JP2011080690A - Automatic ice-making machine for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic ice-making machine for a refrigerator capable of arranging a heater even to a bent tip of a water supply pipe. <P>SOLUTION: The tip of the water supply pipe 34 of the automatic ice-making machine 12 is bent downwardly toward a chill tray 40, and a heater wire 56 heating the water supply pipe 34 is arranged on upper and lower faces of the pipe tip 54 bent along the water supply pipe 34. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a water supply path in an automatic ice making device of a refrigerator.

  In an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator, a heater is provided in a water supply pipe for supplying water from a water supply tank to an ice tray to prevent freezing.

  In Patent Document 1, the heater attached to the water supply pipe is a heater wire such as a nichrome wire, and the heater wire is wound around and fixed to the outer periphery of the water supply pipe.

JP 2008-20158 A

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to wind and fix the heater wire to the tip of the water supply pipe that is bent downward in order to supply the ice tray. On the other hand, most of the icing points of the water supply pipe are near the water supply opening to the ice tray at the tip of the water supply pipe. The reason is that water accumulates at the edge of the water supply port due to surface tension and the water freezes. Therefore, in the structure of patent document 1, there exists a problem that the freezing near the water supply port of a water supply pipe cannot fully be prevented.

  Then, this invention provides the automatic ice making apparatus of the refrigerator which can distribute | arrange a heater to the bent front-end | tip part of a water supply pipe in view of the said problem.

  The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device of a refrigerator having a water supply path for supplying water from a water supply tank arranged in a refrigerator compartment to an ice tray arranged in the ice making room. A water supply opening for supplying water to the ice tray is opened at the tip, and the tip is bent downward toward the ice tray, and a heater wire for heating the water pipe is connected to the tip of the water pipe. An automatic ice making device for a refrigerator, which is arranged on an upper surface and a lower surface of a section.

  According to the present invention, since the heater is arranged up to the tip of the bent water supply pipe, icing near the water supply port can be prevented.

It is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator which shows one Example of this invention. It is drawing when a heater wire is affixed on a water supply pipe. It is a disassembled perspective view of a water supply pipe and a heat insulating material.

  Hereinafter, the refrigerator 10 of one Example of this invention is demonstrated based on FIGS. 1-3.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cabinet 14 which is the main body of the refrigerator 10 is divided into a refrigerator compartment 16, a vegetable compartment 18, an ice making room 20, and a freezer compartment (not shown) from above. The refrigerator 10 incorporates an automatic ice making device 12 and can take out the produced ice when the user pulls the door 22 of the ice making chamber 20 forward.

  The configuration of the automatic ice making device 12 will be described with reference to FIG.

  A water supply tank 24 and a water supply pump 26 for storing water are disposed at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 16. The water supply pump 26 sucks up water in the water supply tank 24 and discharges water from a discharge pipe 28 protruding from the upper part of the water supply tank 24.

  The distal end of the discharge pipe 28 is connected to a water receiving case 30 disposed at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 16, and a connecting pipe 32 is connected to the bottom of the water receiving case 30. The connecting pipe 32 extends downward from the water receiving case 30, is disposed along the back surface of the vegetable compartment 18, and reaches the bottom of the vegetable compartment 18. The lower end portion of the connection pipe 32 is connected to the upper end portion of the water supply pipe 34.

  The water supply pipe 34 passes through the heat insulating partition wall 36 that partitions the vegetable compartment 18 and the ice making chamber 20, and its tip protrudes from the ceiling surface of the ice making chamber 20, and supplies water to the ice tray 40 from the water supply port 38 at the tip. Is done. The configuration of the water supply pipe 34 will be described in detail later.

  An ice tray 40 is arranged in the ice making chamber 20. The ice tray 40 has a front portion and a rear portion that are rotatably supported by a support frame 42, and a rear portion of the ice tray 40 is connected to a gear box 44 incorporating a motor. A drawer-type ice storage container 46 is disposed at the bottom of the ice making chamber 20 below the ice tray 40. A lever 48 for detecting the presence or absence of ice is rotatably provided from the front portion of the support frame 42 toward the inside of the ice storage container 46.

  Next, the ice making operation of the automatic ice making device 12 will be described with reference to FIG.

  A predetermined amount of water is supplied from the water supply tank 24 to the ice tray 40 through the water supply path of the connection pipe 32 and the water supply pipe 34 by the water supply pump 26. When the water supplied to the ice tray 40 is cooled to become ice, the gear box 44 rotates so that only the rear portion of the ice tray 40 twists the ice tray 40, and the ice falls into the ice storage container 46. The presence or absence of ice in the ice storage container 46 is detected by the vertical movement of the lever 48, and when it is determined that there is little ice, the automatic ice making device 12 performs the ice making operation again.

  Next, the configuration of the water supply pipe 34 of the automatic ice making device 12 will be described.

  The water supply pipe 34 is a metal pipe, and is a pipe body 50 inclined slightly downward from the horizontal state, a pipe base 52 bent upward from the pipe body 50, and a pipe tip bent downward from the pipe body 50. It is comprised from the part 54. FIG. The lower end of the connection pipe 32 is connected to the upper end of the pipe base 52, and the water supply port 38 is opened at the lower end of the pipe tip 54.

