JP2003279221A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator in which of increase in width of space for storing an automatic ice maker is reduced even if the refrigerator is loaded with the automatic ice maker having a plurality of ice trays. <P>SOLUTION: This refrigerator includes the automatic ice maker 7 having a plurality of ice trays 8, 9 reversed to drop ice in releasing the ice. In the automatic ice maker 7, the plurality of ice trays 8, 9 are arranged in the direction of depth of the refrigerator, and the direction of axis of rotation of the ice trays 8, 9 is the lateral direction of the refrigerator (door), so that as the number of ice trays 8, 9 is increased, the length of the automatic ice maker 7 in the direction of depth of the refrigerator is increased. However, since the width in the lateral direction is only the length of a driver 10 and the length in the direction of axis of rotation of the ice trays 8, 9, even if the number of the ice trays 8, 9 is increased to two or three or more, the space for storing the automatic ice maker 7, such as the width (the lateral dimension of the refrigerator) of the ice making chamber 5 will not change. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice-making device having a plurality of ice-making trays which are turned over after the completion of ice-making.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a refrigerator equipped with this type of automatic ice making device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-241627.

A refrigerator equipped with the conventional automatic ice making device will be described below with reference to the drawings, focusing on the automatic ice making device.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional automatic ice making device.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 100 denotes a driving device, and 1
Reference numerals 01 and 102 denote ice trays for making the poured water into ice, and one ends thereof are connected to drive shafts 103 and 104 of the drive device 100, respectively. The drive device 100 includes a drive shaft 103,
There is a spring spring gear 104 for transmitting the rotational force, and the rotation of a drive gear (not shown) connected to a reduction gear train (not shown) for decelerating and transmitting the rotation of the motor (not shown) is transmitted. Rotate. 105 is an ice tray 101, 102
Is an ice storage container that is placed under the ice and stores de-iced ice.

The operation of the automatic ice making device configured as described above will be described.

When the water poured into the ice tray 101 (102) is frozen and ice making is completed, the motor in the drive unit 100 is started, and the rotation thereof is transmitted to the drive gear by the reduction gear train to rotate the spring gear. As a result, the rotation is transmitted, the drive shaft 103 (104) is rotated, and the ice tray 101 (102) is inverted to remove ice.

[0008]

However, in the above conventional configuration, when a plurality of ice trays 101 and 102 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction of the refrigerator and the rotation axis direction is provided in the depth direction of the refrigerator, automatic ice making is performed. There is a drawback in that the ice making chamber having the device and the ice storage container becomes large in the left-right direction of the refrigerator due to the increase in the number of ice making trays.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. Even when an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays is mounted, a refrigerator capable of suppressing an increase in the width of the space for storing the automatic ice making device is small. It is intended to be provided.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of a refrigerator according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays which are turned over to drop ice. In the refrigerator, the automatic ice making device is such that the plurality of ice trays are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator, and the rotation axis direction of the ice trays is the left-right direction of the refrigerator. The depth of the automatic ice maker in the depth direction of the refrigerator increases with the increase in the number of plates, but the width in the left-right direction is only the length in the direction of the rotation axis of the drive device and ice maker, so there are two ice trays. Even if it becomes three or more, it has an effect that the width of the space for storing the automatic ice making device, for example, the width of the ice making chamber (the size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) does not change.

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 2 is
A refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays which are inverted when ice is released to drop ice, wherein the automatic ice making device is arranged such that the plurality of ice trays are arranged in a depth direction of the refrigerator, The rotation axis direction of the ice tray is the depth direction of the refrigerator, and when two ice trays are lined up in the depth direction of the refrigerator, the two faces of one drive device that drives the ice trays to rotate are opposite to each other. It is possible to provide a drive shaft for each ice tray, and as the number of ice trays increases, the length of the automatic ice-making device in the refrigerator depth direction changes, but the width in the left-right direction is the rotation direction of the drive device or ice tray. Since it is only the width of the ice tray, even if there are multiple ice trays, the width of the space for storing the automatic ice making device, for example, the width of the ice making room (the size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) is the same as that of a single ice tray. Have.

