US 12,104,837 B2
Refrigerator
Donghoon Lee, Seoul (KR); Wookyong Lee, Seoul (KR); Sunggyun Son, Seoul (KR); Donghoon Lee, Seoul (KR); Seungseob Yeom, Seoul (KR); Yongjun Bae, Seoul (KR); and Chongyoung Park, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to LG ELECTRONICS INC., Seoul (KR)
Appl. No. 17/281,833
Filed by LG ELECTRONICS INC., Seoul (KR)
PCT Filed Oct. 1, 2019, PCT No. PCT/KR2019/012862
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 31, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/071751, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 9, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2018-0117785 (KR), filed on Oct. 2, 2018; application No. 10-2018-0117819 (KR), filed on Oct. 2, 2018; application No. 10-2018-0117821 (KR), filed on Oct. 2, 2018; application No. 10-2018-0117822 (KR), filed on Oct. 2, 2018; application No. 10-2018-0142117 (KR), filed on Nov. 16, 2018; and application No. 10-2019-0081693 (KR), filed on Jul. 6, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0389036 A1, Dec. 16, 2021
Int. Cl. F25C 1/24 (2018.01); F25C 5/08 (2006.01)
CPC F25C 1/24 (2013.01) [F25C 5/08 (2013.01); F25C 2400/10 (2013.01); F25C 2400/14 (2013.01); F25C 2600/04 (2013.01); F25C 2700/14 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A refrigerator comprising:
a storage chamber;
a cooler configured to supply cold air into the storage chamber; and
an ice maker including:
a first tray having a first portion of a cell;
a second tray having a second portion of the cell, the first portion and the second portion being configured to define a space formed by the cell;
a driver that moves the second tray relative to the first tray such that the second tray contacts the first tray to form the space of the cell in an ice making process in which a liquid in the space is phase-changed into ice, and that moves the second tray relative to the first tray such that the second tray is spaced from the first tray in an ice separation process in which the ice is removed from the space of the cell;
a heater configured to provide heat to the cell; and
a controller configured to:
operate the heater while the ice is being formed so that gas bubbles dissolved in the liquid within the cell move from a portion of space where the liquid that has phase-changed into the ice to another portion of the space where the liquid is in a fluid state,
wherein the ice maker further comprises:
a first tray cover formed as a separate component to the first tray and in contact with a portion of the first tray;
a first tray supporter formed as a separate component to the first tray and in contact with another portion of the first tray, a portion of the first tray passing through the first tray supporter;
a second tray cover supporting a portion of the second tray; and
a second tray supporter supporting another portion of the second tray, and
wherein a degree of attachment between the ice and the first tray is less than a degree of attachment between the ice and the first tray cover or a degree of attachment between the ice and the first tray supporter.