JP2001041622A - Ice maker and deep freezer refrigerator having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce homogeneous and transparent ice by imparting an appropriate vibration without being influenced by the amount of water retained in an ice making block or the like. SOLUTION: A vibration motor 31 is provided on a bottom face of an ice making block 24 so as to generate a vibration in parallel with a surface of water retained in the ice making block 24. By this method, an appropriate uniform vibration is imparted to the water retained in each ice making block 24 without being influenced by the amount of water retained in the ice making block 24, the position of the ice making block 24 or the like so that the removal of air bubbles is promoted to produce uniform and transparent ice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making apparatus suitable for use in refrigerators and refrigerators in general households and the like, and more particularly to an ice making apparatus capable of producing high-quality transparent ice in a short time, and an ice making apparatus provided with the same. Related to refrigerators and refrigerators.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, home refrigerators and the like are equipped with an ice making device that stores water in an ice tray and make ice substantially as standard equipment. An ice making device that supplies water and automatically makes ice is provided on the market.

[0003] However, it is known that simply making an ice tray to make ice produces cloudy ice. Such cloudy ice has a high melting speed, and its atmosphere rises even when used for whiskey splitting. For this reason, there is a demand for transparent ice, and various types of ice making devices have been proposed.

[0004] That is, the ice tray is divided into a plurality of ice making blocks, and water is stored in each of the ice making blocks. When such an ice tray is simply cooled, freezing starts around each ice making block, and the water inside finally freezes.

[0005] At this time, air dissolved in the water comes into bubbles in the ice-free water, and when the bubbles are trapped in the ice, the ice becomes cloudy.

Therefore, as a configuration for obtaining clear ice by promoting degassing of the generated bubbles, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-22173.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-36, an ice tray is provided so as to be swingable, a magnetic material such as a permanent magnet is fixed to the ice tray, and an electromagnetic coil is provided in a part (fixed and immovable part) of the ice making chamber. Is disclosed.

An alternating current is supplied to the electromagnetic coil, and the ice tray is vibrated by an alternating magnetic field generated at that time.

[0008]

However, in the above configuration, since the weight of the ice tray varies depending on the amount of water stored in the ice tray, resonance sometimes occurs, causing water to spill, and the amplitude to be reduced. When it becomes large, there is a problem that an ice tray or a magnetic material collides with the electromagnetic coil and a hitting sound is generated.

In particular, since the magnetic force decreases with the square of the distance, when the magnetic material and the electromagnetic coil are separated, the magnetic force acting on them is rapidly reduced, and the braking force on the ice tray is drastically reduced. Therefore, for example, to increase the frequency of an ice tray,
The magnetic field of the electromagnetic coil or the magnetic material must be increased so that a large magnetic force acts even when the magnetic material and the electromagnetic coil are separated from each other, which increases the cost and causes a large power loss. There is a problem.

In addition, since the above configuration basically vibrates through an alternating magnetic field, the vibration starting force is weaker than a mechanism that transmits vibration by contact, so that even if a little ice adheres to the rocking shaft. There is a problem that vibration cannot be started smoothly.

Further, since the inside of the ice tray is partitioned by a plurality of ice making blocks and water is stored in each ice making block, when the ice tray swings, the water is placed at the position of the ice making block. However, there is a problem in that the vibrational state changes, and it is difficult to produce homogeneous transparent ice.

That is, the swing shafts are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the ice tray, and the ice making blocks are arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction. And since the ice tray swings right and left around the center line connecting the opposite swing axes,
The amplitude of the ice making block near the center line is small, and the amplitude of the ice making block away from the center line becomes large.

Since the purpose of vibrating the ice tray is to promote deaeration of bubbles generated by stirring water, the fact that the amplitude varies depending on the position of the ice making block means that the stirring state varies depending on the position of the ice making block. As a result, the quality of the transparent ice changes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ice making apparatus capable of producing appropriate transparent ice by applying an appropriate vibration without being affected by the condition of an ice tray.

[0015]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that cold air is blown to the back surface of an ice tray that is partitioned into a plurality of ice making blocks and stores water, and the stored water is cooled. In an ice making device for deicing by freezing the ice tray and then turning the ice tray upside down, a vibration motor is provided on the bottom of the ice tray, and the ice tray is placed parallel to the water surface of the water stored in the ice tray. Make it vibrate,
Irrespective of the condition of the ice tray and the position of the ice making block, the water stored in each ice making block was given appropriate vibration, thereby promoting the deaeration of air bubbles and making uniform transparent ice. Features.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the vibration motor comprises:
It is provided on each of the bottom surfaces of one or more ice making blocks of the plurality of ice making blocks.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of vibration motors are provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray, and when the power of each of the vibration motors is small, the vibration of the ice tray is reduced. The vibration direction is set to be uniform.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of vibration motors are provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray, and when the power of each of the vibration motors is large, the vibration of the ice tray is increased. The vibration direction is set so that the vibration direction is different.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the vibration motor is a DC motor driven by a DC power supply, and its stator is provided asymmetrically.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claims 1 to 5
A refrigerator is formed by using the ice making device according to any one of the preceding claims.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 2 to which an ice making device 20 according to the present invention is applied, showing a state where a door on the front is removed. FIG. 2 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of the ice making device 20 according to the present invention. 3 and 4 are detailed views of the ice tray 21, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view, and FIG. 4 is a top view.

