Ice making device of refrigerator

Details Ice making device of refrigerator Ice making device of refrigerator

2001-08-06

2002-11-19

Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)

Refrigeration

Means producing shaped or modified congealed product

Heat absorber with product remover

C249S070000, C425S439000, C425S440000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06481235

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ice-making device of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an ice-making device of a refrigerator that is capable of easily separating pieces of frozen ice from an ice tray by twisting the ice tray.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a general refrigerator and front view showing that a door of the refrigerator is opened.
With reference to
FIG. 1
, a body of the refrigerator is divided into an upper freezing chamber (F) and a lower cooling chamber (R). The freezing chamber (F) and the cooling chamber (R) are opened and closed by doors
20
and
20
′ rotatably combined at the front side of the body
10
.
Shelves
30
and
30
′ are installed at the inner side of the freezing chamber (F) and the cooling chamber (R) and door baskets
21
and
21
′ are installed at the inner side of the doors
20
and
20
°, to keep various food stuffs,
A food stuff or a storage container are received at the shelves
30
and
30
′ and at the door baskets
21
and
21
′.
An ice-making unit
40
is installed in the freezing chamber to make an ice by concentrating cool air.
An ice storing box
50
is installed at a lower side in the freezing chamber (F), to store pieces of ice made by the ice-making unit
40
.
The ice-making unit
40
and the ice storing box
50
are installed in a drawer type in the freezing chamber.
The conventional ice-making device will now be described with reference to
FIGS. 2A
,
2
B and
3
.
FIG. 2A
is a perspective view showing an ice-making unit in accordance with the conventional art.
As shown in
FIG. 2A
, the ice-making unit
40
includes a rectangular frame shaped case
41
with an upper and a lower portions opened and an ice tray
42
having a plurality of ice cubes
42
a and rotatably installed in the case
41
.
The ice cubes
42
a of the ice tray
42
is filled with water to make ice. That is, after the ice tray
42
is filled with water and kept in the freezing chamber (F) for a predetermined time, the water filled in the ice cubes
42
a
is changed to ice in a predetermined shape, thereby making ice.
With reference to
FIG. 2B
, when the ice tray
42
of the ice-making unit
40
is twisted by being rotated, pieces of ice made in the ice tray
42
can be separated.
That is, with reference to
FIG. 3
, a rotational shaft
42
b
is formed at the front side of the ice tray
42
, penetrating the case
41
to be protruded outwardly, and a knob
43
is fixed at the front side of the rotational shaft
42
b.
A rotational shaft
42
c
is formed at a rear side of the ice tray
42
and inserted into the case
41
.
As to the ice tray
42
, when the knob
43
is rotated, it is rotated inside the case
41
centering around the rotations shafts
42
b
and
42
c.
A protrusion
41
a
is formed at the rear inner face of the case
41
. The protrusion
41
a
is to render the ice tray
42
to be twisted by limiting the rotation of the ice tray
42
when the tray
42
is rotated clockwise by more than a predetermined angle.
Accordingly, when the user rotates the knob
43
clockwise, as shown in
FIG. 2B
, the ice tray
42
is rotated in the case
41
upside down to a degree.
At this time, since the rear portion of the ice tray
42
is caught by the protrusion
41
a,
it could be hardly rotated any further, but the front portion is rotatable.
In this state, when the user rotates the ice tray
42
, the ice tray
42
is twisted, so that pieces of ice frozen in the ice tray
42
are separated from the ice cubes
42
d.
The many pieces of ice separated from the ice cubes
42
a
fall down into the ice storing box
50
installed at the lower side of the ice-making unit as shown in FIG.
1
.
An elastic member
44
is wound at the rotation shaft
42
c
of the ice tray
42
. One side of the elastic member is supported by the protrusion
41
a
and the other there of is caught by the ice tray
42
.
Accordingly, when the ice tray
42
is rotated clockwise, the elastic member
44
receives a compressive force, and in this state, when the user lets go of the knob, the elastic member
44
is restored, rotating the ice tray
42
counterclockwise to restore the ice tray
42
to its original horizontal state.
However, the ice-making device of the conventional art has the following shortcomings.
That is, typically, the ice tray
42
is constructed to be rotated clockwise in consideration of the fact that users are mostly right-handed. And, substantially, rotation counterclockwise is limited by the protrusion
41
a.
With such a structure that the ice tray
42
is rotatable in the uni-direction, it is impossible for the user to select a rotation direction, causing a problem that the user may not determine the rotation direction at his or her own discretion according to a use condition of the user.
For example, for a left-handed user who would rather feel comfortable to rotate the knob
43
counterclockwise, the ice-making unit
40
of the conventional art is much inconvenient to use.
In addition, unlike the case that the ice-making unit
40
is installed at the left side of the freezing chamber (F) as shown in
FIG. 1
, if the ice-making unit is installed near a hinge of the door
20
at the right side of the freezing chamber, the door
20
should be completely opened, because if the door is not completely opened, when the knob
43
is rotated clockwise, the ice-making unit would be interfered by the door basket
21
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice-making device having an ice tray that can be freely rotated in a desired direction for users' convenience, thereby improving a convenience of users.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided an ice-making device including: a case; an ice tray having a plurality of ice cubes, rotatably installed clockwise and counterclockwise in the case; and a rotation stopping unit provided at the case and the ice tray to limit a rotation of an ice tray clockwise or counterclockwise within a predetermined angle in a state that the ice tray is poised horizontally.
In the ice-making device of the present invention, a knob is protruded at the front side of the ice tray and the case, and the rotation stopping unit is installed at the rear side of the ice tray and the case.
In the ice-making device of the present invention, the rotation stopping unit includes a stopping protrusion protruded from the ice tray and a guide groove formed at the case, for guiding a movement of the stopping protrusion so as to be inserted thereto and limiting a rotation of the ice tray within a predetermined angle.
The ice-making device of the present invention further includes an elastic unit formed between the case and the ice tray to provide an elasticity so that the ice tray can return to a horizontal state after being rotated clockwise or counterclockwise.
In the ice-making device of the present invention, a plurality of stopping protrusions and guide grooves are formed at the ice tray and the case.
In the ice-making device of the present invention, the stopping protrusions includes a first stopping protrusion and a second stopping protrusion having different distances, and the guide grooves include a first guide groove ad a second groove into which the first stopping protrusion and the second stopping protrusion are inserted, respectively.
In the ice-making device of the present invention, one stopping protrusion and one guide groove are formed both at the ice tray and the case.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3273353 (1966-09-01), Horvay et al.
patent: 3677030 (1972-07-01), Nicholas
patent: 4306423 (1981-12-01), Webb et al.
patent: 540

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Ice making device of refrigerator does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Ice making device of refrigerator, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ice making device of refrigerator will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2934632