Patent Publication Number: US-7913509-B2

Title: Refrigerator

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an ice pickup apparatus for a refrigerator. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Generally, a refrigerator is partitioned into a freezer room and a cold-storage room. The cold-storage room stores food and vegetable at a temperature of 3˜4° C., whereas the freezer room deep-freezes food such as meat and fish to store at a temperature below zero for a long term. 
     Various functions such as a vegetable (Kimchi) storage and the like are provided to a refrigerator for user&#39;s convenience. An ice-making is one of supplementary functions of the refrigerator, which will be explained in the following. 
     A refrigerator configuration, in which a cold-storage room is provided to an upper part thereof and in which a freezer room is situated under the cold-storage room, is explained with reference to  FIG. 1  as follows. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a cold-storage room  1  is provided to an upper part of a refrigerator body and a freezer room  2  is provided under the cold-storage room  1 . 
     Doors are provided to selectively open/close the cold-storage and freezer rooms  1  and  2 , respectively. And, an ice machine is provided to the freezer room  2 . 
     The ice machine consists of an icemaker making ice and an ice bank storing the made ice therein. 
     Since the ice machine is provided within the freezer room situated in a lower part of the refrigerator body, a user opens the freezer room to pick up ice from the ice bank directly. 
     However, the related art refrigerator has the following problems. 
     First of all, since the ice bank is provided to the freezer room situated at a lower part of the related art refrigerator having the ice machine provided within the freezer room in the lower part of the refrigerator body, it is inconvenient for a user to bend over to pick up the ice. 
     Namely, in the related art refrigerator having the ice machine provided within the freezer room in the lower part of the refrigerator body, the ice machine is situated at the freezer room in the lower part of the refrigerator. Hence, to pick up ice, a user needs to bend over to open the freezer room and then pick up the stored ice out of the ice bank while bending over. 
     Meanwhile, a downward ice pickup mechanism using a dispenser can be provided to the freezer room. In such a case, a location of the ice bank is too low. Hence, it is difficult to employ a system of discharging ice to a lower position via the downward pickup mechanism. 
     Namely, in case of adopting the related art downward ice pickup system while the ice machine is left in the freezer room at the lower part of the refrigerator body, a user needs to further bend over. Hence, more inconvenience is caused to the user instead of removing the inconvenience in use. 
     Therefore, it is difficult to adopt the related art downward ice pickup system in the structure having the ice machine provided to the freezer room in the lower part of the refrigerator body. A new ice pickup structure is needed to remove the bending-over inconvenience. 
     In case of providing the ice machine to the cold-storage room in the upper part of the refrigerator body to remove the inconvenience in use, a separate insulation space for ice-making needs to be provided within the cold-storage room. Hence, an inner space of the cold-storage room becomes limited in space. In addition to the configuration, in case of installing the dispenser for picking up the ice at the freezer room, the aforesaid inconvenience still remains and the freezer room becomes excessively narrow. 
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a refrigerator that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator, in which cold-storage and freezer rooms are situated at upper and lower parts, respectively, in which ice made at the freezer room of the lower part is dispensed at the cold-storage room of the upper part, and by which a user can pick up the ice without bending over to enhance user&#39;s convenience. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator, by which a separate insulation space is not needed within a cold-storage room to provide an ice machine to the cold-storage room unnecessarily and by which a space of a freezer room can be sufficiently secured without providing a dispenser installation space within the freezer room. 
     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings. 
     To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a body having a cold-storage room provided to an upper part and a freezer room provided to a lower part, an ice maker provided to the freezer room to make ice, an ice bank receiving the ice made by the ice maker, and a transport mechanism sending the ice discharged from the ice bank toward the cold-storage room via an ice transport passage. 
     To further achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, a refrigerator includes a body having a cold-storage room provided to an upper part and a freezer room provided to a lower part, an ice maker provided to the freezer room to make ice, an ice bank receiving the ice made by the ice maker, a conveyer mechanism sending the ice discharged from the ice bank to a transport position, a transport mechanism sending the ice sent to the transport position by the conveyer mechanism to a cold-storage room side via an ice transport passage, and a dispenser provided to the cold-storage room side to discharge the ice sent to the cold-storage room side by the transport mechanism via the ice transport passage to an outside of the cold-storage room side door. 