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 3 is
The plurality of ice trays according to the invention of claim 2 are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator with a drive device that rotationally drives the plurality of ice trays interposed therebetween, and in front of the drive device. Since the ice tray located at and the ice tray located behind the drive unit can be driven by a single drive unit,
The automatic ice maker only needs to be installed once in the refrigerator, and a maximum of one drive unit in the depth direction of the refrigerator can be provided, compared to the case where independent dedicated drive units are provided for the ice tray in the front and the ice tray in the rear. It has the effect that the length of the automatic ice making device in the depth direction of the refrigerator can be shortened by the length.

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 4 is
A refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays which are inverted when ice is removed to drop ice, wherein the plurality of ice trays are:
The ice trays are installed vertically and horizontally apart from each other so that they do not interfere with each other's rotational movement, and the ice trays can be placed so that they overlap in the horizontal or depth direction of the refrigerator. The size of the automatic ice maker does not increase even if the ice maker is placed compared to the case where the ice maker is horizontally arranged.In particular, when arranging multiple ice trays so that the ice trays overlap in the left and right direction of the refrigerator, the automatic ice maker Space for storing, for example, the width of the ice making room (size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator)
This has the effect of suppressing the increase in the width of the.

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 5 is
A refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays that are turned over to drop ice when the ice is removed, wherein the automatic ice making device has a plurality of the ice making machines in which the rotation axis direction of the ice making tray is the left-right direction of the refrigerator. At least a part of the driving device that rotationally drives the plate is buried in the side wall of the refrigerator body, and the size of the driving device located on the right or left of the ice tray in the automatic ice making device storage space is the driving device. Since it is made smaller by burying a part of it, there is an effect that the space for accommodating the automatic ice making device, for example, the width of the ice making chamber (the size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) can be made smaller by the amount of the buried portion.

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 6 is
The automatic ice making device according to the invention of claim 1 or 4 makes ice pieces having different sizes or shapes from each other.
There are two ice trays, and each said ice tray rotates in a direction in which the bottom surface of the tray faces the other ice tray side at the time of ice removal.
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 4, since the ice drops into the ice storage container so as to separate from the boundary of the two ice trays in the rotational direction at the time of ice removal, the size or shape in the ice storage container is different. It is difficult to mix different types of ice, and when using an ice storage container that has a partition wall at the position that serves as the boundary between two ice trays, it is possible to prevent ice of different sizes or shapes from mixing in the ice storage container. .

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 7 is
In the invention according to claim 4, when the upper ice tray is at the ice releasing position, the lower ice tray is rotated by a predetermined angle or more so that the ice falling from the upper ice tray is not received in the tray. In addition to the action of the invention according to claim 4, the ice released from the upper ice tray does not fall into the lower ice tray, and the ice released from the upper ice tray does not fall. To prevent the problem that the water in the lower ice tray overflows or splatters, and the ice in the upper ice tray mixes with the ice in the lower ice tray, causing the ice storage container to release ice due to the impact of It has the effect that

Further, the invention of the refrigerator according to claim 8 is
In the invention described in claim 1, the outlet of the cold air is provided in the back surface of the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device so that the cold air flows on the upper surface of the ice tray, and the operation of the invention of claim 1 In addition, the cold air can be sent uniformly to the top surface of multiple ice trays without being obstructed by the ice trays near the outlet, so the difference in ice making capacity depending on the position of the ice trays can be eliminated. Have an effect.

