JP2002323276A - Water pan in ice making machine and mounting structure of tank for storing water for making ice - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the generation of the slack of a screw completely and to easily mount or remove a tray for guiding drain easily by excluding the screw for fixing the tray for guiding drain to a water pan, while the other end of a coil spring for composing a drive mechanism is to be mounted in an ice-making mechanism. SOLUTION: The ice-making mechanism 10 comprises the ice-making machine 20, an evaporation pipe 30, the water pan 40, a dive mechanism 50, an ice-storing tank 60 for making ice, and a tray 70 for guiding drain. A support pin 42 for mounting the coil spring 54 in the drive mechanism 50 is integrated. Further, an engagement nib 71 is provided at both the left and right sides of the tray 70 for guiding drain, and at the same time, an engagement hole 62a that is detachably engaged to each engagement nib 71 in the tray 70 for guiding drain is provided at both the left and right sides of a tip section 60a in the tank 60 for storing water for making ice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for mounting a water tray and an ice making water storage tank in an ice making machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, an ice maker A of this kind has a plurality of ice maker chambers R1 horizontally mounted on a mounting board 12 fixed to an upper portion of a housing H formed therein. An ice maker 20 constituted by an ice maker cell 21;
A water storage tank 6 for ice making, which is tilted vertically by assembling its base end 6a to a mounting substrate 12 in a rotatable manner, and a water tray 4 integrally mounted on the upper part of the water storage tank 6 for ice making.
And a drainage guide tray 7 attached to the tip 6b of the ice making water storage tank 6, and the ice making water storage tank 6 are driven upward during the ice making operation to be horizontally fixed at the raised position (see FIG. 6). During the deicing operation, a drive mechanism 50 is provided which is attached to a mounting substrate to be tilted downward at the lowered position (see FIG. 7) and fixed downward.

In the ice maker A thus constructed, when the ice making water storage tank 6 is horizontally fixed at its raised position by the drive mechanism 50 during the ice making operation, the water tray 4 is moved to the ice maker 2.
The water supplied from the ice making water storage tank 6 and spouted from the plurality of injection holes provided in the water tray 4 in a state where the ice making cell 21 is closed in close contact with the ice making cell 21.
1, when the ice making water storage tank 6 is fixed at its lowered position by the drive mechanism 50 during the deicing operation,
The water drained from the drainage port 6a1 provided at the tip 6a of the ice making water storage tank 6 in a state of being inclined downward is received by the drainage guide tray 7 and flows directly below the ice making chamber R1. It is.

As shown in FIG. 8, the mounting structure of the water tray 4 and the ice making water storage tank 6 is such that the lower part of the water tray 4 is fitted and mounted inside the upper part of the ice making water storage tank 6, as shown in FIG. The drainage tray 7 is replaced with a water storage tank 6 for ice making.
Is disposed so as to cover the drainage port 6a1 at the tip 6b of the ice tray, and a water storage tank 6 and a drainage guide tray 7
Are fixed together by screws 81. Further, the other end of the coil spring 54 having one end connected to the drive arm 53 constituting the drive mechanism 50 is connected to the head of the screw 81 (the groove 8).
1a). A friction plate 82 is interposed between the drain guide tray 7 and the water tray 4, and the protrusion 82 a of the side wall of the friction plate 82 abuts on the upper end of the drain guide tray 7. 7 is positioned.

[0005]

