JP2009036390A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator, having a water supply mechanism for making ice, simple in constitution to be easily manufactured, further easily and surely attaching and detaching a water supply tank to and from a refrigerating room to obtain proper water supply performance, and shutting off circulation of air between the storage rooms. <P>SOLUTION: In this refrigerator, the water supply tank 15 for supplying water to an ice making tray of an automatic ice maker installed in a freezing temperature space is installed in a refrigerating space 6, and a water supply pipe from the water supply tank penetrates a heat insulating wall to face the top face of the ice making tray. In the refrigerator, a water receiving tray 24 provided with a pipe part connected to the water supply pipe is disposed on the side of the water supply tank, and communicated to a water supply pump 16 for pumping from the inside of the water supply tank, the tip of a water supply pipe 23 connected to the end of a tank lid 21 closing the top face of the water supply tank is opposite to the top face of an opening 26a of the water receiving tray, and the peripheral edge 30b of an annular seal packing 30 put on the vicinity of the tip of the water supply pipe is air-tightly abutted on the opening edge part of the water receiving tray. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator that blocks the flow of cold air in a water supply line from a water supply tank to an automatic ice making device.

  Conventionally, an automatic ice making device (51) mounted on a refrigerator drives a water supply pump (60) with ice-making water in a water supply tank (55) installed in a refrigerator compartment (46), as shown in FIG. The water is fed into the water supply pipe (65), passes through the heat insulation wall (45), and is supplied to the ice tray (52) installed in the ice making space. When ice making is completed, the ice tray (52) is rotated by the drive unit. The ice is controlled by twisting and stored in the ice storage box.

  Since the water supply tank (55) is detachably installed from the refrigerator compartment (46) to replenish ice-making water as needed, the water supply tank (55) is connected to the water supply pipe (65). A water supply pipe (63) communicating with the water supply pump (60) is connected to the rear end of the tank lid (61) blocking the upper surface opening of the water supply pipe, and the tip of the water supply pipe (63) is connected to the water supply line (65) The water receiving tray (64) is connected to the rear surface of the water supply tank (65) and is disposed so as to face the upper surface opening of the water receiving tray (64) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a configuration (see Patent Document 2) in which a gap between the edge of the water supply tank (75) and the water receiving tray (84) is sealed with a seal member (90).
JP 2001-041625 A JP 2004-084980 A

  However, according to the configuration of Patent Document 1, in order to receive the tip of the water supply pipe (63) from the water supply tank (65) that is detachably installed and the ice making water from the water supply pipe (63) Since a gap G is inevitably formed between the water tray (64) and the upper surface opening of the water receiving tray (64), which is considerably larger than the tip diameter of the water supply pipe (63), a water supply pipe line ( 65), the air in the refrigerator compartment (46) flows into the ice making chamber (48), and the cooling air in the ice making chamber (48) cooled to the freezing temperature flows into the refrigerator compartment (46). It will be.

  In the former case, the positive temperature air in the refrigeration chamber (46) flows into the ice making chamber (48) cooled to the freezing temperature by the movement of the cold air flow described above, so that the inside of the ice making chamber (48) As well as the temperature of the ice, the moisture in the air adheres to the tip of the water supply pipe (65) facing the ice tray (52) and the ice making chamber (48) around it as frost. There is a defect that develops into freezing. In the latter case, the cold parts in the cold ice making chamber (48) cool the water tray (64) and the water tank (55) in the refrigerator compartment (46), thereby exposing the surrounding parts. There are harmful effects that occur.

