Abstract:
An ice maker is capable of efficiently making and removing ice cubes. The ice maker includes first and second pulleys which are installed to be spaced apart from each other. A drive unit rotates the first and second pulleys. An ice making conveyor is wrapped around the first and second pulleys, and has a plurality of ice making parts which are concavely formed to contain water therein. An ice storage tray is provided under the ice making conveyor to store ice cubes dropping from the ice making parts. An ice level sensing unit functions to sense a level of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray, thus shutting off electricity. When the level of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray exceeds a predetermined level, an operation of the ice maker is stopped, thus preventing an excessive number of ice cubes from being stored in the ice storage tray.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-5070, filed Jan. 25, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates, in general, to ice makers and, more particularly, to an ice maker capable of efficiently making and removing ice cubes.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    Generally, an ice maker is installed in a refrigerator or a vending machine to make ice cubes out of water which is supplied to the ice maker.  
           [0006]    A conventional ice maker includes drive and driven pulleys which are installed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. An ice making conveyor is wrapped around the drive and driven pulleys, and is provided with a plurality of ice making parts to contain water therein.  
           [0007]    Further, a heater is installed at a predetermined position in the ice making conveyor. The heater applies heat to the ice making parts which face downward, thus removing the ice cubes from the lower ice making parts. An ice storage tray is provided under the ice making conveyor to store the ice cubes removed from the ice making parts.  
           [0008]    Thus, when the ice cubes are formed in the ice making parts which face upward, the ice making conveyor is moved by the drive and driven pulleys to make the ice making parts having the ice cubes face downward. Thereafter, electricity is applied to the heater to generate heat. The ice cubes are removed from the ice making parts by the heat, prior to being stored in the ice storage tray.  
           [0009]    However, the conventional ice maker has a problem in that the ice maker is designed to continuously make ice cubes, thus an excessive number of ice cubes are made when the ice maker continues operations after a proper point of time. In this case, the ice cubes overflow the ice storage tray.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an ice maker which is turned on or off according to an amount of ice stored in the ice storage tray.  
           [0011]    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.  
           [0012]    The above and/or other aspects are achieved by an ice maker, including first and second pulleys which are installed to be spaced apart from each other, a drive unit which rotates the first and second pulleys, an ice making conveyor which is wrapped around the first and second pulleys and has a plurality of ice making parts concavely formed to contain water therein, an ice storage tray which is provided under the ice making conveyor to store ice cubes dropping from the ice making parts, and an ice level sensing unit which senses a level of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray, thus shutting off electricity.  
           [0013]    The ice level sensing unit may include a sensing lever which moves up and down in a see-saw manner, a cam which is rotated by a force transmitted from the drive unit to move the sensing lever up and down, and a switch which is pressed by the sensing lever to turn on or off the electricity.  
           [0014]    The sensing lever may comprise a bar of a predetermined length. The bar may include a hinge part which is provided at a middle portion of the bar to allow the bar to move up and down relative to the hinge part, a sensing part which is provided at a first side of the bar around the hinge part to be supported by the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray, and a lever part which is provided at a second side of the bar opposite to the sensing part and is operated by the force of the drive unit transmitted through the cam to move the bar up and down.  
           [0015]    The lever part may include, at an end thereof, a pressing part having a circular cross-section to be operated by the force of the drive unit transmitted through the cam, thus pressing the switch down.  
           [0016]    The cam is rotated by the force of the drive unit transmitted through the first and second pulleys which are rotated by the drive unit. A projection part may be provided at a predetermined portion of the cam to apply the force to the lever part according to a rotating angle of the cam.  
           [0017]    Further, the switch shuts off the electricity, when the switch is pressed down by the sensing lever over a predetermined period.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an ice maker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the ice maker of FIG. 1;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the ice maker of FIG. 1, when an ice level sensing unit of the ice maker is operated; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the ice maker of FIG. 1, when an ice storage tray of the ice maker is filled with ice cubes. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]    Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.  
