Abstract:
A refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator has a refrigerator body including a storage chamber to store foods, a door configured to open or close the storage chamber, an ice maker mounted on the door and an ice maker cover to at least partially cover the ice maker, the ice maker cover including a cool air inlet port for introducing cool air at an upper portion thereof. The ice maker includes a first guide coupled to a lower portion of the ice maker to guide cool air to pass through the lower portion of the ice maker and a second guide provided at an upper side of the ice maker to guide cool air introduced through the cool air inlet port to be branched off and flowed into the upper and lower portions of the ice maker.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in priority Korean Application No. 10-2012-0000590, filed on Jan. 3, 2012, which is herein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator for enhancing the ice making capability of an ice maker. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    As is generally known, a refrigerator is a device for storing foods accommodated therein in a freezing or refrigerating state. The refrigerator may include a refrigerator body having a cooling chamber thereinside and a refrigerating cycle apparatus for providing cool air to the cooling chamber. 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator in the related art, and  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating an ice maker area in  FIG. 1 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a refrigerator may include a refrigerator body  10  having a cooling chamber  20  and a refrigerating cycle apparatus (not shown) for providing cool air to the cooling chamber  20 . The cooling chamber  20  may be provided within the refrigerator body  10 . The cooling chamber  20  may include a freezing chamber  21  and a refrigerating chamber  22 . 
         [0007]    A door  30  for opening or closing the cooling chamber  20  may be provided at a front surface of the refrigerator body  10 . The door  30  may include a freezing chamber door  31  and a refrigerating chamber door  32  for opening or closing the freezing chamber  21  and refrigerating chamber  22 , respectively. 
         [0008]    An ice making chamber  40  may be formed in the freezing chamber  21 , for example, in the freezing chamber door  31 . The ice making chamber  40  may be formed in an upper area of the freezing chamber door  31 . A cool air inlet port for introducing cool air to the inside may be formed in an upper area of the ice making chamber  40 . 
         [0009]    An ice maker  41  may be provided within the ice making chamber  40 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . An ice bank  60  in which pieces of ice (ice cubes) made by and dropped from the ice maker  41  are stored therein. The ice bank  60  may be provided at a lower side of the ice maker  41 . 
         [0010]    The ice maker  41  may include an ice-making tray  45  for forming predetermined shaped ice cubes thereinside, and an ejector  47  for ejecting ice cubes formed within the ice-making tray  45 , for example. A side wall portion  48  may be provided at one side of the ice-making tray  45 . The ice maker  41  may be disposed to be separated from the freezing chamber door  31  by a predetermined distance. Due to this, a cool air passage  65  through which cool air moves downward may be formed between the side wall portion  48  and the freezing chamber door  31 . 
         [0011]    However, according to a refrigerator in the related art, water accommodated within the ice-making tray  45  may be cooled down to make ice while cool air introduced through the cool air inlet port formed in an upper area of the ice making chamber  40  moves downward, thereby causing a delay in making ice. Furthermore, cool air moved downward through the ice maker  41  may be directly brought into contact with pieces of ice accommodated within the ice bank  60 , thereby causing pieces of ice to be adhered to one another. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    The present disclosure is provided to solve the foregoing problem, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator capable of enhancing the ice making capability of an ice maker. 
         [0013]    Furthermore, another object of the present disclosure is to provide a refrigerator capable of suppressing ice cubes made by the ice maker and accommodated in a storage space from being adhered to one another. 
         [0014]    In order to accomplish the foregoing objectives of the present disclosure, there is provided a refrigerator having a refrigerator body including a storage chamber to store foods, a door configured to open or close the storage chamber, an ice maker mounted on the door and an ice maker cover to at least partially cover the ice maker, the ice maker cover including a cool air inlet port for introducing cool air at an upper portion thereof. The ice maker includes a first guide coupled to a lower portion of the ice maker to guide cool air to pass through the lower portion of the ice maker and a second guide provided at an upper side of the ice maker to guide cool air introduced through the cool air inlet port to be branched off and flowed into the upper and lower portions of the ice maker. 
