AU706214B2

AU706214B2 - Ice making apparatus for use in a refrigerator

Info

Publication number: AU706214B2
Application number: AU38694/97A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Akihiko Manabe; Yohei Nomoto; Hidetomo Takanishi
Original assignee: Matsushita Refrigeration Co
Current assignee: Panasonic Corp
Priority date: 1996-08-27
Filing date: 1997-08-26
Publication date: 1999-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2017-08-26
Also published as: JPH1068565A; KR19990067127A; ID18136A; JP3391638B2; CN1199457A; CN1143107C; KR100309239B1; WO1998009119A1; AU3869497A

Description

WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 1

DESCRIPTION

ICE MAKING APPARATUS FOR USE IN A REFRIGERATOR TECHNICAL

FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a refrigerator and, in particular, to an ice making apparatus adapted for use in a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND

ART

Recently, there have been widely employed ice making apparatuses adapted to be incorporated in refrigerators. An example of such conventional ice making apparatuses as disclosed in, for example, the Japanese Patent Laid Open publication No. 7-077371, is described below with reference to Figs. 13 and 14.

Fig. 13 shows a schematic construction of a conventional ice making apparatus adapted in a refrigerator, and Fig 14 shows a water supply tank with a lid portion mounted thereon.

As shown in Figs. 13 and 14, the refrigerator mainly comprises a refrigerating compartment serving as a cold storage chamber and a freezing compartment serving as a freezer storage chamber, where an ice making apparatus 200 is briefly comprised of an ice making vessel 201, a reversing WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 2 unit 202 for reversing the ice making vessel, an ice container 203 for storing ice pieces, a pump 204 for supplying water from a water supply tank 205 to the ice making vessel 201 via a water feeding pipe 206. In this arrangement, the ice making vessel 201, reversing unit 202 and ice container 203 are located in the freezing compartment, while the remaining pump 204, water supply tank 205 and water feeding pipe 206 are generally located in the refrigerating compartment.

In the ice making vessel 201, the water fed therein is frozen -to obtain ice. The reversing unit 202 having a gear arrangement turns the ice making vessel upside down so that the ice making vessel is twisted or torsionally loaded to thereby remove the ice pieces from the ice making vessel into the ice container 203.

The water supply tank 205 is comprised of a tank main body 207 and a lid body 208. The lid body 208 is provided with a sealing member 210 located on the inner peripheral portion thereof so that the sealing member 210 corresponds to the upper peripheral edge of the side wall of the tank main body 207. The water supply tank 205 is further provided with a pair of locking members 209 on the longitudinal side portions thereof for locking the lid body 208 to the tank main body 207 so that the sealing member 210 is securely pressed and fitted between the upper peripheral edge of the tank main body 207 and the corresponding lower peripheral WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 3 portion of the lid body 208 when the lid body 208 is rigidly shut and engaged with the tank main body 207 by means of the locking members 209.

The ice making apparatus 200 is further comprised of a frame assembly 213 which includes a tank attachment portion 211 for attaching the water supply tank 205 thereto and a pump placing portion 212 having an inner face covered with a vibration preventing member 214 for covering over the pump 204 installed in the pump placing portion. The frame assembly 213 is provided with a pressing member 215 for pressedly securing the water supply tank 205 in the tank attachment portion 211 while the water feeding pipe 206 is securely held on the frame body by a pair of pipe holding members (not shown).

In the conventional ice making apparatus 200, however, there have been involved with problems such that, since a pair of locking members 209 are essentially needed for locking the lid body, therefore a space for providing the locking members 209 is required in the apparatus.

Moreover, in order to detachably mount and remove the water supply tank 205 to and from the tank attachment portion 211, a holding space 216 is required for holding the water supply tank 205. Therefore, the volume of the water supply tank 205 is restricted.

WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 4 Furthermore, since the vibration preventing member 214 is provided in the pump placing portion 212 covering the pump 204, another space and work are needed for providing the vibration preventing member.

In addition, since the pipe holding members are provided for securing the pipe on the frame body, another space and procedure is further needed for providing the pipe holding members.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Therefore, the present invention has been developed in order to solve the above mentioned problems involved in the conventional apparatus and has an essential objective to provide an improved ice making apparatus capable of increasing a volume of a water supply tank without restricting a food storage capacity in the refrigerator.