     To further achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, a refrigerator includes an ice maker provided to a freezer room situated at a lower part of a body to make to discharge ice downward, an ice bank provided under the ice maker, the ice bank having an open topside to receive the ice made by the ice maker and an ice discharge opening provided to a bottom side of the ice bank wherein the ice discharge opening can be opened/closed, a conveyer mechanism sending the ice discharged from the ice bank to a transport position, a freezer room side ice transport passage provided to one side of the ice bank, a chute box coupled to an inside of a cold-storage room side door, the chute box having an ice transport passage communicating with the freezer room side ice transport passage, and a transport mechanism discharging the ice conveyed to the transport position by the conveyer mechanism to a dispenser of the cold-storage room side door via the ice transport passage. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       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: 
         FIG. 1  is a front diagram of an exterior of a refrigerator according to a related art. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional diagram of a refrigerator provided with an ice pickup apparatus according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a magnified cross-sectional diagram for explaining an ice pickup process of the ice pickup apparatus in  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a magnified cross-sectional diagram of an ice pickup apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional diagram of a refrigerator provided with an ice pickup apparatus according to the present invention, and  FIG. 3  is a magnified cross-sectional diagram for explaining an ice pickup process of the ice pickup apparatus in  FIG. 2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , a refrigerator according to the present invention includes an ice maker  400  provided to a freezer room  2  situated at a lower part of a body B to make to discharge ice downward, an ice bank  600  provided under the ice maker  400 , the ice bank  600  having an open topside to receive the ice made by the ice maker  400  and an ice discharge opening provided to a bottom side of the ice bank  600  wherein the ice discharge opening can be opened/closed, a freezer room side ice transport passage  200   a  provided to one side of the ice bank  600 , a chute box  30  coupled to an inside of a door  3  of a cold-storage room  1 , the chute box  30  having an ice transport passage  300  communicating the freezer room side ice transport passage  200   a , and a transport mechanism shooting up the ice discharged from the ice bank  600  via the ice transport passage  300  to discharge the ice to a dispenser D of the door  3  of the cold-storage room  1 . 
     The transport mechanism includes a motor  900 , a first link  910  connected to a shaft of the motor  900  to be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by a drive force of the motor  900 , and a second link  920  coupled to a front end of the first link  910  via hinge. 
     In this case, the motor  900  is a step motor enabling a rotational speed adjustment for a predetermined acceleration of the motor  900 . This is because the ice can shot upward by the rotation at the predetermined acceleration. 
     Preferably, a push stick  930  having an area larger than that of the link is provided to a front end of the second link  920  to raise contact reliance with the ice. 
     More preferably, the push stick  930  is formed of a material having a prescribed cushion to avoid an impact on the ice. 
     Meanwhile, a conveyer mechanism is installed in a direction vertical to an installation direction of the transport mechanism to send the ice falling from the ice bank  200  to a shooting position. 
     The conveyer mechanism may have the same configuration of the transport mechanism. 
     Namely, the conveyer mechanism includes a motor  800 , a first link  810  connected to a shaft of the motor  800  to be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by a drive force of the motor  800 , and a second link  820  coupled to a front end of the first link  810  via hinge. Preferably, a push stick  830  having an area larger than that of the link is provided to a front end of the second link  820 . 
     The ice transport passage  300  of the chute box  30  approximately has a ‘∩’ shape and a direction switching portion of an upper end of the chute box  30  is rounded. This is to prevent the ice shot upward by the transport mechanism from being broken and to enable the ice to slide down to be discharged to the dispenser D. 
     A sealing member  500  such as a gasket and the like is inserted between the chute box  30  and a barrier  6  to prevent the chill leakage. 
     An upper inside of the dispenser D of the door  3  of the cold-storage room  1  is provided with a shield plate  110 , which cuts off thermal contact with an external air while the ice is not discharged, and a drive motor  120  for selectively opening/closing the ice discharge opening by rotationally moving the shield plate  110  centering on a hinge point in a right-and-left direction. 
     Optionally, the shield plate  110  can be installed to move in a back-and-forth or up-and-down direction. 
     The ice maker  400  is provided to the freezer-room  2  in the lower part of the refrigerator body B and the ice bank  600  is installed under the ice maker  400 . Various kinds of general ice makers and banks are applicable to the ice maker and back  400  and  600 , respectively, of which explanations are skipped in the following. 
     A topside of the ice bank  600  has an open box shape to receive the ice made by the ice maker  400 . The ice bank  600  has a size suitable for a refrigerator capacity and ice storage capacity. Alternatively, a shape of the ice bank  600  can be variously modified according to a shape of an ice landing portion. 
