Home ice maker and method for making funny-shaped ice using same

Abstract

A home ice maker is proposed. According to the home ice maker, without rocking an ice making tray, ice-making water is allowed to sufficiently fluctuate by the rotation of the fluctuation part, thereby easily forming transparent ice without increasing the size of the ice making tray. The fluctuation part and the ice making tray are formed coaxially, and when rotating the fluctuation part so as to remove ice, the fluctuation part is rotated relative to the central axis of the ice making tray, thereby realizing a compact configuration of the ice maker without requiring additional space for the ice removal.

1 . A home ice maker comprising:
 a casing;   a compressor and a condenser installed inside the casing and through which refrigerant circulates;   an ice making module having an ice making tray in which ice-making water is received, the ice making module being configured to freeze ice-making water by refrigerant supplied from the condenser;   an ice storage tank which stores ice formed in the ice making module;   a guide plate being connected to the ice making tray, the guide plate being configured to guide formed ice to the ice storage tank during rotation of the ice making tray; and   a fluctuation module which fluctuates ice-making water,   wherein the ice making module is provided with an evaporation tube connected to the condenser and arranged to have a U shape inside the ice making tray; cooling protrusions installed by protruding toward a bottom of the ice making tray from the evaporation tube; and a tray driving part which rotates the ice making tray, and   the fluctuation module is provided with a fluctuation part which is inserted into the ice making tray and fluctuates ice-making water toward the cooling protrusions of the ice making module.   
     
     
         2 . The home ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the fluctuation part is inserted and arranged in a center of the evaporation tube arranged in a U shape, and has a plurality of coolant passage holes formed in the fluctuation part. 
     
     
         3 . The home ice maker of  claim 2 , wherein the fluctuation module further comprises:
 a fluctuation shaft connected to the fluctuation part and to a rotation shaft of the ice making tray;   a fluctuation-part driving part which rotates the fluctuation shaft;   a fluctuation head installed on an end of one side of the fluctuation shaft; and   a limit switch installed to be adjacent to the fluctuation head, the limit switch being configured to detect contact of the fluctuation head with the limit switch so as to limit rotation of the fluctuation head.   
     
     
         4 . The home ice maker of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an ice-making water supply tube which injects ice-making water supplied from an ice-making water supply source into the ice making tray, and   a first ice-making water temperature sensor which is installed on one side of the ice-making water supply tube and measures a temperature of ice-making water supplied thereto.   
     
     
         5 . The home ice maker of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a second ice-making water temperature sensor which detects a temperature of ice-making water received inside the ice making tray.   
     
     
         6 . The home ice maker of  claim 5 , wherein the fluctuation module controls a rotation speed of the fluctuation part according to a value measured by the second ice-making water temperature sensor, and
 the ice making module controls a period of ice making time according to a value measured by the first ice-making water temperature sensor.   
     
     
         7 . The home ice maker of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an ice-making water supply tube which injects ice-making water supplied from an ice-making water supply source into the ice making tray,   wherein one side of the ice-making water supply tube is extended and arranged by being spirally wound on an outer peripheral surface of the compressor.   
     
     
         8 . The home ice maker of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a support bracket being connected to the evaporation tube at a first side thereof and connected to an inner casing of the ice maker at a second side thereof so as to support the evaporation tube,   wherein the support bracket is connected to an upper part of a center of the evaporation tube in a height direction thereof.   
     
     
         9 . The home ice maker of  claim 8 , wherein the support bracket is connected to a curved arc part of the evaporation tube having a U shape. 
     
     
         10 . A method for making funny-shaped ice using an ice maker provided with an ice making module which has an ice making tray receiving ice-making water and freezes ice-making water by refrigerant supplied from a condenser, and a fluctuation module having a fluctuation part which is inserted into the ice making tray and fluctuates ice-making water toward cooling protrusions of the ice making module, the ice making method comprising:
 a transparent ice formation step at which ice-making water around the cooling protrusions is cooled while the fluctuation part is rotating so as to form transparent ice around the cooling protrusions;   a translucent ice formation step at which ice-making water around the cooling protrusions is cooled without the rotation of the fluctuation part so as to form translucent ice around the cooling protrusions; and   a step of alternately repeating the transparent ice formation step and the translucent ice formation step.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at the transparent ice formation step, a temperature of ice-making water of the ice making module is measured and according to the measured temperature, a rotation speed of the fluctuation part is adjusted. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the fluctuation part is controlled to be rotated at a low speed when the temperature of the ice-making water is high and is controlled to be rotated at a high speed when the temperature of the ice-making water is low. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at the transparent ice formation step, a temperature of ice-making water supplied to the ice making module is adjusted to be increased so as to increase transparency of the transparent ice.