The refrigerator-freezer 2 has an outer box 3 and an inner box 4, and is a heat insulating structure in which a heat insulating material 5 is filled therebetween.
A plurality of heat insulating partition plates 6 are provided inside the inner box 4 to form a refrigerator compartment 7, a freezing compartment 8, a vegetable compartment 9, and the like.

At the lower end of the refrigerator compartment 7 is provided a water supply tank 11 for storing water for making ice.
Is provided with an ice making device 20 and an ice storage box 12. The ice storage box 12 is provided below the ice making device 20 to receive ice from the ice making device 20 and store the ice.

At the lower end of the refrigerator 2, a compressor for compressing the refrigerant, a capillary tube for restricting the refrigerant,
A refrigeration unit (not shown) including a condenser that radiates and condenses the heat of the refrigerant in a gas state and a cooler that evaporates the refrigerant and cools the internal air is housed therein, while forcibly circulating the internal air. Cooling the refrigerator.

On the other hand, the ice making device 20 includes an ice tray 21 for storing water from the water supply tank 11, a vibration imparting mechanism 30 for vibrating the ice tray 21 at a predetermined frequency, and an ice tray 21 by inverting the ice tray 21. It has a de-icing mechanism 23 for transferring the ice-making ice to the ice storage box 12 and the like.

The ice tray 21 is made of a synthetic resin having an open upper surface and is divided into a plurality of ice making blocks 24 having a concave inner surface. In FIG. 2, a left and right direction is provided with a rotation shaft, and a water supply port 26 for supplying water from the water supply tank 11 is provided at the left end.

Cooling air is blown to the back side of the ice tray 21 by a cooling device to cool the ice tray 21 from the bottom, and a vibration motor 31 is provided in each ice making block 24. Is the vibration imparting mechanism 30
Is composed.

As the vibration motor 31, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a DC motor having a configuration in which one pole is removed from a plurality of stators 32 arranged at symmetric positions to form an asymmetric arrangement is applicable.

The stator 32 shown by a dotted line in FIG.
Indicate the stator 32 from which the rotor has been removed, and the number 33 indicates the rotor.

Such a vibration motor 31 is low in cost due to its high versatility, and even if the one-pole stator 32 is removed, since there are a plurality of remaining stators 32, the starting performance is low. There are good advantages.

Of course, the present invention provides a symmetrically arranged stator 3
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the vibration motor formed by removing one of the stators 32 out of two, and that the stator 32 may be finally provided asymmetrically.

Also, an eccentric weight or the like is fixed to the motor shaft,
A vibration motor that generates vibration is also applicable. However, the vibration motor 31 in which the stator 32 is provided asymmetrically with respect to such a vibration motor is compact because the vibration generation mechanism exists inside, There is an advantage that it is hardly affected by the influence (freezing of splashed water, etc.).

The deicing mechanism 23 is provided at one end (right side in FIG. 2) of the ice tray 21 and extends from the driving section 27 to the other end (left side in FIG. 2) of the ice tray 21. An L-shaped support member 28, an ice detecting lever 29 for detecting whether or not a predetermined amount or more of ice is stored in the ice storage box 12, and the like. The driving unit 27 includes a pulse motor, a gear, an output shaft, and the like. It consists of.

Then, one rotating shaft 25 of the ice tray 21
Is supported by the support member 28, the other rotating shaft 25 is engaged with the output shaft, and the power of the pulse motor is transmitted to the ice tray 21 so that the ice tray 21 is turned upside down to make ice. Ice falls. The dropped ice is received by the ice storage box 12 and stored.

It should be noted that whether or not ice is stored in the ice box 12 in a predetermined amount or more is determined by rotating the ice detecting lever 29 toward the ice box 12 before the ice tray 21 is turned upside down as described above. Thus, the determination is made based on the force received when the ice is stored for a predetermined amount or more.

That is, if no force is received even if the ice detecting lever 29 is rotated by a predetermined amount, it is determined that the ice has disappeared from the ice storage box 12 and the deicing operation is started.

During ice removal, the ice tray 21 is turned upside down.
Is to be twisted.

Next, an ice making process in the ice making device 20 having such a configuration will be described. First, water is supplied from the water supply tank 11 to the ice tray 21 via the water supply port 26, whereby water is stored in each ice making block 24.

