The present invention relates to an ice making method capable of reducing the required number of gyrations of a gyration member used for making ice having a high level of transparency and determining a point in time at which ice is to be released.
An ice maker IM shown in
As illustrated in
Recently, demand for highly transparent ice is increasing. To this end, in order to make highly transparent ice, an ice making method for making highly transparent ice by using an ultrasonic generator, and the like, is used.
In order to make highly transparent ice, a gyration member C provided to gyrate periodically in the tray member T as shown in
Besides the generation of the highly transparent ice I, the gyration member C may also be used to detect whether or not the formation of ice I generated on the dipping members D has reached an intended level along with a sensor S in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released.
Meanwhile, the ice maker IM may make ice I for generating cold water, as well as the ice I to be supplied to a user. Namely, the ice maker IM may make ice I to be supplied to a cold water tank (not shown) so as to cool water stored in the cold water tank and make or generate cold water.
In the related art ice making method, the ice I for generating cold water is also made to have a high level of transparency, like the ice I to be supplied to the user. This causes a problem in which the number of gyrations of the gyration member C is accordingly increased. Besides, as mentioned above, the gyration member C is required to gyrate periodically to detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached the intended level in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released. As a result, the number of gyrations of the gyration member C increases significantly.
When the number of gyrations of the gyration member C increases, a large load may be applied to the gyration member C or to a magnetic force generation member Me such as an electromagnet, or the like, used to drive the gyration member C, or the sensor S used to detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached the intended level in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released. Then, the durability of the configuration of the gyration member C, the sensor S, or the like, deteriorates and cannot be used for a long period of time.
The present disclosure has been made upon recognizing at least one of the requests made or problems caused in the related art ice making method as mentioned above.
An aspect of the present invention provides an ice making method capable of reducing the required number of gyrations of a gyration member used to make highly transparent ice and determine a point in time at which ice is to be released.
Another aspect of the present invention provides an ice making method capable of reducing a load applied to a gyration member or a magnetic force generation member such as an electromagnet, or the like, used to drive the gyration member, or a sensor used to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released.
Another aspect of the present invention provides an ice making method capable of allowing a gyration member or a magnetic force generation member such as an electromagnet, or the like, or a sensor, or the like, to be used for a long period of time.
An ice making method in relation to an embodiment for accomplishing at least one of the foregoing objects may have the following characteristics.
The present disclosure is based on the use of different methods for driving a gyration member in making ice to be supplied to a user and in making ice for generating cold water in order to reduce the number of gyrations of the gyration member used to make highly transparent ice or detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached an intended level to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice making method for making highly transparent ice by revolving a gyration member provided in a tray member in which water is putsuch that a plurality of dipping members, on which ice is generated or from which generated ice is released, are immersed, wherein a method for driving the gyration member in making ice to be supplied to a user and a method for driving the gyration member in making ice to be used for generating cold water are different, in order to reduce the number of gyrations of the gyration member.
Here, a driving duration of the gyration member in making ice to be supplied to the user and that of the gyration memberin making ice used to generate cold water may be different.
The gyration member may be driven in making ice to be supplied to the user, and may not be driven in making ice to be used for generating cold water.
The gyration member may detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached an intended level in association with a sensor in order to determine a point in time at which the ice is to be released.
In making ice to be supplied to the user, the gyration member may be driven to make ice and determine a point in time at which ice is to be released, and in making ice to be used for generating cold water, the gyration member may be driven only to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released.
In making ice to be supplied to the user, the gyration member may be driven during a basic ice making time (or a basic ice making duration) in which ice of a certain size is generated on the dipping members and during an ice size detection time (or an ice size detection duration) in which it is determined whether or not the formation of ice has reached an intended level in order to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released, and in making ice to be used for generating cold water, the gyration member may be driven only during the ice size detection time.
The basic ice making time may be half to two-thirds of an ice making time (or an ice making duration) obtained by adding the basic ice making time and the ice size detection time, and the ice size detection time may be one-third to half of the ice making time.
A refrigerant may flow in the plurality of dipping members.
The plurality of dipping members may be connected to a thermoelectric module.
The gyration member may periodically gyrate.
The gyration member may be associated with a sensor to detect ice of various sizes.
