Patent Publication Number: US-10309716-B2

Title: Refrigerator

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201410596661.5, filed in the Patent Office of the People&#39;s Republic of China on Oct. 29, 2014 and entitled Refrigerator, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the technical field of refrigerator, in particular to a refrigerator. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With the improvement of people&#39;s living standard, high-grade refrigerators are more and more popular with consumers. Automatic ice-making machines are one of important symbols of high-grade refrigerators. Generally, all high-grade refrigerators of famous brands in China and abroad have automatic ice-making machines. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , taking a French refrigerator as example, an automatic ice-making machine includes an ice-making chamber  01 , an ice-making chamber door  02  and a distributor (not shown), as well as an ice-making machine  03  and an ice storage box  04  both disposed on an inner wall of the ice-making chamber  01 . Ice cubes made by the ice-making machine  03  enter the ice storage box  04  through an ice discharge channel, and the ice cubes in the ice storage box  04  are discharged outside the refrigerator through the distributor for use. 
     As the ice-making machine  03  and the ice storage box  04  are mounted up-down on the inner wall of the ice-making chamber  01 , a space surrounding the ice-making machine  03  is limited, which causes the inconvenience of cleaning and maintenance. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator. A refrigerator comprises a refrigerator door, wherein an ice-making chamber is provided on an inner wall of the refrigerator door, an ice-making chamber door is provided at the opening of the ice-making chamber, and an ice-making machine is mounted on the inner side of the ice-making chamber door; when the ice-making chamber door is closed, the ice-making chamber door is able to cover the opening of the ice-making chamber, and the ice-making machine is located within the ice-making chamber. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To more clearly describe the technical solution in the embodiment of the present disclosure or in the prior art, accompanying drawings to be used in the description of the embodiments or of the prior art will be briefly described. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may further obtain other drawings according to these drawings without any creative labor. 
         FIG. 1  is a structural diagram of a refrigerator in the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  is a structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a structural diagram of an ice-making chamber door of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a structural diagram of an ice-making machine and an ice-making machine holder of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 5  is an externally structural diagram of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is an internally structural diagram of a portion of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The technical solution of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below referring to the accompanying drawings in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Apparently, the embodiment described herein is merely a part but not all of embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiment of the present disclosure without any creative labor shall fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure. 
     In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the orientation or position relationship indicated by terms such as “center”, “up”, “down”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner” and “outer” is an orientation or position relationship shown based on the accompanying drawings, and is merely used for conveniently describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element must have a particular orientation or must be constructed and operated in a particular orientation. Therefore, the terms shall not be regarded as limiting the present disclosure. 
       FIG. 2  is a specific embodiment of a refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The refrigerator in this embodiment includes a refrigerator door  1 , wherein an ice-making chamber  2  is provided on the inner wall of the refrigerator door  1 , an ice-making chamber door  3  is provided at the opening of the ice-making chamber  2 , and an ice-making machine  4  is mounted on an inner side of the ice-making chamber door  3 ; when the ice-making chamber door  3  is closed, the ice-making chamber door  3  is able to cover the opening of the ice-making chamber  2 , and the ice-making machine  4  is located within the ice-making chamber  2 . 
     With regard to the refrigerator provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, as the ice-making machine  4  is disposed on the ice-making chamber door  3 , when the ice-making chamber door  3  is closed, the ice-making machine  4  may work normally. For the mounting and maintenance of the ice-making machine, as an ice storage box is provided below the ice-making machine  4  in the prior art and due to the occlusion of the ice-making chamber wall on the left, right and upper sides, the space available for operating is small. In contrast, since the ice-making machine  4  provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is mounted on the ice-making chamber door  3 , during mounting and maintenance, there is basically no occlusion surrounding the ice-making machine  4  when the ice-making chamber door  3  is opened, so that the space available for operating is large. Therefore, the arrangement of the ice-making machine  4  on the ice-making chamber door  3  is convenient not only for the mounting and maintenance of the ice-making machine  4 , but also for a user to clean the ice-making machine  4 . 
     For ease of storage of ice cubes made by the ice-making machine  4 , an ice storage box  5  is provided within the ice-making chamber  2 . When the ice-making chamber door  3  is closed, the ice-making machine  4  is located above the ice storage box  5 . In addition, an ice cube tray (not shown) is further provided within the ice-making machine  4 . When it needs to make ice, the ice-making chamber door  3  is closed, a proper amount of water is fed into the ice cube tray of the ice-making machine  4 , and the produced ice cubes are stored in the ice cube tray. At this moment, the ice-making machine  4  may turn over and twist the ice cube tray, so that the produced ice cubes may smoothly fall into the ice storage box  5  for storage. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , to secure the ice-making machine  4  on the ice-making chamber door  3 , an ice-making machine holder  6  is provided, and the ice-making machine  4  is secured on the ice-making machine holder  6 . Then, the ice-making machine holder  6  is connected to the ice-making chamber door  3  by connecting screws. Threaded holes  31  are formed on a surface of the ice-making chamber door  3  close to the ice-making chamber  2 , and via holes  61  are formed through a surface of the ice-making machine holder  6  close to the ice-making chamber door  3 . To be convenient for the connecting screws to secure the threaded holes  31  and the via holes  61 , a connecting lug  64  is provided on the ice-making machine holder  6 , so that the via holes  61  are formed through the connecting lug  64 . When the connecting screws are in fit connection to the threaded holes  31  after passing through the via holes  61 , the connecting screws need to be screwed by a screwdriver. As the connecting lug  64  is protruded from the ice-making machine holder  6 , a certain space may be provided for operating the screwdriver, so that it is convenient to screw the connecting screws and thus secure the ice-making machine holder  6  and the ice-making machine  4  onto the ice-making chamber door  3 . 
     To avoid the instability of the ice-making machine  4  due to gravity, positioning projections  32  are provided on the surface of the ice-making chamber door  3  close to the ice-making chamber  2 , positioning grooves  62  are provided on the ice-making machine holder  6 , and the positioning projections  32  are cooperatively disposed in the positioning grooves  62 . The positioning projections and the positioning grooves may be provided below the threaded holes and the via holes, respectively, and in this case, the connecting lug needs to be disposed above the ice-making machine holder. Therefore, a certain space for the connecting lug needs to be reserved between the ice-making machine holder and an upper frame of the ice-making chamber door. Equivalently, the ice-making machine holder is moved down, and correspondingly, the ice storage box also needs to be moved down. Accordingly, the ice-making machine needs to be larger, and the structural strength of the refrigerator door  1  will be thus reduced. As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , preferably, the positioning projections  32  and the positioning grooves  62  are located above the threaded holes  31  and the via holes  61 , respectively, and in this case, the connecting lug is located below the ice-making machine holder  6 . When the ice-making chamber door  3  is closed, the connecting lug may be overlapped with a portion of the ice storage box  5  close to the ice-making chamber door  3 , so that the connecting lug is prevented from occupying an unnecessary space. After the positioning projection  32  is fitted in the positioning grooves  62 , the positioning projection  32  mainly functions as supporting the ice-making machine  4  and the ice-making machine holder  6  in a vertical direction, so that the stability of the ice-making machine  4  is ensured. 
     To ensure the balance and stability of the ice-making machine  4 , there are two positioning grooves  62  and two via holes  61 , respectively, and the two positioning grooves  62  and the two via holes  61  are distributed at four corners of the surface of the ice-making machine holder  6  close to the ice-making chamber door; correspondingly, two positioning projections  32  and two threaded holes  31  are distributed at corresponding positions on the ice-making chamber door  3  to secure the ice-making machine holder  6  and the ice-making chamber door  3  and further ensure the connection stability of the ice-making machine holder  6 , so that the connection stability of the ice-making machine  4  is ensured. 
     To avoid the instability of the ice-making machine  4  due to too heavy ice cubes in the ice-making machine  4 , a support projection  33  is further provided on the surface of the ice-making chamber door  3  close to the ice-making chamber  2 , a rack brim  63  is provided on the ice-making machine holder  6 , and the rack brim  63  is cooperatively attached to the support projection  33 . To better secure the ice-making machine  4 , the rack brim  63  is provided at a position corresponding to the ice cube tray in the ice-making machine  4 . During the operation of the ice-making machine  4 , when the ice cube tray is relatively heavy with ice cubes therein, the support projection  33  may provide a support force for the ice-making machine  4  at the position corresponding to the ice cube tray, so that the stability of the ice-making machine  4  during the operation is maintained. 
     For ease of the connection between a connecting wire  41  of the ice-making machine  4  and a main control panel of the refrigerator, a wire hole  34  and a hinge hole  35  which are communicated with each other are formed through the ice-making chamber door  3 , and the connecting wire  41  of the ice-making machine  4  may successively pass through the wire hole  34  and hinge hole  35 , then pass through the refrigerator door  1  and get out from a door hinge hole of the refrigerator door  1 , and finally penetrate into a refrigerator body to connect the main control panel of the refrigerator. 
     In addition, the water source of the ice-making machine  4  is generally tap water. One end of a water supply pipe is connected to the water source, while the other end thereof passes through the refrigerator body, then passes through the door hinge hole of the refrigerator door  1  and finally penetrates into the refrigerator door  1  to connect a water feeding pipe of the ice-making chamber. When the ice-making chamber door is closed, a water valve is opened, and water flowing into the water supply pipe may be fed into the ice cube tray through the water feeding pipe of the ice-making chamber. Such an arrangement of a circuit and a water path may avoid the exposure of the wire and the water pipe, so that both the safety and aesthetic appearance of the automatic ice-making machine are improved. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 5 , to conveniently take ice cubes out, a distributor  7  in communication with the ice storage box  5  through an ice discharge channel is provided on an outer wall of the refrigerator door  1 , and ice cubes in the ice storage box  5  may be discharged through the distributor  7 . Thus, without opening the refrigerator door  1 , the produced ice cubes may be taken out, so that the unnecessary loss of refrigerating capacity due to the frequent opening of the refrigerator door  1  is avoided. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , the refrigerator door  1  includes a refrigerating chamber door  11  and a freezing chamber door  12 . As a freezing chamber is located at a lower part of the refrigerator, the operation and use of the user will be influenced if the ice-making machine is disposed on the freezing chamber door  12 . Therefore, the ice-making machine  4  is preferably disposed on an inner wall of the refrigerating chamber door  11 . 
     With regard to the refrigerator provided by embodiment of the present disclosure, as the ice-making machine is disposed on the ice-making chamber door, when the ice-making chamber door is closed, the ice-making machine may work normally. For the mounting and maintenance of the ice-making machine, as an ice storage box is provided below the ice-making machine in the prior art, and due to the occlusion of the ice-making chamber wall on the left, right and upper sides, the space available for operating is small. In contrast, since the ice-making machine provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is mounted on the ice-making chamber door, during mounting and maintenance, there is basically no occlusion surrounding the ice-making machine when the ice-making chamber door is opened, so that the space available for operating is large. Therefore, the arrangement of the ice-making machine on the ice-making chamber door is convenient not only for the mounting and maintenance of the ice-making machine, but also for a user to clean the ice-making machine. 
     The foregoing description merely shows specific implementations of the present disclosure, and the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any variations or replacements that may be readily obtained by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure shall fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope defined by the claims.