In order to attain this objective, according to a first aspect of the present invention, an ice making apparatus adapted for use in a refrigerator which includes a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment, comprises: an ice making vessel for storing water to be frozen in the freezing compartment; and a water supply tank located in the refrigerating compartment for supplying water to the ice making vessel via water feeding pipes by way of a pump, the water supply tank being comprised of a tank main body and a lid body, P:\OPER\DH\38694-97.082 25/3/99 wherein the lid body is provided with a sealing member securely fixed onto an outer peripheral face of a side wall of the lid body, and wherein a side wall of the tank main body has an inclined face at its inner peripheral top portion thereof.

Preferably, the water supply tank further includes a discharge tube located in the refrigerating compartment for supplying water to the ice making vessel via water feeding pipes by way of a pump; and the apparatus further includes a frame portion having a base plate and a side plate, comprising a tank attachment portion and a pump placing portion located within the refrigerating compartment, wherein the tank attachment portion has a substrate plate and a joint tubular member which is engaged with the discharge tube of the water supply tank.

In this construction, the base plate of the frame is 15 provided with a pair of bosses which are inserted in the positioning holes of the substrate to be engaged therewith respectively so that the substrate is fixedly positioned. The e'""base plate of the frame is provided with a pair of positioning tips while the side plate of the frame is also provided with S 20 another pair of positioning tips so that the positioning tips "°":pressedly fix the surrounding walls and of the substrate to thereby securely position the tank attachment portion in the three-dimensional directions back and forth, right and left, WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 6 and up and down. The front end portions of the side plates of the frame are inserted in the slots of the substrate and securely engaged therewith.

Moreover, the pump is held up in the floating condition between the upper and lower pipes within the pump placing portion. The upper pipe is supported by a rib provided on the base plate of the frame while the lower pipe is supported by the nozzle which is fixed defined in position within the partition wall.

Moreover, the frame portion is further provided with a pressing member for pressing the water supply tank when the tank is attached to the tank attachment portion, and the pressing member is pivotally rotatable around a shaft which is fixed to the frame body. The shaft has a spring member securely wound thereon for forcing the pressing member so that the pressing member presses the water supply tank in the frontward direction receding from the tank attachment portion by a torsion force of the spring member. The pressing member has a rectangular like shape, and when the water supply tank is pressed by the pressing member, the contact point therebetween is varied from a first pressing point to a second pressing point to thereby vary the pressing force of the pressing member caused by the torsion of the spring member by varying the distance from the shaft to the pressing points.

WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 7 Referring to the effects of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, since the inner peripheral face of the top end wall portion of the tank main body is defined as an inclined face, the side wall of the lid body is easily slid and guided to the fitted condition to the peripheral edge of the opening of the tank main body, and the lid body is securely engaged with the tank main body merely by fitting the lid body to the opening of the tank main body without using any locking member.

Moreover, by providing the sealing member on the outer peripheral face, the sealing property between the lid body and tank main body can be improved together with taking the advantage of the space obtained by omitting the locking member, reducing the number of parts.

In the second aspect of the present invention, since the tank attachment portion is fixed onto the frame assembly by means of the bosses, positioning tips and slots merely by mounting downward the tank attachment portion, therefore other fittings for fixing members are not needed, and also the space and number of manufacturing processes can be reduced with reduction of number of parts compared to the conventional apparatus.

Moreover, since the pump is held up in the floating condition between the upper and lower pipes within the pump placing portion, the operation noise and vibrations of the WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 8 pump can be suppressed from escaping outside without providing a vibration proof member. Therefore, the width of the pump placing portion can be reduced to the width of the pump and the reduced space can be effectively used.

Furthermore, since the pressing member has a specific rectangular like shape, the contact point therebetween is varied from a first pressing point to a second pressing point. Thus, the pressing force of the pressing member caused by the torsion of the spring member can be varied merely by varying the distance from the shaft to the pressing points, thereby adjusting the pressing force against the water supply tank. By this arrangement, a large pressing force can be obtained with a reduced space therefor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing an ice making apparatus of a first embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a partially sectional view showing the ice making apparatus of the first embodiment; WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 9 Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a water supply tank employed in the ice making apparatus of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a front portion of the water supply tank of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a rear portion of the water supply tank of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a front plan view of a lid portion on the water supply tank shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing a tank main body of the water supply tank of the first embodiment; Fig. 8 is a exploded perspective view showing an inner construction of the water supply tank; Fig. 9 is a side view of the water supply tank; Fig. 10 is a front view showing a periphery of the water supply tank; Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing an essential part of the ice making apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 12 is a plan view showing a periphery of a tank mounting portion according to the present invention; Fig. 13 is a schematic view of a conventional ice making apparatus; and Fig. 14 is a sectional view showing a construction of the lid portion of the conventional water supply tank.

WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Before the description proceeds, it is noted here that, since the basic structures of the present embodiments are similar, like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The following describes a first preferred embodiment of an ice making apparatus with reference to Figs. 1 to Fig. 1 schematically shows a construction of an ice making apparatus 1 adapted in a refrigerator having, for example, a two-storied construction of upper and lower stairs.

The refrigerator mainly comprises a refrigerating compartment 11 as an upper stair chamber and a freezing compartment 10 as a lower stair chamber which are separated by a partition wall In Figs. 1 and 2, the ice making apparatus 1 is mainly comprised of an ice making vessel 2, a reversing unit 3 for reversing the ice making vessel, an ice container 5 for storing the ice pieces, a water supply tank 7 for supplying water to the ice making vessel 2 via water feeding pipes 4 and 9 by way of a pump 6. The upper pipe 4 is provided in the upper stream of the pump 6 for mechanically connecting between the water supply tank 7 and the pump 6, while the lower pipe 9 is provided in the down-stream of the pump 6, where the lower pipe 9 has a nozzle 13 with an outlet opening at its WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 11 lower edge which is located just above an inlet opening of the ice making vessel 2 so that the water fed from the water supply tank 7 via the pump 6 is poured into the ice making vessel 2.

In the ice making apparatus incorporated in the twostoried refrigerator, the ice making vessel 2, reversing unit 3 and ice container 5 are generally located in the freezing compartment 10 in the lower stair, while the pump 6 and water supply tank 7 are generally located in the refrigerating compartment 11 in the upper stair. In this arrangement, the constructions of the ice making vessel 2 and reversing unit 3 are similar to those of the conventional ones as shown in Figs. 13 and 14.

A specific feature of the first preferred embodiment resides in the construction of the water supply tank 7. In more detail, as shown in Figs. 3 to 7, the water supply tank 7 is of a container type having an opening 18 at its top portion, which the tank 7 is comprised of a tank main body a lid body 16 and equipment fittings thereof such as a filter case 28 and the like. The lid body 16 is formed of a plate member having a top cover plate 16a and a peripheral side wall 19 matching with the opening 18 of the tank main body 15. A sealing member 20 is provided on the outer peripheral face 19a of the side wall 19 of the lid body 16 so that the sealing member 20 is pressedly contacted to the inner peripheral face WO 98/09119 PCTIJP97/02962 12 of the upper end portion of the side wall of the tank main body 15 when the opening 18 of the tank 7 is closely shut by the lid body 16.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic front view of an arrangement of the water supply tank 7 having the tank main body and the lid body 16 located beside the partial freezing compartment.

In the preferred embodiment, as shown in Figs. 4 and the outer peripheral face 19a is of a recessed portion which is inclined with respect to the vertical inner peripheral face 19b of the side wall 19 so that the side wall 19 is gradually thinned downward. Accordingly, the sealing member surrounding the outer peripheral recessed face 9a is also inclined. The lower edge of the side wall 19 has a protruded portion 19c protruded outward to define the recessed portion of the outer peripheral face 19a. By this arrangement, the property of engagement and operability of the lid body can be improved.

In specific, as shown in Figs. 3 to 5, when the lid body 16 is closely fitted to the opening 18 of the tank main body 15, the sealing member 20 surrounding the inclined outer peripheral recess 19a of the side wall 19 is pressed to seal and fill the gap between the inner peripheral face 15a of upper end wall of the tank main body 15 and the outer peripheral face 19a of the side wall 19 of the lid body 16 so WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 13 that the tank main body 15 is closely engaged with the lid body 16 with good sealing property.

In this construction, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the inner peripheral face 15a of the top end wall portion of the tank main body 15 is preferably defined as an inclined face 17, so that the side wall 19 of the lid body 16 is easily slid and guided to the fitted condition to the peripheral edge of the opening 18 of the tank main body 15 when the lid body is attached to the tank main body. In the preferred embodiment, the inclined face 17 may be formed by edge-cutting or may be rounded to have a curved surface at the inner edge corner thereof.

