ICE Maker and Refrigerator Including the Same

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0063313, filed on May 14, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same.

A refrigerator is a home appliance that supplies cold air generated by utilizing the circulation of refrigerant to a storage chamber, thereby keeping various types of storage objects fresh for a long period of time.

The refrigerator may include an ice maker producing ice by the cold air.

The ice maker may make ice by allowing water supplied from a water source or a water tank to be accommodated in an ice tray.

The ice produced in the ice maker may undergo an ice-separation process which can be performed in a variety of methods, such as a heating method in which an ice tray is heated or a twisting method in which the shape of an ice tray is changed.

In order to form an ice of a desired shape, the ice tray may include at least one ice chamber configured to have a corresponding shape.

As the water fed into the ice chamber is cooled by the cold air passing through the ice tray, the ice can be created.

The T water fed into the ice chamber may be supplied from a separately provided water supply tube.

In the case where the water supply tube is provided, water is not directly fed into the ice chamber from the water supply tube, but is first fed into a water supply part called a fill cup, and then fed into the ice chamber through a discharge port formed in the water supply part.

It is preferable that the water supply part be formed to have a sufficient space so that the water supplied from the water supply tube is not splashed or does not overflow to regions other than the discharge port of the water supply part and so that a certain amount of water can be stored instantaneously.

For example, the water supply part may be formed to have a shape of a storage container configured with a lower surface having a sufficiently wide area compared to the diameter of the water supply tube and the size of the discharge port, a side wall having a predetermined height, and an open top.

Meanwhile, the water supply tube may be disposed to be spaced apart from the lower surface of the water supply part by a predetermined distance, and the point on the lower surface of the water supply part, at which the water supplied from the water supply tube arrives, may be defined as a water discharge point.

In this case, if the water discharge point and the discharge port are not aligned with each other, or if the discharge port is formed asymmetrically based on the shape of the water supply part, an eccentric phenomenon may occur in which the discharge direction of the discharge water discharged into the ice chamber through the discharge port is leaned to one side.

In the case where the discharge direction of the discharge water is eccentric like this, there may occur a water splash phenomenon in which the water is not completely supplied from the water supply part to the ice chamber while being splashed or overflow into other surrounding regions.

In particular, in the case where the diameter of the water supply tube is reduced, the flow rate may be further significantly increased, which may further increase the occurrence of the water splash phenomenon.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same in which it is possible to reduce the eccentricity of the discharge water discharged through a discharge port even when the discharge port is formed to be closer to one side of the front wall of a water supply part.

Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same in which it is possible to reduce the eccentricity of the discharge water discharged through the discharge port even when the discharge port of the water supply part and the water discharge point of the water supply tube are not aligned with each other.

Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same in which it is possible to guide the discharge water discharged through the discharge port so that the discharge water is discharged as centrally as possible without being concentrated in one direction.

Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ice maker and a refrigerator including the same in which it is possible to reduce the occurrence of the water splash phenomenon in which the discharge water discharged through the discharge port overflows to the opposite outer sides of the discharge port.

An ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention for accomplishing the above-described objects includes an ice chamber making an ice, a water supply part including a front wall having a discharge port formed therein, through which water is discharged into the ice chamber, and a water supply tube supplying water to the water supply part, wherein the front wall includes a first front guide wall and a second front guide wall connected with one side and the other side of the discharge port, respectively, and wherein the first front guide wall having a length less than that of the second front guide wall is inclined in a direction toward the discharge port.

The second front guide wall may be formed to be horizontal with respect to the discharge port.

The second front guide wall may be inclined in a direction toward the discharge port, and the first front guide wall may be inclined in the direction toward the discharge port so as to have an inclination angle greater than that of the second front guide wall.

The water supply part may include a first side guide wall and a second side guide wall extending rearward from the first front guide wall and the second front guide wall, respectively, and at least a portion of the first side guide wall may be inclined to become farther away from the discharge port as it extends toward to a front side.

The at least a portion of the first side guide wall may include a region formed as a curved surface.

The first front guide wall and the first side guide wall may be connected with each other to have a curved surface.

The second side guide wall may be formed perpendicular to the discharge port.

The discharge port may be formed closer to the first side guide wall than to the second side guide wall.

The water supply part may include a first bottom surface formed along the first front guide wall and the first side guide wall, and the first bottom surface may be flat.

The water supply part may include a first bottom surface formed along the first front guide wall and the first side guide wall, and the first bottom surface may include a first slope inclined toward the second side guide wall.

The first slope may include at least a portion whose area increases as it approaches the front wall.

The water supply part may include a first bottom surface formed along the first front guide wall and the first side guide wall, and the first bottom surface may include a first slope inclined toward the front wall.