         [0024]    As shown in FIG. 1, an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention includes first and second pulleys  10   a  and  10   b  which are installed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. A drive unit  20  rotates the first and second pulleys  10   a  and  10   b . An ice making conveyor  30  is wrapped around the first and second pulleys  10   a  and  10   b.    
         [0025]    The first pulley  10   a  comprises a drive pulley  10   a  which is rotated by a force transmitted from the drive unit  20 . The second pulley  10   b  comprises a driven pulley  10   b  which is rotated by the force transmitted from the first pulley  10   a  through the ice making conveyor  30 . Between the drive and driven pulleys  10   a  and  10   b  is provided a support bracket  11 . The drive and driven pulleys  10   a  and  10   b  are installed at opposite ends of the support bracket  11  to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.  
         [0026]    The ice making conveyor  30  includes a plurality of tray cells  31  with concave ice making parts  31   a . The tray cells  31  are hinged to each other to form the ice making conveyor  30  of a closed loop shape. Each of the ice making parts  31   a , is made of a metal, such as stainless steel, thus allowing heat to be easily transferred to each of the ice making parts  31   a.    
         [0027]    An engaging projection  31   b  is projected from an inside portion of each of the tray cells  31  to be subject to the force transmitted from the drive pulley  10   a . Further, a plurality of engaging holes  12  are provided on outer circumferential surfaces of the drive and driven pulleys  10   a  and  10   b  at regular intervals to engage with the engaging projections  31   b . Thus, when the force is transmitted from the drive pulley  10   a  to the tray cells  31 , via the engaging projections  31   b  and the engaging holes  12 , the tray cells  31  rotate around the drive and driven pulleys  10   a  and  10   b.    
         [0028]    The ice maker also includes a heater  40  (see, FIG. 2) to apply heat to the ice making parts  31   a . According to the embodiment of the present invention, the heater  40  is mounted to a lower portion of the support bracket  11  to apply heat to the tray cells  31  defining the ice making parts  31   a  which face downward.  
         [0029]    The support bracket  11  is mounted at both ends thereof to an interior of a cooling compartment to install the ice maker in the cooling compartment. According to the embodiment of the present invention, a mounting bracket  60  is provided to hold both sides of the support bracket  11 , thus supporting the ice making conveyor  30  in the cooling compartment.  
         [0030]    An ice storage tray  70  is provided under the ice making conveyor  30  to store ice cubes made from the ice making parts  31   a . A water supply pipe  80  is provided above the ice making conveyor  30  to supply water to the tray cells  31 .  
         [0031]    Further, the ice maker according to the present invention includes an ice level sensing unit  50  to sense a level of the ice cubes which are stored in the ice storage tray  70 . Once the level of the ice cubes sensed by the ice level sensing unit  50  has reached a predetermined level, the ice maker stops making the ice cubes.  
         [0032]    According to the embodiment of the present invention, the ice level sensing unit  50  measures the level of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray  70 , thus detecting an amount of the ice. The ice level sensing unit  50  includes a sensing lever  51 , a cam  52 , and a switch  53 . The sensing lever  51  is hinged at a middle portion thereof to the mounting bracket  60  to move up and down in a see-saw manner. The cam  52  moves the sensing lever  51  in the see-saw manner. The switch  53  is pressed by the sensing lever  51  to turn on or off the electricity which is applied to the ice maker.  
         [0033]    The sensing lever  51  comprises a bar of a predetermined length. The bar includes a hinge part  51   a  which is hinged to the mounting bracket  60 . A sensing part  51   b  is provided at a first side of the bar around the hinge part  51   a  to be supported by the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray  70 . A lever part  51   c  is provided at a second side of the bar which is opposite to the sensing part  51   b , and is operated by the force of the drive unit  20  transmitted through the cam  52 . At an end of the lever part  51   c  is provided a pressing part  51   d  to press the switch  53 . The pressing part  51   d  has a circular cross-section so that the force of the drive unit  20  is easily transmitted from the cam  52  to the pressing part  51   d.    
