Back to results
US 7,739,884 B2Granted
Control method of refrigerator
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsKyung Han Jeong, Il Hyeon Jo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ice maker and method for making ice are disclosed. The ice maker includes a compartment, an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment to receive and make ice, and a fan installed on the ice-making tray to make ambient air pass along the surface of the ice-making tray. The method includes selectively supplying chilled air to a compartment according to conditions of the compartment, continuously blowing chilled air in the compartment to an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment regardless of the conditions of the compartment, and distributing blown air on a surface of the ice-making tray uniformly.
Claims19
An ice maker comprising:
- a compartment;
- an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment to receive water and make ice;
- a tray fan installed on the ice-making tray to make ambient air within the compartment to pass along a surface of the ice-making tray, the tray fan configured to be driven separately from a cooling fan that supplies air to the compartment;
- and
- a plurality of passages provided on the surface of the ice-making tray, to guide air blown by the fan and to receive a heater therein,
- wherein the passages are arranged in a substantially radial direction from a central portion of the fan to an outer edge of the ice-making tray, and at least a part of at least two adjacent passages of the plurality of passages are bent to increase a path of air passing along the surface of the ice-making tray and at least one arc-shaped protrusion extending past the outer edge of the ice-making tray which permits the heater to form a ‘U’ shape.
3 more elements
An ice maker comprising:
- a compartment;
- a cooling fan that supplies chilled air to the compartment;
- an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment to receive water and make ice;
- a tray fan provided around the ice-making tray to make ambient air within the compartment flow along a surface of the ice-making tray, the tray fan configured to be driven separately from the cooling fan;
- a plurality of cooling fins extended from the ice-making tray to increase a heat-exchange capacity of the ice-making tray and to guide air, which is flowed by the tray fan, to flow along the surface of the ice-making tray;
- and
- a plurality of passages provided on the surface of the ice-making tray, to guide air blown by the fan and to receive a heater therein,
- wherein the passages are arranged in a substantially radial direction from a central portion of the fan to an outer edge of the ice-making tray, and at least a part of at least two adjacent passages of the plurality of passages are bent to increase a path of air passing along the surface of the ice-making tray and at least one arc-shaped protrusion extending past the outer edge of the ice-making tray which permits the heater to form a ‘U’ shape.
5 more elements
An ice maker comprising:
- a compartment;
- an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment to receive and freeze water;
- a tray fan installed on a bottom surface of the ice-making tray, the tray fan configured to be driven separately from a cooling fan that supplies air to the compartment;
- a plurality of cooling fins extended from the ice-making tray and disposed to guide air, blown by the fan, to an edge of the ice-making tray;
- and
- a plurality of passages provided on the surface of the ice-making tray, to guide air blown by the fan and to receive a heater therein,
- wherein the passages are arranged in a substantially radial direction from a central portion of the fan to an outer edge of the ice-making tray, and at least a part of at least two adjacent passages of the plurality of passages are bent to prolong a path of air passing along the surface of the ice-making tray and lead the air into an arc-shaped protrusion extending past the outer edge of the ice-making tray.
4 more elements
A method for making ice comprising:
- selectively supplying chilled air by operating a cooling fan to a compartment according to conditions of the compartment;
- continuously blowing chilled air by operating a tray fan in the compartment to an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment regardless of the conditions of the compartment, the tray fan provided on the ice-making tray;
- and
- distributing blown air along a plurality of passages provided on a surface of the ice-making tray uniformly, to guide air blown by the fan and to receive a heater therein,
- wherein at least a part of at least two adjacent passages of the plurality of passages are bent to increase a path of air passing along the surface of the ice-making tray and at least one arc-shaped protrusion extending past the outer edge of the ice-making tray which permits the heater to form a ‘U’ shape.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.