     An ice transporter (not shown in the drawing) is provided to an upper within the ice bank  600 . The ice transporter is operative in dropping the ice stored in the ice bank  600  onto a horizontal passage underneath. 
     The ice transporter (not shown in the drawing) may include a helical auger and a motor rotating the auger. 
     Numeral references ‘ 4 ’, ‘ 5 ’, and ‘ 200 ’ indicate an evaporator, a blower fan, and a wall body configuring the ice transport passage. 
     An operation of the above-configured present invention is explained as follows. 
     First of all, a process of making ice by the ice maker  400  and discharging the ice to the ice bank  600  is repeated to store a prescribed quantity of the ice in the ice bank  600 . 
     While the prescribed quantity of the ice is stored in the ice bank  600 , an ice dispensing button of a control panel is pressed. If so, the ice comes out of the ice bank  600  by an action of the ice transporter (not shown in the drawing). 
     Namely, the ice discharged from the ice bank  600  falls down to the horizontal passage under the ice bank  600 , whereby the first and second links  810  and  820 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , spread from one state indicated by a doted line to the other state indicated by a solid line to send the ice to the freeze-room side ice transport passage  200   a.    
     In doing so, the conveyer mechanism pushes the ice to be set by a shooting timing of the transport mechanism. 
     Meanwhile, the ice sent to the freeze-room side ice transport passage  200   a  is situated on the push stick  930  to be shot upward by the shooting action of the transport mechanism. 
     Namely, the motor  900  configuring the transport mechanism is rotated at a predetermined acceleration to bounce up. 
     Specifically, the motor  900  is the step motor and is controlled in a manner of gradually rotating faster in shooting the ice upward and gradually slowing down its rotational speed. 
     The ice shot on the freezer-room side ice transport passage  200   a  passes through the passage provided to the barrier  6 , moves along the ice transport passage  300  of the chute box  30  provided to the door  3  of the cold-storage room  1 , and is then discharged to the dispenser D. 
     In doing so, since the direction switching portion at the upper end of the chute box  30  is rounded to have the ‘∩’ shape, the ice, which avoids being broken in the process of switching its moving direction, slides down to be discharged to the dispenser D. 
     In the above-explained process, the shield plate  110  provided to an upper side of the dispenser D may be opened each time the ice individually slides down along the ice transport passage  300 . Preferably, the shield plate  110  is opened when a prescribed quantity of ice gathers in the ice transport passage  300  to be collectively picked up. 
     Meanwhile, the dispenser D is preferably situated at a height of a user&#39;s waist or chest. This is to enable a user not to bend over in picking up the ice from the dispenser D. 
     It is apparent that an installation height of the dispenser D can be determined by considering an averaged height of nation or housewives. 
       FIG. 4  is a magnified cross-sectional diagram of an ice pickup apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , an ice transport mechanism includes a motor M rotatable at predetermined acceleration, a pinion  700  shaft-coupled to the motor M to have gear teeth, and a rack  710  provided with another gear teeth  710   a  engaging with the gear teeth of the pinion  700 . 
     Preferably, a push stick  720  is provided to a front end of the rack  710  to increase a contact area with ice that is shot upward. 
     Alternatively, the transport mechanism can be configured in a following manner. 
     First of all, a link mechanism is configured with a rapid return mechanism having a mean speed difference between a forward stroke and a return stroke instead of a motor having a predetermined rotational speed. The rapid return mechanism instantly transfers a force on a rapid return motion to shoot up the ice. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     Accordingly, the refrigerator according to the present invention provides the ice machine to the freezer room under the cold-storage room so that the ice is dispensed to the cold-storage room side, thereby expanding the space of the cold-storage room without providing the separate insulation space to the cold-storage room. 
     In case that the ice machine is provided to the freezer-room situated under the freezer room, a user can pick up the ice from the dispenser without bending over. 
     Moreover, the resent invention needs not to provide the separate insulation space within the cold-storage room to provide the ice machine to the cold-storage room, thereby securing the sufficient space of the cold-storage room. 
     Besides, the present invention does not provide the dispenser to the freezer room side, thereby securing the sufficient space of the freezer room. 
     Therefore, the present invention sufficiently secures the spaces of the cold-storage and freezer rooms to raise spatial efficiency and to facilitate the ice pick-up, thereby enhancing user&#39;s product reliance. 
     While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.