ICE MAKER

Abstract

There is provided an ice maker. The ice maker includes: a freezing plate configured to be cooled by an evaporator to freeze water flowing thereon; a water tub disposed below the freezing plate to collect water falling from the freezing plate; an ice bin forming an ice storage space around the water tub to collect ice falling from the freezing plate; and a plate-shaped ice storage guide placed on an upper end of the water tub between the freezing plate and the water tub, the ice storage guide including a sloped part inclined toward the ice bin and a plurality of discharge holes narrower than widths of ice cubes formed by the freezing plate. Parts of the ice maker are simple and can be easily cleaned, and thus the ice maker may be hygienically used.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0106017 filed on Apr. 9, 2013, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an ice maker, and more particularly, to an ice maker including an ice storage guide configured to definitively separate water and ice falling from a freezing plate to prevent the water from flowing into an ice bin.

In a down-flow type ice maker, water freezes into ice while flowing down a freezing plate cooled by an evaporator, and the ice is separated from the freezing plate and stored in an ice bin.

Referring to FIG. 1, a down-flow type ice maker of the prior art includes: an ice making unit including an evaporator 10, a freezing plate 12, and a water supply tube 14; a water tub 20 disposed below the ice making unit to collect ice-making water and ice-separating water falling from the freezing plate 12; and an ice guide 30 disposed at an upper end of the water tub 20 to separate ice and water and guide the ice to an ice bin (not shown) disposed outside of the water tub 20.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the ice guide 30 of the prior art includes a plurality of vertical barriers 32 arranged at regular intervals, and a connection part 34 connecting the vertical barriers 32.

The upper ends of the vertical barriers 32 have slopes to guide ice to the ice bin.

When the ice maker is operated, parts such as the ice guide 30 and the water tub 20 making contact with water may be covered with scale (fur). Therefore, cleaning may be performed to remove scale formed on such parts and to allow the ice maker to be used hygienically.

However, since the vertical barriers 32 of the ice guide 30 of the prior art are arranged at intervals smaller than the sizes of ice cubes, the structure of the ice guide 30 is complex, and thus it is difficult to clean the ice guide 30.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the upper ends of the ice guide 30 are hung on the upper end of the water tub 20. Therefore, water falling from the freezing plate 12 may flow along the slopes of the upper ends of the vertical barriers 32 to the ice bin, and thus, ice stored in the ice bin may melt.

If water permeates into the ice bin as described above, ice stored in the ice bin may melt, and the quality of the ice may be lowered.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure may provide an ice maker configured to be easily cleaned and to store ice after definitively separating the ice from water.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an ice maker may include: a freezing plate configured to be cooled by an evaporator to freeze water flowing thereon; a water tub disposed below the freezing plate to collect water falling from the freezing plate; an ice bin forming an ice storage space around the water tub to collect ice falling from the freezing plate; and a plate-shaped ice storage guide placed on an upper end of the water tub between the freezing plate and the water tub, the ice storage guide including a sloped part inclined toward the ice bin and a plurality of discharge holes narrower than widths of ice cubes formed by the freezing plate.

The discharge holes may be elongated in an inclination direction of the sloped part.

The ice storage guide may further include a reinforcement rib vertically protruding from a rear side thereof and extending in a length direction thereof.

End plates may be provided on both ends of the ice storage guide to support a main body of the ice storage guide with respect to the upper end of the water tub.

The ice storage guide may further include an auxiliary discharge hole formed in front of the discharge holes and spaced apart from the discharge holes.

The auxiliary discharge hole may be formed between the discharge holes neighboring each other.

A plurality of auxiliary discharge holes may be arranged at predetermined intervals in a length direction of the ice storage guide, and a guide jaw may be formed between the auxiliary discharge holes neighboring each other so as to guide water flowing on the sloped part to the auxiliary discharge holes.

When the ice storage guide is placed on the water tub, a discharge gap may be formed between an end of the ice storage guide and an upper end of an inner wall of the of the water tub.

The ice storage guide may further include a guide protrusion formed on an end of the sloped part.

The ice storage guide may further include ridges protruding from the sloped portion at edges of the discharge holes.

The freezing plate may include front and rear freezing plates making contact with both ends of the evaporator, and front and rear parts of the ice storage guide may be symmetrical to guide ice falling respectively from the front and rear freezing plates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is perspective view illustrating an assembly included in an ice maker of the prior art, the assembly including an ice making unit, a water tub, and an ice guide;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the ice guide of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarge view illustrating portion A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an assembly included in an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the assembly including a freezing plate, an evaporator, an ice storage guide, a water tub, and an ice bin;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the ice storage guide of the ice maker illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged perspective view illustrating the ice storage guide of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a cut-away view illustrating a state in which the ice storage guide illustrated in FIG. 5 is placed on the water tub; and

FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view illustrating the ice storage guide of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The disclosure may, however, be exemplified in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the specific embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

In the drawings, the shapes and dimensions of elements may be exaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals will be used throughout to designate the same or like elements.