By this arrangement, the lid body 16 is securely engaged with the tank main body 15 merely by fitting the lid body 16 to the opening 18 of the tank main body 15 without using any locking member. Moreover, by providing the sealing member 20 on the outer peripheral face 19a, the sealing property between the lid body 16 and the tank main body 15 can be improved together with taking advantage of the space obtained by omitting the locking member.

In the preferred embodiment, the sealing member is made of an elastic material, silicon rubber, elastomer and the like to have a tension function, where the strength in tension of the sealing member is varied by the inclination of the outer peripheral face 19a. Thus, when the WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 14 lid-body is engaged with the tank main body, the sealing member 20 can be effectively prevented from being torn off from the outer peripheral face 19a by defining a space between the lower edge of the sealing member 20 and the inner peripheral face 15a of the tank main body wall portion.

Moreover, due to the tension function of the sealing member 20, the thickness of the sealing member 20 can be so adjusted as to control the engagement force between the lid body 16 and the tank main body In the construction as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and the top cover 16a of the lid body 16 is formed with a recessed portion 21 serving as a pull or grip so that the water supply tank 7 can be easily detachable and attached to and removed from a tank attachment portion 22 by merely catching the recessed pull portion 21 with fingers. By this arrangement, it is not necessary to provide a space such as designated by 216 in Fig. 13 for grasping the water supply tank when the tank is attached to or detached from the tank attachment portion 22, and therefore the space can be effectively used as a water storage volume. Thus, the width of the water supply tank 7 can be reduced. Also, the recessed portion 21 can be used as a pull or grip for removing the lid body 16 from the tank main body 15 when the water supply tank is opened.

WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 In this construction, the lid body 16 is provided with a protruded rim portion 24 protruded outward at its front side edge, so that the lid body 16 can be easily detached from the tank main body 15 merely by hanging up the protruded rim 24 or grasping both the recessed portion 21 and the protruded rim 24 with fingers.

In the preferred construction as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, the lid body 16 is further provided with a cover side wall 25 inclined with respect to the vertical line L to have a curved surface around its ridge lines 25a, reducing the flat plane portion. Thus, the water supply tank 7 can be easily caught and carried by hand by grasping from the upper direction thereof, thereby preventing the lid body surface from being stained, taking the advantage of facilitating a cleaning operation of the outer face thereof.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a pair of recessed portions 26 are formed in the side wall of the tank main body for facilitating to catch and carry the water supply tank 7 by hand. The recessed portions 26 can be also available as a guide mark for confirming the engagement direction when the lid body 16 is engaged with the tank main body 15 and confirming the attachment direction when the water supply tank 7 is attached to the tank attachment portion 22.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 8, the water supply tank 7 is provided with a filtering case 28 WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 16 included within the tank and a discharge tube 27 on the lid body 16, which the discharge tube is projected rearward and toward the tank attachment portion 22. The discharge tube 27 is mechanically coupled to a sucking portion 30 which is inserted into the filtering case 28 so that the discharge tube 27 is communicated with the inside of the water supply tank 7 via a filter member 29 which is placed on the bottom of the filtering case 28. The tip end of the sucking portion 30 is provided with projections 31 to form a plurality of water passage apertures 32 located on the filter member 29. Thus, the noises to be caused by water feeding operation can be reduced when the water is supplied from the water supply tank 7 to the ice making vessel 2. By providing the projections 31 at the tip end of the sucking portion 30, even when an abnormal deformation is applied to the filter member 29, the water passage apertures 32 can be avoided from being blocked, thereby maintaining sufficient water supply into the ice making vessel 2.

It is noted here that the tip end of the sucking portion 30 may be provided with recessed portions instead of providing the projections 31.

As shown in Fig. 9, a guide indication 33 of characters and the like can be directly printed on the side wall of the tank main body 15 so that the characters of indication stand out in bold relief against the background

MMMMM

WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 17 surface, thereby allowing to represent the indication which can be semipermanently maintained without being torn off by water. By this arrangement, since a process of attaching a seal or the like sheet to the side wall is eliminated, the number of manufacturing processes and number of parts can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment) The following describes a second preferred embodiment of the ice making apparatus with reference to Figs. 2, 11 and 12.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 11ii, the frame assembly 8 having a base plate 41 and a side plate 43 is fixed within the refrigerating compartment 11 where the frame assembly 8 is comprised of the tank attachment portion 22 and the pump placing portion 23 which are partitioned from each other.

