JP2010139173A - Ice storage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ice storage capable of easily scooping ice blocks by a scoop when taking out the ice blocks from an ice taking-out port of an ice storage body. <P>SOLUTION: A recess 30 is formed by hanging a rear part of an upper face 8b of a front wall 8 only by a predetermined dimension, and is extended in the lateral direction along the lower edge of the ice taking-out port 4. A support shaft 35 for freely turnably supporting a slope 15 is arranged in a position facing inside of the recess 30. Thus, a rotating shaft of the slope 15 is arranged in the position facing inside of the recess 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice storage for storing ice blocks that have been made of ice, and more particularly to an ice storage that can be easily scooped with a scoop when the outer door is opened and the ice blocks are taken out from the ice outlet of the ice storage body. is there.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, the ice storage body has a substantially box-shaped ice storage body 2 in which an ice lump R released from an ice making mechanism (not shown) disposed above the ice storage body 2 is contained. An ice storage chamber 3 for storage is formed. On the front side of the ice storage main body 2, a front wall 8 rising from the bottom wall 7 by a predetermined dimension is erected, and an ice outlet 4 is formed above the front wall 8. In the rear part of the bottom wall 7, a drain port 9 is formed for discharging drainage discharged from the ice making mechanism and melted water from the ice block R to the outside of the apparatus. The surface of the front wall 8 on the ice storage chamber 3 side is an inclined surface 8a inclined backward, and when the ice piece R on the front side is scooped with a scoop, the inclined surface 8a is used as a guide surface to scoop the ice piece R. Further, the blind spot is not formed when the user looks inside the ice storage chamber 3. A hinge 10 is disposed on the front surface of the front wall 8, and an outer door 12 is rotatably supported by the hinge 10 at its lower end. Accordingly, the ice take-out port 4 is opened and closed by rotating the upper end portion of the outer door 12 via the hinge 10. On the back side of the outer door 12, that is, in the ice storage chamber 3 of the ice storage body 2, a resin slope 15 that opens and closes the ice outlet 4 by rotating following the rotation of the outer door 12 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the slope 15 is a plate-like member having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the ice block R stored in the ice storage chamber 3 is moved out of the cabinet through the ice outlet 4. It is basically composed of an ice guide plate 17 for guiding and side plates 18 erected on both ends of the ice guide plate 17. In the state shown in FIG. 4, the side plate 18 is formed such that the front side is low and the rear side is high, and a mounting hole 20 formed in a circular shape is formed in the lower part of the rear side. A bent piece 21 (see FIG. 6) that hangs downward is formed at the rear end of the ice guide plate 17. When the outer door 12 is opened to remove the ice block R with a scoop, the ice guide plate 17. In addition to serving as a barrier that prevents the ice mass R from entering between the front wall 8 and the front wall 8, it also serves as a reinforcement. A pair of support shafts (see FIG. 2) projecting so as to face each other are formed integrally with the resin inner side wall 6 at the lower position in the vicinity of the ice outlet 4 on each side wall inner surface 6 of the ice storage body 2. The slope 15 is pivotally supported with respect to the ice storage body 2 by engaging the mounting hole 20 with the support shaft. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the slope 15 is engaged with and disengaged from a holder 22 having an L-shaped cross section provided on the back surface of the outer door 12 with the upper end of the ice guide plate 17 as the outer door 12 is opened and closed. By freely engaging, it is configured to rotate following the rotation of the outer door 12.