         [0015]    In addition, an ice making apparatus for a refrigerator is also provided. The ice making apparatus includes an ice maker configured to be mounted to a door of the refrigerator and an ice maker cover to at least partially cover the ice maker, the ice maker cover including a cool air inlet port for introducing cool air at an upper portion thereof. The ice maker includes a first guide coupled to a lower portion of the ice maker to guide cool air to pass through the lower portion of the ice maker and a second guide provided at an upper side of the ice maker to guide cool air introduced through the cool air inlet port to be branched off and flowed into the upper and lower portions of the ice maker. 
         [0016]    Further scope of applicability of the present application will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator in the related art; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating an ice maker region in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view illustrating an ice maker region in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged view illustrating a first guide in  FIG. 4 ; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a view illustrating a configuration in which an ice maker and a cool air guide in  FIG. 3  are disposed. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0024]    Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0025]    As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a refrigerator body  110  having an ice making chamber  142  thereinside, an ice maker  151  disposed within the ice making chamber  142 , and a cool air guide  180  configured to guide cool air to the surroundings of the ice maker  151 . A cooling chamber  120  may be provided within the refrigerator body  110  and a door  130  for opening or closing the cooling chamber  120  may be provided at the refrigerator body  110 . 
         [0026]    A plurality of cooling chambers  120  may be provided therein. For example, the cooling chamber  120  may include a freezing chamber  121  and a refrigerating chamber  122 . Alternatively, the refrigerator body  110  may be also configured to have either one of the freezing chamber  121  and the refrigerating chamber  122 . 
         [0027]    The cooling chamber  120  may be fanned to be partitioned into left and right sides by interposing a partition wall  125  disposed in the top-down (vertical) direction. Alternatively, the cooling chamber  120  may be formed to be partitioned into top and bottom sides by interposing a partition wall (not shown) disposed in the left-right (horizontal) direction. Hereinafter, a case in which the cooling chamber  120  is formed to be partitioned into left and right sides by interposing a partition wall  125  disposed in the top-down direction will be described as an example. 
         [0028]    The door  130  may include a freezing chamber door  131  for opening or closing the freezing chamber  121  and a refrigerating chamber door  132  for opening or closing the refrigerating chamber door  132 . 
         [0029]    An ice making chamber  142  may be provided in the refrigerator body  110 , for example, in the ice making chamber  142 . According to the present embodiment, the ice making chamber  142  is formed in the freezing chamber door  131 ; however it is understood that the ice making chamber  142  may be formed within the freezing chamber  121 . Furthermore, the ice making chamber may be formed in a refrigerating chamber door in a so-called bottom freezer refrigerator, for example. 
         [0030]    An ice making chamber cover  141  at least partially defining the ice making chamber  142  thereinside may be provided in the freezing chamber door  131  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . A cool air inlet port  143  for introducing cool air to the ice making chamber  142  may be foamed on the ice making chamber cover  141 , for example, at an upper surface of the ice making chamber cover  141 . An upper surface of the ice making chamber cover  141  may be formed to be inclined downward along the protrusion direction. The cool air inlet port  143  may include a plurality of through holes  144  formed to penetrate the ice making chamber cover  141  where each through hole  144  may be formed to have a long length in one direction thereof. 
         [0031]    A guide member  145  (see  FIG. 4 ) for guiding the flow of cool air may be provided in the cool air inlet port  143 . The guide member  145  may be configured to guide cool air introduced through the cool air inlet port  143  to an upper one side of the ice maker  151 , for example. Because of this arrangement, the concentration cooling of the ice maker  151  may be effectively carried out. 
         [0032]    A plurality of guide members  145  may be provided in the cool air inlet port  143 . More specifically, a guide member  145  may be provided at one side of each through hole  144 . 
         [0033]    In the exemplary embodiment, the ice maker  151  may be provided in the ice making chamber  142 . An ice bank  170  in which pieces of ice made by the ice maker  151  are stored may be provided at a lower side of the ice maker  151 . The ice bank  170  may be configured to discharge ice cubes as they are formed or discharge ice cubes crushed into small pieces. An ice dispenser  175  for providing ice provided from the ice bank  170  to the outside may be provided at a lower side of the ice bank  170 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0034]    The ice maker  151  may include an ice making tray  155  in which water is accommodated to form a predetermined shaped piece of ice and an ejector  157  for ejecting pieces of ice made by the ice making tray  155 , as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0035]    The ice making tray  155  may include a plurality of cells  156  partitioned to form predetermined shaped pieces of ice (ice cubes) in a separable manner. The cells may be disposed to be separated from one another by interposing a partition wall (separating wall) along the axial direction For example, the ice making tray  155  may be configured to have a rectangular shape having a long length in one direction. In addition, the ice making tray  155  may be configured such that its lateral cross section has a semi-circular shape. As a result, semi-circular shaped pieces of ice (ice cubes) may be formed. 