  In Patent Document 2, the water supply tank (75) itself contacts and seals with a seal member (90) attached to the opening of the water tray (84), but the shape of the water supply tank (75) is relatively large. Yes, since the outlet position of the water supply pipe (83) varies during installation, the overhanging part from the main body of the water supply tank (75) becomes larger to cover the upper part of the water tray (84), making it larger and expensive In addition, the opening of the water tray (84) that receives the water supply becomes larger than necessary, and the seal member (90) must be made large accordingly.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, can be easily manufactured with a simple configuration, and can easily and reliably attach and detach the water supply tank to the refrigeration room to obtain an appropriate water supply performance. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having an ice making and water supply mechanism capable of blocking air circulation between storage rooms.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a water supply tank for supplying water to an ice tray of an automatic ice making device installed in a freezing temperature space in a refrigerated storage space, and a water supply pipe from the water supply tank is provided with a heat insulating wall. In a refrigerator that penetrates and faces the upper surface of the ice tray, a water receiving tray having a pipe connected to the water supply pipe is disposed on the side of the water supply tank, and communicates with a water supply pump that pumps water from the water supply tank. And an annular seal packing fitted in the vicinity of the end of the water supply pipe with the tip of the water supply pipe connected to the end of the tank lid closing the upper surface of the water supply tank facing the upper surface of the opening of the water tray. The peripheral edge is hermetically abutted against the opening edge of the water tray.

  With this configuration, a water supply mechanism for ice making can be manufactured at a low cost with a simple configuration, and the water supply tank can be easily and reliably attached to the refrigerator compartment to obtain an appropriate water supply performance. Air circulation can be blocked.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator (1), in which a storage space is formed by an inner box (4) provided via a heat insulating material (3) on the inner surface of an outer box (2), and a heat insulating partition wall (5 ) To divide into multiple storage spaces.

  A refrigeration room (6) that is used most frequently and has a large storage capacity is arranged at the top of the storage space. The refrigeration room (6) is pivotally supported by hinges provided on the left and right sides of the main body. The front opening is closed so that it can be opened and closed by the left and right doors (7) of the double door system.

  A relatively small-capacity ice making chamber (8) and a temperature switching chamber (not shown) are provided in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment (6) via a heat insulating partition wall (5). A vegetable room (9) for storing vegetables and the like is formed through an insulating partition wall, and a freezing room (10) for storing frozen foods is arranged at the bottom. These storage chambers other than the refrigerator compartment (6) are provided with a support frame inside the door that closes the front opening thereof, and the storage containers held on the support frame slide back and forth by rails arranged on the side walls of the storage chambers. The drawer system is made possible.

  The ice making chamber (8) is provided with an automatic ice making device (11) provided with an ice tray (12) for automatically generating ice particles and an ice storage box (13) for storing the generated ice particles, When ice making in the ice tray (12) is completed, the ice cubes that have been deiced by rotating and twisting are dropped into the lower ice storage box (13) to store the ice. For (12), water is supplied from a water supply tank (15) installed at a predetermined position at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment (6).

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 which is a longitudinal sectional view of an installation portion of the water tank (15) and an exploded perspective view of related parts, the water tank (15) is made of a transparent synthetic resin and is narrow and a refrigerator compartment (6 ) Is formed in a container shape that is long in the depth direction, and a concave portion (15a) that slopes downward toward the rear is formed at the center of the bottom.

  The water supply tank (15) is disposed on the bottom surface of the refrigerator compartment (6), and the bottom surface of the refrigerator compartment corresponding to the position of the water supply tank (15) is inclined from the front to the rear. A guide protrusion (6a) protruding in a shape is formed. When the guide protrusion (6a) is disposed, the water supply tank (15) is slid rearward along the bottom surface from the front of the refrigerator compartment (6). The bottom part is lifted upward along the inclined surface of the guide convex part (6a), and the rear part gets over the guide convex part (6a), so that the concave part (15a) fits into the guide convex part (6a) and moves. Is prevented. By this fitting, the rear portion of the water supply tank (15) comes into contact with the bottom surface of the refrigerator compartment (6) and is installed at a predetermined position.

  By installing the water supply tank (15) at a predetermined position in the refrigerator compartment (6), the water supply pump (16) arranged close to the rear wall faces the motor (17) attached to the bottom of the refrigerator compartment. Positioned. The water supply pump (16) includes an impeller (19) having a magnet (18) fixed on one side thereof, a casing (20) that houses the impeller (19), and a motor that is a drive source for rotating the impeller (19) ( 17), and the rotational force of the magnet driven by a motor (17) provided with a magnet on the rotating shaft on the side facing the magnet (18) of the impeller (19) is used as a non-contact magnet coupling. It is transmitted to the magnet of the water supply pump (16) in this way, and the impeller (19) is rotated to pump up the water to operate to pump out the water in the water supply tank (15).

  The water from the water supply pump (16) is supplied from the bottom end of the substantially inverted L-shaped water supply part (21a) integrally formed at the rear part of the tank lid (21) that closes the upper surface opening of the water supply tank (15). Main body side from a water supply pipe (23) pumped to the outside through a pumping pipe (22) detachably coupled to the water supply portion (21a) of the tank lid (21) And flows into the water tray (24) fixed to the water supply pipe (25), penetrates the heat insulating partition wall (5) on the bottom of the refrigerator compartment (6) and reaches the upper surface of the ice making chamber (8), The ice making operation is started by flowing into the ice tray (12) facing the outlet.

  And, when the water supply tank (15) is installed at a predetermined position by fitting the recess (15a) of the water supply tank (15) with the guide convex part (6a) on the bottom of the refrigerator compartment (6), It engages so that the water for ice making from the front-end | tip part of a pipe (23) may flow in into the said water receiving tray (24), and is comprised as follows.

  The water receiving tray (24) is disposed close to the rear side of the side surface of the water supply tank (15), and moves up and down by contact with the guide convex portion (6a) when the water tank (15) is attached and detached ( 23) in order to reliably engage with and receive water, the upper surface opening is wide open, and a lid member (26) having a small-diameter opening (26a) having a predetermined diameter is disposed in the opening. This is blocking.

  A tubular connecting portion (24a) is formed to extend below the water receiving tray (24), and an extending tube made of an elastic body that guides water supplied to the connecting portion (24a) to the water supply conduit (25) ( 27) is connected. The extension pipe (27) has a predetermined overlap margin by utilizing its elasticity in the guide pipe (28) forming the refrigerator compartment (6) side above the water supply pipe (25). By inserting in this way, it acts to reliably guide the water that has flowed into the water tray (24) to the water supply pipe (25).

  The guide pipe (28) is sufficiently larger in diameter than the extension pipe (27), and the upper end of the guide pipe (28) accommodates the motor (17) at the rear of the water supply tank (15) ( 29) Adhering to the opening formed in the upper part of the top and connecting the other end to the water supply pipe (25), the water tray (24) and the extension pipe (27) are separated from the guide pipe (28). From this structure, the water tray (24) and the extension pipe (27) can be removed from the main body and taken out of the storage for cleaning.

  On the outer peripheral surface in the vicinity of the water tray (24) side end of the water supply pipe (23), an annular flange (23a) having a diameter slightly larger than the small diameter opening (26a) of the lid member (26) of the water tray is provided. A seal packing (30) made of a soft material such as silicon rubber having an annular groove (30a) fitted to the flange (23a) is fixed.

  Below the annular groove (30a) of the seal packing (30), an annular fin portion (30b) having a substantially L-shaped cross section is annularly extended, and the water supply tank (15) is connected to the recessed portion (15a). ) And the guide projection (6a), when installed at a predetermined position, the seal of the tip of the water supply pipe (23) connected to the rear end of the water supply part (21a) of the tank lid (21) The fin part (30b) of the packing (30) comes into contact with the small-diameter opening (26a) of the lid member (26) of the water tray (24) from above, and presses and adheres to it. In addition, the opening area with respect to the water tray (24) can be reduced, and the seal packing (30) can be reduced in size to obtain a reliable sealing structure at low cost.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and when the water supply tank (15) is taken out from a predetermined position on the bottom surface of the refrigerator compartment (6) due to running out of water, the recessed portion (15a) and the guide convex portion (6a) The water supply pipe (23) and the seal packing (30) can be easily detached from the lid member (26) of the water receiving tray (24) by the same operation as in the prior art by lifting the rear part slightly upward so as to disengage the water. It is something that can be done.