However, in such an ice making machine, if the opening / closing of the ice making water storage tank 6 is repeatedly performed, the opening / closing operation of the coil spring 5 is performed.
Since the coil spring 54 rotates the screw 81 at the mounting portion at the other end of the screw 4, the screw 81 is loosened, and as a result, the screw 81
There was a problem that came off. In addition, since the drain guide tray 7 is attached to the water tray 4 using the screws 81, there is a problem that the installation and removal of the drain guide tray 7 takes time.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to remove the screw for fixing the other end of the coil spring connected to the driving mechanism and screwing the ice making water storage tank and the drainage guide tray to the water tray. An object of the present invention is to completely prevent loosening and disengagement of screws, and to easily attach and detach a drain guide tray.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION (Means for Solving the Problems and Actions and Effects of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, a structural feature of the present invention is that an ice making chamber is fixed to an upper portion of a housing in which the ice making chamber is formed. An ice making device composed of a plurality of ice making cells horizontally mounted on a mounting substrate, an ice making water storage tank tilted vertically by assembling the base end part of the mounting substrate rotatably, and an ice making water The water tray integrated with the upper part of the storage tank, the drainage guide tray assembled with the tip of the ice making water storage tank, and the ice making water storage tank are driven upward during the ice making operation to reach the raised position. It is equipped with a drive mechanism mounted on the mounting board to fix horizontally while tilting downward during deicing operation and tilting downward at its lowered position, and the water storage tank for ice making during the ice making operation When the water tray is fixed horizontally at the ascending position, the water tray is supplied from the ice-making water storage tank in a state in which the water tray is in close contact with the ice-making cell of the ice-making device and the ice-making cell is closed, and is provided in the water tray. When the water spouted from the injection hole is frozen in the ice making cell and the ice making water storage tank is fixed at the lowered position by the drive mechanism during the deicing operation, the ice making water storage tank is inclined downward. A pair of right and left support pins are integrated on both sides of the tip of the water tray in an ice machine where the water drained from the drain port provided at the tip of the water tray is received by the drain guide tray and flows down just below the ice making chamber. And a drainage guide tray is detachably attached to the tip of the ice making water storage tank, and the other end of each coil spring having one end connected to a pair of left and right drive arms constituting a drive mechanism is supported. Connected to the pin Located in.

According to this, the other end of each coil spring having one end connected to a pair of left and right drive arms constituting the drive mechanism is connected to each support pin, and the coil spring connected to the drive mechanism as in the prior art. The screw to which the other end is attached is eliminated. Therefore, loosening and disengagement of the screw due to repeated tilting of the water tray can be completely prevented. In addition, since the drainage guide tray is detachably attached to the tip of the ice making water storage tank, the drain guide tray is attached to and removed from the ice making water storage tank even if the screws are removed. be able to.

[0009] Further, an engagement hole or an engagement claw is respectively formed in a pair of left and right flanges integrally provided on the left and right sides of the tip of the ice making water storage tank, and the engagement hole or the engagement claw is formed in the engagement hole or the engagement claw. Corresponding engaging claws or engaging holes are formed on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray, and the drainage guide tray can be disengaged from the ice making water storage tank by engaging the engaging claws with the engaging holes. May be assembled.

According to this, when attaching the drainage guide tray to the ice making water storage tank, the engaging claw is engaged with the engagement hole, while when removing the drainage guide tray from the ice making water storage tank, Means that the engagement between the engagement claw and the engagement hole is released and the engagement claw is removed. Therefore, the drainage guide tray can be easily attached to and detached from the ice making water storage tank.

Further, a pair of right and left U-shaped cutouts may be formed on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray to guide the support pins.

According to this, when attaching the drainage guide tray to the ice water storage tank, a U-shaped notch is inserted into the support pin provided in the water tray, and the drainage guide tray is inserted in the inserted state. When the tray is slid, the engaging claws engage with the engaging holes. Therefore, the drainage guiding tray can be more easily attached to the ice making water storage tank.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an ice making mechanism employing a mounting structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an ice making machine A provided with an ice making mechanism employing a mounting structure according to the present invention as viewed obliquely from the upper front. FIG. 1 shows an ice maker A in which a cover is removed from an upper portion and a front upper portion so that an internal structure can be understood. 2 and 3 are side views showing the ice making mechanism 10 with the ice making cell 21 closed and opened, respectively.

The ice maker A has a housing H as shown in FIG.
1 and an ice storage R2 located below the ice making chamber R1. An ice making mechanism 10 and a drain tray 11 are provided in the ice making room R1.
Is arranged. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ice making mechanism 10 includes an ice maker 20, an evaporating tube 30, a water tray 40, a driving mechanism 50, an ice making water storage tank 60, and a drain guide tray 70.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ice maker 20 is suspended substantially horizontally on a mounting board 12 fixed to an upper portion of a housing H, and includes a plurality of rectangular parallelepiped ice making cells 21 opening downward. Have been. An evaporating tube 30 connected to a refrigerating device (not shown) is closely arranged in a meandering manner on the upper surface of the ice making device 20, and cools each ice making cell 21 during the ice making operation, and is jetted and supplied as described later. The ice making water freezes in each ice making cell 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the support bracket 14 fixed to the lower surface of the mounting board 12
An upper end portion of a rotating arm 41 having a lower portion 0a is rotatably mounted via a support shaft 15. Thereby, the water tray 40 is tilted around the support shaft 15. Water dish 4
As shown mainly in FIG. 4, support pins 42 each having an annular groove 42a formed at the distal end are integrally formed on both left and right sides of the distal end 40b. In addition, the water tray 40 is provided with a plurality of injection holes and return holes corresponding to the respective ice making cells 21. The water tray 40 is closed by the drive mechanism 50 described below during the ice making operation (see FIG. 2).
) And move to a position (see FIG. 3) where the ice making cell 21 is opened during the deicing operation.

