Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator comprises: an opening disposed at one side of a door; an ice bank disposed on a rear surface of the door, and configured to be drawn out through the opening, for storing ice pieces; a guide unit for guiding the ice bank to be drawn out; and a volume control unit for changing a volume of the ice bank step by step. A volume of the ice bank is varied according to users necessity. This solves a users inconvenience to make ice pieces a plurality of times, for example, in summer when a large amount of ice pieces are required.

1 . A refrigerator, comprising:
 an opening disposed at one side of a door;   an ice bank disposed on a rear surface of the door, and configured to be drawn out through the opening, for storing ice pieces;   a guide unit for guiding the ice bank to be drawn out; and   a volume control unit for changing a volume of the ice bank step by step.   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the ice bank comprises:
 a body portion formed in a box shape having opened upper and lower surfaces; and   a volume expansion container inserted into the body portion so as to be vertically moveable along an inner surface of the body portion, and forming an ice storage space having an opened upper surface.   
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the ice bank is provided with a handgrip concaved at a lower front end of the volume expansion container by a predetermined height toward a rear surface of the volume expansion container, and formed between a front surface of the body portion and a front surface of the volume expansion container. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the volume control unit controls a volume of the ice bank by restricting a motion of the volume expansion container with respect to the body portion step by step. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the volume control unit comprises:
 volume control grooves formed, in a volume control direction of the ice bank, at one of inner side surfaces of the body portion and outer side surfaces of the volume expansion container;   volume control protrusions formed at another of the inner side surfaces of the body portion and the outer side surfaces of the volume expansion container in correspondence to the volume control grooves; and   a locking unit for restricting a relative motion of the volume control grooves with respect to the volume control protrusions step by step.   
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator of  claim 5 , wherein the locking unit comprises:
 locking grooves formed at one of the volume control grooves and the volume control protrusions in a volume control direction of the ice bank; and   locking protrusions formed at another of the volume control grooves and the volume control protrusions, and locked by the locking grooves step by step.   
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator of  claim 6 , wherein the locking groove is formed at one surface of both side surfaces of the volume control groove so as to be opened in a direction that the ice bank is drawn out, and
 wherein the locking protrusion is provided at a side surface of the volume control protrusion in correspondence to the locking groove.   
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator of  claim 6 , wherein the locking protrusion is formed so as to be elastically supported in a direction perpendicular to the volume control direction of the ice bank. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator of  claim 6 , wherein the locking groove is formed such that its inner side surfaces are inclined in the volume control direction of the ice bank. 
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator of  claim 5 , wherein the locking unit comprises:
 locking grooves formed at one of the volume control grooves and the volume control protrusions, and having a sectional surface of a sine wave in a volume control direction of the ice bank; and   locking protrusions formed at another of the volume control grooves and the volume control protrusions in correspondence to the locking grooves.   
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator of  claim 10 , wherein the locking groove is formed at one surface of both side surfaces of the volume control groove so as to be opened in a direction that the ice bank is drawn out, and
 wherein the locking protrusion is provided at a side surface of the volume control protrusion in correspondence to the locking groove.   
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator of  claim 10 , wherein the locking protrusion is formed so as to be elastically supported in a direction perpendicular to the volume control direction of the ice bank. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the volume control unit comprises:
 a first controller formed at one of inner side surfaces of the body portion and outer side surfaces of the volume expansion container, and having a sectional surface of a sine wave in a volume control direction of the ice bank; and   a second controller formed at another of the inner side surfaces of the body portion and the outer side surfaces of the volume expansion container so as to be engaged with the first controller, and having a sectional surface of a sine wave in the volume control direction of the ice bank.   
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the guide unit comprises:
 a first guide portion fixed in the opening, for guiding the ice bank to downward slantly move toward the opening; and   a second guide portion configured to be drawn out of the opening under guide of the first guide portion, for mounting the ice bank in a drawing manner.   
     
     
         15 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein one pair of guide protrusions formed at one of outer side surfaces of the second guide portion and inner side surfaces of the first guide portion perform a sliding motion in an inserted state into one pair of guide slots formed at another of the outer side surfaces of the second guide portion and the inner side surfaces of the first guide portion. 
     
     
         16 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the second guide portion is formed in a hexahedron shape of which upper, lower, and front surfaces are opened in correspondence to the body portion, and
 wherein the second guide portion guides the ice bank to be introduced into or drawn out of the opening.   
     
     
         17 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the second guide portion comprises:
 supporting portions extending from lower ends of both side surfaces of the second guide portion in a thickness direction of both side surfaces of the body portion, for supporting the ice bank; and   one pair of interworking ribs formed at upper front ends of both side surfaces of the second guide portion, and extending from both side surfaces of the body portion in a thickness direction,   wherein one pair of interworking protrusions are formed at upper rear ends of both side surfaces of the body portion, such that the second guide portion is drawn out by interworking therewith when the ice bank is drawn out.   
     
     
         18 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein lower rear ends of both side surfaces of the body portion are formed to be downward slanted in a direction that the ice bank is drawn out.