U.S. patent application number 13/232313 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-05 for refrigerator with selective airflow passage between the icemaker and the ice making evaporator.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Chang-Hak Lim, June Kee Min, Alexei TIKHONOV, Won Jae Yoon.
Application Number | 20120000238 13/232313 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39233039 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120000238 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
TIKHONOV; Alexei ; et
al. |
January 5, 2012 |
REFRIGERATOR WITH SELECTIVE AIRFLOW PASSAGE BETWEEN THE ICEMAKER
AND THE ICE MAKING EVAPORATOR
Abstract
Disclosed is a refrigerator having an ice making apparatus
installed at a cooling chamber door that opens/closes a cooling
chamber. The refrigerator includes a body having a cooling chamber
therein, a cooling chamber door to open/close the cooling chamber,
and an ice making apparatus installed in the cooling chamber door
to make ice. An ice making evaporator is provided in the ice making
apparatus to independently supply the ice making apparatus with
cooling air and an ice making evaporator chamber, in which an ice
making evaporator is installed, is provided adjacent to the cooling
chamber door while being partitioned from the cooling chamber.
Inventors: |
TIKHONOV; Alexei; (Suwon-si,
KR) ; Min; June Kee; (Seongnam-si, KR) ; Lim;
Chang-Hak; (Hwasung-si, KR) ; Yoon; Won Jae;
(Seoul, KR) |
Assignee: |
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO.,
LTD.
Suwon-si
KR
|
Family ID: |
39233039 |
Appl. No.: |
13/232313 |
Filed: |
September 14, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11987581 |
Nov 30, 2007 |
|
|
|
13232313 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
62/344 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 17/065 20130101;
F25D 17/045 20130101; F25C 2400/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/344 |
International
Class: |
F25C 5/18 20060101
F25C005/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 1, 2006 |
KR |
10-2006-0120685 |
Claims
1. A refrigerator comprising: a body which forms an external
appearance of the refrigerator; an inner shell defining a freezer
compartment and a refrigerator compartment disposed above the
freezer compartment; an insulation disposed between the inner shell
and the body; a refrigerator door to open and close the
refrigerator compartment; a freezer door to open and close the
freezer compartment; an evaporator to supply cold air; a compressor
to compress refrigerant which is supplied to the evaporator; a
cold-air-receiving chamber unit provided at a rear section of the
refrigerator door; a cold-air-supplying chamber unit provided at a
ceiling section of the refrigerator compartment, an ice storage
disposed in the cold-air-receiving chamber unit to store ice; and a
dispenser to dispense the ice from the ice storage without opening
the refrigerator door, wherein the cold-air-supplying chamber unit
supplies the cold air received from the evaporator to the
cold-air-receiving chamber unit, when the refrigerator door is in a
closed position, wherein the cold-air-supplying chamber unit is
adapted to automatically prohibit the cold air received from the
evaporator from flowing out of the cold-air-supplying chamber unit
when the refrigerator door is opened.
2. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
cold-air-receiving chamber unit includes a first wall having a
first opening, and the cold-air-supplying chamber unit includes a
second wall extending downward from the ceiling section of the
refrigerator, a second opening formed through the second wall which
is positioned to coincide with the first opening of the
cold-air-receiving chamber unit when the refrigerator door is in
the closed position to provide an air passageway through which the
cold air from the cold-air-supplying chamber unit is supplied to
the cold-air-receiving chamber unit, wherein the first opening is
formed between a top edge and a bottom edge of the first wall and
the second opening is formed between a top edge and a bottom edge
of the second wall such that the first and second walls define
adjacent planes when the refrigerator door is in the closed
position.
3. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: a
damper movably installed at the second opening to automatically
close the second opening when the refrigerator door is in an open
position and to automatically open the second opening when the
refrigerator door is in the closed position, wherein the damper is
pivotably mounted to rotate about a horizontal axis that is
substantially perpendicular to a rotational axis of the
refrigerator door, the horizontal axis of the damper being
positioned at an upper region of the second opening such that a
free end of the damper moves in an upward direction to
automatically open the second opening when the refrigerator door
moves from the open position to the closed position and the free
end of the damper moves in a downward direction to automatically
close the second opening when the refrigerator door moves from the
closed position to the open position.
4. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first
opening is substantially rectangular shaped and the first wall
completely surrounds all sides of the rectangular shaped first
opening, and the second opening is substantially rectangular shaped
and the second wall completely surrounds all sides of the
rectangular shaped second opening.
5. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, further comprising an
ice making apparatus disposed in the cold-air-receiving chamber
unit to make the ice.
6. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the evaporator
comprises an ice making evaporator disposed in the
cold-air-supplying chamber unit.
7. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a
protruding member extending from the first opening to prohibit air
leakage between the first opening and the second opening when the
refrigerator door is in the closed position.
8. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the protruding
member comprises a connection tube that enters the second opening
when the refrigerator door is in the closed position.
9. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, wherein a width of the
cold-air-receiving chamber unit is substantially the same as a
width of the cold-air-supplying chamber unit.
10. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
cold-air-receiving chamber unit includes a first wall having a
first opening, and the cold-air-supplying chamber unit includes a
second wall extending downward from the ceiling section of the
refrigerator and a second opening formed through the second wall
which is positioned to coincide with the first opening of the
cold-air-receiving chamber unit when the refrigerator door is in
the closed position.
11. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first
opening is formed between a top edge and a bottom edge of the first
wall and the second opening is formed between a top edge and a
bottom edge of the second wall such that the first and second walls
define adjacent planes when the refrigerator door is in the closed
position.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a U.S. continuation application filed
under 37 CFR 1.53(b) claiming priority benefit of U.S. Ser. No.
11/987,581 filed in the United States on Nov. 30, 2007, which
claims earlier priority benefit to Korean Patent Application No.
10-2006-0120685 filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office
on Dec. 1, 2006, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein
by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field
[0003] The present invention relates generally to a refrigerator,
and more particularly, to a refrigerator having an ice making
apparatus installed at a door of a cooling chamber.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In general, a refrigerator is designed to supply cooling air
generated through a refrigeration cycle to a cooling chamber and a
freezing chamber so as to keep various foodstuffs in a cooled or
frozen state, and includes a body forming the cooling chamber and
the freezing chamber, a cooling chamber door and a freezing chamber
door to open/close the cooling chamber and the freezing chamber,
respectively, an ice making apparatus for making ice, and a
dispenser allowing a user to take out water or ice.
[0006] Recently, among such refrigerators, as disclosed in Korean
Patent No. 10-565621, there is a refrigerator in which a cooling
chamber which is frequently used is disposed above a freezing
chamber for the sake of convenience, and a dispenser is installed
at a cooling chamber door that opens/closes the cooling
chamber.
[0007] In this conventional refrigerator, an ice making apparatus
is installed at the cooling chamber door to allow a user to readily
take out the ice made by the ice making apparatus through a
dispenser, and a body is provided at both sidewalls thereof with
ducts to transfer the cooling air generated from the freezing
chamber to the ice making apparatus arranged in the cooling chamber
door.
[0008] However, since such a conventional refrigerator is
inevitably subject to pressure loss due to flow resistance while
the cooling air is moving along the duct provided at both sidewalls
of the body, the amount of cooling air transferred to the ice
making apparatus is insufficient, so that the ice making is not
efficient.
SUMMARY
[0009] Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to
solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the related art.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a
refrigerator capable of efficiently supplying cooling air to an ice
making apparatus installed at the cooling chamber door.
[0010] Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in
part in the description which follows and, in part, will be
apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention.
[0011] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention
are achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising a body having a
cooling chamber defined therein, a cooling chamber door
opening/closing the cooling chamber, an ice making apparatus making
ice, an ice making evaporator supplying the ice making apparatus
with cooling air, an ice making chamber provided at the cooling
chamber door to install the ice making apparatus therein, and an
ice making evaporator chamber defined in one side of the cooling
chamber to receive the ice making evaporator therein while being
partitioned from the cooling chamber and communicating with the ice
making chamber when the cooling chamber has been closed by the
cooling chamber door.
[0012] The ice making chamber is provided at both sides thereof
with the pair of first through holes communicating with the ice
making evaporator chamber, and the ice making evaporator chamber is
provided with the pair of second through holes disposed
corresponding to the first through holes to communicate with the
first through holes when the cooling chamber has been closed by the
cooling chamber door.
[0013] One of the first through holes is provided with the
connection tube that enters the second through hole when the
cooling chamber is closed by the cooling chamber door.
[0014] The connection tube is provided with the first damper
rotatably installed in the connection tube to open the connection
tube when the cooling chamber is closed by the cooling chamber
door.
[0015] The connection tube is provided at an external side thereof
with the guide bar having a predetermined length, in which one end
of the guide bar is coupled to the first damper to be rotated
together with the first damper, and the second through hole is
provided at one side thereof with the guide protrusion protruding
toward the connection tube to rotate the guide bar when the
connection tube enters the connection tube.
[0016] The second through hole is provided with the second damper
that is rotatably installed in the second through hole so as to
open the second through hole when the connection tube enters the
second through hole.
[0017] An upper end portion of the second damper is rotatably
provided on an upper surface of the second through hole, and the
connection tube is a front lower portion of the connection tube
protruding toward the second through hole.
[0018] The ice making chamber is provided therein with the ice
making circulation fan to generate a suction force and a blowing
force such that the cooling air is circulated into the ice making
chamber and the ice making evaporator chamber through the first
through hole and the second through hole.
[0019] The cooling chamber door is provided with a dispenser that
allows a user to take out the ice made by the ice making
apparatus.
[0020] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention
are also achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising a body
having a cooling chamber therein, a cooling chamber door
opening/closing the cooling chamber, an ice making apparatus
installed at the cooling chamber door to make ice, and an ice
making evaporator that independently supplies the ice making
apparatus with cooling air.
[0021] The cooling chamber door is provided with the ice making
evaporator chamber in which the ice making evaporator is installed,
and further comprising an ice making evaporator chamber, and an ice
making chamber, wherein the body is provided with the ice making
evaporator chamber, which is disposed at an upper front side of the
cooling chamber while being partitioned from the cooling chamber
and communicating with the ice making chamber.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] These and/or other aspects and advantages will become
apparent and more readily appreciated from the following
description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings of which:
[0023] FIG. 1 is a side sectional view illustrating a refrigerator
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view illustrating the
refrigerator according to FIG. 2; and
[0025] FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views illustrating operations of
a first open/close damper and a second open/close damper that are
applied to the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0026] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments,
examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings,
wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements
throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the
present invention by referring to the figures.
[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a refrigerator according to an
embodiment of the present invention includes a body 10 provided
with storage chambers 11R and 11F therein to store foodstuffs, and
doors 20R and 20F hinged to one side of the body 10 to open/close
the storage chambers 11R and 11F, respectively.
[0028] The storage chambers 11R and 11F are partitioned into upper
and lower parts by an intermediate partition in such a manner that
the upper part constitutes the cooling chamber 11R to keep
foodstuffs cool and the lower part constitutes the freezing chamber
11F to keep foodstuffs frozen. The doors 20R and 20F include a
cooling chamber door 20R to open/close the cooling chamber 11R and
a freezing chamber door 20F to open/close the freezing chamber 11F,
such that the cooling and freezing chambers 11R and 11F can be
individually opened/closed.
[0029] The body 10 is provided at a lower rear side thereof with a
compressor 12 to compress refrigerant, and the cooling and freezing
chambers 11R and 11F are provided at rear portions thereof with
cooling and freezing evaporator chambers 14R and 14F, which are
partitioned from each other so as to accommodate cooling and
freezing evaporators 13R and 13F, respectively, in order to
generate cooing air to be supplied to the cooling and freezing
chambers 11R and 11F. Further, the cooling and freezing evaporator
chambers 14R and 14F are provided with a cooling circulation fan
15R and a freezing circulation fan 15F which rotate to generate
suction force and blowing force allowing the cooling air generated
from the cooling evaporator 13R and the freezing evaporator 13F to
be circulated into the cooling and freezing chambers 11R and 11F,
respectively.
[0030] The cooling chamber door 20R is provided with a dispenser 30
allowing the user to take out water or ice from the refrigerator
without opening the cooling chamber door 20R, an ice making
apparatus 40 capable of making ice so as to allow the user to take
out the ice through the dispenser 30, and a transfer unit 50
transferring the ice made by the ice making apparatus 40 after
storing the ice for a predetermined period of time such that the
user can take out the ice through the dispenser 30 from the
exterior. An ice making chamber 21 is provided to house the ice
making apparatus 40 and the transfer unit 50 therein.
[0031] In addition, the refrigerator according to the embodiment of
the present invention is provided with an ice making evaporator 16
that independently supplies the ice making apparatus 40 disposed in
the cooling chamber door 20R with the cooling air. Also, an ice
making evaporator chamber 17, in which the ice making evaporator 16
is installed, is provided at an upper front side of the cooling
chamber 11R adjacent to the cooling chamber door 20R while being
partitioned from the cooling chamber 11R.
[0032] In the present embodiment, the ice making evaporator chamber
17, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is communicated with the ice making
chamber 21 so as to allow the cooling air to be circulated when the
cooling chamber 11R is closed by the cooling chamber door 20R. The
ice making chamber 21 is provided therein with an ice making
circulation fan 22, which rotates to generate suction force and
blowing force thereby allowing the cooling air to be circulated
into the ice making chamber 21 and the ice making evaporator
chamber 17.
