and a freezing chamber 3 disposed at a lower side of
the refrigerator main body 1 for storing foods in a frozen state.
The refrigerator main body 1 is provided with a refrigerating
chamber door 4 and a freezing chamber door 5 respectively for
opening/closing the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing
chamber 3. A machine room (not shown) in which a compressor 10
(shown in FIG. 2 or the like) and a condenser 20 (shown in FIG. 2
or the like) are disposed is formed at a lower end portion of a
rear surface of the refrigerator main body 1. A cooling evaporator
30 (shown in FIG. 2 or the like) connected to the condenser 20 and
the compressor 10 for supplying cold air to the refrigerating
chamber 2 or the freezing chamber 3 is installed at a rear, lateral
or upper surface of the refrigerator main body 1, or be installed
inside a partition wall dividing the refrigerating chamber 2 and
the freezing chamber 3. Only one cooling evaporator 30 may be
provided so as to distribute cold air to the refrigerating chamber
2 and the freezing chamber 3. Alternatively, the cooling evaporator
30 may be provided by being divided into a refrigerating chamber
evaporator 31 (shown in FIG. 3 or the like) and a freezing chamber
evaporator 32 (shown in FIG. 3 or the like), such that cold air can
independently be supplied to the refrigerating chamber 2 and the
freezing chamber 3.
[0020] The refrigerating chamber 2 is provided with an ice maker
100 for generating ice, and an ice bin 200 for storing ice
generated by the ice maker 100 is installed in the refrigerating
chamber door 4. Although not shown in the drawings, the ice maker
100 may be installed above the ice bin 200 in the refrigerating
chamber door 4.
[0021] The ice maker 100, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, may include an
ice making evaporator 110 configuring a refrigerating cycle device
together with the compressor 10, the condenser 20 and the cooling
evaporator 30, an ice making tray 120 for containing water to be
iced as much as the ice making evaporator 110 being sunk, and a
container driving unit for rotating the ice making tray 120 by a
certain angle so as to drop the generated ice.
[0022] The ice making evaporator 110, as aforementioned, is
connected to a refrigerating cycle device for cooling a
refrigerator which is configured by the compressor 10, the
condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30, so as to configure a
refrigerating cycle device all together. For example, as shown in
FIG. 2, the refrigerating cycle device can be configured by one
compressor 10, one condenser 20 connected to a discharge side of
the compressor 10, the cooling evaporator 30 connected to the one
condenser 20, and the ice making evaporator 110 connected in
parallel to the condenser 20 together with the cooling evaporator
30. Also, there is further provided an expanding valve 40 disposed
between the condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30, in more
particular, at a portion lower than a diverged point between the
cooling evaporator 30 and the ice making evaporator 110 so as to
expand a high pressure refrigerant. A first refrigerant converting
valve 51 implemented as a three-way valve is installed between a
discharge side of the compressor 10 and an inlet of the condenser
20. A first outlet of the first refrigerant switching valve 51
allows the connection between the compressor 10 and the condenser
20 whereas a second outlet of the first refrigerant switching valve
51 is connected to a bypass pipe diverged from a main pipe 61 for
connecting the discharge side of the compressor 10 to the inlet of
the ice making evaporator 110.
[0023] First and second switching valves 55 and 56 are installed at
inlet and outlet sides of the ice making evaporator 110,
respectively. Accordingly, the first and second switching valves 55
and 56 are open upon the icing so as to allow a refrigerant to be
introduced into the ice making evaporator 110 via the main pipe 61,
whereas being closed upon an ice separation or a non-operation of
icing so as to block the introduction of a refrigerant into the ice
making evaporator 110 via the bypass pipe 62. Alternatively, only
one of the first and second switching valves 56, especially, the
first switching valve 55 may be installed at the inlet side of the
ice making evaporator 110.
[0024] Here, only one cooling evaporator 30 may be installed as
shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the
refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber
evaporator 32 may independently be installed. In this case, the
refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber
evaporator 32 may independently be provided so as to be connected
to each other in parallel. A second refrigerant converting valve 52
implemented as a three-way valve for distributing a refrigerant for
supply is installed at an inlet of the refrigerating chamber
evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32. A first
outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 52 is connected
to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 while a second outlet
thereof is connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32.
Expanding valves 41 and 42 are independently disposed between the
second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the refrigerating
chamber evaporator 31 and between the second refrigerant converting
valve 52 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32. Alternatively, one
integral expanding valve may be installed between the second
refrigerant converting valve 52 and the refrigerating chamber
evaporator 31 and between the second refrigerant converting valve
52 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32.
[0025] On the other hand, the cooling evaporator 30, as shown in
FIG. 4, may be configured such that the refrigerating chamber
evaporator 31 is connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32 in
series. In this case, a third switching valve 57 implemented as a
two-way valve by which a refrigerant selectively flows is installed
between the outlet side of the condenser 20 and the refrigerant
exclusive evaporator 30. The expanding valve 40 is installed
between the third switching valve 57 and the refrigerant exclusive
evaporator, namely, the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31.
However, as shown in FIG. 5, a second refrigerant converting valve
52 implemented as a three-way valve for allowing a refrigerant to
selectively flow to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the
freezing chamber evaporator 32 is installed at the outlet side of
the condenser 20. A first outlet of the second refrigerant
converting valve 51 may sequentially be connected in series to the
refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber
evaporator 32, and a second outlet thereof may directly be
connected to the freezing chamber evaporator 32. In this case, the
expanding valves 41 and 42 are installed respectively between the
first outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and the
inlet side of the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and between
the second outlet of the second refrigerant converting valve 52 and
the freezing chamber evaporator 32. Alternatively, the expanding
valve may be installed as one integral device.
[0026] Unexplained reference numeral 70 denotes a drier, and 80
denotes an accumulator.
[0027] Operation and effect of the refrigerator according to the
present invention having such configuration will now be
described.
[0028] That is, the compressor 10 starts operating to compress a
refrigerant. The compressed refrigerant is discharged into the
condenser 20 via the main pipe 61. The refrigerant flown through
the condenser 20 is introduced into the cooling evaporator 30 via
the expanding valve 40. The refrigerant introduced into the cooling
evaporator 30 is recollected to the compressor 10 with generating
cold air. The cold air generated in the cooling evaporator 30 is
supplied each to the refrigerating chamber 2 and the freezing
chamber 3, so as to keep foods in the refrigerator in a fresh
state.
[0029] Here, in case where the cooling evaporator 30 is configured
by the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber
evaporator 32 which are connected to each other in parallel or in
series, a refrigerant may be supplied respectively or sequentially
to the refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber
evaporator 32, so as to independently cool the refrigerating
chamber 2 and the freezing chamber 3.
[0030] In the meantime, in case where a refrigerating cycle device
of the refrigerator carries out an ice making operation, the first
and second switching valves 55 and 56 are open. Accordingly, a
refrigerant which flew through the condenser 20 via the first
switching valve 55 is partially introduced into the ice making
evaporator 110 via the main pipe 61. The refrigerant introduced in
the ice making evaporator 110 quickly freezes water contained in
the ice making tray 120 while flowing through the ice making
evaporator 110, so as to fast make ice with high transparency.
[0031] Here, the ice making evaporator 110 may be provided with an
ice core portion for forming an ice core.
[0032] To this end, the ice making evaporator 110, as shown in
FIGS. 6 to 8, may include a housing 111 having inlet and outlet at
both ends in a lengthwise direction and curved in a shape of
`.PI.`, and at least one or more ice core portions 112 protruded
from a lower surface of the housing 111 with a certain length. The
length of the ice core portion 112 may be formed as long as the
lower portion thereof being sunk in the water contained in the ice
making tray 120.
[0033] A refrigerant guiding plate 113 which partitions each ice
core portion 112 in a refrigerant flowing direction is formed in
the ice core portion 112 to extend from upper side to lower side of
an inner circumferential surface of the housing 111. The
refrigerant guiding plate 113 is formed shorter than the length of
the ice core portion 112 such that front and rear sides of each ice
core portion 112 can be communicated with each other at a lower end
of the refrigerant guiding plate 113. Accordingly, a refrigerant
can be introduced by the refrigerant guiding plate 113 to evenly
circulate the whole ice core portions 112.
[0034] The ice core portion 112 may separately be fabricated from
the housing 11 of the ice making evaporator 110 to be assembled to
an outer surface of the housing 111. In this case, the ice core
portion 112 may preferably be implemented as a heat pipe, or a rod
made of copper or a material having high thermal conductivity.
[0035] The ice making tray 120 may be formed of a material having
high thermal conductivity, and then coupled to a container driving
unit 130 for shaking the ice making tray 120 at certain speed,
which allows air bubble to be out of water during the icing
process. For example, the container driving unit 130 may be
configured such that the ice making tray 120 is connected to a
separate motor which rotates forward and backward and thus the ice
making tray 120 slowly bi-directionally rotates within an
approximately certain angle for an ice making time period.
Alternatively, the container driving unit 130 may be configured
such that an ice separating motor for rotating the ice making tray
120 in order to separate ice from the ice making container 120 is
used so as to allow the ice making tray 120 to bi-directionally
rotate even during the ice making, as aforementioned.
[0036] With the ice making evaporator having such configuration,
while a refrigerant introduced into the inlet of the housing 111
flows toward the outlet thereof, the refrigerant makes a zigzag
movement in a longitudinal direction of each ice core portion 112
by the refrigerant guiding plate 113 disposed inside each ice core
portion 112. Accordingly, the refrigerant evenly circulates in each
of the ice core portions 112, which allows each ice core portion
112 to be cooled below a freezing point within a short time. A
surface temperature of the ice core portion 112 becomes lower than
a peripheral temperature, namely, the temperature of the
refrigerating chamber 2. Accordingly, the surface of each ice core
portion 112 starts to be frozen. Such freezing serves as an ice
core so as to freeze water around it. In addition, as the ice
making tray 120 is disposed in the refrigerating chamber 2 or the
refrigerating chamber door 4, the temperature of the surface of
water can be maintained higher than the freezing point, whereby the
surface of water having air bubble generated therein is not frozen
yet. Hence, the air bubble generated in the water in the ice making
tray 120 moves toward the surface of water not frozen yet to be
discharged, thereby generating transparent ice without containing
air bubble therein.
[0037] Such results can be obtained from the case using a heat pipe
or a thermal transfer rod as the ice core portion 112. That is,
since one end of the heat pipe or thermal transfer rod comes into
contact with the cold ice making evaporator 110, the heat pipe or
the thermal transfer rod is cooled within a short time. The surface
of the heat pipe or the thermal transfer rod is thusly frozen, so
as to rapidly freeze such water in the ice making tray 120. In
addition, since air bubble generated in the water in the ice making
tray 120 is discharged out of the surface of non-frozen water, the
ice generated can have high transparency. Also, during the icing of
the water in the ice making tray 120, the container driving unit
130 is operated to continuously shake the ice making tray 120,
which makes air bubble fast effectively be discharged, thereby
further enhancing the transparency of ice.
[0038] Next, when the surface of the ice core portion 112 is
frozen, the direction of the first refrigerant converting valve 51
is changed such that a refrigerant of the compressor 10 is guided
toward the bypass pipe 62 via the second outlet. The high
temperature refrigerant guided to the bypass pipe 62 is introduced
into the inlet of the ice making evaporator 110. The high
temperature refrigerant then circulates inside each ice core
portion 112 by the refrigerant guiding plate 113, thereby to
increase a surface temperature of the ice core portion 112 within a
short time. Accordingly, the surface of the ice core portion 112
and the ice are quickly separated from each other, and thereby ice
is dropped in the ice making tray 120. Prior to this process, by
removing the water from the ice making tray 120, when the ice
dropped in the ice making tray 120 is collected in an ice storing
container 200 disposed below the ice making tray 120, it can be
prevented that water cannot be poured together with the ice in the
ice storing container 200.
[0039] To this end, as shown in FIG. 9, the refrigerating chamber
door 4 is provided with a supply/drain unit 300 for supplying or
discharging water of the ice making tray 120. The supply/drain unit
300 may include a water tank 310 installed in the refrigerating
chamber door 4 for storing a certain amount of water, a water
supply/drain line 320 and a water pump 330 for pumping and
supplying water to the ice making container 120 upon freezing water
of the water tank 310 while pumping and discharging water of the
ice making tray 120 upon separating ice. A water filter 340 for
filtering newly introduced water is further provided at an inlet of
the water tank 310. A dispenser line 350 for supplying water to a
dispenser may further be connected in the middle of the water
supply/drain line 320. A drain pipe 360 for discharging water
generated when ice stored in the bottom of the ice storing
container 200 is melted may be connected to the water tank 310 or
to a drain tray (not shown).