At this time, since cold air is blown to the back of the ice tray 21, the stored water is cooled and becomes cold water of 0 ° C., and ice formation is gradually started around each ice making block 24.

The air dissolved in the water comes out as fine bubbles in the uniced water. If the air bubbles are not removed from the water, the air becomes cloudy ice.

Therefore, the ice making tray 2 is
1 is agitated to agitate the water, thereby facilitating degassing of bubbles.

At this time, since the vibration direction of the vibration motor 31 is parallel to the water surface, the water in each ice making block 24 is uniformly vibrated and stirred, and the ice making block 24 is stirred.
In this way, it is possible to prevent ice making of different quality due to different vibration states depending on the position, and uneven degassing of air bubbles.

The frequency of the vibration motor 31 can be easily set by adjusting the applied voltage, and can be set to a sufficiently high frequency, so that the water in the ice tray 21 can be set as if it were vibrated by ultrasonic waves. Vibrates.

Accordingly, the stirring action is enhanced, and the water in the ice tray 21 does not resonate and spill.

In addition, when the vibration is performed at such a high frequency, the generation of bubbles itself is promoted, so that more transparent ice can be produced.

Further, since the vibration motors 31 are provided in each ice making block 24, each vibration motor 31
Can be small in size, and the cost can be reduced as compared with a case where a large electromagnetic coil or the like is provided to generate a large magnetic force.

By changing the mounting state of each vibration motor 31, the vibration directions of the respective vibration motors 31 can be made uniform or different. .

For example, a vibration motor 31 which can be obtained at low cost
Is too large to vibrate the ice tray 21, the vibration direction is set so that the vibration directions of the vibration motors 31 are different.
Can be set so as to make the vibration directions uniform.

When the vibration directions of the respective vibration motors 31 are set to be different from each other, there is a concern about power loss.
Since the frequency is increased by that amount, it is convenient for enhancing the stirring effect.

In the above description, the case where the vibration motor 31 is provided in each ice making block 24 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one ice motor 31 is used to vibrate the ice tray 21. Needless to say, it is also possible to do so.

[0051]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the vibration motor is provided on the bottom of the ice tray,
The ice tray can be vibrated in parallel with the surface of the water stored in the ice tray, and the water stored in each ice making block can be irrespective of the state of the ice tray and the position of the ice making block. Appropriate vibrations are applied, which promotes degassing of the air bubbles and enables the production of homogeneous transparent ice.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the vibration motor is provided on the bottom surface of one or more ice making blocks of the plurality of ice making blocks, the vibration state can be set according to the power of the vibration motor. This makes it possible to promote the degassing of air bubbles and to produce homogeneous transparent ice.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vibration motors are provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray. Since the motors are set to have the same vibration direction, the optimum vibration can be applied according to the power of the vibration motor, which promotes the deaeration of air bubbles and makes uniform transparent ice. become.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vibration motors are provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray. Since the vibration direction is set so that the vibration direction of the motor is different, the optimum vibration can be applied according to the power of the vibration motor, thereby promoting the deaeration of air bubbles and uniform transparency. Ice can be made.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the DC motor having the stator asymmetrically provided is used as the vibration motor, the vibration motor is compact and hardly affected by water, and the reliability and the like are improved.

According to the invention according to claim 6, claim 1 is provided.
Since the refrigerator-freezer is formed using the ice making device described in any one of (5) to (5), a high-quality refrigerator-freezer can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a refrigerator-freezer to which an ice making device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the ice making device applied to the description of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial side sectional view showing a main part of the ice making device.

FIG. 4 is a partial top view showing a main part of the ice making device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vibration motor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 ice-making apparatus 21 ice-making tray 23 de-icing mechanism 24 ice-making block 30 vibration applying mechanism 31 vibration motor 32 stator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Hideaki Kamiya 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Junichi Mogi 2-5-2 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ice making device that is defrosted by blowing cold air to the back surface of an ice tray that stores water by being divided into a plurality of ice making blocks, freezes the stored water, and then inverts the ice tray up and down. 3. The ice making device according to claim 1, wherein a vibration motor is provided on a bottom surface of the ice tray, and the ice tray is vibrated in parallel with a surface of water stored in the ice tray. 2. The ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration motor is provided on a bottom surface of at least one of the plurality of ice making blocks. 3. A plurality of vibration motors are provided on the bottom surface of the ice tray, and when the power of each of the vibration motors is small, the vibration directions of the respective vibration motors are aligned. 3. The ice making device according to claim 2, wherein the setting is made as follows. 4. A plurality of vibration motors are provided on a bottom surface of the ice tray, and the vibration directions of the respective vibration motors are different when the power of each of the vibration motors is large. 3. The ice making device according to claim 2, wherein the vibration direction is set so as to be as follows. 5. The ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration motor is a DC motor driven by a DC power supply, and a stator thereof is provided asymmetrically. 6. A refrigerator comprising the ice making device according to claim 1. Description: