JP2000329434A - Automatic ice-making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic ice-making device structured such that an ice-making tray member is removable and constituted that when automatic ice-making is not performed for a long period, an ice-making tray part is removed and this idle space is effectively utilized. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a rotary shaft 10 having one end removably coupled to a drive shaft 9a and protruding to the front of a refrigerating chamber, and at the tip part of the rotary shaft 10 with a holding member 11 to removably hold the periphery of the front of an ice-making tray 5. A fixing mechanism 12 to regulate drawing of the ice-making tray 5 is provided in front of the holding member 11. A holding frame 13 to hold the periphery of the back of the ice-making tray 5 is provided at the tip part of the drive shaft 9a, and a stopper 14 to regulate rotation of the holding frame 13 is situated on one side of the upper part of the front wall of a device body 8. The ice-making tray 5 is mounted on the upper surface of the rotary shaft 10 and removably mounting connectors (b) and (c) are provided to electrically interconnect a temperature sensor 15 and a control part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device for an electric refrigerator, and more particularly, to a structure in which an ice tray can be detachably attached and the interior of the refrigerator can be effectively used when automatic ice making is not performed for a long time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional automatic ice making devices include, for example, those shown in FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a refrigerator main body, which has a freezer compartment 22 and a refrigerator compartment 23. An automatic ice making device 24 is disposed in the freezer compartment 22.
The ice made in the ice tray 25 of 24 is stored in an ice storage box 26 below. Although not shown, a water supply tank for storing ice making water is arranged in the refrigerator compartment 23, and water in the water supply tank is supplied to the ice tray 25 through a water supply pipe (not shown). I have.

A drive unit 27 of an automatic ice making device 24 is installed on the back side of the freezing room 22. Both ends are fixed to the front left and right sides of the drive unit 27, and are protruded forward to receive a substantially L-shaped ice tray 25. Frame 28 is formed in the horizontal direction. One end is fixed to the center of the back surface of the ice tray 25, and the other end is provided with a rotation shaft 29 rotatably supported by a drive shaft of a drive motor (not shown) of the drive unit 27. On the other hand, a rotating shaft 30 having one end fixed to the ice tray 25 and the other end rotatably supported on the inner wall of the frame 28 is provided on the front surface of the ice tray 25 on the axis line corresponding to the rotation shaft 29. Have been. A temperature sensor 31 for detecting completion of ice making is fixed to the bottom surface of the ice tray 25, and is connected to a control unit in the drive unit 27 by a cable.

In the above-described configuration, when water is supplied to the ice tray 25 and ice is made, and the temperature sensor 31 detects that the ice making is completed after a predetermined time, the driving motor in the driving section 27 rotates the rotating shaft. 29 rotates and the ice tray 25 is inverted. When the ice tray 25 rotates and becomes almost vertical, the corner of the upper surface of the ice tray 25 hits a stopper 32 provided on the upper surface of the frame 28, and the rotation is stopped. On the other hand, since the rotating shaft 29 rotates to the predetermined position on the back surface of the ice tray 25, the ice tray 25 is twisted back and forth to separate ice and store ice in the ice storage box 26. However, in the above-described conventional automatic ice making device, since the ice tray cannot be removed, there is a problem that when the automatic ice making device is not used for a long period of time in winter or the like, the inside of the freezer compartment cannot be effectively used.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a structure in which an ice tray is detachable so as to remove the ice tray when automatic ice making is not performed for a long period of time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic ice making device that can effectively utilize the ice.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and comprises a drive shaft which rotates in conjunction with a drive source, and a drive shaft which is provided in a freezer compartment. A control unit for controlling a source is provided, an ice tray is connected to the drive shaft, a temperature sensor is provided on the ice tray, a fixed amount of water is supplied to the ice tray from a water supply tank provided in the refrigerator compartment, and a freezing chamber is supplied. Perform ice making by the cold air, detect the completion of ice making by the temperature sensor, send a signal of this detection to the control unit to drive the drive source, and invert the ice tray by the rotation of the drive shaft. In an automatic ice making device that stores ice in an ice storage box that stores ice that has been separated from the ice and that has been separated from the ice, the device main body is disposed on the back of the freezer compartment, and one end is detachably connected to the drive shaft. A rotating shaft protruding forward of the freezing chamber, At the distal end of the ice tray, a holder for detachably holding the periphery of the front of the ice tray is provided, and a fixing mechanism for restricting withdrawal of the ice tray is provided in front of the holder. A holding frame for holding the periphery of the back surface of the ice tray, a stopper for restricting rotation of the holding frame is provided on one upper side of a front wall of the apparatus body, and the ice making device is provided on an upper surface of the rotating shaft. A dish is mounted, and a detachable connector for conducting the temperature sensor and the control unit is provided.