[0033] In order to allow the ice making evaporator chamber 17 to
communicate with the ice making chamber 21, a pair of first through
holes 23 communicating with the ice making evaporator chamber 17
are provided at both sides of the ice making chamber 21, and a pair
of second through holes 18 are disposed corresponding to the first
through holes 23 so as to communicate with the first through holes
23 when the cooling chamber 11R is closed by the cooling chamber
door 20R. Therefore, in a state in which the cooling chamber 11R is
closed by the cooling chamber door 20R, when the ice making
circulation fan 22 rotates to generate suction force and blowing
force, the cooling air generated from the ice making evaporator
chamber 17 is transferred to the ice making chamber 21 by way of
the first through hole 23 and the second through hole 18 located at
one side of the ice making chamber 21 so as to allow the ice making
apparatus 40 to make ice, and then returns to the ice making
evaporator chamber 17 by way of the first through hole 23 and the
second through hole 18 located at the other side of the ice making
chamber 21.
[0034] In addition, the first and second through holes 23 and 18
communicating with each other are opened when the user opens the
cooling chamber door 20R to expose to the cooling chamber 11R.
However, if the first through holes 23 have been opened, both the
cooling air in the ice making evaporator chamber 17 and the cooling
air in the ice making chamber 21 may leak into the interior of an
indoor room, causing waste of the cooling air.
[0035] Therefore, in order to avoid the leakage of the cooling air
through the first and second through holes 23 and 18 when the
cooling chamber door 20R has been opened to expose to the cooling
chamber 11R, the first through hole 23 is provided with a
connection tube 24 which protrudes toward the second through hole
18 and enters the second through hole 18 when the cooling chamber
11R is closed by the cooling chamber door 20R, and the second
through hole 18 is provided with a second opening/closing damper 19
that is rotatably installed in the second through hole 18 and
rotated by the connection tube 24, thereby opening the second
through hole 18 when the connection tube 24 enters the second
through hole 18. In the present embodiment, the second damper 19 is
formed as a plate and the upper end of the second damper 19 is
rotatably installed on the upper surface of the second through hole
18. In addition, a lower end portion of a front end of the
connection tube 24 is inclined while protruding toward the second
through hole 18 so as to gradually rotate the second damper 19.
[0036] In addition, the connection tube 24 is provided with a first
opening/closing damper 25 by which the connection tube 24 is closed
when the cooling chamber 11R is closed by the cooling chamber door
20R, so that the cooling air of the ice making chamber 21 is
prevented from leaking through the connection tube 24. The first
damper 25 is formed as a plate and the upper end of the first
damper 25 is rotatably installed on the upper surface of the inner
part of the connection tube 24, so that the connection tube 24 can
be opened when the cooling chamber 11R is closed by the cooling
chamber door 20R. Therefore, in order to allow the connection tube
24 to be opened when the cooling chamber 11R is closed by the
cooling chamber door 20R, the connection tube 24 is provided at an
external side thereof with a guide bar 26 having a predetermined
length, in which the upper end of the guide bar 26 is coupled to
the first open/close damper 25 disposed in the connection tube 24
so as to rotate together with first open/close damper 25. In
addition, the second through hole 18 is provided at the sidewall
thereof with a guide protrusion 18a that guides the guide bar 26 to
rotate the guide bar 26. In the present embodiment, the lower end
of the guide protrusion 18a facing the connection tube 24 is
inclined while protruding toward the connection tube 24 so as to
gradually rotate the guide bar 26.
[0037] Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in a state in which the
cooling chamber 11R is opened according to the opening of the
cooling chamber door 20R, the first through holes 23 and second
through holes 18 are closed by the first open/close damper 25 and
the second open/close damper 19, thereby preventing the cooling air
from leaking through the first through holes 23 and second through
holes 18. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 4, in a state in which the
cooling chamber 11R is closed according to the closing of the
cooling chamber door 20R, the connection tube 24 provided in the
first through hole 23 enters the second through hole 18 so as to
rotate the second open/close damper 19, thereby opening the second
through hole 18.
[0038] In this manner, the guide bar 26 is guided and rotated by an
inclined surface of the guide protrusion 18a while the connection
tube 24 is entering the second through hole 18, so that the first
damper 25 coupled to the guide bar 26 is rotated together with the
guide bar 26, thereby opening the connection tube 24. Thus, the
cooling air can circulate into the ice making chamber 21 and the
ice making evaporator chamber 17 through the first through holes 23
and the second through holes 18.
[0039] Although a few embodiments have been shown and described, it
would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may
be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles
and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *