JP2013050238A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator including an ice-making device that can make various sizes of ice cubes which are the same in size.SOLUTION: The refrigerator 1 includes: a flexible ice maker tray 21 which is formed by connecting a plurality of ice-making pockets 22 with an open top where water is supplied, by means of connection grooves 22c for forming a water passage for the water to be supplied; and an ice-making device 20 that supplies water to the ice-making pockets 22 to make ice cubes, and rotates the ice maker tray 21 while twisting the ice maker tray, to remove the ice cubes from the tray. The refrigerator 1 has a first ice-making mode of supplying the ice-making pockets 22 with water to a first water level H1 for making ice, and a second ice-making mode of supplying water to a second water level H2 higher than the first water level H1 for making ice, to make different sizes of ice cubes 16. The depth of connection grooves 22m connected to the farthest ice-making pockets 22 from the ice-making pockets 22 located in a water supplying position is formed shallower than that of the first water level H1, while the depth of the other connection grooves 22c is formed deeper than that of the first water level H1.

Description

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

  A conventional refrigerator provided with an ice making device is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This refrigerator includes a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, and an ice making room. The ice making chamber communicates with the freezing chamber, and ice making is performed by the ice making device and ice separated by the ice making device is stored.

  The ice making device has a water supply tank arranged in the refrigerator compartment and an ice making tray arranged in the ice making room and supplied from the water supply tank. An ice storage container is arranged below the ice tray. The ice tray has flexibility and is rotatably arranged. The ice tray is provided with a plurality of ice making pockets that open the top surface and partition the ice. The ice making pockets are arranged in two rows in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft. Adjacent ice making pockets are connected by a connecting groove forming a water supply passage.

  In the refrigerator configured as described above, when water is supplied from the water supply tank to one ice making pocket of the ice making tray, water is supplied to each ice making pocket through the connection groove. When water is supplied to each ice making pocket to a predetermined water level, the water supply is stopped. Thereby, the ice tray is cooled by the cold air in the ice making chamber, and ice making is performed.

  When the water in the ice tray is frozen and ice making is completed, the ice tray is rotated. The ice tray is twisted by locking one end in the axial direction at a position where the upper surface of the ice making pocket faces downward and rotating the other end. As a result, the ice is released from the ice making pocket and falls and is stored in the ice storage container.

JP 2011-64374 A (page 4 to page 9, FIG. 3)

  While there is a need for a refrigerator that makes ice using an ice making device to increase the volume and make it difficult to melt the ice, there is also a need for a small volume of ice depending on the usage situation. For this reason, an ice making device is known in which the ice making pocket is enlarged, and ice making is performed at different feed water levels in the ice making pocket according to the user's selection to obtain ice of different sizes. That is, water is supplied to the ice making pocket to a predetermined first water level to make ice with a small volume, and water is supplied to a second water level higher than the first water level to make ice with a large volume. Thereby, the convenience of a refrigerator can be improved.

  At this time, as the ice making pocket becomes larger, the connecting groove has a longer flow path length, so that the surface tension increases. Further, when water is supplied to the ice tray, water is supplied to each ice making pocket through the connecting groove, and the water level of the ice making pocket is lowered in order as the water is moved away from the water supply position. For this reason, when the water is supplied to the first water level, the drop of water from the ice making pocket adjacent to the water supply position at a position away from the water supply position becomes small.

  Thereby, it becomes difficult for water to flow into the connecting groove at a position away from the water supply position. For this reason, each ice making pocket between the ice making pocket at the water supply position and the ice making pocket farthest from the water supply position may be stabilized at a water level higher than the first water level. Therefore, there is a problem that the water level in the ice making pocket farthest from the water supply position is insufficient, the water level is lowered, and the ice size is not uniform.

  An object of this invention is to provide the refrigerator provided with the ice making apparatus which can make ice with different magnitude | sizes in a uniform magnitude | size, respectively.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a flexible ice-making tray in which a plurality of ice-making pockets that are supplied with water having an upper surface opened are connected by connecting grooves that form water supply channels, and water is supplied to the ice-making pockets. And a first ice making mode for supplying ice to the ice making pocket to the first water level and making the ice in a refrigerator having an ice making device that rotates the ice making plate while twisting the ice making plate while twisting the ice making tray. It has a second ice making mode in which water is supplied to a higher second water level to make ice, and ice of different sizes is made and connected to the ice making pocket farthest from the ice making pocket at the water supply position The depth of the connecting groove is shallower than the first water level, and the depth of the other connecting grooves is deeper than the first water level.

