Search

EP-3995768-B1 - REFRIGERATOR

EP3995768B1EP 3995768 B1EP3995768 B1EP 3995768B1EP-3995768-B1

Inventors

  • LEE, SEUNG MOK

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20100322

Claims (20)

  1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet (10) defining a storage compartment, the storage compartment comprising a refrigerator compartment (102) and a freezer compartment (104); a door (11,14) opening and closing the storage compartment, the door (11,14) having an outer case (111) and a back surface (112) coupled to the outer case (111), said back surface (112) defining an ice compartment (120), the ice compartment (120) being configured to receive an ice maker (210) generating ice cubes and an ice bin (300) configured to store the ice cubes generated in the ice maker (210); a dispenser (17) provided at the door (11,14), the dispenser (17) being configured to dispense the ice cubes stored in the ice bin (300); and a support mechanism (250) comprising a first support part (252) and a second support part (260) coupled to the first support part (252), wherein said first support part (252) is placed on the ice compartment (120) and the ice bin (300) is placed on said first support part (252), wherein said second support part (260) is positioned above the first support part (252); and a motor assembly (280) installed on the first support part (252), characterized in that the refrigerator further comprising: a vacuum insulation panel (116) disposed between the outer case (111) and the ice bin (300) to insulate the storage compartment from an outside, the vacuum insulation panel (116) having a size corresponding to the ice compartment (120) so as to cover the first support part (252).
  2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the vacuum insulation panel (116) has a vertical length equal to or greater than that of the ice compartment (120).
  3. The refrigerator of claim 1 or 2, wherein the vacuum insulation panel (116) has a vertical length equal to or greater than that of the ice bin (300).
  4. The refrigerator of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vacuum insulation panel (116) faces the ice bin (300).
  5. The refrigerator of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vacuum insulation panel (116) is attached to an inner surface of the outer case (111) by an adhesive (118).
  6. The refrigerator of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the vacuum insulation panel (116) includes a core material formed of compressed glass fiber and an envelope material surrounding the core.
  7. The refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the glass fiber includes a single fiber having a diameter of about 0.1 µm to about 10 µm.
  8. The refrigerator of claim 6 or 7, wherein the envelope material includes an adhesive layer configured to maintain a vacuum state by a heat sealing, a metal barrier layer formed on a top surface of the adhesive layer and a passivation layer, wherein the adhesive layer, the metal barrier layer and the passivation layer are sequentially stacked.
  9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the adhesive layer has a thickness of 1 µm to 100 µm.
  10. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the passivation layer forms a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film having a thickness of 10 µm to 14 µm and a nylon film having a thickness of 20 µm to 30 µm, wherein the polyethylene terephthalate film and the nylon film are stacked.
  11. The refrigerator of any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the core material has a porosity of 80% or more and a pore diameter of 20 µm or less.
  12. The refrigerator of any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: an ice duct (150) disposed at the lower side of the ice compartment (120) and including a passage through which the ice cubes are moved.
  13. The refrigerator of any of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: an ice compartment door (130) coupled to the back surface (112) of the door by hinge (139) to open and close the ice compartment (120), and wherein the ice compartment door (130) comprises a first insulation material (160) and a second insulation material (162) configured to insulate the ice compartment (120) from the storage compartment.
  14. The refrigerator of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the second support part (260) is configured to form a seat part (215) on which the ice maker (210) is placed.
  15. The refrigerator of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein first support part (252) has an ice opening (253) through which ice discharged from the ice bin (300) pass, and wherein the ice opening (253) is disposed in the bottom surface of the first support part (252).
  16. The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein the back surface (112) of the door comprises an ice opening (127) disposed at a lower side of an inner wall (114) of the back surface (112) for discharging ice.
  17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the ice bin (300) comprises an inlet (301a) that is disposed at a position lower than the ice maker (210).
  18. The refrigerator of claim 17, wherein the ice bin (300) further comprises a discharge opening (510), and the ice duct (150) is defined by an inlet (152) and an outlet (154), wherein the inlet (301a) and the discharge opening (510) of the ice bin (300), the ice opening (253) of the first support part (252), and the inlet (152) and outlet (154) of the ice duct (150) are disposed to form an overlapping common region.
  19. The refrigerator of any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the dispenser (17) has a dispenser housing (171) that includes a recessed surface (171a) defining a space in which a vessel or cup for receiving the dispensed ice cubes is disposed.
  20. The refrigerator of claim 19, wherein a horizontal distance D1 from a line L1 defined on a surface equally dividing the ice compartment (120) in front-rear direction to the outer case (111) is less than a horizontal distance D2 from the recessed surface (171a) to the outer case (111), and wherein the line L1 passes through the inlet (152) and the outlet (154) of the ice duct (150).

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator. Generally, a refrigerator is an apparatus that stores foods at a low temperature using low temperature air. The refrigerator includes a cabinet in which a storage compartment is defined and a refrigerator door opening and closing the storage compartment. The storage compartment may include a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment. The refrigerator door may include a refrigerator compartment door opening and closing the refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment door opening and closing the freezer compartment. Also, the refrigerator may include an ice making assembly that makes ice using cool air to store the made ice. The ice making assembly includes an ice maker generating the ice and an ice bin in which the ice separated from the ice maker is stored. The ice maker and the ice bin may be disposed inside the refrigerator compartment or in the refrigerator compartment door. For user's convenience, the refrigerator compartment door may further include a dispenser for dispensing the ice stored in the ice bin. KR 2007/0103250 A discloses a refrigerator according to the preamble of claim 1 and describes an example of ice-making device for refrigerator. US 2007/080102 A1 describes an example of water filter for refrigerator water dispenser. US 2009/211292 A1 describes an example of variable ice storage assembly for a refrigerator. EP 2027422 A2 describes an example of cooling device. JP 2010/071565 A and WO 2009/104864 A1 describe examples of a refrigerator. SUMMARY Embodiments provide a refrigerator including a slim refrigerator door. Embodiments also provide a refrigerator in which a thickness of a refrigerator door in which an ice bin is disposed becomes slim. The objects of the present invention are solved by the features of the independent claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are given in the dependent claims 2-22. The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment.Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerator with a portion of a refrigerator compartment door opened according to the first embodiment.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the refrigerator compartment door with an ice compartment door opened according to the first embodiment.Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a refrigerator compartment door in which an ice making assembly is removed from an ice compartment according to the first embodiment.Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the ice making assembly according to the first embodiment.Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an ice bin according to the first embodiment.Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the ice bin.Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of an ice discharge member.Fig. 10 is a front view of a rotation blade of the ice bin.Fig. 11 is a front view of the ice discharge member, a fixed blade, and an opening/closing member of the ice bin.Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the opening/closing member of Fig. 11.Fig. 13 is a front view illustrating the inside of the ice bin.Fig. 14 is a bottom view of the ice bin.Fig. 15 is a plan view of the ice bin.Fig. 16 is a vertical sectional view of the refrigerator compartment door of the first embodiment.Fig. 17 is an enlarged view illustrating a portion B of Fig. 16.Fig. 18 is a view of a state in which an ice maker is rotated to separate ice from the ice maker of Fig. 16.Fig. 19 is a front view of a state in which ice chips are discharged from the ice bin.Fig. 20 is a front view of a state in which ice cubes are discharged from the ice bin.Fig. 21 is a side view of the refrigerator compartment door.Fig. 22 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment.Fig. 23 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a third embodiment.Fig. 24 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a fourth embodiment.Fig. 25 is a perspective view of a state in which an ice bin of Fig. 24 is rotated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerator with a portion of a refrigerator compartment door opened according to the first embodiment. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment includes a cabinet 10 defining an outer appearance thereof and refrigerator doors 11 and 14 movably connected to the cabinet 10. A storage compartment for storing foods is defined inside the cabinet 10. The storage compartment includes a refrigerator compartment 102 and a freezer compartment 104 disposed below the refrig