As shown in FIG. 2, a drive mechanism 50 is mounted on the mounting board 12 via a mounting bracket 51. The drive mechanism 50 includes an actuator motor 52 attached to a mounting bracket 51 and a drive arm 53 attached to a rotation shaft 52a of the actuator motor 52.
And a coil spring 54 having one end attached to the tip of the drive arm 53. The other end of the coil spring 54 is attached to an annular groove 42 a of a support pin 42 provided on the water tray 40.

At the lower part of the water dish 40, as shown in FIG.
An ice making water storage tank 60 is assembled, and a base end portion 60 a of the ice making water storage tank 60 is attached to a lower portion of the rotating arm 41 similarly to the water tray 40. This allows
The ice making water storage tank 60 is tilted integrally with the water tray 40. A drain port 61 is provided at the tip end portion 60a of the ice making water storage tank 60. Ice making water storage tank 60
Is driven upward during ice making operation and horizontally fixed at its raised position, and is tilted downward during deicing operation and is tilted downward and fixed at its lowered position.

The tip 60a of the ice making water storage tank 60
As shown in FIG. 4, flanges 62 extending in the up-down direction are provided on both left and right sides of the right and left sides, respectively.
Hole 62a that removably engages with the engaging claw 71 provided on the
Is provided. A flange 63 projects outward from the bottom of the ice making water storage tank 60 (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 2, a circulation pump motor 64 is attached to a flange 41a provided at the lower end of the rotating arm 41 below the ice making water storage tank 60. It tilts integrally with the water tray 40. The circulation pump motor 64 draws in ice making water in the ice making water storage tank 60, and
5 and is supplied to the water tray 40 by pressure, and is injected and supplied into each ice making cell 21 of the ice maker 20 through each injection hole of the water tray 40.

The tip 60a of the ice making water storage tank 60
As shown in FIG. 2, a drain guide tray 70 is attached with its bottom inner surface in contact with a flange 63 provided on the bottom surface of the ice making water storage tank 60. As a result, the drain guide tray 70 is provided in the ice making water storage tank 60.
In the deicing operation, the ice making water discharged from the ice making water storage tank 60 is guided immediately below the ice making water storage tank 60, that is, to the drain tray 11.

As shown in FIG. 4, cutouts 72 are respectively provided at the upper front ends on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray 70.
Abuts on the lower portion of the support pin 42 of the main body. Under each notch 72, an outwardly extending engaging projection 71a is provided.
The engaging claw 71 protruding from the distal end portion is used as the drain guide tray 70.
Of the left and right sides of the water tray 40, the projections 71a projecting toward the engagement holes 62a.
Is engaged with the inner peripheral edge of the rim. Note that the engagement protrusion 71a may be provided so as to protrude inward.

The assembling of the ice making mechanism 10 having the above-mentioned construction is particularly performed with respect to the water tray 40 and the ice making water storage tank 6.
0 and installation of drainage tray 70 FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. After the lower part of the water tray 40 is fitted and mounted inside the upper part of the ice making water storage tank 60, the drain guide tray 70 is mounted on the ice making water storage tank 60. At this time, the lower part of the support pin 42 of the water tray 40 is brought into contact with the lower side of the notch 72 provided at the upper front end on each of the left and right sides of the drain guide tray 70, and the drain guide tray 70 is moved forward with the contact state. (Approximately leftward in FIG. 4), and the engaging claw 71 provided on the drain guide tray 70 is provided.
Is engaged with an engagement hole 62a provided in the ice-making water storage tank 60 and attached.

Next, the water tray 40, the ice-making water storage tank 60, and the drainage guide tray 70
Then, the rotation arm 41, the circulation pump motor 64 and the pipe 65 are attached, and these are attached to the support bracket 14 attached to the attachment substrate 12. And the mounting board 1
Coil spring 54 constituting the drive mechanism 50 attached to the second
The other end of the support pin 42 provided in the water tray 40 in the annular groove 4.
2a.

On the other hand, a case in which the ice making mechanism 10 is disassembled for maintenance or the like will be described. In particular, when the drainage guide tray 70 is to be removed from the ice making water storage tank 60, the engaging claws 71 (on both the left and right sides of the drainage guide tray 70) in the engaged state are pressed inward, and the engagement holes 6 are removed.
The drainage guide tray 70 is detached by releasing the engagement state of the engagement claws 71 with 2a and sliding the drainage guide tray 70 rearward (almost right in FIG. 4) while pressing.

In the ice making mechanism 10 as described above, as shown in FIG. 2, the ice making water storage tank 6 during the ice making operation.
0 is fixed horizontally at the raised position by the drive mechanism 50. At this time, the water tray 40 is connected to the ice making cell 2 of the ice maker 20.
The ice making water is supplied from the ice making water storage tank 60 in a state where the ice making cell 21 is closed with the spring force of the coil spring 54 and the ice making water is ejected from a plurality of injection holes provided in the water tray 40. Freezes in the cell 21 for use. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the ice making water storage tank 60 is fixed at its lowered position by the drive mechanism 50 during the deicing operation. At this time, the ice making water storage tank 6 is tilted downward.
The ice making water drained from the drain port 61 provided at the leading end portion 60a of the “0” is received by the drain guide tray 70 and flows directly below the ice making chamber R1.

As can be understood from the above description, in this embodiment, the other end of each coil spring 54 having one end connected to a pair of left and right drive arms 53 constituting the drive mechanism 50 is connected to each support pin 42. As a result, the screw to which the other end of the coil spring connected to the drive mechanism is attached as in the related art is eliminated. Therefore, water tray 4
The loosening and detachment of the screw due to the repetition of the zero tilt can be completely prevented. In addition, the drainage guide tray 70
Is detachably attached to the tip end portion 60a of the ice making water storage tank 60. Therefore, even if the screw which has been used in the past is removed, the drain guide tray 70 can be attached to the ice making water storage tank 60. Removal can be performed.

When the drainage guide tray 70 is mounted on the ice making water storage tank 60, the engaging claw 71 provided on the drainage guide tray 70 is engaged with the engagement hole (claw) provided on the ice making water storage tank 60. Receiving) 62a,
On the other hand, from the ice making water storage tank 60 to the drain guide tray 7
When removing 0, the engagement state of the engagement claw 71 and the engagement hole 62a is released and removed. Therefore, the drain guide tray 70 to the ice making water storage tank 60 is easily provided.
Can be attached and detached.

The drain guide tray 70 is provided with the engaging claws 7.
1 and the hole 63a, and the contact between the flange 63 on the bottom surface of the ice making water storage tank 60 and the drainage guide tray 70 is securely positioned and fixed, and drains the ice making water from the ice making water storage tank 60. In this case, even if pressure is applied, the friction plate does not easily move, so that the friction plate (indicated by reference numeral 82 in FIGS. 6 to 8) conventionally used can be eliminated. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and suppress an increase in cost.

In the above embodiment, the cutouts 72 are provided on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray 70. However, as shown in FIG. A pair of left and right U-shaped notches 73 that open may be formed to guide the support pins 42 provided on the water tray 40. According to this, when attaching the drain guide tray 70 to the ice making water storage tank 60, the notch 73 provided in the drain guide tray 70 is inserted into the support pin 42 provided in the water tray 40, and the insertion is performed. When the drain guide tray 70 is slid forward in this state, the engagement claws 71 provided on the drain guide tray 70 are engaged with the engagement holes 62a provided in the ice making water storage tank 60. . Therefore, the drainage guide tray 70 can be attached to the ice making water storage tank 60 more easily. Also, rattling of the drain guide tray 70 can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the engagement claws 71 are provided on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray 70, and the engagement of the drainage guide trays 70 is performed on the left and right sides of the tip 60b of the ice making water storage tank 60. An engaging hole 62a is provided to be removably engaged with the claw 71. However, locking claws are provided on both left and right sides of a tip end portion 60b of the ice making water storage tank 60, and ice making water is provided on both left and right sides of the drainage guide means. An engagement hole that removably engages with the locking claw of the storage tank 60 may be provided.

Further, in the above embodiment, the engaging claws are configured to engage with the engaging holes. A notch may be provided.