In this construction, the tank attachment portion 22 is comprised of a substrate plate 34, a cylindrical joint tubular member 35, an engagement tip plate 36 and a packing member 37, where the rearward protruded end portion of the discharge tube 27 of the water supply tank 7 is engaged with the joint tubular member 35 of the tank attachment portion 22.

The substrate member 34 has a base wall 34a and a surrounding walls 34b and 39 vertically rising therefrom, where the base wall 34a of the substrate is formed with a pair of positioning holes 38 and a pair of slots 40 formed at both sides of the WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 18 surrounding walls 34b. The base plate 41 of the frame 8 is provided with a pair of bosses 42 which are inserted in the positioning holes 38 of the substrate 34 respectively so that the substrate 34 is fixedly positioned by the engagement between the bosses 42 and the positioning holes 38.

The base plate 41 of the frame 8 is provided with a pair of positioning tips 44a while the side plate 43 of the frame 8 is also provided with another pair of positioning tips 44b so that the positioning tips 44a and 44b pressedly fix the surrounding walls 34a and 39 of the substrate 34 to thereby securely position the tank attachment portion 22 in the threedimensional directions back and forth, right and left, and up and down. Moreover, the front end portions of the side plates 43 of the frame 8 are inserted in the slots 40 of the substrate 34 and securely engaged therewith.

In this construction, since the tank attachment portion 22 is attached with the water supply tank 7 for water flow passage, sufficient strength and airtight property is required in the tank attachment portion 22. Therefore, the tank attachment portion 22 can be fixed onto the frame assembly 8 by means of the bosses 42, positioning tips 44a and 44b and slots 40 merely by mounting downward the tank attachment portion 22 from the upper direction of the frame 8. Other fittings for fixing members are not needed, and therefore the space and number of manufacturing processes can WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 19 be reduced with reduction of number of parts compared to the conventional apparatus.

In this preferred embodiment, the pump 6 is held up in the floating condition between the upper and lower pipes 4 and 9 within the pump placing portion 23. The upper pipe 4 is supported by a rib 45 provided on the base plate 41 of the frame 8 while the lower pipe 9 is supported by the nozzle 13 which is fixed in the partition wall 50. The pipes 4 and 9 are preferably made of a vibration proof material such as rubber cushion.

By this arrangement, the operation noise and vibrations of the pump can be suppressed from escaping outside without providing a vibration proof member (214). Therefore, the width of the pump placing portion 23 can be reduced to the width of the pump 6 and the reduced space can be effectively used.

The frame 8 is further provided with a pressing member 46 for pressing the rear side wall of the water supply tank 7 when the tank is attached to the tank attachment portion 22. The pressing member 46 is pivotally rotatable around a shaft 47 which is fixed to the frame body 8. The free end of the pressing member 46 is protruded downward from the shaft 47 through an opening (not shown) defined in the base plate 41 of the frame 8 so that the pressing member 46 presses the attached water supply tank in the frontward WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/0296 2 direction receding from the tank attachment portion 22 by a torsion force of a spring member 48 securely wound on the shaft 47.

Since the pressing member 46 has a specific rectangular like shape, therefore when the water supply tank 7 is pressed by the pressing member 46, the contact point therebetween is varied from a first pressing point 49 to a second pressing point 49'. Thus, the pressing force of the pressing member 46 caused by the torsion of the spring member 48 can be varied merely by varying the distance from the shaft 47 to the pressing points (from 49 to thereby adjusting the pressing force against the water supply tank 7. By this arrangement, a large pressing force can be obtained with a reduced space therefor.

In the preferred embodiment as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the nozzle portion 13 of the pipe 9 is securely positioned by the space defined in the partition wall 50, and the reversing unit 3 and the ice making vessel 2 are also fixed to the partition wall 50. Therefore, the water fed from the water supply tank 7 can be securely supplied to the ice making vessel 2. Moreover, since the nozzle 13 are directly positioned by the partition wall 50, the position of the nozzle 13 is securely fixed, and a positioning member and the space therefor is can be eliminated, having the advantages of WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/029 6 2 21 reducing the number of parts and number of assembling processes.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the inner peripheral face 15a of the top end wall portion of the tank main body 15 is defined as an inclined face, the side wall 19 of the lid body 16 is easily slid and guided to the fitted condition to the peripheral edge of the opening 18 of the tank main body 15, and the lid body 16 is securely engaged with the tank main body 15 merely by fitting the lid body 16 to the opening 18 of the tank main body 15 without using any locking member.

