JP2009115419A - Refrigerator with automatic ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine capable of performing ice making operation even when an ice tray attachment/detachment detecting means malfunctions. <P>SOLUTION: When the ice tray attachment/detachment detecting means 23 malfunctions, information of an ice tray temperature detecting means 24 detecting the temperature of an ice tray is processed by an automatic ice making control means 99. Consequently, the presence of the ice tray 7 is detected, and even during a failure, water supply operation is performed after performing ice separating operation by an ice tray driving means 30. A series of ice making operation can thereby be performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with an ice making device.

  In recent years, refrigerators with automatic ice makers have become mainstream. An automatic ice maker incorporated in a refrigerator or the like automatically supplies ice-making water from a water storage tank provided in the refrigerator through a water supply pipe, automatically makes ice, rotates the ice-making tray when ice is formed, and A twist is applied to drop the ice in the ice tray into the ice storage container, and when the ice in the ice storage container accumulates to a certain amount, it is detected by the ice storage detection lever, etc., and the ice making operation is stopped. When ice is low, it is detected by an ice storage detection lever, water is supplied again, and ice making automatically resumes.

  Here, the ice tray of the automatic ice maker is generally connected and fixed to the rotating shaft of the drive mechanism driven by the motor of the automatic ice maker, but cannot be separated from the drive mechanism. It was a structure that could not be done. Therefore, in order to improve the hygiene of ice trays, we proposed a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker that can be separated from the drive mechanism and improved so that it can be taken out of the refrigerator, making it easier to clean the ice tray, etc. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 7 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a structure of a portion provided with a conventional refrigerator automatic ice maker described in Patent Document 1, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the automatic ice maker.

  In each figure, 1 is a refrigerator main body, and this main body 1 has a freezer compartment 2 and a refrigerator compartment 3 inside. 4 is a door for opening and closing the front opening of the freezer compartment 2, and 5 is a door for opening and closing the front opening of the refrigerator compartment 3. The automatic ice making machine 6 is provided in the freezer compartment 2, and the overall structure thereof is an ice making tray 7, and a drive mechanism 8 for turning the ice making tray 7 downward and removing the ice while twisting the ice making tray 7 when the ice making is completed. Consists of. Reference numeral 9 denotes a mechanism box that houses the drive mechanism 8 and has a motor, a gear, and the like inside. The mechanism box 9 is installed and fixed at a predetermined location in the back of the freezer compartment 2. A rotating shaft 10 protrudes from the mechanism box 9 and is connected to the ice tray 7 to rotate it.

  A water storage tank 11 for storing ice-making water is provided in the refrigerator compartment 3, and the water in the tank 11 is led to the upper part of the ice-making tray 7 in the freezer compartment 2 through a water supply pipe 13 by a pump 12. The water is supplied from above. The ice tray 7 has a box-like container shape whose upper surface is open, and the inside thereof is partitioned into a plurality of small chambers 7m to produce ice of a predetermined size. In addition, 21 is a cooling fan and 22 is an evaporator.

  The ice tray 7 is integrally provided with a connecting portion 14 that can be fitted to the rotary shaft 10 at the central portion of the longitudinal end portion 7b facing the mechanism box 9. A long shaft portion 16 acting as an ice tray support provided on the ice making machine support 15 is inserted from the longitudinal end 7c of the ice tray 7 opposite to the connecting portion 14 so that the ice tray 7 is The ice making machine support 15 is rotatably supported. As a result, the ice tray 7 is first rotated clockwise by the motor in the mechanism box 9 with the rotation axis P as a fulcrum, and then reverses and rotates counterclockwise. ing. In addition, the protrusion 17 for twisting is provided in the longitudinal direction edge part 7c of the ice tray 7, On the other hand, the protrusion 17 is fitted on the inner surface of the end wall 20a from which the shaft part 16 of the ice making machine support 15 protrudes. An arcuate guide groove 18 that slides is formed. As the ice tray 7 is rotated by the rotary shaft 10, the projection 17 slides on the guide groove 18 and finally reaches one end side of the guide groove 18 and rotates. After being stopped, a twist is added to the ice tray 7 so that the ice can be easily deiced.

  An ice storage container 19 is disposed so as to be able to be taken in and out under the ice tray 7, and the ice tray 7 is rotated when the ice making is completed, and receives ice falling when the ice removing operation is performed.

  Here, the ice tray 7 is rotatably attached to the ice making machine support 15, and the ice making plate 7 and the ice making machine support 15 are integrated with each other from the rotating shaft 10 on the mechanism box 9 side. It is characterized by having a structure that can be separated, whereby the ice tray 7 can be easily cleaned and the like.

When performing the ice making operation, the ice making tray attachment / detachment detecting means 23 for detecting the presence or absence of the ice tray makes the ice removing operation when the ice tray is present, and repeats a series of ice making operations. When there is no ice tray, the ice making tray is attached Wait for ice making operation.
JP 2000-161824 A

  However, when the ice making tray attachment / detachment detecting means fails in the conventional configuration, there is a problem that the ice making tray cannot be detected and the ice removing operation cannot be performed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine that can perform ice making even when an ice making plate attachment / detachment detecting means breaks down.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the refrigerator of the present invention includes ice tray temperature detection means for detecting whether the ice tray temperature is cold and ice is formed, and if the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means fails, the ice tray By detecting the temperature of the ice tray from the temperature detecting means, the open state can be detected and the presence or absence of the ice tray can be detected, so that the ice making operation can be performed even during failure.