The present invention has been applied to the ice making mechanism 10 provided with the drive mechanism 50 for tilting the water tray 40 (ice making water storage tank 60) using the coil spring 54, but the present invention is not limited to this. May be applied to an ice making mechanism having a drive mechanism for tilting the water tray 40 (the ice making water storage tank 60) without using a coil spring.

Further, the present invention is applied to an ice making mechanism in which the ice maker 20 is assembled horizontally, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is applied to an ice making mechanism in which the ice maker 20 is assembled vertically. You may make it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an ice making machine to which an attachment structure of a water tray and an ice making water storage tank according to the present invention is applied, as viewed obliquely from the upper front side.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the ice making mechanism in a state where the ice making cell of FIG. 1 is closed.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the ice making mechanism with the ice making cell of FIG. 1 opened.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the water tray, the ice-making water storage tank, and the drainage guide tray of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a modification of the drainage guide tray employed in the ice making mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an ice making mechanism in a state in which an ice making cell constituting an ice making machine to which a mounting structure of a water tray and an ice making water storage tank according to a conventional technique is applied is closed.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing an ice making mechanism in a state where an ice making cell constituting an ice making machine to which a mounting structure of a water tray and an ice making water storage tank according to a conventional technique is applied is closed.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a water tray, an ice-making water tank, and a drainage guide unit that constitute an ice making machine to which a mounting structure of a water tray and an ice-making water storage tank according to a conventional technique is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

A: ice machine, H: housing, R1: ice making room, R2: ice storage, 10: ice making mechanism, 20: ice making machine, 30: evaporating tube,
40 ... water tray, 50 ... drive mechanism, 60 ... ice water storage tank, 70 ... drain guide tray, 11 ... drain tray, 12 ...
Mounting board, 21 ... Ice making cell, 14 ... Support bracket,
15: Support shaft, 41: Rotating arm, 42a: Groove, 42:
Pin, 51: mounting bracket, 52: actuator motor, 52a: rotary shaft, 53: drive arm, 54: coil spring, 61: drain port, 62, 63, 41a: flange, 62a: engagement hole, 64: circulation Pump motor, 65
... pipes, 72, 73 ... notches, 71 ... engaging claws, 71
a. Engagement projection.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ice making device comprising a plurality of ice making cells horizontally mounted on a mounting board fixed to an upper portion of a housing in which an ice making chamber is formed, and a base end portion of said ice making chamber is pivoted on said mounting board. A water storage tank for ice making, which is assembled and tilted vertically, a water plate integrally mounted on the upper part of the water storage tank for ice making, and a drainage guide mounted on the tip of the water storage tank for ice making The tray and the ice making water storage tank are driven upward during the ice making operation to be horizontally fixed at the ascending position, tilted downward during the deicing operation, and tilted downwardly at the lowered position to be fixed. The ice tray is provided with a drive mechanism mounted on a mounting board, and when the ice making water storage tank is horizontally fixed at the ascending position by the drive mechanism during the ice making operation, the water tray is used for ice making of the ice making device. The water supplied from the ice-making water storage tank and ejected from the plurality of injection holes provided in the water tray in a state where the ice-making cell is closed in close contact with the ice-making cell freezes into the ice-making cell and is removed. When the ice making water storage tank is fixed at the lowered position by the drive mechanism during the ice operation, water drained from a drain port provided at the tip of the ice making water storage tank in a downwardly inclined state. Is received by the drainage guide tray and flows directly below the ice making chamber. A pair of left and right support pins are integrally provided on both sides of a tip end of the water tray, and the drainage guide tray is provided. And the other end of each coil spring having one end connected to a pair of left and right drive arms constituting the drive mechanism, and the other end of each coil spring being connected to each of the support pins. Mounting structure of the water tray and the ice making water storage tank to symptoms. 2. A pair of left and right flanges integrally provided on the left and right sides of the tip of the ice making water storage tank are formed with engaging holes or engaging claws, respectively. Corresponding engaging claws or engaging holes are formed on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray, and the drainage guide tray is connected to the ice making water storage tank by engaging the engaging claws with the engaging holes. The mounting structure for a water tray and an ice making water storage tank according to claim 1, wherein the water tray and the ice making water storage tank are detachably assembled to the water tray. 3. The water tray according to claim 2, wherein a pair of right and left U-shaped cutouts are formed on both left and right sides of the drainage guide tray to guide the support pins. And mounting structure for water storage tank for ice making.