Moreover, by providing the sealing member on the outer peripheral face 19a, the sealing property between the lid body and tank main body 15 can be improved together with taking the advantage of the space obtained by omitting the locking member, reducing the number of parts.

Moreover, since the sealing member 20 is made of an elastic material to have a tension function, so that the sealing member 20 can be prevented from being torn off from the outer peripheral face 19a, and due to the tension function of the sealing member 20, the thickness of the sealing member can be so adjusted as to control the engagement force between the lid body 16 and the tank main body 15. Since the outer peripheral face 19a of a recessed portion is inclined with the sealing member provided thereon also inclined, the WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 22 property of engagement and operability of the lid body can be improved.

Moreover, the top cover 16a of the lid body 16 is formed with a recessed portion 21, the water supply tank 7 can be easily detachable and attached to and removed from the tank attachment portion 22 by merely catching the recessed pull portion 21 with fingers. By this arrangement, it is not necessary to provide a space for grasping the water supply tank, and therefore the space can be effectively used as a water storage volume. Thus, the width of the water supply tank 7 can be reduced. Also, the recessed portion 21 can be used as a pull or grip for removing the lid body 16 from the tank main body 15 when the water supply tank is opened.

Furthermore, since the lid body 16 is provided with a protruded rim portion 24 protruded outward at its front side edge, the lid body 16 can be easily detached from the tank main body 15 merely by hanging up the protruded rim 24 or grasping both the recessed portion 21 and the protruded rim 24 with fingers.

Moreover, the lid body 16 is further provided with a cover side wall 25 inclined to have a curved surface around its ridge lines 25a, reducing the flat plane portion, the water supply tank 7 can be easily caught and carried by hand by grasping from the upper direction thereof, preventing the WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 23 lid body surface from being stained, taking the advantage of facilitating a cleaning operation of the outer face thereof.

Moreover, since a pair of recessed portions 26 are formed in the side wall of the tank main body 15 for facilitating to catch and carry the water supply tank 7 by hand, the recessed portions 26 can be also available as a guide mark for confirming the engagement direction when the lid body 16 is engaged with the tank main body 15 and confirming the attachment direction when the water supply tank 7 is attached to the tank attachment portion 22.

Moreover, since the tip end of the sucking portion is provided with projections 31 to form a plurality of water passage apertures 32 located on the filter member 29, the noises to be caused by water feeding operation can be reduced, and even when an abnormal deformation is applied to the filter member 29, the water passage apertures 32 can be avoided from being blocked, thereby maintaining sufficient water supply into the ice making vessel 2.

Moreover, since a guide indication 33 of characters and the like is directly printed on the side wall of the tank main body 15, the characters of indication stand out in bold relief against the background surface, thereby allowing to represent the indication which can be semipermanently maintained without being torn off by water. By this arrangement, since a process of attaching a seal or the like sheet WO 98/09119 PCT/JP97/02962 24 to the side wall is eliminated, the number of manufacturing processes and number of parts can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the tank attachment portion 22 is fixed onto the frame assembly 8 by means of the bosses 42, positioning tips 44a and 44b and slots 40 merely by mounting downward the tank attachment portion 22, other fittings for fixing members are not needed, and therefore the space and number of manufacturing processes can be reduced with reduction of number of parts compared to the conventional apparatus.

Moreover, since the pump 6 is held up in the floating condition between the upper and lower pipes 4 and 9 within the pump placing portion 23, the operation noise and vibrations of the pump can be suppressed from escaping outside without providing a vibration proof member. Therefore, the width of the pump placing portion 23 can be reduced to the width of the pump 6 and the reduced space can be effectively used.

Furthermore, since the pressing member 46 has a specific rectangular like shape, the contact point therebetween is varied from a first pressing point 49 to a second pressing point 49'. Thus, the pressing force of the pressing member 46 caused by the torsion of the spring member 48 can be varied merely by varying the distance from the shaft 47 to the pressing points (from 49 to thereby adjusting the pressing force against the water supply tank 7. By this arrangement, a large pressing force can be obtained with a reduced space therefor.

In addition, since the nozzle portion 13 of the pipe 9 is securely positioned by the space defined in the partition wall 50, the water fed from the water supply tank 7 can be securely supplied to the ice making vessel 2. Moreover, since the nozzle 13 are directly positioned by the partition wall the position of the nozzle 13 is securely fixed, and a 10 positioning member and the space therefor is can be eliminate o• ed, having the advantages of reducing the number of parts and "'4number of assembling processes.