  According to this configuration, when the first ice making mode is selected, water is supplied to a predetermined position of the ice tray, and water is sequentially supplied into adjacent ice making pockets via the connecting grooves deeper than the first water level. At this time, the ice making pocket located farthest from the ice making pocket at the water supply position is not supplied with water because the depth of the connecting groove is shallower than the first water level. When water is supplied to the first water level in each ice making pocket excluding the ice making pocket farthest from the water supply position, the water supply is stopped, and the water in the ice tray is frozen by the cold air to produce ice with a small volume. When ice making is completed, the ice tray is rotated while being twisted, and the ice is released from the ice making pocket and falls.

  When the second ice making mode is selected, water is supplied to a predetermined position of the ice tray, and water is sequentially supplied into adjacent ice making pockets via the connecting grooves. When water is supplied to the second water level in each ice making pocket, the water supply is stopped, and the water in the ice making tray is frozen by cold air to produce ice with a large volume. When ice making is completed, the ice tray is rotated while being twisted, and the ice is released from the ice making pocket and falls.

  In the refrigerator having the above-described configuration, the ice tray includes a plurality of rows of the ice making pockets that are partitioned by the vertical partition wall in the short direction and is partitioned by the horizontal partition wall in the longitudinal direction from the short direction. The ice making pockets in a plurality of rows are arranged in parallel, and the connecting grooves are formed in all the horizontal partition walls between the ice making pockets, and the vertical direction of the ice making pockets at the water supply position arranged at one end in the longitudinal direction. A depth of the connecting groove formed in the horizontal partition wall of the ice making pocket at a position farthest from the ice making pocket at the water supply position is made shallower than the first water level. .

  According to this configuration, when water is supplied to the ice making pockets at one end in the short direction and the long direction of the ice tray, water flows into the ice making pockets adjacent in the short direction via the connecting grooves provided in the vertical partition wall. Then, water flows from each ice making pocket at one end in the longitudinal direction into each ice making pocket toward the other end in the longitudinal direction via a connecting groove provided in the horizontal partition wall.

  In the refrigerator having the above-described configuration, the depth of the connection groove provided in the vertical partition wall of the ice making pocket at a position farthest from the ice making pocket at the water supply position is shallower than the first water level. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, since the depth of the connecting groove connected to the ice making pocket farthest from the ice making pocket at the water supply position is made shallower than the first water level, when making small ice in the first ice making mode, Water is not supplied to the ice making pocket located farthest from the water supply position. Thereby, water spreads to the first water level in each ice making pocket excluding the ice making pocket farthest from the water supply position. Further, in the second ice making mode, each connection groove is deeply formed with respect to the second water level, so that the water reaches the second water level in each ice making pocket of the entire ice tray. Therefore, ices having different sizes can be made in uniform sizes.

Side surface sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention The perspective view which looked at the ice tray of the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention from upper direction The top view which shows a part of ice tray of the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention AA sectional view of FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a main part of a refrigerator according to an embodiment. In the refrigerator 1, a refrigerator compartment 2 is arranged at the top, and a vegetable compartment 18 is arranged below the refrigerator compartment 2. The refrigerator compartment 2 refrigerates and preserves stored items, and the vegetable compartment 18 refrigerates and preserves stored items at a refrigeration temperature suitable for preserving vegetables and the like that are hotter than the refrigerator compartment 2.

  Below the vegetable compartment 18, an ice making compartment 3 communicating with a freezer compartment (not shown) is arranged. The freezing room and the ice making room 3 are maintained at a temperature lower than the freezing point. The refrigerator compartment 2 is opened and closed by a door 8, and the ice making chamber 3 is opened and closed by a door 13. Further, the refrigerator 1 is provided with an ice making device 20 having a water supply unit 5 disposed in the refrigerator compartment 2 and an ice making unit 6 disposed in the ice making chamber 3.

  The water supply unit 5 includes a water supply tank 4, a water supply pipe 14, a water supply pump 7, a water supply tank detection unit 19, and an antifreezing heater 15. The water supply tank 4 stores water for ice making and is detachably disposed from the refrigerator compartment 2 by opening and closing the door 8. The water supply pipe 14 is led out from the water supply tank 4 and extends on the ice making pocket 22 </ b> S (see FIG. 2) of the ice making tray 21 of the ice making unit 6.