In this case, a gyration period or a gyration angle of the gyration member varies according to the size of ice, and the sensor may measure the gyration period or the gyration angle of the gyration member.
According to exemplary embodiments of the invention, the number of gyrations of the gyration member used to make highly transparent ice or to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released can be reduced.
Also, the load applied to the gyration member or the magnetic force generation member such as an electromagnet, or the like, used for driving the gyration member, or the sensor, or the like, used to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released can be reduced.
In addition, the gyration member or the magnetic force generation member such as an electromagnet, or the sensor can be used for a long period of time.
An ice making method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter to help in an understanding of the characteristics of the present invention.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention may however be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the 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 invention 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 components.
Embodiments of the present invention are based on making a driving method of a gyration member in making ice to be supplied to a user and a driving method of the gyration member in making ice to be used for generating cold water different from one another in order to reduce the number of gyrations of the gyration member used to make highly transparent ice and detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached an intended level in order to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released.
As shown in
In addition, a thermoelectric module (not shown) may be provided in the ice maker IM. The plurality of dipping members D may be connected to thermoelectric module. Accordingly, when the thermoelectric module is driven, the plurality of dipping members D may be cooled, and when the thermoelectric module is driven in reverse, the plurality of dipping members D may be heated.
As shown in
In the embodiments illustrated in
To this end, as shown in
Meanwhile, in order to determine a point in time at which the ice I is to be released, as shown in
To this end, as shown in
With such a configuration, when the formation of ice I has not reached the intended level, according to the gyration of the gyration member C, electromagnetic waves transmitted from the electromagnetic wave transmission member S1 are reflected by the electromagnetic wave reflective member Cb of the gyration member C and received by the electromagnetic wave reception member S2. The transmission of the electromagnetic waves from the electromagnetic wave transmission member S1, the reflection of electromagnetic waves by the electromagnetic wave reflective member Cb, and the reception of the electromagnetic waves by the electromagnetic wave reception member S2 may be performed periodically or aperiodically, according to a periodical or aperiodical gyration of the gyration member C.
Meanwhile, when the formation of ice has reached the intended level, the contact member Ca of the gyration member C is brought into contact with the ice I according to the gyration of the gyration member C. Then, the transmission of the electromagnetic waves from the electromagnetic wave transmission member S1, the reflection of electromagnetic waves by the electromagnetic wave reflective member Cb, and the reception of the electromagnetic waves by the electromagnetic wave reception member S2 as mentioned above are not performed. Thus, it can be detected that the formation of ice has reached an intended level, and accordingly, a point in time at which the ice I is to be released can be determined.
Also, as shown in
To this end, as shown in
As shown in
Meanwhile, in the configuration in which the gyration member C gyrates by a driving motor, a gyration angle of the gyration member C can be measured by a sensor (not shown) installed in the driving motor and a corresponding gyration period can be calculated.
Accordingly, the gyration period or gyration angle of the gyration member C can be measured by the sensor S, and the size of ice I can be detected. Accordingly, when the gyration period or gyration angle measured by the sensor S are gyration period orgyration angle corresponding to the desired ice I, it may be determined that the formation of ice has reached the intended level and a point in time at which the ice I is to be released can be determined.
However, the configuration for determining the point in time at which ice I is to be released is not limited to the configuration of the electromagnetic wave transmission member S1, the electromagnetic wave reception member S2, the contact member Ca, the electromagnetic wave reflective member Cb, and the like, as described above with reference to in
As in the embodiment illustrated in
To this end, a driving time (or driving duration) of the gyration member C may be different in making ice to be supplied to the user to that in making ice I to be used for generating cold water. The number of gyrations of the gyration member C or a gyration interval of the gyration member C may also be different in making ice to be supplied to the user and in making ice I to be used for generating cold water. For example, in making ice I to be supplied to the user, the number of gyrations of the gyration member C may be increased or the gyration interval of the gyration member C may be reduced, and in making ice I to be used for generating cold water, the number of gyrations of the gyration member C may be decreased or the gyration interval of the gyration member C may be increased.
When the driving time is adjusted to be different in making ice to be supplied to the user and in making ice I to be used for generating cold water, the gyration member C is not required to continually gyrate periodically or aperiodically in making ice to be supplied to the user and in making ice I to be used for generating cold water, so the number of gyrations can be reduced. Thus, a load applied to the gyration member C or the magnetic force generation member Me such as an electromagnet, or the like, used for driving the gyration member C or the sensor S used to detect whether or not the formation of ice has reached the intended level in order to determine a point in time at which the ice is to be released can be reduced. Thus, the durability of the configuration can be improved, so those elements can be used for a long period of time.
To this end, the gyration member C may be driven in making ice to be supplied to the user, while the gyration member C may not be driven in making ice I to be used for generating cold water. Thus, in this case, the determining of the point in time at which ice I is to be released is not made by the gyration member C but may be made through a different method. Namely, ice I is released when a certain time elapses, or an electromagnetic wave is interrupted when the formation of ice has reached an intended level. Thus, since the gyration member C is driven to gyrate only in making ice I to be supplied to the user, the number of gyrations of the gyration member C can be reduced.
Meanwhile, in a case in which the gyration member C detects whether or not the formation of ice has reached the intended level in association with the sensor S in order to determine a point in time at which ice I is to be released, as shown in
To this end, as shown in
Also, in order to implement this, as shown in
After the gyration member C is driven, when ice making time expires, namely, when the point in time at which ice is to be released arrives as the sensor S senses that the formation of ice has reached the intended level, a hot refrigerant is supplied to the dipping members D to release the ice I. Thereafter, in the case of ice Ito be supplied to the user, the released ice may be transferred to an ice repository (not shown) so as to be stored, and in case of ice Ito be used for generating cold water, released ice I may be transferred to a cold water tank (not shown) to cool water stored in the cold water tank.
Meanwhile, the basic ice making time may be 1/2 (half) to 2/3 (two-thirds) of the ice making time. Correspondingly, the ice size detection time may be one-third to half of the ice making time. If the basic ice making time is less than half of the ice making time, namely, if the ice size detection time exceeds half of the ice making time, the number of gyrations of the gyration member C required to make ice I for generating cold water is not greatly reduced, and is not sufficient to achieve the object of the present invention for reducing the required number of gyrations of the gyration member C. If the basic ice making time exceeds two-thirds of the ice making time, namely, if the ice size detection time is less than one-third of the ice making time, the sensor S may not appropriately sense whether or not formation of ice has reached an intended level to determine the point in time at which ice is to be released in making ice I to be used for generating cold water. Thus, preferably, the basic ice making time for reducing the required number of gyrations of the gyration member C and appropriately determining the point in time at which ice is to be released by the gyration member C is half to two-thirds of the ice making time, and a corresponding ice size detection time may be one-third to half of the ice making time.
An ice making method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described by using the ice maker IM illustrated in
As shown in
Meanwhile, a controller (not shown) provided in the ice maker IM may measure the amount of ice I of the ice repository (not shown) in which ice I to be supplied to the user is kept in storage or the temperature of water stored in the cold water tank (not shown) to determine whether to make ice I to be supplied to the user or whether to make ice I to be used for generating cold water. For example, when it is determined that the ice repository is empty, the controller may make ice I to be supplied to the user, and when the temperature of the cold ice tank is higher than a requested temperature by a certain amount, the controller may make ice I to be used for generating cold water.
When ice I to be supplied to the user is made because the amount of ice I kept in storage in the ice repository is small as shown in
Meanwhile, when ice I to be supplied to the user is not made, namely, when ice I to be used for generating cold water because the temperature of the cold water tank is higher by a certain temperature level than a requested temperature, the gyration member C is not driven as shown in
Meanwhile, in making ice I to be used for generating cold water as shown in
In this manner, ice Ito be supplied to the user and ice Ito be used for generating cold water are generated on the dipping members D, and as shown in
In this case, as shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
As set forth above, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention, the number of gyrations of the gyration member used to make highly transparent ice or to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released can be reduced.
Also, the load applied to the gyration member or the magnetic force generation member such as an electromagnet, or the like, used for driving the gyration member, or the sensor, or the like, used to determine a point in time at which ice is to be released can be reduced.
In addition, the gyration member or the magnetic force generation member such as an electromagnet, or the sensor can be used for a long period of time.
While the present invention has been shown and described in connection with the exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2010-0059893 | Jun 2010 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/KR11/04565 | 6/22/2011 | WO | 00 | 12/7/2012 |