When the automatic ice making device is not used for a long time, the rotating shaft and the ice making tray are removed from the main body of the device, and these are housed in the water supply tank.

Further, when the connector is disconnected and the temperature sensor and the control unit are disconnected from each other, the control unit controls to stop all automatic ice making functions.

[0009] The holder is constituted by a pair of U-shaped frames for holding the upper, lower, left and right sides of the ice tray.

The fixing mechanism includes a box-shaped cover for covering the outer periphery of the holder, and a screw for fixing the cover to the tip end surface of the rotating shaft.

The holding frame has a rectangular shape for holding the top, bottom, left and right of the ice tray.

Further, the bottom surface of the ice tray has a central portion formed with an arc-shaped concave portion extending in the axial direction of the rotation axis, the arc-shaped concave portion being attached to the rotation axis.

Further, the temperature sensor is provided substantially at the center of the upper part of the rotating shaft.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a refrigerator according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an automatic ice making device and an ice storage box arranged in a freezing room, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the freezer compartment when the ice tray portion is removed. In the figure, 1
Is a refrigerator main body, which has a freezer compartment 2 and a refrigerator compartment 3. An automatic ice making device 4 is arranged in the freezer compartment 2, and the ice made in the ice tray 5 of the automatic ice making device 4 is stored in an ice storage box 6 below. A water supply tank 7 for storing ice making water is disposed in the refrigerator compartment 3, and water in the water supply tank 7 is supplied to the ice tray 5 through a water supply pipe 7 a.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an apparatus main body installed on the back side of the freezing room 2, a drive shaft 9a that rotates in conjunction with the drive source 9 in the apparatus main body 8, and a control unit (the control unit that controls the drive source 9). (Not shown). Reference numeral 10 denotes one end of the rotating shaft 9a detachably connected to the driving shaft 9a via a connecting portion 10a, and a rotating shaft protruding forward of the freezing chamber 2. A holder consisting of a pair of left and right substantially U-shaped frames for detachably holding the periphery of the front of the ice tray 5, and 12 is the same holder.
A lid provided in front of the lid 11 for restricting the ice tray 5 from being pulled out. The lid 12 is formed in a box shape covering the outer periphery of the holder 11, and a screw is inserted through a central portion of the lid 12. A hole 12a is provided, and a screw a is inserted into the screw hole 12a from the front of the lid 12, and the screw a is screwed onto a tip end surface of the rotating shaft 10, whereby the ice tray 5 is connected to the rotating shaft 10. Can be held.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a holding frame whose lower part is fixed to the tip of the drive shaft 9a and holds the periphery of the back surface of the ice tray 5, and 14 is provided on one upper side of the front wall of the apparatus body 8, It is a stopper that stops and regulates the rotation of the frame 13 at a predetermined position.

A temperature sensor 15 is provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray 5 and detects the completion of ice making. When the temperature sensor 15 detects the completion of ice making, the driving shaft 9a rotates the rotating shaft 10
Is rotated, the ice tray 5 is turned over, ice is separated, and ice is stored in the ice storage box 6 below.