The invention of the refrigerator according to claim 9 is
In the invention according to claim 4, a cold air outlet is provided for each ice tray at the back of the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device so that the cold air flows over the upper surfaces of the plurality of ice trays.
In addition to the action of the invention described in claim 4, even if the height of the ice tray is different, the cold air can be uniformly sent to the plurality of ice trays, so that the difference in the ice making capacity depending on the position of the ice tray can be eliminated. It has the effect of being able to.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a structure of an automatic ice making device when a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention is cut left and right. FIG. 2 is a main part perspective view showing the arrangement of the automatic ice making device in the ice making chamber of the refrigerator according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side view of the ice tray and the ice storage container of the automatic ice making device of the refrigerator of the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an essential part of the ice making chamber of the refrigerator according to the same embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a refrigerator body having a plurality of storage chambers. Reference numeral 2 denotes a refrigerating room formed in the upper part of the refrigerator body 1, which is surrounded by the door 3 and the heat insulating material 4 and is shielded from the outside air. A refrigerating compartment 5 (hereinafter referred to as an ice making compartment 5) formed below the refrigerating compartment 2 is surrounded by a heat insulating wall 4 and a door 6, and the depth direction of the refrigerator is longer than the left-right direction.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an automatic ice making device, the structure of which will be described below. Reference numeral 8 is a first ice tray formed of polypropylene, which is a plastic resin, and 8a is a first temperature detecting means (hereinafter referred to as a first temperature sensor 8a) attached to the outer bottom surface of the first ice tray 8 for indirectly detecting the water temperature. That is). Reference numeral 9 is a second ice tray formed of polypropylene similarly to the first ice tray 8, and 9a is a second temperature detecting means attached to the outer bottom surface of the second ice tray 9 for indirectly detecting the water temperature (hereinafter, The second temperature sensor 9a). The ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged in the depth direction of the refrigerator, and the rotation axes of the ice trays are arranged in the left-right direction with respect to the door surface.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a drive device for holding the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 and inverting the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 to remove ice as necessary. It is arranged so as to contact the left or right wall surface. Inside the drive device 10, a motor as a drive source and a reduction gear for decelerating and transmitting the rotation of the motor are arranged.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an ice storage container arranged below the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 for storing de-iced ice. The inside of the ice storage container 11 stores ice from the first ice tray 8. Region 11a and ice storage region 1 for storing ice from the second ice tray 9
It is divided into 1b and 1b. 12a is an ice storage area 11a
First ice detecting means (hereinafter, referred to as first ice detecting lever 12a) for detecting the amount of ice stored in the ice storage area 11b.
Second ice detecting means (hereinafter, referred to as second ice detecting lever 12b) for detecting the amount of ice stored in the.

Reference numeral 13 is a water supply tank for storing water to be supplied to the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9, and 14 is water in the water supply tank 13 for the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9. Is a water supply device for supplying water to the first ice tray 8, and a second pipe 15 for guiding water to the first ice tray 8 and a second pipe 15 for guiding water to the second ice tray 9.
a pipe 15 made of b, a water supply pump 16 for taking out water from the water supply tank 13, and a flow path switching means 17 for switching a flow path of the water discharged from the water supply pump 16 to the first pipe 15a or the second pipe 15b (hereinafter, a switching valve 17 That is).

The automatic ice making device 7 includes the first ice making tray 8, the second ice making tray 9, the driving device 10, the ice storage container 11, the ice detecting levers 12a and 12b, the water supply tank 13, and the water supply device 1.
4, the pipes 15a and 15b, and the water supply pump 16.

Both the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 are connected to the drive unit 10, and the motors and reduction gears incorporated in the drive unit 10 individually perform the reversing operation to make the ice trays 8 respectively. , 9 is twisted by hitting a protrusion formed on a frame (not shown) supporting the ice, and the ice is pushed out, and the ice is removed to the ice storage container 11 below the ice trays 8, 9. Further, the first ice detecting lever 12 a and the second ice detecting lever 12 b are also connected to the side surface of the drive device 10 and operate in cooperation with the drive device 10.

Regarding the refrigerator configured as described above,
The operation will be described below.

When the water supplied to the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 freezes and the production of ice is completed, the resistance of the temperature sensors 8a and 9a installed on the outer bottom surfaces of the ice trays 8 and 9 respectively. Recognize that the value increased and ice making was completed.

When ice is generated in the first ice tray 8, the first ice tray 8 is inverted and twisted by the drive unit 10 to remove ice into the compartment 11a of the ice storage container. Drive device 1 when de-icing is completed
0 returns the first ice tray 8 to the horizontal position. The first ice tray 8 that has been deiced and returned to the horizontal position is again supplied with water from the water supply tank 13 by the water supply pump 16 of the water supply device to start ice making.

When ice is generated in the second ice tray 9, the second ice tray 9 is inverted and twisted by the drive unit 10 to remove ice into the compartment 11b of the ice storage container. Drive device 1 when de-icing is completed
0 returns the second ice tray 9 to the horizontal position. The second ice tray 9, which has been deiced and returned to the horizontal position, is again supplied with water from the water supply tank 13 by the water supply pump 16 of the water supply device to start ice making.

As described above, the refrigerator according to the first embodiment is
The first ice tray 8, the second ice tray 9, the ice storage container 11a installed below the first ice tray 8 and the ice storage container 11b installed below the second ice tray 9 are arranged in the refrigerator depth direction, and the rotation axis direction is When a plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged by arranging them in the left-right direction with respect to the door surface, the size of the automatic ice making device increases in the depth direction of the refrigerator which can take a length, but in the left-right direction where the width is short. Since the drive device 10 and the ice trays 8 and 9 are only the lengths in the rotation axis direction, even if a plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged, the width in the left-right direction is not widened, and a compact structure is provided to form a large number of shapes. Can be replenished with ice.

The refrigerator according to the present embodiment is a refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device 7 having a plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 which are turned over to drop ice when the ice is removed. The dishes 8 and 9 are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator, and the rotation axis direction of the ice trays 8 and 9 is the left-right direction of the refrigerator (door), which increases the number of ice trays 8 and 9. As a result, the length of the automatic ice making device 7 in the depth direction of the refrigerator is increased, but the width in the left-right direction is set to the drive device 10 and the ice trays 8, 9
Since the length of the ice making tray is only in the direction of the rotation axis,
There is an effect that the space for accommodating the automatic ice making device 7, for example, the width of the ice making chamber 5 (the size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) does not change even if the number of ice making chambers becomes three or more.

In this embodiment, the drive unit 10
Is arranged so as to be in contact with the left or right wall surface of the ice making chamber 5, but the driving device 10 is assumed to have at least a part of the driving device 10 embedded in the right or left wall surface of the ice making chamber 5. Good. When at least a part of the driving device 10 is embedded in the right or left wall surface of the ice making chamber 5, the size of the driving device 10 that determines the length of the automatic ice making device 7 becomes smaller by the embedding (the ice tray). 8, 9
Since the size of the drive device 10 located on the right or left of the drive device 10 in the storage space of the automatic ice making device is reduced by embedding a part of the drive device 10), the width of the ice making chamber 5 is reduced by the amount of the embedding. be able to.

In a refrigerator having a separate storage chamber beside the ice making chamber 5, when at least a part of the driving device 10 is embedded in the right or left wall surface of the ice making chamber 5, a wall surface that becomes a side wall of the refrigerator body 1 By embedding it in the storage compartment, the influence on the storage compartment next to the ice making compartment 5 can be reduced. When at least a part of the drive device 10 that rotationally drives the plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 is buried in the side wall of the refrigerator body 1, the side wall of the refrigerator body 1 in the buried portion becomes thin. It is preferable to provide a vacuum heat insulating material having a higher heat insulating performance than a foamed heat insulating material such as rigid urethane foam.

In this embodiment, the case where the refrigerator has the independent ice making chamber 5 has been described, but the same applies to the case where the automatic ice making device 7 is arranged in one space of the freezing chamber.
In that case, the width of the space for accommodating the automatic ice making device (the size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the two ice trays 8 and 9 having different sizes or shapes are rotated in the direction in which the bottom surface of the ice tray 8 faces the ice tray 9 side when the ice is released. Of the two ice trays 8 and 9, the back ice tray 8 rotates backward when the ice is removed, and the front ice tray 9 rotates forward when the ice is removed. In other words, the automatic ice making device 7 When viewed from the right side (on the right side of the refrigerator), the ice tray 8 on the right rotates clockwise (clockwise) when ice is removed, and the ice tray 9 on the left rotates counterclockwise (clockwise) when ice is removed. In other words, if two adjacent ice trays 8 and 9 rotate outward during ice removal, the ice trays 8 and 9 move away from the boundary between the ice trays 8 and 9 during ice removal. Because ice falls on the ice storage containers 11a and 11b, the size or shape may be different. Ice storage container 11 without ice is mixed
Can be dropped into.

The automatic ice making device 7 has two ice making trays 8 and 9 for making ices having different sizes or shapes from each other.
When the ice trays 8 and 9 are being iced, the bottom surface of the ice tray
Rotating in the direction toward the (9) side, in other words, of the two ice trays 8, 9, the ice tray 8 on the back side rotates backward during ice removal, and the ice tray 9 on the front side moves forward during ice removal. When the automatic ice making device 7 is viewed from the right side (right side of the refrigerator), the right ice tray 8 rotates clockwise (clockwise) when the ice is released, and the left ice making device rotates. The plate 9 rotates counterclockwise (counterclockwise) at the time of ice-freezing. In other words, when two adjacent ice making plates 8 and 9 rotate outwardly at the time of ice-freezing, two ice-making plates are made at the time of ice-freezing. Plate 8,
The ice container 11 is separated from the boundary of 9 in the direction of rotation.
Therefore, it is difficult for two types of ice having different sizes or shapes to mix in the ice storage container 11, so that two ice storage regions 11a, 1
When the ice storage container 11 in which 1b is formed is used, the ice of the first ice tray 8 surely drops into the ice storage area 11a, and the ice of the second ice tray 9 surely drops into the ice storage area 11b, It is possible to prevent ice having different sizes or shapes from mixing in the ice storage container 11.

In the present embodiment, if the cold air outlet 41 is provided in the back surface of the ice making chamber 5 (the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device) so that the cool air flows through the upper surfaces of the ice making trays 8 and 9, the cool air is cooled. Since the cold air can be uniformly sent to the upper surfaces of the plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 without being disturbed by the ice tray 8 near the outlet, it is possible to eliminate the difference in ice making capacity depending on the positions of the ice trays 8 and 9. it can.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of an automatic ice making device in an ice making chamber of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 51 denotes an automatic ice-making device in which two types of ice-making trays, a first ice-making tray 8 and a second ice-making tray 9, are arranged so that the rotation axis direction is the refrigerator depth direction. Reference numeral 52 denotes a drive device in which rotary shafts are arranged in the depth direction surface and the door direction surface, and the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 are inverted to remove ice.

As described above, the refrigerator according to the second embodiment is installed below the first ice tray 8, the second ice tray 9, the ice storage container 11a installed below the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9. By arranging the ice storage container 11b described above in the depth direction with respect to the door surface with respect to the door surface, the length of the automatic ice making device 51 in the refrigerator depth direction changes due to an increase in the number of ice trays 8 and 9, but in the left-right direction. The width of the drive device 52 or the ice trays 8, 9
The width of the ice making chamber 5 is the same as that of a single ice making tray even when there are a plurality of ice making trays 8 and 9, and even if a plurality of ice making trays 8 and 9 are arranged, it is compact. The configuration can be replenished with large amounts of multiple shapes of ice.

The refrigerator according to the present embodiment is a refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice making device 51 having a plurality of ice making trays 8 and 9 for reversing and dropping ice when the ice is removed.
The plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator, and the rotation axis direction of the ice trays 8 and 9 is the depth direction of the refrigerator. The ice trays 8 and 9 are the depth of the refrigerator. When the two ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged side by side, the drive shafts of the ice trays 8 and 9 can be provided on the two opposing surfaces of one drive device 52 that rotationally drives the ice trays 8 and 9, respectively. The length of the automatic ice making device 51 in the depth direction of the refrigerator changes due to the increase in the number of 9, but the width in the left-right direction is only the width in the rotation direction of the drive device 52 or the ice trays 8 and 9, so that a plurality of ice making devices can be used. Automatic ice-making device 51 for dishes 8 and 9
The width of the space for storing the ice making chamber 5, for example, the width of the ice making chamber 5 (the size in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) is the same as the case where the ice making plates 8 and 9 are single.

Further, in the refrigerator of this embodiment, the plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged in the depth direction of the refrigerator with the drive device 52 for rotationally driving the plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 interposed therebetween. Since the ice tray 9 located in front of the drive unit 52 and the ice tray 8 located behind the drive unit 52 can be driven by a single drive unit 52, the automatic ice making unit for the refrigerator can be installed. It only needs to be installed once, and compared to the case where independent dedicated drive units are provided for the ice tray 9 located at the front and the ice tray 8 located at the rear, at most one drive unit is the length in the refrigerator depth direction. There is an effect that the length of the automatic ice making device 51 in the refrigerator depth direction can be shortened.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of an automatic ice making device in an ice making chamber of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side view of the ice tray and the ice storage container of the automatic ice making device for the refrigerator of the same embodiment. Figure 8
[Fig. 3] is a main-portion cross-sectional view of the ice making chamber of the refrigerator in the embodiment. The same components as those in the first or second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 61 denotes an automatic ice making device in which two types of ice trays, the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9, are arranged vertically and horizontally apart from each other so as not to hinder the rotation operation. Like the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9, the rotary shaft 62 is arranged vertically and horizontally apart from each other so as not to hinder the rotation operation, and the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9 are inverted. It is a drive device for removing ice.

As described above, the refrigerator according to the third embodiment is installed below the first ice tray 11, the second ice tray 12, and the ice storage container 11a installed below the first ice tray 8 and the second ice tray 9. By arranging the rotating shafts in the vertical and horizontal directions so as not to impede the rotation operation of the ice storage container 11b, it is possible to arrange the ice trays 8 and 9 in the depth direction of the refrigerator 1 so as to be overlapped. Even if the ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged, the increase in the size of the automatic ice making device 61 is smaller than that in the case where the ice trays are arranged horizontally. Can be replenished in the shape of.

The refrigerator according to the present embodiment is a refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice making device 61 having a plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 which are turned over to drop the ice when the ice is released.
Are installed apart from each other in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction so that they do not interfere with each other's rotating operation. Since the ice trays 8 and 9 can be arranged so as to overlap each other in the depth direction of the refrigerator, Even if the ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged, the increase in size of the automatic ice making device 61 is smaller than that in the case where the ice making devices 61 are arranged horizontally.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, when a plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 are arranged in the left-right direction of the refrigerator so that the ice trays 8 and 9 overlap each other, a space for accommodating the automatic ice making device 61,
For example, the increase in the ice making chamber 5 can be suppressed to be small.

In the present embodiment, when the upper ice tray 8 is in the ice separating position, the lower ice tray 9 is designed so as not to receive the ice falling from the upper ice tray 8 in the tray. If it is controlled to rotate more than an angle, the upper ice tray 8
The ice released from the ice tray does not fall into the lower ice tray 9, and the impact of the ice released from the upper ice tray 8 causes the water in the lower ice tray 9 to overflow or scatter, The ice storage container 11 with the ice in the upper ice tray 8 mixed with the ice tray 9 in the lower tray
It is possible to prevent the problem of ice separation from occurring in b, and the ice can be divided and stored in the ice storage container 11 by the ice trays 8 and 9.

In the present embodiment, the cold air outlets 81a and 81b are provided in the ice making chamber 5 (the automatic ice making device 61 so that the cold air may flow over the upper surfaces of the ice trays 8 and 9). When the ice trays 8 and 9 are provided at the back side, even if the heights of the ice trays 8 and 9 are different, the cold air can be uniformly sent to the plurality of ice trays 8 and 9. The difference in ice making ability can be eliminated.

Further, in the present embodiment, at least a part of the driving device 62 for rotationally driving the plurality of ice trays 8 and 9 may be buried in the side wall of the refrigerator body. In this case, the drive device 62 located to the right or left of the ice trays 8 and 9
The size of the automatic ice making device storage space of the drive device 6
Since it becomes smaller by burying a part of 2, the space for accommodating the automatic ice making device 61, for example, the width of the ice making chamber 5 (dimension in the left-right direction of the refrigerator) can be made smaller.

Further, in the refrigerator according to the present embodiment, the automatic ice making device 61 has two ice making trays 8 and 9 for making ices having different sizes or shapes from each other, and the ice making trays 8 and 9 respectively.
Rotates the bottom surface of the plate toward the other ice tray 8 (9) side during ice removal, in other words, of the two ice trays 8 and 9, the ice tray 8 on the back side rotates backward during ice removal. When the ice tray 9 on the front side rotates, the ice tray 9 on the front side rotates forward when the ice is removed. In other words, the automatic ice making device 61 is located on the right side (on the right side of the refrigerator).
When viewed from above, the ice tray 8 on the right side rotates clockwise (clockwise) when the ice is released, and the ice tray 9 on the left side rotates counterclockwise (counterclockwise) when the ice is released. For example, the two adjacent ice trays 8 and 9 rotate outward during ice removal, and even when the two ice trays 8 and 9 are approaching in the horizontal direction, the ice tray 8 from the upper ice tray 8 is released. The formed ice is hard to hit the lower ice tray 9, and when the ice is released, the ice falls into the ice storage container 11 so as to separate from the boundary between the two ice trays 8 and 9 in the rotation direction. An ice storage container 11 having a partition wall at a position which is a boundary between the two ice trays 8 and 9 in which two types of ice different from each other do not easily mix
It is possible to prevent ice having different sizes or shapes from being mixed in the ice storage container 11 when using.

[0054]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of ice trays are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator, and the rotation axis direction of the ice trays is the horizontal direction of the refrigerator. Thus, even if the number of ice trays increases, the width of the automatic ice making device in the left-right direction of the refrigerator is only the length of the drive device and the ice tray in the rotation axis direction. The effect is that the width of the space for storing the automatic ice making device does not change even when the number of ice creams exceeds three.

In the invention according to claim 2, the plurality of ice trays are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator, and the rotation axis direction of the ice trays is set in the depth direction of the refrigerator. When two refrigerators are lined up in the depth direction of the refrigerator, the two driving devices that rotate the ice trays face each other.
It is possible to provide the drive shaft of the ice tray on each of the two surfaces, and even if the number of ice trays increases, the width of the automatic ice making device in the left-right direction is only the width of the drive device or the ice tray in the rotating direction. Even in the case of a plurality of ice trays, there is an effect that the width of the space for accommodating the automatic ice making device is the same as in the case of a single ice tray.

Further, the invention of the refrigerator according to claim 3 is
A plurality of ice trays according to the invention of claim 2 are arranged in front of the drive device by arranging them in the depth direction of the refrigerator with a drive device for rotationally driving the plurality of ice trays interposed therebetween. Since the ice tray and the ice tray located behind the drive unit can be driven by a single drive unit, it is only necessary to attach the automatic ice making unit to the refrigerator once, and the ice tray located in the front and the ice tray located in the rear Compared with the case where an independent dedicated drive device is provided in the ice tray, there is an effect that the length of the automatic ice making device in the refrigerator depth direction can be shortened by a maximum of one drive device in the refrigerator depth direction.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, the plurality of ice trays are installed apart from each other in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction to the extent that they do not hinder the rotation operation of each other, so that the refrigerator can be installed in the horizontal direction or the depth direction. Since the ice trays can be arranged so that they overlap, the increase in the size of the automatic ice-making device is smaller than when the ice trays are arranged horizontally. When the ice trays are arranged so as to overlap each other in the direction, there is an effect that an increase in the width of the space for accommodating the automatic ice making device can be suppressed to be small.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the direction of the axis of rotation of the ice tray is the left-right direction of the refrigerator, and at least a part of the drive device for rotationally driving the plurality of ice trays is buried in the side wall of the refrigerator body. As a result, the size of the drive located on the right or left of the ice tray in the storage space of the automatic ice making device is reduced by embedding a part of the drive, so that the automatic ice making device can be stored according to the embedded amount. This has the effect of reducing the space used.

The invention described in claim 6 is the same as claim 1.
Alternatively, the automatic ice making device according to the invention of 4 has two ice making trays for making ices having different sizes or shapes from each other, and each of the ice making trays has a bottom surface of the other ice making tray at the time of ice removal. By rotating in the direction toward the side, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1 or 4, ice falls into the ice storage container so as to separate from the boundary of the two ice trays in the rotation direction at the time of ice removal. Therefore, it is difficult for two types of ice having different sizes or shapes to mix in the ice storage container, and when the ice storage container having the partition wall at the position that is the boundary between the two ice trays is used, the size or shape in the ice storage container is used. This has the effect of preventing different types of ice from mixing.