  The refrigerator of the present invention comprises an ice making position detecting means for detecting the position of ice making and an ice making timer for measuring the ice detecting operation time during ice making drive by the ice making position detecting means, and the ice making tray attachment / detachment detecting means has failed. In this case, when the ice making operation is performed and the ice making tray is attached, the ice making timer is lengthened by the ice making position detecting means, so that the ice making operation can be performed even during a failure.

  In the refrigerator of the present invention, the failure state of the ice tray removing / detecting means can be detected by the ice tray temperature detecting means and notified by the buzzer alarm means.

  Moreover, the refrigerator of this invention can display the failure state of the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means on the LED display means by the ice tray temperature detection means.

  In the refrigerator of the present invention, the failure state of the ice tray removing / detecting means is warned by the buzzer alarm means by the ice tray temperature detecting means and can be displayed by the LED display means.

  The refrigerator of the present invention can detect the presence or absence of an ice tray by the ice tray temperature detection means even when the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means breaks down. By this, it is possible to promptly notify the user that a failure has occurred. The

  The refrigerator of the present invention can detect the presence or absence of the ice tray by the ice making position detecting means and the ice making timer that measures the ice detecting operation time when the ice making tray attachment / detachment detecting means fails. Can do.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the water supplied from the water supply device is stored in an ice making tray installed in a freezing chamber for ice making, and after ice making, the ice making plate is inverted by a deicing mechanism to be iced. In a refrigerator-freezer equipped with an ice making machine, when the ice tray driving means for operating the ice tray by the ice removing mechanism, the ice tray removing / detecting means for detecting presence / absence of the ice tray, and the ice tray removing / detecting means fail Since the ice tray temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the ice tray is provided, when the ice tray attachment / detachment detecting means fails, the ice tray temperature detecting means detects the presence or absence of the ice tray, and the ice removing operation is performed even during the failure. It can be performed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the ice making position detecting means for detecting the position during the ice making operation and the ice making timer for measuring the time during the operation of the ice detecting lever for detecting the presence or absence of ice. When the ice tray removing / attaching detection means fails, the ice making position detecting means for detecting the position during the ice making operation and the ice making timer for measuring the time during the ice detecting operation are used to detect the presence or absence of the ice tray. The ice removal operation can also be performed at.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, when the ice tray attachment / detachment detecting means fails, the failure state is detected by the ice tray temperature detecting means, and the buzzer warning means warns. be able to.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, when the ice tray attachment / detachment detecting means fails, the failure state is detected by the ice tray temperature detecting means and displayed on the LED display means. be able to.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, when the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means fails, the failure state is detected by the ice tray temperature detection means, and a warning means is provided with a buzzer. Simultaneously with the warning, it can be displayed on the LED display means.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those of the conventional example, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. When the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means 23 fails, the information of the ice tray temperature detection means 24 for detecting the temperature of the ice tray is processed by the automatic ice making control means 99, thereby detecting the presence or absence of the ice tray and performing the ice making operation. The ice making operation of the ice making is performed by the ice tray driving means 30 to be performed.

  The automatic ice making control means 99 is composed of a microcomputer (not shown) mounted on an electronic board and programmed with a control algorithm.

  Next, it demonstrates using the operation | movement flowchart of the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker of this Embodiment of FIG.

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, when the ice tray desorption detection means 23 is out of order (STEP 1), for example, −40 ° C. or higher (STEP 2) at the ice tray temperature detection means 24 attached to the ice tray 7. When it is detected that the ice tray 7 is attached, the ice tray driving means 30 performs the ice removing operation, and then the water supply operation is performed to perform a series of ice making operations. When the ice tray 7 is not present, the ice tray temperature detecting means 24 attached to the ice tray is in an open state and detects, for example, less than −40 ° C. (STEP 3), so that it waits until the ice tray 7 is attached.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram to which an ice making position detecting means 25 for detecting the position of the ice making operation and an ice making timer 26 for measuring the time of the ice detecting operation are added in the refrigerator with the automatic ice making machine of the present embodiment. The ice detection lever 27 (FIG. 8) operates simultaneously with the operation of the motor in the mechanism box 9, and the ice making timer operates until the ice detection lever 27 operates and inputs to the ice making position detection means 25. When there is ice, when the ice detecting lever 27 hits the ice, the ice making position detecting means 25 changes, the ice making tray 7 returns in the direction opposite to the clockwise direction, and the ice making timer 26 becomes 5 seconds, for example. When there is no ice, it operates until the ice detecting lever 27 hits the ice tray 7 and the ice making timer 26 becomes, for example, 7 seconds. Further, when the ice tray 7 is not present, the ice detecting lever 27 is moved to the abutting position in the mechanism box, and the ice making timer 26 is, for example, 10 seconds. From the information of the detection means 25 and the ice making timer 26, it is judged that the ice making tray 7 is attached, and a series of ice making operations are performed.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram to which a buzzer warning means 28 is added in the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to the present embodiment. A buzzer (not shown) is provided in the upper part of the refrigerator body 1 and is installed in a hinge part (not shown) that supports a door such as the refrigerator compartment 3. When the ice tray removing / detecting means 23 is out of order, the operation of the first embodiment is performed, and the ice tray temperature detecting means 24 is in an open state. Buzzer warning means 28 outputs a buzzer. It is assumed that the buzzer output is repeatedly turned on and off in a cycle of predetermined time t0 on and predetermined time t1 off.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram to which the LED driving means 29 is added in the refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine of the present embodiment. The LED driving means 29 is attached to the front surface of the refrigerator body 1 and drives the LEDs. When the ice tray removing / detecting means 23 is out of order, the operation of the first embodiment is performed, and the ice tray temperature detecting means 24 is in an open state. The LED driving means 29 outputs an LED output signal. The LED drive output is repeatedly turned on and off at a predetermined time t2 on and predetermined time t3 off.

  FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram in which buzzer detection means 28 and LED driving means 29 are added in the refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine of the present embodiment. When the ice tray removing / detecting means 23 is out of order, the operation of the first embodiment is performed, and the ice tray temperature detecting means 24 is in an open state. The buzzer output from the buzzer warning means 28 and the LED output signal from the LED driving means 29 are output. It is assumed that the buzzer output is repeatedly turned on and off in a cycle of predetermined time t4 on and predetermined time t5 off. The LED drive output is repeatedly turned on and off at a predetermined time t6 on and predetermined time t7 off to perform buzzer output and LED display.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the ice tray removing / detecting means 23 is broken down by the ice tray driving means 30 for operating the ice tray 7 by the ice removing mechanism and the ice tray temperature detecting means 23 for detecting the ice tray temperature. In this case, it can be determined that the ice tray is attached when the ice tray temperature exceeds a certain temperature, so that the ice making operation is performed by the ice tray driving means 30, and the ice tray temperature detection unit 23 fails to make the ice tray any time. You can do everything to prevent it.

  In the present embodiment, the ice tray driving means 30 for operating the ice tray 7 by the ice removing mechanism, the ice making position detecting means 24 for detecting the position of the ice detecting lever in accordance with the operation of the motor in the mechanism box 9, Since the ice making timer 26 for measuring the ice detecting operation time can detect the case where the ice making tray 7 is not present, it is possible to prevent the ice making tray detachment detection 23 from failing to prevent ice making. Further, the operation of the ice detecting lever 27 can be performed without the ice making tray attachment / detachment detecting means 23 because the ice making position detecting means 25 and the ice making timer 26 can detect the presence or absence of the ice making dish.

  Furthermore, when the ice tray removing / attaching detecting means 23 breaks down, an abnormal state can be warned and displayed by either or both of the buzzer driving means 28 and the LED display means 29.

  Although this embodiment has been described for each function, there is no problem even if they are used in combination.

  As described above, the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to the present invention prevents the ice making operation from being disabled due to the failure of detecting the ice tray attachment / detachment, and therefore can be applied to all refrigeration equipment equipped with an ice making device.

Functional block diagram of a refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flow chart of refrigerator with automatic ice maker of the embodiment Functional block diagram of the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker of the embodiment Functional block diagram of the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker of the embodiment Functional block diagram of the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker of the embodiment Functional block diagram of the refrigerator with an automatic ice maker of the embodiment Partial sectional view of a conventional refrigerator Disassembled perspective view of conventional refrigerator automatic ice maker

Explanation of symbols

7 Ice tray 23 Ice tray attachment / detachment detection means 24 Ice tray temperature detection means 25 Ice making position detection means 26 Ice making timer 27 Ice detection lever 28 Buzzer warning means 29 LED driving means 30 LED making tray driving means

Claims (5)

  In the refrigerator-freezer with an automatic ice maker, the water supplied from the water supply device is stored in an ice tray installed in a freezer compartment to make ice, and after ice making, the ice tray is inverted by the ice release mechanism to release the ice. An ice making tray driving means for operating the tray by the ice removing mechanism, an ice making tray attaching / detaching detecting means for detecting presence / absence of the ice making tray, and an ice making detecting the temperature of the ice making tray when the ice making tray attaching / detaching detecting means fails. Refrigerator with automatic ice maker consisting of dish temperature detection means.   The automatic ice making according to claim 1, wherein the presence or absence of an ice tray is detected by an ice making position detecting means for detecting a position during the ice making operation and an ice making timer for measuring a time during an ice detecting lever operation for detecting the presence or absence of ice. Refrigerator with machine.   The refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a warning is given by a buzzer warning means when the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means fails.   The refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the ice tray attachment / detachment detection means fails, an LED display means displays.   The refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the ice tray attachment / detachment detecting means is out of order, the buzzer warning means and the LED display means give a warning and display.

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