An ice detecting lever 16 is connected at one end to the drive source 9 and moves up and down within a predetermined range at predetermined time intervals to detect whether the ice bin 6 is full of ice. A switch (not shown) arranged in the apparatus main body 8 is controlled by a control unit (not shown) by the 16 operation angles.

The bottom of the ice tray 5 has a central portion at the pivot shaft.
An arc-shaped concave portion 5a for mounting the rotation shaft 10 is formed in the axial direction of the shaft 10. Further, the temperature sensor 15
And detachable male and female connectors b and c for conducting between the control unit and the control unit.

A In the above configuration, the detachable ice tray 5 is passed through the holder 11 from the back side, and the concave portion 5a on the bottom face is inserted along the rotating shaft 10, and the ice tray 5 is inserted into the holding frame 13. The lid 12 is mounted on the outer periphery of the holder 11 from the front of the ice tray 5, and the screw a is inserted through the screw hole 12a.
By screwing a screw a to the tip surface of the rotating shaft 10,
The ice tray 5 is mounted on the automatic ice making device 4.

Water is supplied to the ice tray 5 to make ice,
When the temperature sensor 15 detects that the ice making is completed after a predetermined time, the driving source (drive motor) 9 turns the rotating shaft 10 to invert the ice tray 5. When the ice tray 5 is in a substantially vertical position, the upper surface of the holding frame 13 hits the stopper 14 and stops at a predetermined position. On the other hand, the rotating shaft 10 is further rotated, so that the ice tray 5 held by the holder 11 is rotated. The torsional force acts on the front surface of the ice tray 5 and the ice tray 5 is twisted to release the ice, and
When 10 reaches the predetermined position, the drive motor is stopped and the ice removal is completed. The separated ice is stored in the lower ice storage box 6.

As described above, when the automatic ice making is not performed for a long period of time, the connecting portion 10a of the rotating shaft 10 is detached from the driving shaft 9a and the male and female connectors b and c are detached, so that the apparatus main body is removed. The ice tray members such as the ice tray 5, the rotating shaft 10 and the like can be easily removed from 8, and the empty space (part A in FIG. 4) can be effectively used for freezing foods and the like.
By storing the removed ice tray member in the water supply tank 7, the member can be prevented from being lost. When the connectors b and c are disconnected and the temperature sensor 15 is disconnected from the control unit, the control unit performs all the automatic ice making functions (motor for ice removal, water supply pump, heater for water supply pipe, etc.). An automatic ice making device capable of reducing power consumption by controlling the power supply to stop the power supply is provided.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram according to the present invention. A control unit 17 composed of a microcomputer or the like has a temperature sensor 15 for an ice tray connected to the input side via connectors b and c, and a control unit 17 connected to the output side. Is a water supply pump 18 via a drive circuit 18.
a, an ice release motor 18b, and a water supply pipe heater 18c are connected to each other. The control unit 17 issues a series of control commands for water supply, ice detection, and ice removal for automatic ice making to the drive circuit 18.
Output to That is, at the time of water supply, the water supply pump 18a is operated for a certain period of time, and completion of water supply is determined based on the temperature of the ice tray detected by the temperature sensor 15.

After the water supply is completed, the ice making is judged by the temperature of the ice tray detected by the temperature sensor 15, and at the time of the completion of the water supply, the amount of ice stored in the ice storage box 6 is checked from the descending angle of the ice detecting lever 16, and the ice storage box 6 If there is enough time, the operation is shifted to the ice removing operation, and the ice removing motor 18b is driven. Thereby, the ice tray is twisted, the ice is released, and the ice falls into the ice storage box 6.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the control method according to the present invention. First, in step ST1, the temperature sensor
When the detection of 15 starts, AD conversion is performed in step ST2, and it is determined whether or not the data from the temperature sensor 15 is open in step ST3. If it is not open, a series of control of normal water supply, ice detection, and deicing is performed. Is performed. If the data from the temperature sensor 15 is open, control is performed in step ST5 to stop all the automatic ice making functions (power supply to the ice removing motor, the water supply pump, and the water supply pipe heater).