The water supply part may include a first bottom surface formed along the first front guide wall and the first side guide wall, and the first bottom surface may be connected to the first front guide wall and the first side guide wall to form a curved surface.

The water supply part may include a second bottom surface formed along the second front guide wall and the second side guide wall, and the second bottom surface may include a second slope inclined toward the first side guide wall.

The second slope may include at least a portion whose area increases as it approaches the front wall.

The water supply part may include a second bottom surface formed along the second front guide wall and the second side guide wall, and the second bottom surface may include a second slope inclined toward the front wall.

The water supply part may include a second bottom surface formed along the second front guide wall and the second side guide wall, and the second bottom surface may be connected to the second front surface guide wall and the second side guide wall to form a curved surface.

A water discharge point on a bottom surface of the water supply part to which the water supplied from the water supply tube is discharged may be disposed so as not to overlap with the discharge port in a front-rear direction.

The water supply part may further include a rear wall opposite the front wall, wherein in the rear wall a tube passing opening may be formed through which the water supply tube passes, and the tube passing opening may be disposed so as not to overlap with the discharge port in a front-rear direction.

The ice chamber may include an inlet guide through which the water flows in, wherein the water supply part may include a pair of water guide parts extending forward from opposite sides of the discharge port, and the pair of water guide parts may surround at least a portion of an outer periphery portion of the inlet guide.

Each of the water guide parts may include a guide body portion protruding to a front side of the discharge port, a lower extension portion extending in a down direction of the guide body portion, and a cover portion protruding in an outward direction of the guide body portion, wherein the lower extension portion may surround an inside of the inlet guide, and the cover portion may surround an outside of the inlet guide.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may include at least one storage chamber, at least one door opening and closing the storage chamber, and an ice maker mounted in the storage chamber or the door, wherein the ice maker may include an ice chamber making an ice, a water supply part including a front wall having a discharge port formed therein, through which water is discharged into the ice chamber, and a water supply tube supplying water to the water supply part, wherein the front wall may include a first front guide wall and a second front guide wall connected with one side and the other side of the discharge port, respectively, and wherein the first front guide wall having a length less than that of the second front guide wall may be inclined in a direction toward the discharge port.

In an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, in the case where the discharge port is formed to be closer to one side of the front wall of the water supply part, the first front guide wall of the front guide walls connected to the opposite sides of the discharge port, which is disposed at the direction, to have a relatively short length, to which the discharge port is closer, is formed to be inclined in the direction toward the discharge port, so that the vector force of the discharge water flowing along the first front guide wall can attenuate the vector force of the discharge water flowing along the second front guide wall having a relatively long length.

Additionally, in an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, in the case where the discharge port is formed in an asymmetrical shape based on the front wall of the water supply part, the first front guide wall formed at the direction to which the discharge port is closer is formed to have a predetermined inclination angle in the direction toward the discharge port, so that it is possible to easily increase or decrease the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the first front guide wall by utilizing the inclination angle of the first front guide wall.

Additionally, in an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, in the case where the second front guide wall having a relatively long length is formed horizontally with the discharge port, the first front guide wall having a relatively short length is formed to be inclined in the direction toward the discharge port, so that the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the second front guide wall can be attenuated by the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the first front guide wall.

Additionally, in an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, by forming the inclination angle at which the first front guide wall having a relatively short length is inclined in the direction toward the discharge port to be greater than the inclination angle at which the second front guide wall having a relatively long length is inclined in the direction toward the discharge port, it is possible to attenuate the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the second front guide wall by the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the first front guide wall.

Additionally, in an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, by forming the first bottom surface of the water supply part formed along the first front guide wall and the first side guide wall to include a first slope inclined toward the second side guide wall, the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the second front guide wall can be attenuated by the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port along the first front guide wall by using the slope of the first bottom surface of the water supply part.

Additionally, in an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the eccentricity of the vector force of the discharge water directed to the discharge port with the use of the inclination angle of the first front guide wall or the slope of the first bottom surface, so that the discharge water discharged through the discharge port can be guided to be discharged as centrally as possible without being concentrated in one direction.

Additionally, in an ice maker and a refrigerator according to the present invention, even in the case where the discharge port of the water supply part and the water discharge point of the water supply tube are not aligned with respect to the direction in which water is discharged through the discharge port, the eccentricity of the discharge water can be reduced by adjusting the inclination angles of the front guide walls formed on the opposite sides of the discharge port or the slope of the bottom surface of the water supply part.

Thereby, the eccentricity of the discharge water that may occur due to specific conditions such as the installation position of the water supply tube or the diameter of the water supply tube can be easily reduced by adjusting the inclination angles of the front guide walls formed on the opposite sides of the discharge port or the slope of the bottom surface of the water supply part.