Ice maker and refrigerator having same

Abstract

An ice maker and a refrigerator having same. The ice maker comprises: a cooling part having a heat dissipation device and a metal piece; a liquid container configured to store liquid; a liquid supply part configured to supply liquid to the liquid container; a moving mechanism configured to rotate and move the liquid container; and a control part. The metal piece is mounted, so that a rod-shaped component made of metal extends downward from a base end to the tip, and the rod-shaped component is cooled by means of the heat dissipation device. The ice-making process is repeated multiple times under the control of the control part, and the following steps are carried out in the ice-making process: a liquid supply step, an ice making step, an avoidance step, a deicing step, and a recovering step. The ice maker can make ice within a short period of time.

1 . An ice maker, comprising:
 a cooling part having:
 a heat dissipation device having a flow passage for a refrigerant to flow through; and 
 a metal piece mounted such that a rod-shaped component extends downwards from a base end portion to a tip portion, and the rod-shaped component is cooled by the heat dissipation device; 
 a liquid container capable of storing liquid; 
 a liquid supply part which supplies liquid to the liquid container; 
 a moving mechanism which rotates the liquid container; and 
   a control part which controls a temperature of the rod-shaped component, an operation of the liquid supply part, and an operation of the moving mechanism;   wherein an ice making process is repeated a plurality of times under control of the control part, in which the following steps are performed:   a liquid supply step in which the liquid supply part supplies liquid to the liquid container which has an opening in an upper portion when being at an ice making position;   an ice making step which is after the liquid supply step and in which an ice making temperature is reached after a predetermined time, and the following state is achieved: a predetermined range from the tip portion of the rod-shaped component at the ice making temperature is immersed in liquid contained in the liquid container;   an escape step which is after the ice making step and in which while remaining liquid is still stored in the liquid container, the moving mechanism rotates the liquid container from the ice making position to an escape position where the liquid container is not located below the rod-shaped component;   an ice release step which is after the escape step and in which the rod-shaped component is changed to an ice release temperature, such that ice generated around the rod-shaped component falls from the rod-shaped component; and   a recovery step which is after the ice release step and in which the moving mechanism rotates the liquid container from the escape position to the ice making position when the remaining liquid is still stored in the liquid container;   the liquid container has a structure capable of containing a predetermined amount of liquid in the escape position.   
     
     
         2 . The ice maker according to  claim 1 , wherein the ice maker further comprises a liquid removing part for removing the liquid remaining in the liquid container; under the control of the control part, after the ice making step, the escape step is performed after the liquid removing step is performed; in the liquid removing step, the liquid removing part removes a part of the liquid remaining in the liquid container, such that an amount of the liquid remaining in the liquid container is reduced to be less than the predetermined amount. 
     
     
         3 . The ice maker according to  claim 1 , wherein after the plurality of ice making processes are repeated, the following steps are performed under the control of the control part:
 a remaining liquid freezing step in which the remaining liquid remaining in the liquid container at the ice making position or the escape position is placed in a freezing environment and frozen; and   a remaining liquid ice release step which is after the remaining liquid freezing step and in which the moving mechanism further rotates the liquid container in a state where a part of the liquid container having elasticity is restrained, so as to twist the liquid container to drop the frozen remaining liquid from the liquid container.   
     
     
         4 . The ice maker according to  claim 3 , wherein the ice maker further comprises a semiconductor chilling plate provided between the heat dissipation device and the metal piece, one side surface of the semiconductor chilling plate is in contact with a surface of the heat dissipation device, and the other side surface thereof is in contact with a surface of the metal piece opposite to the surface on which the rod-shaped component is mounted;
 in the ice making step, the semiconductor chilling plate is supplied with power, such that the side of the semiconductor chilling plate in contact with the heat dissipation device becomes a heat release side, and the side in contact with the metal piece becomes a heat absorption side, so as to further cool the rod-shaped component at the ice making temperature; and   in the ice release step, the semiconductor chilling plate is supplied with power, such that the side of the semiconductor chilling plate in contact with the heat dissipation device becomes the heat absorption side, and the side in contact with the metal piece becomes the heat release side, so as to change the rod-shaped component to the ice release temperature.   
     
     
         5 . The ice maker according to  claim 4 , wherein in the ice release step, with an end region of the liquid container as a rotation center, the liquid container is rotated by 70 to 120 degrees from the ice making position to the escape position; the liquid container is provided with a rib, the rib is connected with a side wall forming the liquid container and partially covers the opening in the upper portion, and in the escape position, the predetermined amount of liquid is caught in the liquid container by the rib. 
     
     
         6 . A refrigerator, comprising the ice maker according to  claim 1 , a refrigerant branched from a cooling system for cooling an interior of the refrigerator being supplied to the heat dissipation device of the ice maker. 
     
     
         7 . The ice maker according to  claim 5 , wherein the metal piece comprises a flat-plate-shaped base and a plurality of rod-shaped components mounted to a lower side surface of the base, the rod-shaped components of the metal piece are inserted into a liquid storage region through an opening formed in an upper portion of the liquid container. 
     
     
         8 . The ice maker according to  claim 7 , wherein the rod-shaped components are arranged substantially linearly. 
     
     
         9 . The ice maker according to  claim 7 , wherein a male thread is provided on the base end portion of each rod-shaped component, so as to be connected with a female thread formed in a hole portion provided in the base. 
     
     
         10 . The ice maker according to  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined range between the tip portion of each rod-shaped component and a liquid level is 8 mm to 40 mm.