The invention described in claim 7 is the same as claim 4
In the invention described in (1), when the upper ice tray is at the ice releasing position, the lower ice tray is rotated by a predetermined angle or more so that the ice falling from the upper ice tray is not received in the tray. Thereby, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 4, the ice released from the upper ice tray does not fall into the lower ice tray, and the ice released from the upper ice tray does not fall. It is possible to prevent the problem that the water in the lower ice tray overflows or splatters due to the impact, and the ice storage container in the lower ice tray is mixed with the ice in the upper ice tray to release ice from the ice storage container. The effect is that you can do it.

The invention described in claim 8 is the same as claim 1
In the invention of claim 1, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, by providing the outlet of the cold air in the inner surface of the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device so that the cold air flows on the upper surface of the ice tray. Since the cold air can be uniformly sent to the upper surfaces of the plurality of ice trays without being obstructed by the ice trays near the outlet, there is an effect that it is possible to eliminate the difference in ice making capacity depending on the position of the ice trays.

The invention according to claim 9 is the same as claim 4
The invention according to claim 4, wherein a cold air outlet is provided at the back of the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device for each ice tray so that the cold air flows over the upper surfaces of the plurality of ice trays.
In addition to the effect of the invention described in (1), even if the height of the ice tray is different, it is possible to uniformly send the cold air to the plurality of ice trays, it is possible to eliminate the difference in ice making capacity depending on the position of the ice tray There is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an automatic ice making device when the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention is cut left and right.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of essential parts showing the arrangement of an automatic ice making device in the ice making chamber of the refrigerator according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an ice tray and an ice storage container of the automatic ice making device in the refrigerator according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an essential part of an ice making chamber in the refrigerator according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of essential parts showing the arrangement of the automatic ice making device in the ice making chamber of the refrigerator according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of essential parts showing the arrangement of an automatic ice making device in an ice making chamber in a refrigerator according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an ice tray and an ice storage container of the automatic ice making device in the refrigerator according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an essential part of an ice making chamber in the refrigerator according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a main part showing an arrangement of an automatic ice making device in an ice making chamber in a modified example of the refrigerator of the same embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional automatic ice making device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Refrigerator body 5 Ice making room (freezing room) 7 Automatic ice making device 8 First ice tray 9 Second ice tray 10 Drive 11 ice storage container 41 Cold air outlet 51 Automatic ice machine 52 Drive 61 Automatic ice machine 62 Drive 81a First cold air outlet 81b Second cold air outlet

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazue Yamato             4-2-5 Takaidahondori, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture               Within Matsushita Cold Machinery Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3L045 AA04 AA07 BA03 CA04 DA02                       EA01 PA04

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays that are turned over to drop ice when the ice is released, wherein the plurality of ice trays are arranged in a depth direction of the refrigerator. And the rotation axis direction of the ice tray is the left-right direction of the refrigerator. 2. A refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays that are turned over to drop ice when the ice is released, wherein the plurality of ice trays are arranged in a depth direction of the refrigerator. A refrigerator in which the rotation axis direction of the ice tray is the depth direction of the refrigerator. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of ice trays are arranged side by side in the depth direction of the refrigerator with a drive device that rotationally drives the plurality of ice trays interposed therebetween. 4. A refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays which are turned over to drop ice when the ice is released, wherein the plurality of ice trays are vertically and horizontally so long as they do not interfere with each other's rotating operation. Refrigerator installed away from each other. 5. A refrigerator provided with an automatic ice making device having a plurality of ice trays for reversing and dropping ice during ice removal, wherein the rotation axis direction of the ice tray is the left-right direction of the refrigerator. A refrigerator in which at least a part of a driving device that rotationally drives a plurality of the ice trays is embedded in a side wall of a refrigerator body. 6. The automatic ice making device has two ice making trays for making ices having different sizes or shapes from each other, and each ice making tray has a bottom surface of the ice making tray facing the other ice making tray side during ice removing. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 4, which rotates in a direction. 7. The method according to claim 4, wherein when the upper ice tray is in the ice releasing position, the lower ice tray is rotated by a predetermined angle or more so that the ice falling from the upper ice tray is not caught in the tray. Refrigerator described. 8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a cool air outlet is provided at the back of the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device so that the cool air flows on the upper surface of the ice tray. 9. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein a cold air outlet is provided for each of the ice trays at the back of the chamber accommodating the automatic ice making device so that the cold air flows over the upper surfaces of the plurality of ice trays.