  The water supply pump 7 is arranged in the path of the water supply pipe 14 and pumps water from the water supply tank 9 to supply water to the ice tray 21. The water tank detection unit 19 detects the mounting state of the water tank 4. The antifreezing heater 15 is provided in contact with the water supply pipe 14 and prevents freezing of water flowing through the water supply pipe 14. An antifreeze heater may be provided around the water supply tank 4. Thereby, freezing of the water in the water supply tank 4 is prevented.

  In the ice making chamber 3, the ice making unit 6 of the ice making device 20 is disposed above the ice storage container 11. The ice storage container 11 can store ice 16 and can be taken in and out by opening and closing the door 13. The ice making unit 6 includes an ice making tray 21, an ice making motor 10, and a detection lever 17. The ice tray 21 is supplied with water from the water supply tank 4 to make the ice 16 in the ice making chamber 3 below the freezing point. The ice making motor 10 has a rotating shaft 12 connected to the ice making tray 21 and rotationally drives the ice making tray 21. As will be described in detail later, the ice tray 21 is rotated and deiced while twisting. The detection lever 17 detects whether or not the ice storage container 11 is full.

  FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the ice tray 21 as viewed from above. The ice tray 21 is made of polypropylene containing silicon, has flexibility, and is rotatably arranged on the rotary shaft 12. The ice making tray 21 is provided with a plurality of ice making pockets 22 whose upper surfaces are opened (hereinafter, some ice making pockets 22 may be represented by 22S and 22E in particular).

  The ice making pocket 22 is partitioned by a vertical partition wall 22a extending in the axial direction (front-rear direction in the present embodiment) of the rotary shaft 12 and a horizontal partition wall 22b extending in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction (left-right direction in the present embodiment). Thereby, in the ice tray 21 of this embodiment, two rows of ice making pockets 22 are arranged in parallel in the lateral direction (left-right direction) orthogonal to the axial direction, and the ice making pockets in the longitudinal direction (front-back direction) in the axial direction. 22 are juxtaposed in four rows. In addition, you may arrange | position the axial direction of the ice tray 21 in the left-right direction. One or three or more ice making pockets 22 may be formed in the short direction of the ice tray 21, and it is sufficient that the ice making pockets 22 are formed in the longitudinal direction more than the short direction.

  Water is supplied from the water supply pipe 14 (see FIG. 1) to the ice making pocket 22S disposed at one end in the longitudinal direction and the short direction of the ice tray 21. At this time, the ice making pockets 22 </ b> E arranged at the other end in the longitudinal direction and the short side direction of the ice tray 21 are arranged farthest from the water supply position.

  The horizontal partition wall 22b and some of the vertical partition walls 22a have connection grooves 22c that open the upper surface and connect adjacent ice making pockets 22 (hereinafter, some of the connection grooves 22c may be represented by 22m and 22n in particular). Is formed. The connecting grooves 22c are provided in all the horizontal partition walls 22b between the adjacent ice making pockets 22 and the vertical partition walls 22a of the ice making pockets 22 at both ends in the longitudinal direction. The connecting groove 22c forms a water supply channel, and water is supplied to the ice making pockets 22 sequentially from the ice making pocket 22S directly below the water supply pipe 14 through the connecting groove 22c.

  That is, water flows from the ice making pocket 22S at the water supply position into the ice making pocket 22 adjacent in the short direction through the connecting groove 22c provided in the vertical partition wall 22a. Then, water flows into each ice making pocket 22 from each ice making pocket 22 (including 22S) at one end in the longitudinal direction to the other end in the longitudinal direction via a connecting groove 22c provided on the horizontal partition wall 22b.

  In addition, the ice tray 21 is provided with shielding ribs 23 that hang from both side surfaces of the upper end and face the side surfaces of the ice making pocket 22. Cold air hitting the upper part of the ice making pocket 22 is shielded by the shielding rib 23. The shielding rib 23 is provided with a notch 23a facing the horizontal partition wall 22b. The notch 23a can reduce the rigidity of the ice tray 21 so that the ice tray 21 can be easily twisted.