[0040] In the meantime, other embodiments of the refrigerating
cycle device in the refrigerator according to the present invention
will now be described.
[0041] That is, the aforementioned embodiments are implemented such
that the cooling evaporator 30 is connected to the ice making
evaporator 110 in parallel; however, these embodiments are
implemented such that the cooling evaporator 30 is connected to the
ice making evaporator 110 in series.
[0042] For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the compressor 10, the
condenser 20, the cooling evaporator 30 and the ice making
evaporator 110 are sequentially disposed to configure a closed
loop. The first refrigerant converting valve 51 is disposed between
the compressor 10 and the condenser 20. The second outlet of the
first refrigerant converting valve 51 is diverged from the main
pipe 61 to be connected to the inlet of the ice making evaporator
110 via the bypass pipe 62. The expanding valve 40 is installed
between the condenser 20 and the cooling evaporator 30.
[0043] Even in this case, the ice core portions 112 formed as long
as being sunk in water in the ice making tray 120 is protruded from
the lower surface of the ice making evaporator 110, as shown in
FIGS. 6 to 8. Each ice core portion 112 is provided with a
refrigerant guiding plate 113 allowing an even circulation of the
refrigerant. As shown in the aforementioned embodiments, the ice
making tray 120 may be coupled to the container driving unit 130
and simultaneously to the supply/drain unit 300.
[0044] In the refrigerant according to the above embodiment, a
refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is introduced into
the refrigerant evaporator 30 via the condenser 20 to generate cold
air. Such cold air is supplied each to the refrigerating chamber 2
and the freezing chamber 3 of the refrigerant main body 1, so as to
keep food stored in each chamber in the fresh state.
Simultaneously, the refrigerant introduced into the ice making
evaporator 110 via the refrigerant evaporator 30 cools the ice core
portion 12 of the ice making evaporator 110 in a short time, so as
to form ice, whereby an ice making time can drastically be
decreased and transparent ice can be creased due to the removal of
air bubble. On the other hand, upon separating ice, the first
refrigerant converting valve 51 is used to introduce a high
temperature refrigerant into the ice making evaporator 110 via the
bypass pipe 62 and thereby the ice core portion 112 of the ice
making evaporator 110 is heated to allow a fast separation of the
created ice, resulting in facilitating the separation of ice. Other
components including the ice core portion 112 and an operational
effect thereof are the same or similar to the aforementioned
embodiments, detailed explanation of which will thusly be
omitted.
[0045] Also, the cooling evaporator according to this embodiment
may be configured by a refrigerating chamber evaporator 31 and a
freezing chamber evaporator. In this case, the refrigerating
chamber evaporator 31 may be connected to the freezing chamber
evaporator 32 in parallel as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.
[0046] Alternatively, the cooling evaporator 30 and the ice making
evaporator 110 of the refrigerating cycle device in the
refrigerator according to the present invention may be connected to
each other in series. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, one
cooling evaporator can be used to distribute cold air to the
refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber for supply.
Otherwise, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the refrigerating chamber
evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 are
independently disposed, so as to connect the refrigerating chamber
evaporator 31 and the freezing chamber evaporator 32 to each other
in series.
[0047] The configuration of the refrigerating cycle device
according to these embodiments, other configuration including the
ice core portion and their operational effects are the same or
similar to the aforementioned embodiments, detailed explanation of
which will thusly be omitted.
[0048] The present invention has been implemented from the
perspective of examples applied to a bottom freezer type
refrigerator in which a refrigerating chamber is disposed at an
upper side and the freezing chamber is disposed. However, the
present invention can be applied to a top mount type refrigerator
having a refrigerating chamber disposed below the freezing chamber
or a side-by-side type refrigerator having refrigerating chamber
and freezing chamber disposed side by side. Also, the present
invention can be applied to other types of ice makers using a
refrigerating cycle device other than the refrigerators.
[0049] [Pretext]
[0050] Cooling evaporator, ice making evaporator, ice core portion,
ice making tray.
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