Although the present invention has been fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted here that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims, they should be construed as included therein.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

Claims

2. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim i, wherein said inclined face is of a rounded surface at the inner peripheral top edge corner thereof. 520 S: .3 The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outer peripheral face is of a recessed portion which is inclined with respect to the vertical plane of the side wall of the lid body so that the sealing member surrounding the inclined outer peripheral recess of the side wall is also inclined
4. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the side wall of the lid body has a protruded portion protruded outward at its lower edge thereby defining the recessed portion the outer peripheral face. P:\OPER\DH\38694-97082 25/3/99 -27- The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim i, wherein said sealing member is made of an elastic material fixed to the outer peripheral face of the lid body in tension.
6. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lid body has a top cover which is formed with a recessed portion serving as a pull or grip.
7. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim i, wherein said lid body is provided with a protruded rim portion protruded outward at its front side edge. *99*
8. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim i, wherein said lid body is provided with a side cover wall inclined to have a curved surface.
999. 9. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim i, wherein 9each side wall of the tank main body has a recessed portion for grasping by hand where the recessed portion also serves as a 20 guide mark for confirming an engagement direction and attachment o 9 direction thereof. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim i, wherein said water supply tank is provided with a filtering case included therein and a discharge tube on the lid body, which the discharge tube has a projection portion protruded rearward and has a sucking portion mechanically coupled thereto which is inserted into the filtering case in which a filter member is placed on the bottom thereof. P:\OPR\DH\38694-91.082 25/3/99 -28- 11. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the sucking portion is provided with projections at its lower end to thereby form a plurality of water passage apertures located on the filter member. 12. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a guide indication of characters and the like is directly printed on one side wall of the tank main body. 13. An ice making apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 or 12, wherein the water supply tank further includes a discharge tube, located in the refrigerating compartment for eoo supplying water to the ice making vessel via water feeding pipes Ct by way of a pump; and the apparatus further includes a frame portion having a base plate and a side plate, :comprising a tank attachment portion and a pump placing portion a *'.located within the refrigerating compartment, :""wherein the tank attachment portion has a substrate plate and a joint tubular member which is engaged with the discharge 20 tube of the water supply tank. a. 14. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the substrate member has a base wall and surrounding walls and vertically rising therefrom, where the base wall of the substrate is formed with a pair of positioning holes and a pair of slots located at both sides of the surrounding walls. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the base plate of the frame is provided with a pair of bosses which are inserted in the positioning holes of the substrate to P:\OPER\DH\38694-97.082 25/3/99 -29- be engaged therewith respectively so that the substrate is fixedly positioned. 16. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the base plate of the frame is provided with a pair of positioning tips while the side plate of the frame is also provided with another pair of positioning tips so that the positioning tips and pressedly fix the surrounding walls and of the substrate to thereby securely position the tank attachment portion in the three-dimensional directions back and forth, right and left, and up and down. 17. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein e• the front end portions of the side plates of the frame are inserted in the slots of the substrate and securely engaged therewith. 18. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the water feeding pipes are comprised of upper and lower pipes 20 and the pump is held up in the floating condition between the 9* upper and lower pipes within the pump placing portion. 19. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the upper pipe is supported by a rib provided on the base plate of the frame while the lower pipe is supported by a nozzle which is fixed defined in position within the partition wall. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said pipes are made of a rubber suitable for absorbing P:\OPER\DH\38694-97.082 25/3/99 21. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said frame portion is further provided with a pressing member for pressing the water supply tank when the tank is attached to the tank attachment portion. 22. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein said pressing member is pivotally rotatable around a shaft which is fixed to the frame body. 23. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the shaft has a spring member securely wound thereon for forcing i the pressing member so that the pressing member presses the water supply tank in the frontward direction receding from the tank attachment portion by a torsion force of the spring member. 24. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 23, wherein the pressing member has a rectangular like shape, and when the water supply tank is pressed by the pressing member, the contact point therebetween is varied from a first pressing point to a second pressing point to thereby vary the pressing force of the ta pressing member caused by the torsion of the spring member by varying the distance from the shaft to the pressing points. An ice making apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 12 of the drawings. DATED this 25th day of March, 1999 Matsushita Refrigeration Company f y DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant