Ice maker, refrigerator having the same, and method for supplying ice thereof

Abstract

Disclosed are an ice maker, a refrigerator having the ice maker, and a method for supplying ice of the refrigerator. When the ice making container is rotated, ice of the ice making container freefalls to be released, thus reducing the size of the ice maker and making a refrigerator slimmer. Also, since a partition wall is not provided on an inner circumferential surface of the ice making container, the roughness of the inner circumferential surface of the ice making container can be enhanced, and accordingly, heat can be evenly transferred from an ice releasing heater to reduce a generation amount of residual water. In addition, since ice can be released without using the ice releasing heater, power consumption can be reduced and residual water which can be generated in case of using the heater can be further reduced.

1 . An ice maker comprising:
 an ice making container having an ice making space to allow water to be put therein to make ice;   a partitioning plate having a plurality of partition walls to demarcate the ice making space into a plurality of unit spaces; and   a driving unit for supplying a rotary force to the ice making container to allow the ice making container to rotate with respect to the partitioning plate to release ice of the ice making space.   
     
     
         2 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the partitioning plate comprises a stopper for stopping ice of the ice making space to allow the ice to be released from the ice making container. 
     
     
         3 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the stopper is formed to connect the partition walls. 
     
     
         4 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein a pusher is formed to be protruded from an opening end of the ice making container to push ice from the partitioning plate through the partition walls. 
     
     
         5 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the ice making container comprises an ice releasing heater. 
     
     
         6 . The ice maker of  claim 5 , wherein the ice releasing heater is electrically connected to the control unit, and the control unit comprises a detection unit for detecting the temperature of the ice making container or detecting a time which has lapsed since water was supplied, a determining unit for determining whether or not ice making has been completed by comparing the temperature or time detected by the detection unit with a reference value, and a command unit for controlling an ON/OFF operation of the heater according to the determination of the determining unit. 
     
     
         7 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein an ice releasing heater is in contact with the partitioning plate. 
     
     
         8 . The ice maker of  claim 7 , wherein the ice releasing heater is electrically connected to the control unit, and the control unit comprises a detection unit for detecting the temperature of the ice making container or detecting a time which has lapsed since water was supplied, a determining unit for determining whether or not ice making has been completed by comparing the temperature or time detected by the detection unit with a reference value, and a command unit for controlling an ON/OFF operation of the heater according to the determination of the determining unit. 
     
     
         9 . The ice maker of  claim 2 , wherein the ice making container is formed such that an opening end of the ice making container is higher than a contact end of the stopper corresponding to an inner circumferential surface of the ice making container, so that a water storage space is formed between the inner circumferential surface and an upper surface of the stopper. 
     
     
         10 . The ice maker of  claim 2 , wherein a cover is provided at an upper side of the stopper in order to prevent water put in the ice making container from overflowing. 
     
     
         11 . The ice maker of  claim 10 , wherein the cover comprises an elastic part enabling the cover to be elastically open when the ice making container is rotated. 
     
     
         12 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a refrigerator main body having an ice making chamber; and   an ice maker provided in an ice making chamber of the refrigerator main body, wherein the ice maker is configured according to  claim 1 .   
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator of  claim 12 , wherein the refrigerator main body is demarcated into a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber, the ice making chamber is provided to a refrigerator door for opening and closing the refrigerating chamber, an ice storage container is provided to the refrigerator door having the ice making chamber in order to keep ice, separated from the ice maker, in storage, and the ice storage container is positioned within the range of the ice making container. 
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator of  claim 13 , wherein the ice storage container and the ice making container are disposed such that the center of the ice storage container and that of the ice making container are substantially consistent on a vertical line. 
     
     
         15 . A method for supplying ice, the method comprising:
 making ice in an ice maker;   receiving an ice dispense signal from a user;   rotating an ice making container of the ice maker;   separating ice from the ice maker; and   dispensing the separated ice.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the ice making comprises:
 supplying water to the ice making container;   detecting the temperature or amount of water supplied to the ice making container; and   determining whether or not the detected water temperature and water amount has reached a pre-set water temperature or water amount.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 separating a contact surface between the ice making container and ice, before lifting the ice in the ice making container.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein, in separating ice from the ice maker, the ice making container of the ice maker directly applies force to the ice while being rotated. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 stopping supplying of cold air to the ice making container before the ice making container is rotated.