Refrigerator having multiple ice banks

Abstract

A refrigerator includes: a refrigerator main body including a freezing chamber positioned at a lower portion thereof and a refrigerating chamber positioned at an upper side of the freezing chamber; an ice maker positioned at a portion in any of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber; first and second ice banks storing ice made by the ice maker; an ice dispenser supplying ice stored in the first ice bank and positioned in the refrigerating chamber; and an ice transfer unit transferring ice between the first and second ice banks, wherein the first and second ice banks are installed in separate spaces which are thermally insulated and maintained at a different temperature, respectively.

Description

[0001]The present application claims priority to Korean Application No. 10-2010-0074261 filed in Korea on Jul. 30, 2010, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a plurality of ice banks and, more particularly, to a refrigerator having a plurality of ice banks for keeping ice in storage.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART[0003]In general, a refrigerator includes a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber which are maintained at different temperatures. Meanwhile, various types of refrigerators each including a different number of freezing chambers and refrigerating chambers and a different disposition form are in the market, and so-called bottom freezer type refrigerators in which the mainly used refrigerating chamber is disposed at an upper portion and the freezing chamber is disposed at a lower portion are commonly used. Some of the bottom freezer type refrigera...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]An aspect of the present invention provides a refrigerator capable of minimizing the phenomenon in which ice stored in an ice bank is melt, while effectively using an internal space of the refrigerating chamber.

[0009]Since a plurality of ice banks are provided and positioned in separate spaces which are thermally insulated, a storage capacity of the ice banks can be increased, and at least one of the plurality of ice banks may be disposed in a space maintained at a low temperature, thus minimizing ice from melting.

[0015]Meanwhile, at least one of the first and second transfer ducts may be buried in the inner wall of the refrigerator main body to maximize a valid capacity within the refrigerator.

[0016]Meanwhile, the first and second transfer ducts communicate with the space maintained at a relatively low temperature, having a possibility of a leakage of cooling air. In order to prevent a leakage of cooling air, a damper for opening and closing a first ice bank side opening of each of the first and second transfer ducts may be additionally provided, and the damper may be controlled to open the opening only when ice is transferred, thus minimizing a leakage of cooling air.

[0019]Here, the refrigerator may further include: a damper for opening and closing the input hole formed on the second transfer duct. Accordingly, ice can be prevented from moving backward through the input hole in the transfer process.

[0023]According to embodiments of the present invention, since a plurality of ice banks are distributedly disposed, ice storage capacity can be increased, and since the plurality of ice banks are disposed in spaces maintained at different temperatures, melting of ice while being kept in storage can be minimized.

Problems solved by technology

However, such an insulation space occupies a large space in the refrigerating chamber, and restrains the internal space of the refrigerating chamber from being effectively used.

Also, since the ice maker and the ice bank are installed in the limited space of the refrigerating chamber, the capacity of the ice bank cannot be sufficiently increased.

In particular, in most cases, both ice and water are supplied through the dispenser, a device for supplying water is required to be additionally mounted in the interior of the refrigerating chamber, and to this end, the capacity of the ice bank is inevitably reduced.

Images