         [0036]    The ice making tray  155  may be disposed to be separated from an inner surface (inner wall) of the freezing chamber door  131  by a predetermined distance. As a result, an upper cool air passage  168  for moving cool air in the downward direction may be formed between the ice making tray  155  and an inner surface of the freezing chamber door  131 . 
         [0037]    The ejector  157  may include a rotating shaft  161  rotatably disposed at an upper side of the ice making tray  155  and a plurality of ejector pins  163  protruded in the radial direction on the rotating shaft  161  to correspond to the each cell  156 . The ejector pins  163  may be rotated along an inner portion of the each cell  156  to press ice formed at an inner portion of the relevant cell  156 , thereby releasing ice from the relevant cell  156 . 
         [0038]    An upward extended side wall  158  may be provided at one lateral long edge portion of the ice making tray  155 . A coupling portion  159  for fixing or coupling the ice making tray  155  thereto may be formed at the side wall  158 , for example. The coupling portion  159  may be formed to penetrate the side wall  158 . For example, a fastening member  162  may be inserted into the coupling portion  159  and a boss portion  160 , to which the fastening member  162  is coupled, may be provided at a rear side of the coupling portion  159 . The fastening member  162  may be formed with a screw to be screw-coupled to the boss portion  160 . 
         [0039]    An ice releasing heater (not shown) for heating the ice making tray  155  to release ice formed in an inner portion of the ice making tray  155  from the ice making tray  155  may be provided at an outer surface of the ice making tray  155 . 
         [0040]    A controller  165  for driving and/or controlling the ejector  157  and ice releasing heater may be provided at one side of the ice making tray  155 . An ice full sensing lever or ice detecting unit  166  for sensing whether or not ice cubes are full may be provided at one side of the controller  165 . 
         [0041]    A cool air guide  180  for guiding cool air to the surroundings of the ice maker  151  may be provided at one side of the ice maker  151 . By providing the cool air guide  180 , the cooling speed of the ice maker  151  may be increased to reduce the ice making time. The cool air guide  180  may include a first guide  181  disposed at a lower side of the ice maker  151 , for example. The first guide  181  may be configured to form a lower cool air passage  182  between a bottom surface of the ice maker  151  and the first guide  181  as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Due to this, cool air cools down a bottom surface of the ice maker  151  (ice making tray  155 ) while moving along the lower cool air passage  182 , thereby further reducing the ice making time. 
         [0042]    More specifically, contrary to the related art in which cool air simply moves downward along the upper cool air passage  168  between the side wall  158  and an inner surface of the freezing chamber door  131 , the first guide  181  guides the cool air moving downward along the upper cool air passage  168  to be brought into contact with a bottom surface of the ice making tray  155 , and thus the cool air may be directly brought into contact with the ice making tray  155 , thereby greatly reducing the ice making time. 
         [0043]    The first guide  181  may include a body  183  disposed to be separated from a lower side of the ice maker  151  and a lateral guide portion  185  disposed in parallel with a long edge portion of the ice maker  151  from one side of the body  183 . The body  183  may be formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape to correspond to a plane projection shape of the ice making tray  155 , for example. The body  183  may be formed to be enlarged in the width direction of the ice making tray  155 . Accordingly, cool air moving downward may pass through the lower side to surround an outer surface of the ice making tray  155  with a predetermined width around the ice making tray  155 . 
         [0044]    The body  183  may be provided with a spacer  184  protruded upward from an inner surface thereof. The spacer  184  may be brought into contact with a bottom portion of the ice making tray  155 . Due to this, the ice making tray  155  is separated from the body  183  by a predetermined distance and the lower cool air passage  182  may be formed therebetween. Here, a fastening hole  188  may be foamed to penetrate a shaft center thereof. A fastening member (not shown), a front end portion of which is coupled to the ice making tray  155 , may be inserted and coupled to the fastening hole  188 . In this manner, the first guide  181  may be incorporated and coupled to a bottom portion of the ice making tray  155  in a detachable manner. 
