Refrigeration – With indicator or tester
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-27
2003-10-28
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
With indicator or tester
C062S137000, C062S344000, C062S353000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06637217
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ice maker of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an ice maker of a refrigerator that is capable of automatically controlling the entire process from supplying water for making ice to separating the ice and storing it in a storage container, and its control method
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, an ice maker is separately installed in a freezing instrument or a refrigerating instrument to make ice by using a cooling cycle provided in the freezing instrument and the refrigerating instrument.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of an ice maker in accordance with a conventional art, and
FIG. 2
Is a schematic view showing the construction of the ice maker in accordance with the conventional art.
The ice maker of the conventional art includes: an ice making vessel
102
mounted at a certain position for receiving cooling air of a refrigerator and having a plurality of partitions
110
; an ejector
104
rotatably mounted at an upper side of the ice making vessel
102
, separating ice formed by the ice making vessel and transferring the separated ice in a storage container (not shown); a driving motor
106
installed at one side of the ice making vessel
102
and rotating the ejector
104
; a heater
108
installed at a lower side of the ice making vessel
102
and supplying heat to the ice making vessel to facilitate separation of ice formed by the ice making vessel
102
; and a full ice detecting unit stopping the driving motor
106
when ice making vessel is full of ice.
The ice making vessel
102
includes a plurality of cavities divided by the partitions
110
. A storage container (not shown) is disposed at the lower side of the ice making vessel
102
to store ice formed in the ice making vessel
102
. A cup
112
is mounted at one side of the ice making vessel
102
to supply water to the cavities, and a control box
114
is mounted at the other side of the ice making vessel
102
, having various parts for driving the ice maker such as the driving motor
106
.
The driving motor
106
is fixed inside the control box
114
, and a drive gear
116
is connected to the driving motor
106
.
As the drive gear
116
is geared with a cam shaft
118
fixed at the ejector
104
, a rotational force of the driving motor
106
is transferred to the ejector
104
.
A thermostat
120
is mounted at one side of the ice making vessel
102
to sense a temperature inside the ice making vessel and turn on or turn off the heater
108
and the driving motor
106
.
The thermostat
120
is formed as a bimetal type to turn on/off a power source applied to the heater
108
and the driving motor
106
according to a temperature of the ice making vessel
102
.
An operating switch (not shown) is disposed at the cam shaft
118
to switch on/off a valve (not shown) installed at a supply passage for supplying water to the cup
112
. That is, as the operating switch is turned on/off a power supply according to rotation of the cam shaft
118
, the power source applied to the valve (not shown) is turned on/off so as to control water supply to the ice making vessel
102
.
The full ice detecting unit includes a detecting lever
122
positioned at the storage container and rotatably mounted at the control box
114
, and a detecting switch
124
connected to the detecting level
122
and turning off the ice maker when ice is full of the storage container according to rotation of the detecting lever
122
.
That is, in the full ice detecting unit, when ice is full of the storage container, the detecting lever
122
is moved upwardly so as to be limited in its rotation movement, and accordingly, the detecting switch is turned off to cut off a power supply applied to the ice maker.
The operation of the ice maker of a refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art will now be described.
When water filled in each cavity of the ice making vessel
102
is frozen by cooling air supplied from a cooling system, the thermostat
120
senses a temperature of the ice making vessel and operates the heater
108
.
Then, the heater
108
heats the ice making vessel to facilitate separation of ice formed in the ice making vessel
102
.
When the temperature of the ice making vessel increases to a certain degree due to heating by the heater
108
, the power supplied to the heater
108
is cut off by the operation of the thermostat
120
and a power supply is applied to the driving motor
106
.
Then, the drive gear
116
is rotated according to driving of the driving motor
106
, the cam shaft
118
geared with the drive gear
116
is rotated, the ejector
104
is rotated according to rotation of the cam shaft
118
, so as to separate ice formed in the ice making vessel
102
and transfer the separated ice to the storage container disposed at a lower side of the ice making vessel
102
.
When the cam shaft
118
is rotated, an operating switch (not shown) adjacent to the cam shaft
118
is turned on. As the operating switch is turned, on, the valve is operated to open a supply passage and then water is supplied to the ice making vessel
102
through the cup
112
.
The water amount supplied to the ice making vessel
104
is determined by the interval of a cam formed at the cam shaft
118
, a time during which the operating switch is maintained ON.
When the storage container is full of ice by the ice making operation, the detecting lever
122
is limited in its rotation due to the ice, and as the detecting switch
124
is turned off according to operation of the detecting lever
122
, the operation of the ice maker is stopped.
However, the ice maker of a refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art constructed and operated as described above has many problems.
That is, first, since the supply time is determined by the rotation angle of the cam shaft, that is, the mechanical operation interval of the cam, and the water supply amount is accordingly determined, if an error occurs to the rotation of the cam shaft, water amount supplied to the ice making vessel differs, and thus, the size of ice is different and a defective occurrence rate is high.
Secondly, once the water supply amount is determined, it is not controllable anymore, the size of formed ice is not controllable.
Thirdly, after the ice making vessel is installed, it is not possible to determine a propriety of a water amount supplied to the ice making vessel.
Fourthly, since the thermostat for sensing a temperature of the ice making vessel is formed as a bi-metal type, it is difficult to accurately detect a temperature, and thus, an error occurs due to the thermostat and a defective proportion increases.
Fifthly, since there is no function for testing an operation state of the ice making vessel, it is not possible to recognize malfunction of the ice maker.
Lastly, since the conventional ice maker of a refrigerator does not have a structure for blocking circuit components installed in a case from moisture, a temperature difference takes place in a process that the door of the refrigerator is repeatedly opened and shut, and due to the temperature difference, the inside of the case is frozen or a water drop is generated. This would cause an electric leakage and a fire of the circuit components, resulting in a problem to an operation of the circuit components and that a normal controlling is not possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker of a refrigerator that is capable of automatically controlling the entire process of supplying water to an ice making vessel, operating an ejector after completion of ice making and storing the formed ice in a storage container by having a control system for automatically controlling each driving element of an ice maker, and its control method.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker of a refrigerator that is capable of controlling a size of ice formed by controlling an amount of water supplied to an ice making vessel according to a user&a
An Si Yun
Kim Il Sin
Ali Mohammad M.
Fleshner & Kim LLP
Tapolcai William E.
LandOfFree
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