Patent ID: 11892221
Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 20:
21. A refrigerator comprising:
a storage chamber;
a cooler configured to supply cold into the storage chamber;
a bracket having a through hole through which the cold passes;
a first tray having a first portion of a cell and supported by the bracket;
a second tray having a second portion of the cell, the first portion and the second portion of the cell being configured to define a space of the cell to receive liquid to be phase-changed to form ice;
a liquid supply configured to supply the liquid into the cell;
a heater provided adjacent to at least one of the first tray or the second tray; and
a controller configured to control the heater while the ice is forming in the space of the cell so that air bubbles dissolved in the liquid within the cell move from a portion of the cell where the liquid has phase-changed into ice toward another portion of the cell where the liquid is in a fluid state,
wherein:
the first portion includes a first wall, and the second portion includes a second wall, the first wall and the second wall forming the space of the cell when the first wall and the second wall contact each other,
the second wall includes a first surface adjacent to a portion of the space and a second surface extending from the first surface to contact the first wall of the first tray when the ice is being formed,
the first wall of the first tray and the second wall of the second tray are spaced from each other when the first tray and the second tray are spaced from each other to separate the ice from the space of the cell,
the refrigerator further comprises a pusher having a surface for pressing the second tray to separate the ice from the cell and mounted on the bracket, and
the second wall of the second tray includes a pressing region which is in contact with and separated from the pusher, and a peripheral region provided around at least a portion of the pressing region, the peripheral region having a greater degree of deformation resistance and a lesser degree of restoration than the pressing region.