         [0034]    A projection part  52   a  is provided at a predetermined portion of the cam  52  to be eccentric from a center of rotation of the cam  52 . Thus, according to a rotating angle of the cam  52 , the projection part  52   a  at specific angles transmits the force of the drive unit  20  to the pressing part  51   d  to move the pressing part  51   d . Thereby, the pressing part  51   d  periodically presses the switch  53  down. In this case, the cam  52  is rotated by the rotating force transmitted from the drive unit  20 . According to the embodiment of the present invention, the rotating force of the drive unit  20  is transmitted to the cam  52  through a pair of intermediate gears  54  connected to a shaft of the driven pulley  10   b  which is rotated by the ice making conveyor  30 .  
         [0035]    The switch  53  is installed under the pressing part  51   d  of the sensing lever  51  to be pressed by the pressing part  51   d  which is moved downward by the cam  52 . When the switch  53  is kept pressed by the pressing parts  51   d , the electricity supplied to the ice maker is shut off, thus stopping the operation of the ice maker.  
         [0036]    According to the embodiment of the present invention, the cam  52  of the ice level sensing unit  50  is rotated by the rotating force transmitted from the drive unit  20  through the ice making conveyor  30  and the drive and driven pulleys  10   a  and  10   b . Alternatively, the cam  52  may be rotated by a different drive unit without being limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.  
         [0037]    The operation and effect of the ice maker according to the present invention will be described in the following in detail with reference to the attached drawings.  
         [0038]    First, water is supplied through the water supply pipe  80  to the ice making parts  31   a  of the tray cells  31  which face upward. Since the ice maker is installed in the cooling compartment of a refrigerator, cool air is continuously supplied to the water which is contained in the ice making parts  31   a . Thus, after a predetermined period, the water in the ice making parts  31   a  is converted into ice.  
         [0039]    The ice making conveyor  30  is moved by the drive unit  20  and the drive and driven pulleys  10   a  and  10   b , thus moving the ice cubes. In a detailed description, when the electricity is applied to the drive unit  20 , the drive pulley  10   a  is rotated. At this time, the engaging holes  12  provided on the outer circumferential surface of the drive pulley  10   a  engage with the engaging projections  31   b  provided on the tray cells  31  to move the ice making conveyor  30 . By the movement of the ice making conveyor  30 , the ice making parts  31   a  having the ice cubes face downward.  
         [0040]    In such a state, when electricity is applied to the heater  40 , the heater  40  emits heat, thus applying the heat to the ice making parts  31   a  of the tray cells  31 . Thus, the surfaces of the ice cubes which are in contact with the tray cells  31  defining the ice making parts  31   a  are heated, and eventually melted, thus breaking a holding force. At this time, the ice cubes drop due to gravity from the ice making parts  31   a  to be stored in the ice storage tray  60 .  
         [0041]    While such an ice making operation is carried out, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cam  52  of the ice level sensing unit  50  is rotated by the force of the drive unit  20  transmitted through the driven pulley  10   b  and the intermediate gears  54 , thus applying the force transmitted to the cam  52  to the pressing part  51   d  of the sensing lever  51 . At this time, the sensing lever  51  moves in the see-saw manner while periodically pressing the switch  53 .  
         [0042]    When the ice making operation is continuously carried out and the level of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray  60  reaches a predetermined level, as shown in FIG. 4, the sensing part  51   b  of the sensing lever  51  which moves up and down in the see-saw manner, is supported by the ice cubes. At this time, the sensing lever  51  does not move downward. Further, the pressing part  51   d  provided at the second side of the sensing lever  51  which is opposite to the sensing part  51   b , keeps on pressing the switch  53  down. When such a state is continued for a predetermined period, the switch  53  shuts off the electricity which is supplied to the ice maker, thus stopping the ice production.  
         [0043]    As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides an ice maker, which is provided with an ice level sensing unit to measure a level of ice cubes stored in an ice storage tray, thus stopping an operation of the ice maker when the level of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage tray exceeds a predetermined level, therefore preventing an excessive number of ice cubes from being stored in the ice storage tray.  
         [0044]    Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has 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.