  A heater wire 56 made of nichrome wire or the like is attached to the outer periphery of the water supply pipe 34. As shown in FIG. 2, a heater wire 56 is attached to an aluminum foil 58 whose one surface is an adhesive surface, and the aluminum foil 58 to which the heater wire 56 is attached is wound around the outer periphery of the water supply pipe 34. It is fixed. This will be described in more detail.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the aluminum foil 58 includes a rectangular lower surface portion 58b, and an upper surface portion 58a that has a step portion from the lower surface portion 58b and protrudes partly from the lower surface portion 58b. The upper surface portion 58 a is a portion that is attached to the upper surface side of the water supply pipe 34, and protrudes from the lower surface portion 58 b that is disposed on the lower surface side of the water supply pipe 34. The length in the longitudinal direction of the aluminum foil 58 is formed substantially equal to the length of the pipe body 50.

  As described above, the heater wires 56 meandering alternately and bent are attached to the adhesive surface of the aluminum foil 58. In this case, one end portion of the heater wire 56 is projected from the base side of the upper surface portion 58a of the aluminum foil 58, and a part of the heater wire 56 is disposed substantially in parallel along the longitudinal direction of the upper surface portion 58a. The water supply pipe 34 is bent into a U shape on the tip side, and a part of the lines 56b are arranged almost in parallel toward the base side again. A part of the lines 56c is arranged substantially in parallel along the longitudinal direction, is bent again in a U shape on the tip side of the lower surface part 58b, and a part of the lines 56d is formed in parallel along the longitudinal direction of the lower surface part 58b. The other end of the heater wire 56 is projected from the base side of the lower surface 58b.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the heater wires 56 meandering alternately are wound around the pipe body 50 and the pipe base 52 of the water supply pipe 34 and pasted by the aluminum foil 58. Some lines 56a and 56b on the upper surface portion 58a of the aluminum foil 58 are attached along the upper surfaces of the pipe body 50 and the pipe tip portion 54 of the water supply pipe 34, and some lines 53c on the lower surface portion 58b. 56 d is attached along the pipe body 50 of the water supply pipe 34 and the lower surface of the pipe tip 54. Since the upper surface portion 58a of the aluminum foil 58 is longer than the lower surface portion 58b, some of the lines 56a and 56b on the heater wire 56 on the upper surface of the pipe base 52 are on the heater wire 56 on the lower surface of the pipe base 52. Affixed in a state of protruding to the tip side from some of the lines 53c and 56d. Both ends of the heater wire 56 on the base side of the water supply pipe 34 are connected to wirings 70 and 70 for supplying electricity via vinyl pipes 68 and 68, respectively.

  A pair of left and right heat insulating materials 60 and 60 are attached to the outside of the water supply pipe 34 to which the heater wire 56 is attached by an aluminum foil 58. The pair of left and right heat insulating materials 60, 60 are made of foamed polystyrene and have a shape matched to the water supply pipe 34. The heat insulating main body 62 covers the pipe main body 50, the heat insulating base 64 covers the pipe base 52, and the pipe tip 54. A groove 67 into which the water supply pipe 34 is fitted is formed in each of the parts 62 to 66.

  After the water supply pipe 34 is covered with the pair of left and right heat insulating materials 60 as described above, it is attached to the heat insulating partition wall 36 as shown in FIG.

  According to the present embodiment, the water supply pipe 34 is formed of a metal pipe excellent in heat conduction, and the outer periphery thereof is covered by the heater wire 56, so that freezing can be prevented. In particular, since the heater wire 56 is also provided near the water supply port 38 at the pipe tip 54 where water tends to accumulate due to surface tension, icing can be reliably prevented, and in that case, the output of the heater wire and the energization rate Can be saved to save energy.

  In addition, since the heater wire 56 is arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface of the bent water supply pipe 34, and the heater wire 56 on the upper surface of the pipe tip 54 is arranged to protrude from the heater wire 56 on the lower surface, In addition to being able to adhere closely, there is no excessive force applied when the heater wire 56 is bent.

  Further, since the heater wire 56 is covered with the aluminum foil 58, heat is easily transmitted to the entire metal water supply pipe 34.

  In addition, since the water supply pipe 34 and the heater wire 56 are covered with the heat insulating material 60, the temperature of the water supply port can be maintained at 0 ° or more during water supply even if the energization rate of the heater wire is lowered.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Refrigerator, 12 ... Automatic ice making apparatus, 16 ... Cold room, 18 ... Vegetable room, 20 ... Ice making room, 24 ... Water supply tank, 26 ... Water supply pipe, 34 ... Water supply pipe, 38 ... Water supply port, 40 ... Ice tray, 50 ... Pipe body, 52 ... Pipe base, 54 ... Pipe tip, 56 ... Heater wire, 58 ... Aluminum foil, 60 ... Heat insulation

Claims (5)

In an automatic ice making device of a refrigerator having a water supply path for supplying water from a water supply tank arranged in the refrigerator compartment to an ice tray arranged in the ice making room,
A water supply opening for supplying water to the ice tray is opened at the tip of the water supply pipe constituting a part of the water supply path, and the tip is bent downward toward the ice tray,
Heater wires for heating the water supply pipe are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the tip of the water supply pipe,
An automatic ice making device for a refrigerator. The water supply pipe is made of metal, and the heater wire is attached to the outer periphery of the water supply pipe.
The automatic ice making device for a refrigerator according to claim 1. The heater wire extends along the axial direction of the water supply pipe, and is bent and meandered alternately at the base portion and the tip portion of the water supply pipe, thereby causing the base portion to the tip portion of the water supply pipe. Arranged,
The automatic ice making apparatus for a refrigerator according to claim 2. The heater wire arranged on the upper surface of the water supply pipe projects from the heater wire arranged on the lower surface of the water supply pipe to the tip side of the water supply pipe,
The automatic ice making apparatus for a refrigerator according to claim 3. The water supply pipe and the heater are covered with a heat insulating material,
The automatic ice making device for a refrigerator according to claim 1.

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