         [0045]    A plurality of lateral guide portions  185  may be provided therein. More specifically, the lateral guide portion  185  may include an upstream lateral guide portion  186  provided at an upstream side thereof along the movement direction of cool air moving downward along the upper cool air passage  168  and a downstream lateral guide portion  187  provided at a downstream side thereof. 
         [0046]    The upstream lateral guide portion  186  may extend upward to correspond to a long edge portion of the ice maker  151  from the body  183 . More specifically, the upstream lateral guide portion  186  may extend upward while being separated from an upstream long edge portion of the body  183  by a predetermined distance. As a result, cool air moving downward around the ice making tray  155  may be guided to the lower cool air passage  182  formed between the ice making tray  155  and body  183  and it may be possible to enhance the cooling of the ice maker  151  (ice making tray  155 ). 
         [0047]    The upstream lateral guide portion  186  may be brought into contact with an inner wall (inner surface) of the freezing chamber door  131  such that a lower region of the upper cool air passage  168  formed between the side wall  158  and an inner wall of the freezing chamber door  131  may be blocked by the upstream lateral guide portion  186  to guide cool air moving downward to a lower side of the ice making tray  155 . Accordingly, cool air moving downward to the side of the ice bank  170  along the upper cool air passage  168  may be suppressed, thereby preventing ice within the ice bank  170  from being adhered to one another. 
         [0048]    The downstream lateral guide portion  187  may extend upward to correspond to a long edge portion of the ice maker  151  from the body  183 . More specifically, the downstream lateral guide portion  187  may extend upward while being separated from a downstream long edge portion of the body  183  such that cool air moving through a lower side of the ice maker  151  may be guided to move upward to a long edge portion side of the ice maker  151 . Accordingly, cool air moving along the lower cool air passage  182  may move upward along the other long edge portion of the ice making tray  155  to enhance the cooling of the other long edge portion of the ice making tray  155 . In other words, according to the foregoing configuration, cool air moving downward along one side (long edge portion) of the ice maker  151  passes through a lower side (lower cool air passage  182 ) of the ice maker  151  and moves upward along the other side (long edge portion) of the ice maker  151  to cool down the upper surface, both lateral surfaces (both lateral long edge portions), and bottom surface thereof. As a result, it may be possible to greatly reduce the ice making time of the ice maker  151 . 
         [0049]    A second guide  191  for guiding cool air to one upper region of the ice maker  151  may be provided at an upper side of the ice maker  151 . The second guide  191  may be configured to guide cool air to an upper surface and one lateral surface of the ice maker  151  such that cool air merely being introduced into an inner upper region of the ice making chamber  142  through the upper cool air inlet port  143  of the ice making chamber  142  may be guided to an upper surface and one lateral surface of the ice maker  151 , thereby intensively cooling down the ice maker  151 . Accordingly, it may be possible to further reduce the ice making time of the ice maker  151 . Moreover, cool air may be supplied to one lateral long edge portion of the ice maker  151  while passing through the bottom portion and sequentially moving to the other long edge portion to cool down the ice maker  151 , and thus the exhaust of bubbles contained in water may be effectively carried out, thereby obtaining transparent ice. 
         [0050]    The second guide  191  may be provided to be separated from the ice maker  151  by a predetermined distance. The second guide  191  may be configured to form a cool air passage thereinside, for example. More specifically, the second guide  191  may be formed with a tubular shaped body provided with a cool air inlet portion  192   a  for introducing cool air at an upper side thereof, and a cool air outlet portion  192   b  for exhausting cool air at a lower side thereof as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0051]    The second guide  191  may be configured to have a rectangular ring shaped cross section and/or be configured to reduce the flow area of the cool air located close to the lower side thereof. More specifically, the second guide  191  may be configured such that an inner width of the cool air inlet portion  192   a  is relatively large and an inner width of the cool air outlet portion  192   b  is relatively small. According to the foregoing configuration, a lot of cool air may be collected from the upper side to provide cool air to the upper surface and one lateral surface of the ice maker  151 , which may make it possible to further enhance the cooling of the ice maker  151 . 
         [0052]    According to the present embodiment, the length of the second guide  191  may be configured to correspond to and/or be the same as the length of the ice making tray  155  of the ice maker  151 . Alternatively, the second guide  191  may be configured such that the length of the cool air inlet portion  192   a  is formed to be greater than that of the ice making tray  155  of the ice maker  151  and the length of the cool air outlet portion  192   b  at a lower side thereof may be the same or similar to that of the ice making tray  155 . According to the foregoing configuration, the ice maker  151  may be disposed to be separated from an inner portion of the ice making chamber  142  to form a cool air passage between an inner wall of the freezing chamber door  131  and the inner portion of the ice making chamber  142 . 
         [0053]    As noted above, the first guide  181  may be provided at a lower side of the ice maker  151  and the second guide  191  may be provided at an upper side of the ice maker  151 . The first guide  181  may be coupled to a bottom portion of the ice making tray  155  of the ice maker  151  and the second guide  191  may guide cool air at the upper side beyond an upper surface of the ice maker  151  and/or the side wall  158 . 
         [0054]    On the other hand, cool air may be introduced through the cool air inlet port  143  at an inner portion of the ice making chamber  142 . The cool air introduced through the cool air inlet port  143  may be guided beyond an upper surface of the ice maker  151  and/or the side wall  158  by the second guide  191 . Part of the cool air guided by an upper surface of the ice maker  151 , namely, the second guide  191 , may be guided to an upper surface of the ice making tray  155  to directly cool down water that has been supplied to the ice making tray  155  and part of the cool air guided by the second guide  191  may be introduced into the upper cool air passage  168  formed beyond the side wall  158 . 
         [0055]    The cool air introduced into the upper cool air passage  168  may move downward, and move along one lateral portion (right side portion in the drawing) and a bottom surface portion of the ice making tray  155  by the first guide  181  at the lower portion. As a result, one lateral portion and a bottom surface portion of the ice making tray  155  may be cooled down by the cool air flowing along the one lateral portion and bottom surface portion of the ice making tray  155 . The cool air guided to the other lateral portion (left side portion in the drawing) of the ice making tray  155  by the first guide  181  may move upward while surrounding the other lateral portion of the ice making tray  155  by the lateral guide portion  185 . Due to this, the other lateral portion of the ice making tray  155  may be cooled down. 
         [0056]    In addition, the cool air introduced into the ice making chamber  142  may be guided by the second guide  191  and first guide  181  and brought into contact with the upper surface, both lateral surfaces, and bottom surface of the ice making tray  155  to directly cool down all four sides of the ice making tray  155 , thereby greatly reducing the ice making time of the ice maker  151 . 
         [0057]    Furthermore, the first guide  181  may suppress cool air flowing downward along a cool passage between the ice maker  151  and an inner wall surface of the freezing chamber door  131  from moving downward to the ice bank  170 , thereby preventing ice (ice cubes) stored within the ice bank  170  from being adhered to one another. 
         [0058]    As described above, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a cool air guide for guiding cool air to the surroundings of the ice maker may be provided around the ice maker, and the cool air guide may be provided with a first guide for guiding cool air to pass through a lower side of the ice maker, thereby reducing the ice making time of the ice maker. Due to this, it may be possible to enhance the ice making capability of the ice maker per unit time. 
         [0059]    Furthermore, the cool air guide may be provided with a second guide for guiding cool air to an upper surface and one lateral surface of the ice maker, thereby further reducing the ice making time of the ice maker. 
         [0060]    Furthermore, the first guide may be configured to have a lateral guide portion corresponding to both long edge portions of the ice making tray, and thus cool air moving downward along one side of the ice making tray may be guided to move along both lateral surfaces and a bottom surface of the ice making tray, thereby enhancing the cooling of the ice making tray. 
         [0061]    Furthermore, the first guide may be disposed to block a lower region of the cool air passage formed between a side wall of the ice making tray and an inner wall of the door, and thus cool air moving downward along the cool air passage may be guided to pass through a lower side of the ice making tray without moving toward the ice bank. Due to this, it may be possible to enhance the cooling of the ice making tray as well as preventing ice cubes within the ice bank from being adhered to one another. 
         [0062]    As described above, specific embodiments of the present invention are illustrated and described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in various embodiments without departing from the concept or gist of the invention, and thus the foregoing embodiments should not be limited to the content of the detailed description. 
         [0063]    Furthermore, the foregoing embodiments should be broadly construed within the scope of the technical concept defined by the appended claims even though they are not specifically disclosed in the detailed description herein. Moreover, all changes and modifications within the technical scope of the claims and the equivalent scope thereof should be construed to be included in the appended claims.