In such an ice storage, when the outer door 12 is operated to open, the slope 15 also rotates in the same direction as the opening direction of the outer door 12, and a part of the ice block R stored on the ice storage chamber 3 side of the slope 15 is removed. Although it collapses and moves onto the ice guide plate 17, the ice guide plate 17 and the side plate 18 prevent the ice block R from falling out of the machine. Therefore, the use of the slope 15 improves the workability of taking out the ice block R stored in the ice storage chamber 3 when the outer door 12 is opened, and the ice block R drops off from the ice take-out port 4 so that the floor surface is removed. Can be prevented from getting wet.
JP 2000-193352 A JP 2000-205720 A

  However, in the above ice storage, as shown in FIG. 6, between the rear end of the ice guide plate 17 when the outer door 12 is opened and the inclined surface 8 a that is the surface of the front wall 8 on the ice storage chamber 3 side. A blind spot D is generated due to the step, and there is a problem that it is difficult to scoop the ice block stored in the blind spot D when the ice block R is taken out with a scoop. That is, the present invention has been proposed to solve this problem in view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art described above, and the ice is removed from the ice take-out outlet of the ice storage body by opening the outer door. An object of the present invention is to provide an ice storage capable of easily scooping ice blocks with a scoop when taking out.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and achieve the desired purpose suitably, the ice storage according to the present invention is:
An ice storage body that stores ice blocks inside, an ice take-out port formed on one side of the ice store body, an outer door that is rotatably supported by the ice store body and opens and closes the ice take-out port, and a rotation The ice block is pivotally supported in the ice storage through a support part, and rotates following the rotation of the outer door. The ice block is stored when the ice block is taken out from the ice outlet with the outer door opened. A slope having a guide surface for guiding outside,
A concave portion extending along the lower edge of the ice take-out port is provided on the inner surface of the ice storage near the ice take-out port, and the rotation support portion of the slope is disposed at a position corresponding to the concave portion. To do.

  According to the ice storage according to the present invention, the ice block can be easily scooped with a scoop when the outer door is opened and the ice block is taken out from the ice outlet of the ice storage body.

  The ice storage according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the periphery of an ice take-out port, which is the main part of the present invention, and FIG. . The basic structure of the ice storage body other than the periphery of the ice outlet, the structure of the outer door and the slope are substantially the same as the conventional structure described with reference to FIGS. The peripheral part of the ice storage outlet of the ice storage body, which is a part related to the invention, will be mainly described. The same members as those described in FIGS. 3 to 6 will be described using the same reference numerals.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ice storage according to the present invention forms a recess 30 by hanging a rear portion of the upper surface 8 b of the front wall 8 by a predetermined dimension. The recess 30 is formed to extend in the lateral direction along the lower edge of the ice outlet 4. A pair of support shafts 35 are formed on each side wall inner surface 6 of the ice storage body 2 so as to be opposed to each other, and are integrally formed with the resin side wall inner surface 6. By engaging 20, the slope 15 is pivotally supported. As shown in FIG. 1, the support shaft 35 is close to a point where a line extending the rear surface of the upper surface 8 b of the front wall 8 and a line extending the upper surface of the inclined surface 8 a intersects, and faces the recess 30. Is arranged. As a result, the rotation axis of the slope 15 is arranged at a position facing the recess 30. Further, the height of the convex portion 37 forming the rear wall of the concave portion 30 is set to be lower than the upper surface 8 b of the front wall 8 and close to the rotation axis of the slope 15. Further, notches 39 are provided at both ends of the convex portion 37, that is, at portions facing the side wall inner surface 6.

  Next, a procedure for attaching the slope 15 will be described. The slope 15 is integrally formed of resin, and the ice guide plate 17 can be deformed in a warped state by applying force by holding both ends of the ice guide plate 17 (in the vicinity of the side plate 18) by hand. When one mounting hole 20 is engaged with the support shaft 35 in this warped state, and then the other mounting hole 20 is engaged and released, the ice guide plate 17 returns to the original straight state by the restoring force. . As described above, the slope 15 can be easily attached without requiring a special tool or the like.

  When the slope 15 is attached in the above procedure, the rear side of the ice guide plate 17 located at the center of the rotation axis of the slope 15 in the state of FIG. 1 in which the outer door 12 and the slope 15 are rotated to open the ice outlet 4 is opened. The end portion and the convex portion 37 are in a very close positional relationship leaving a slight gap. Conventionally, although there is a bent piece 21 for preventing ice biting, a space for the bent piece 21 to rotate is required, so that a slight gap is required between the bent piece 21 and the inclined surface 8a. When the slope 15 is closed, there is a case where a small ice block is sandwiched between the gaps and it is difficult to close the slope 15. However, in this embodiment, the bent piece 21 is rotated in the recess 30. The portion and the convex portion 37 can be arranged close to each other, and the occurrence probability of ice biting can be further suppressed. Further, by making the height of the convex portion 37 lower than the upper surface 8b, in the state of FIG. 1, the upper end of the inclined surface 8a is positioned substantially on the extended line of the upper surface of the ice guide plate 17 (ice block guiding surface) inclined backward. Therefore, the upper surface of the ice guide plate 17 and the inclined surface 8a are in a positional relationship such that they are connected by continuous molding, and there is no blind spot as in the prior art, and there is a large unevenness from the upper surface of the ice guide plate 17 to the inclined surface 8a. There is no step. In addition, melted ice water flows into the recess 30 when storing ice or taking out ice blocks, but the melted water flows from the notch 39 to the inclined surface 8a, and is finally discharged from the drain port 9 to the outside of the apparatus. The notch 39 also serves as an installation space for the mounting hole 20 portion in the side plate 18 of the slope 15.

  As described above, according to the ice storage of the embodiment, since the rotation support portion (support shaft) of the slope is arranged at the position corresponding to the concave portion, the blind spot due to the slope disappears and it becomes easy to scoop the ice block with the scoop. Since the rear end portion of the ice guide plate located at the center of the rotation axis of the slope and the convex portion are arranged close to each other, the gap can be narrowed and ice biting can be suppressed. The height of the convex part that forms the rear wall of the concave part is lowered, and the ice block guide surface of the ice guide plate and the inclined surface of the front wall in the state where the ice outlet is opened are located continuously, so that the ice block guide Steps can be eliminated from the surface to the inclined surface, and when the scoop is inserted along the ice lump guide surface, the ice lump on the back side of the front wall can be crushed as it is.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified as follows.
(1) The bottom surface of the recess 30 may be inclined toward one of the notches 39. By inclining, the melted ice flowing into the recess 30 can be reliably guided to the drain 9.
(2) A plurality of grooves extending vertically from the recess 30 to the lower end of the inclined surface 8a may be arranged in parallel at equal intervals. Thereby, it is possible to guide the melted ice water from each groove to the drain port 9 without providing an inclination as in (1) above.
(3) In the above embodiment, the concave portion 30 is provided at the rear portion of the upper surface 8b of the front wall 8. However, the concave portion 30 may be provided at the central portion of the upper surface 8b or at the front portion. At this time, the height of the convex portion 37 forming the rear wall of the concave portion 30 does not necessarily have to be lowered, and may be the same height as the height of the upper surface 8b.

It is an expanded sectional view of an ice take-out exit peripheral part in an ice storage concerning an example. It is a perspective view of the ice take-out exit peripheral part in the ice storage concerning an example. It is sectional drawing of the state which closed the outer door in the conventional ice storage. It is an external appearance perspective view of the slope concerning the past and an example. It is sectional drawing of the state which opened the outer door in the conventional ice storage. It is an expanded sectional view of an ice take-out exit peripheral part in the conventional ice storage.

Explanation of symbols

2 Ice storage body 8 Front wall 8a Inclined surface 8b Upper surface 15 Slope 17 Ice guide plate 30 Concave portion 35 Support shaft 37 Convex portion

Claims (1)

An ice storage body that stores ice blocks inside,
An ice outlet formed on one side of the ice storage body,
An outer door that is pivotally supported by the ice storage body and opens and closes the ice outlet,
The ice block is supported rotatably in the ice storage via a rotation support part, and rotates following the rotation of the outer door, and when the ice block is taken out from the ice outlet with the outer door opened. In an ice storage with a slope having a guide surface for guiding the
A concave portion extending along the lower edge of the ice take-out port is provided on the inner surface of the ice storage near the ice take-out port, and the rotation support portion of the slope is disposed at a position corresponding to the concave portion. Ice storage to do.

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