  When installing after replenishing water, slide the water supply tank (15) in the back direction along the bottom of the refrigerator compartment (6) as described above and push it over the guide convex part (6a). (15a) is engaged with the guide protrusion (6a) and placed at a predetermined position, and the tip of the water supply pipe (23) is automatically attached to the water tray (24) by simple operation. The fin (30b) of the seal packing (30) engages with the small-diameter opening (26a) of the lid member (26), and at the same time, the fin (30b) of the seal packing (30) moves upward to the peripheral edge of the lid member (26) of the water tray. The gap G between the front end of the water supply pipe (23) and the water receiving tray (24), which has conventionally been a path for cold air, is prevented, and the inside of the refrigerator compartment (6) and the ice making chamber (8) Shut off the air flow between the storage chambers where the cooling temperature is different from the inside, and cool by the cold air flow. Temperature rise and frosting of the chamber (6) in the water supply tank (15) dew phenomena and ice making room in the vicinity of (8), the freezing can be prevented.

  At this time, since the seal packing (30) is fitted to the water supply pipe (23) side, the seal packing (30) can be compared with the case where the seal packing (30) is fixed to the water tray (24) side. Since there is no need to lift the water supply tank (15) for the height dimension, not only can the amount of movement when detaching from the water pan (24) be reduced, but also close contact with the water pan (24) and easy detachment operation. Thus, the structure is simplified and the seal packing (30) itself can be easily attached and detached from the water supply pipe (23) after being taken out of the cabinet.

  In the above embodiment, the extension pipe (27) provided below the water tray (24) is fitted into the guide pipe (28). However, the guide pipe (28) and the extension pipe are arranged. If a gap is formed between the pipe (27) and air, the extension pipe (27) or water tray is attached to the case member (29) that fixes the upper end of the guide pipe (28). A seal body (31) made of a soft material similar to the seal packing (30) formed in a cylindrical shape larger in diameter than the connecting portion (24a) is disposed, and an annular surface is provided on the inner surface side of the seal body (31) The soft fins (31a) projecting from the water can be brought into contact with the connection part (24a) of the water tray (24) or the outer peripheral surface of the extension pipe (27).

  Thereby, while being able to interrupt | block the cold air | flow distribution between the refrigerator compartment (6) and ice-making room (8) in a water tray (24) part, attachment / detachment from the main body of a water tray (24) itself becomes easy, and a water supply tank ( 15) Can be taken out of the refrigerator and disassembled for easy cleaning.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is an expanded longitudinal cross-sectional view of the water supply tank part of the refrigerator in FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the automatic ice making apparatus of a prior art example. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows another prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 6 Refrigeration room 6a Guide convex part 8 Ice making room 11 Automatic ice making apparatus 12 Ice making tray
15 Water tank 15a Concave part 16 Water pump
17 Motor 20 Pumping pipe 21 Tank lid
21a Water supply section 22 Pumping pipe 23 Water supply pipe
23a Annular bowl 24 Water pan 24a Connection part
25 Water supply line 26 Water tray lid 26a Small diameter opening
27 Extension pipe 28 Guide pipe 29 Case member
30 Seal packing 30a Annular groove 30b Fin
31 Seal body 31a Fin

Claims (4)

  A water supply tank for supplying water to the ice tray of the automatic ice maker installed in the freezing temperature space was installed in the refrigerated storage space, and the water supply line from the water supply tank penetrated the heat insulation wall and faced the upper surface of the ice tray In the refrigerator, a water receiving tray that forms a pipe portion connected to the water supply pipe is disposed on the side of the water supply tank, communicates with a water supply pump that pumps water from the water supply tank, and closes the upper surface of the water supply tank. The tip of the water supply pipe connected to the end is opposed to the upper surface of the opening of the water receiving tray, and the periphery of the annular seal packing fitted in the vicinity of the tip of the water receiving pipe is hermetically sealed to the opening edge of the water receiving tray. A refrigerator characterized by being brought into contact.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the water receiving tray is covered with a lid member, and seal packing is fitted in the vicinity of the tip of the water supply pipe facing the small-diameter opening formed in the lid member.   An annular ridge was formed on the outer peripheral surface near the tip of the water supply pipe, and an annular groove of the seal packing was fitted to this ridge, and the tip of the annular fin at the edge was brought into contact with the lid member of the water receiving tray. The refrigerator according to claim 2.   A pipe part extending below the water tray is inserted into a guide pipe fixed to the main body side and connected to the water supply pipe, and the gap between the pipe part and the guide pipe is hermetically sealed through a sealing body having an annular fin. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator is sealed.

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