Patent ID: 8453475

Claim:
A refrigerator, comprising: a main body including at least a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber; an ice maker installed at an upper interior surface of the refrigerating chamber; a container positioned in a refrigerating chamber door, wherein an outer surface of the container is exposed to an inside of the refrigerating chamber, and wherein the container is positioned so as to receive ice from the ice maker; and a cold air flow passage that extends along a ceiling of the refrigerating chamber, wherein the cold air flow passage supplies a first portion of cold air flowing through the cold air flow passage to the container to maintain ice stored in the container in a frozen state and a second portion of the cold air flowing through the cold air flow passage to the inside of the refrigerating chamber, wherein the first portion of cold air and the second portion of cold air are both discharged through a distal end of the cold air passage, wherein the ice maker comprises: a tray that receives water to be used for making ice; a refrigerant pipe positioned so that at least a portion thereof is submerged in the water received in the tray, wherein the refrigerant pipe performs a heat exchange operation between the water received in the tray and a relatively low temperature refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant pipe so as to form ice on submerged portions of the refrigerant pipe; and a heater provided on an outer peripheral surface of the refrigerant pipe, wherein the heater directly contacts a corresponding surface of ice formed on the submerged portion of the refrigerant pipe so as to release the ice from therefrom during an ice-releasing process.