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When automatic ice making is not performed for a long period of time, the connecting portion of the rotating shaft is detached from the drive shaft and the male and female connectors are detached, so that the ice tray members such as the ice tray and the rotating shaft can be easily removed from the apparatus main body. The empty space can be effectively used for freezing foods and the like. Further, by storing the removed ice tray member in the water supply tank, loss of the member can be prevented. Also, when the connector is disconnected and the temperature sensor and the control unit are disconnected, the control unit stops all automatic ice making functions (power supply to the ice release motor, the water supply pump, and the heater for the water supply pipe). An automatic ice making device that can reduce power consumption by adopting a configuration that performs control such that power consumption is reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of an automatic ice making device showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of an automatic ice making device showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the freezer showing an empty space according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a freezing room provided with an automatic ice making device according to a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a main part of an automatic ice making device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body 2 Freezer room 3 Refrigerator room 4 Automatic ice making device 5 Ice making tray 5a Depression 6 Ice storage box 7 Water supply tank 8 Device main body 9 Drive source 9a Drive shaft 10 Rotating shaft 10a Connecting part 11 Holder 12 Lid 13 Holding frame 14 Stopper 15 Temperature sensor 16 Ice detection lever a Screw b, c Connector

Claims (8)

[Claims] An apparatus body provided in a freezing room is provided with a drive shaft that rotates in conjunction with a drive source and a control unit that controls the drive source, and an ice tray is connected to the drive shaft. A temperature sensor is provided on the ice tray, a fixed amount of water is supplied to the ice tray from a water supply tank provided in the refrigerator, ice is made by cold air in the freezer, and the completion of ice making is detected by the temperature sensor. A detection signal is sent to the control unit to drive the drive source, the ice making tray is inverted by the rotation of the drive shaft, ice is separated, and ice is stored in an ice storage box for storing the ice separated. In the automatic ice making device, the device main body is disposed on a back surface in the freezing room, one end is detachably connected to the drive shaft, and a rotating shaft protruding forward of the freezing room is provided. At the tip of the holder, a holder for detachably holding the periphery of the front of the ice tray. A fixing mechanism for restricting withdrawal of the ice tray is provided in front of the holder, and a holding frame for holding a periphery of a back surface of the ice tray is provided at a base end of the drive shaft; A stopper for restricting rotation of the holding frame is provided on one upper side of the front wall of the front wall, and the ice tray is mounted on the upper surface of the rotation shaft, and is detachable for conducting the temperature sensor and the control unit. An automatic ice making device comprising a connector. 2. When the automatic ice making device is not used for a long period of time, the rotating shaft and the ice making tray are removed from the device main body, and these are stored in the water supply tank. 2. The automatic ice making device according to 1. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein when the connector is disconnected and the temperature sensor and the control unit are disconnected from each other, the control unit controls to stop all automatic ice making functions. The automatic ice making device as described. 4. The automatic ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the holding tool comprises a pair of U-shaped frames for holding the top, bottom, left and right of the ice tray. 5. The fixing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the fixing mechanism comprises a box-shaped cover for covering the outer periphery of the holder, and a screw for fixing the cover to a tip end surface of the rotating shaft. Automatic ice making equipment. 6. The automatic ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the holding frame has a rectangular shape for holding the top, bottom, left and right of the ice tray. 7. The ice tray according to claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the ice tray is formed with an arc-shaped concave portion having a central portion extending in the axial direction of the rotation shaft and having the rotation shaft mounted thereon. Automatic ice making equipment. 8. The automatic ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is provided at a substantially central portion of an upper portion of the rotation shaft.