In the following description, the technical terms are used only for explaining specific exemplary embodiments while not limiting the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless referred to the contrary.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

With reference to FIGS. 4 to 9, an ice maker 200 will be described according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an assembly included in the ice maker 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the assembly including a freezing plate 210, an evaporator 220, an ice storage guide 100, a water tub 230, and an ice bin 240, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are a perspective view and a partially enlarged view illustrating the ice storage guide 100. FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 4, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are a cut-away view and a partially enlarged view illustrating a state in which the ice storage guide 100 is placed on the water tub 230.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 9, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice maker 200 includes the freezing plate 210, the evaporator 220, the water tub 230, the ice bin 240, and the ice storage guide 100.

The freezing plate 210 may be cooled by the evaporator 220 (to be described later), and water may freeze while falling down the surface of the freezing plate 210.

In the embodiments, the freezing plate 210 may include a front freezing plate 210a and a rear freezing plate 210b that make contact with front and rear sides of the evaporator 220. However, the configuration of the freezing plate 210 is not limited thereto.

The evaporator 220 may include a pipe in which a refrigerant flows. The pipe may have a zigzag shape with a plurality of bent portions.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the evaporator 220 may make contact with rear sides of the freezing plate 210 to cool the freezing plate 210.

The water tub 230 may be disposed below the freezing plate 210 to collect water (ice-making water and ice-separating water) falling from the freezing plate 210.

The ice bin 240 may form an ice storage space around the water tub 230 to collect ice falling from the freezing plate 210.

The ice storage guide 100 is placed on an upper end of the water tub 230 between the freezing plate 210 and the water tub 230.

The ice storage guide 100 may separate ice and water falling from the freezing plate 210 and guide the ice to the ice bin 240 and the water to the water tub 230.

Hereinafter, the ice storage guide 100 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9.

In the embodiments, the ice storage guide 100 may include a sloped part 110 and discharge holes 120. The sloped part 110 may include ridges 125, reinforcement ribs 130, end plates 140, auxiliary discharge holes 150, guide jaws 160, and guide protrusions 170.

The ice storage guide 100 is formed of a plate-shaped member, and the sloped part 110 is downwardly sloped.

In a state in which the ice storage guide 100 is placed on the water tub 230, slopes of the sloped part 110 are inclined downward toward the ice bin 240.

The discharge holes 120 are penetration holes formed through the ice storage guide 100. The discharge holes 120 may be narrower than the widths of ice cubes formed by the freezing plate 210.

The discharge holes 120 may be arranged along the entirety of the ice storage guide 100.

In the embodiments, the discharge holes 120 may be elongated in the inclination directions of the sloped part 110.

If the discharge holes 120 are elongated in the inclination directions of the sloped part 110 as described above, ice may easily slide on the sloped part 110 without being blocked by the discharge holes 120.

Furthermore, in the embodiments, the ridges 125 may be formed along edges of the discharge holes 120.

In other words, the ridges 125 may be edges of the discharge holes 120 protruding upward from the sloped part 110.

When ice slides on the sloped part 110, the contact area between the ice and the sloped part 110 may be reduced owing to the ridges 125. In other words, owing to the ridges 125, ice may make line contact with the sloped part 110 instead of making surface contact with the sloped part 110.

The ridges 125 prevent ice from sticking to the sloped part 110 having a flat shape, and thus ice may slide smoothly on the sloped part 110.

The upper ends of the ridges 125 maybe rounded so as to minimize the contact area between the sloped part 110 and ice.

The reinforcement ribs 130 may protrude vertically from a rear surface of the sloped part 110 and may extend in a length direction of the sloped part 110.

Owing to the reinforcement ribs 130, the ice storage guide 100 having a plate shape may have improved resistance to vertical loads. That is, the reinforcement ribs 130 reinforce the ice storage guide 100 to prevent the ice storage guide 100 from being deformed or broken by ice falling thereonto.

The endplates 140 maybe disposed on both ends of the ice storage guide 100 to support a main body of the ice storage guide 100 with respect to the water tub 230.

In the embodiments, the end plates 140 may be plate-shaped members disposed on both ends of the ice storage guide 100 and extending downward therefrom.

The ice storage guide 100 may be fixed to the upper end of the water tub 230 by disposing lower ends of the end plates 140 on the upper end of the water tub 230.

In the embodiments, the end plates 140 may have a plate shape, and may be formed in one piece with or integrally coupled to both ends of the ice storage guide 100 to reinforce the ice storage guide 100 and thus to prevent the ice storage guide 100 from being twisted or bent by a heavy load.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the auxiliary discharge holes 150 maybe formed in front of the discharge holes 120 (in a direction downstream from the discharge holes 120 based on directions in which ice and water move) and may be spaced apart from the discharge holes 120.

Like the discharge holes 120, the auxiliary discharge holes 150 are penetration holes formed through the sloped part 110 of the ice storage guide 100 so as to drain water flowing on the sloped part 110. The auxiliary discharge holes 150 maybe narrower than the widths of ice cubes formed by the freezing plate 210.

In the embodiments, the auxiliary discharge holes 150 may be arranged in lines in the length direction of the ice storage guide 100.

Furthermore, in the embodiments, the auxiliary discharge holes 150 may be formed between the discharge holes 120 neighboring each other. In other words, the discharge holes 120 and the auxiliary discharge holes 150 arranged in the length direction of the ice storage guide 100 may be staggered.

In this case, water flowing between the discharge holes 120 may be drained through the auxiliary discharge holes 150.

Furthermore, in the embodiments, the auxiliary discharge holes 150 may be spaced apart from each other, and the guide jaws 160 may be formed between the auxiliary discharge holes 150.

The guide jaws 160 may protrude from the sloped part 110 to guide water flowing on the sloped part 110 to the auxiliary discharge holes 150.

In the embodiments, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, when the ice storage guide 100 is placed on the water tub 230, discharge gaps may be formed between edges of the ice storage guide 100 and upper ends of inner walls of the water tub 230.

In other words, the front-to-rear width of the ice storage guide 100 may be narrower than the width of the water tub 230, and thus horizontal gaps (discharge gaps) maybe formed between the ice storage guide 100 and the inner walls of the water tub 230.

Water arriving at leading ends of the ice storage guide 100 without being drained through the discharge holes 120 and the auxiliary discharge holes 150 may finally be drained to the water tub 230 through the discharge gaps.

The guide protrusions 170 may protrude from the leading ends of the ice storage guide 100 toward the discharge gaps.

The guide protrusions 170 maybe arranged in the length direction of the ice storage guide 100 at intervals smaller than the widths of ice cubes.

The guide protrusions 170 may prevent ice cubes from falling through the discharge gaps.

The above-described ice storage guide 100 has an approximately flat shape, and thus may be easily cleaned.

Since water flowing on the sloped part 110 of the ice storage guide 100 can be discharged through the discharge holes 120, the auxiliary discharge holes 150, and the discharge gaps, water and ice may definitively be separated, and thus permeation of water into the ice bin 240 may be prevented.

Furthermore, in the embodiments, front and rear parts of the ice storage guide 100 may be symmetrical so as to guide ice cubes falling from the front freezing plate 210a and the rear freezing plate 210b.

As set forth above, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, since the parts of the ice maker are simple and can be easily cleaned, the ice maker may be hygienically used.

In addition, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, ice and water falling from the freezing plate can definitively be separated from each other to prevent the water from flowing into the ice bin, and thus high-quality ice can reliably be made.

While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An ice maker comprising: a freezing plate configured to be cooled by an evaporator to freeze water flowing thereon;a water tub disposed below the freezing plate to collect water falling from the freezing plate;an ice bin forming an ice storage space around the water tub to collect ice falling from the freezing plate; anda plate-shaped ice storage guide placed on an upper end of the water tub between the freezing plate and the water tub, the ice storage guide comprising a sloped part inclined toward the ice bin and a plurality of discharge holes narrower than widths of ice cubes formed by the freezing plate.

2. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the discharge holes are elongated in an inclination direction of the sloped part.

3. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice storage guide further comprises a reinforcement rib vertically protruding from a rear side thereof and extending in a length direction thereof.

4. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein end plates are provided on both ends of the ice storage guide to support a main body of the ice storage guide with respect to the upper end of the water tub.

5. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice storage guide further comprises an auxiliary discharge hole formed in front of the discharge holes and spaced apart from the discharge holes.

6. The ice maker of claim 5, wherein the auxiliary discharge hole is formed between the discharge holes neighboring each other.

7. The ice maker of claim 6, wherein a plurality of auxiliary discharge holes are arranged at predetermined intervals in a length direction of the ice storage guide, and a guide jaw is formed between the auxiliary discharge holes neighboring each other so as to guide water flowing on the sloped part to the auxiliary discharge holes.

8. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein when the ice storage guide is placed on the water tub, a discharge gap is formed between an end of the ice storage guide and an upper end of an inner wall of the of the water tub.

9. The ice maker of claim 8, wherein the ice storage guide further comprises a guide protrusion formed on an end of the sloped part.

10. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice storage guide further comprises ridges protruding from the sloped portion at edges of the discharge holes.

11. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the freezing plate comprises front and rear freezing plates making contact with both ends of the evaporator, and front and rear parts of the ice storage guide are symmetrical to guide ice falling respectively from the front and rear freezing plates.