  A cord-shaped ice making heater (not shown) in which a heater wire is covered with silicon rubber or the like is disposed on the bottom surface of each ice making pocket 22. By driving the ice making heater, the water in the ice making pocket 22 is gradually frozen from the top, and the transparent ice 16 can be obtained.

  FIG. 3 is a top view showing a part of the ice tray 21. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. The upper surface of the ice tray 21 is arranged at the same distance from the center of rotation at both end portions 21a in the lateral direction (left-right direction) orthogonal to the axial direction. Thereby, both ends 21a rotate on the same rotation locus.

  The ice making device 20 has a first ice making mode in which the ice tray 21 is supplied with water up to the water level H1 to make ice, and a second ice making mode in which water is supplied to the water level H2 higher than the water level H1 to make ice. The first and second ice making modes can be switched by a user operation.

  The ice making pocket 22E farthest from the water supply position is connected to the adjacent ice making pocket 22 by a connecting groove 22m provided in the horizontal partition wall 22b and a connecting groove 22n provided in the vertical partition wall 22a. The lower ends of the connecting grooves 22m and 22n are arranged above the water level H1 and below the water level H2. The lower ends of the other connecting grooves 22c excluding the connecting grooves 22m and 22n are disposed below the water level H1.

  Thus, in the first ice making mode, water is supplied to each ice making pocket 22 excluding the ice making pocket 22E through the connecting groove 22c (excluding 22m and 22n). In the second ice making mode, water is supplied to each ice making pocket 22 including the ice making pocket 22E through the connecting groove 22c (including 22m and 22n).

  In the refrigerator 1 configured as described above, when the water supply tank detection unit 19 detects that the water supply tank 4 is mounted, the freeze prevention heater 15 is driven. When the first ice making mode is instructed, the water supply pump 7 is driven, and the ice tray 21 is supplied with water to the ice making pocket 22S immediately below the water supply pipe 14.

  Then, water is sequentially supplied from the ice making pocket 22S to the adjacent ice making pockets 22 through the connecting grooves 22c. At this time, as the distance from the water supply pipe 14 increases, the water drop in the ice making pocket 22 decreases. Since no water is supplied to the ice making pocket 22E farthest from the water supply pipe 14, each ice making pocket 22 to which water is supplied is arranged at a position close to the ice making pocket 22S.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the ice making pocket 22E is arranged in the fourth from the ice making pocket 22S to the adjacent ice making pocket 22, and the ice making pockets 22 to be supplied are arranged in the first to third. Thereby, even if each ice-making pocket 22 is stabilized at a water level higher than the water level H1, the amount of water deficient in the third ice-making pocket 22 from the ice-making pocket 22S is small, and a decrease in water level can be suppressed. Accordingly, water is uniformly supplied to each ice making pocket 22 except for the ice making pocket 22E.

  When water is supplied to the water level H1 of the ice making pocket 22 excluding the ice making pocket 22E, the water supply pump 7 is stopped and the ice making heater is driven. Thereby, the water in the ice making pocket 22 is gradually frozen by the cold air in the ice making chamber 3 and the heating of the ice making heater, and the transparent ice 16 having a small volume can be obtained.

  After the ice tray 21 is supplied with water, it is determined that the ice making is completed when a predetermined time elapses. Thereby, when it is detected by the detection lever 17 that the ice storage container 11 is not full, the ice removing operation is performed. That is, the ice tray 21 is rotated by the ice making motor 10. The ice tray 21 is twisted by rotating one end of the ice making pocket 22 at the position where the upper surface of the ice making pocket 22 faces downward, and further rotating the rotation shaft 12. As a result, the ice 16 is deiced and dropped from the ice making pocket 22 and stored in the ice storage container 11.

  When the second ice making mode is instructed, the water supply pump 7 is driven, and the ice tray 21 is supplied with water to the ice making pocket 22S immediately below the water supply pipe 14. Then, water is sequentially supplied from the ice making pocket 22S to the adjacent ice making pockets 22 through the connecting grooves 22c. At this time, the amount of water supply is large and the connecting groove 22c is sufficiently deep with respect to the water level H2. For this reason, even in the ice making pocket 22 </ b> E farthest from the water supply pipe 14, the drop of water is large, and the water spreads uniformly throughout the ice making tray 21.

  When water is supplied to the water level H2 of each ice making pocket 22, the water supply pump 7 is stopped and the ice making heater is driven. Thereby, the water in the ice making pocket 22 is gradually frozen by the cold air in the ice making chamber 3 and the heating of the ice making heater, and the transparent ice 16 having a larger volume than the first ice making mode (for example, 2.5 in the first ice making mode). Times). Further, as in the first ice making mode, the ice tray 21 is twisted while rotating and the ice 16 is deiced.

  According to this embodiment, since the depth of the connecting grooves 22m and 22n connected to the ice making pocket 22E farthest from the ice making pocket 22S at the water supply position is shallower than the first water level H1, the first ice making mode When the small ice 16 is made, water is not supplied to the ice making pocket 22E. Thereby, water spreads to each ice making pocket 22 except the ice making pocket 22E to the first water level H1. Further, in the second ice making mode, each connecting groove 22c is formed deep with respect to the second water level H2, so that the water reaches the second water level H2 in each ice making pocket 22 of the ice making tray 21 as a whole. Therefore, the ice 16 having different sizes can be made in a uniform size.

  In addition, the ice tray 21 has a plurality of (two rows) ice making pockets 22 that are partitioned by the vertical partition wall 22a in the short direction, and is partitioned by the horizontal partition wall 22b in the longitudinal direction, and more than the short direction. The ice making pockets 22 in a row (four rows) are arranged side by side. And the connection groove | channel 22c is formed in all the horizontal partition walls 22b between the ice making pockets 22, and the vertical partition wall 22a of the ice making pocket 22S of a water supply position.

  At this time, a connecting groove 22m shallower than the first water level H1 is provided in the horizontal partition wall 22b of the ice making pocket 22E. The ice making pockets 22 arranged at one end in the longitudinal direction including the ice making pockets 22S have a high water level when water is supplied, and the ice making pockets 22 connected in the longitudinal direction from these ice making pockets 22 are arranged in a straight line via the connecting grooves 22c. Therefore, water flows easily. For this reason, even if the connecting groove 22n is omitted, by providing the connecting groove 22m, it is possible to reliably supply water to the ice making pocket 22E farthest from the water supply position in the second ice making mode.

  In addition, by providing the connecting groove 22n shallower than the first water level H1 in the vertical partition wall 22a of the ice making pocket 22E, water can be reliably supplied by the ice making pocket 22E in the second ice making mode.

  According to this invention, it can utilize for the refrigerator provided with the ice making apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 2 Refrigeration room 3 Ice making room 4 Water supply tank 5 Water supply part 6 Ice making part 7 Water supply pump 10 Ice making motor 12 Rotating shaft 14 Water supply pipe 15 Antifreeze heater 16 Ice 17 Detection lever 18 Vegetable room 20 Ice making apparatus 21 Ice tray 21a edge part 22, 22S, 22E Ice making pocket 22a Vertical partition wall 22b Horizontal partition wall 22c, 22m, 22n Connection groove 23 Shielding rib 23a Notch

Claims (3)

  It has a flexible ice tray in which a plurality of ice making pockets that are supplied with water being opened is connected by connecting grooves that form a water supply channel, and water is supplied to the ice making pockets to make ice, and the ice making tray is In a refrigerator equipped with an ice making device that rotates while twisting to remove ice, the ice making pocket supplies water to the first water level to make ice, and water is supplied to the second water level higher than the first water level to make ice. A second ice making mode is used to make ice of different sizes, and the depth of the connecting groove connected to the ice making pocket farthest from the ice making pocket at the water supply position is set to the first depth. A refrigerator characterized in that it is shallower than the water level and the depth of the other connecting groove is deeper than the first water level.   The ice tray is provided with a plurality of rows of ice making pockets that are partitioned by a vertical partition wall in the short direction and a plurality of rows of ice making pockets that are partitioned by a horizontal partition wall in the longitudinal direction. The connecting grooves are formed in all the horizontal partition walls between the ice making pockets and are formed in the vertical partition walls of the ice making pockets at the water supply position arranged at one end in the longitudinal direction, and the ice making at the water supply position is formed. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a depth of the connection groove provided in the horizontal partition wall of the ice making pocket farthest from the pocket is made shallower than the first water level.   The depth of the said connection groove provided in the said vertical partition wall of the said ice making pocket of the position farthest from the ice making pocket of the water supply position was made shallower than the 1st water level. refrigerator.

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