JP2013245868A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance user's convenience by efficiently cleaning an ice tray with one-time automated cleaning since the ice tray, that can be cleaned using an automated cleaning function, is sometimes not cleaned thoroughly in a refrigerator with the automated ice making function.SOLUTION: A refrigerator includes: an ice making system comprising an ice tray 31 and an ice making motor 32 that moves the ice tray 31; and a water supply system comprising a water supply tank 21 for supplying water to the ice tray 31, and a water supply pipe 25, also includes an automated ice making tool 12 that separates the ice from the ice tray 31 by moving the ice making motor 32, and has a cleaning function that causes the water supply system to supply water to the ice tray 31, and causes the ice making motor 32 to oscillate the ice tray 31 multiple times to perform cleaning.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a cleaning function of an automatic ice maker in a refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice maker.

  In the refrigerator, a water supply tank is installed in the refrigerator, an ice tray that is rotated by an ice making motor is installed in the freezer compartment, and water is supplied from the water tank to the ice tray through the water supply path by a water supply pump. There are those equipped with an automatic ice maker for making ice.

  In this case, the water supply tank can be attached to and detached from the refrigerator, and when supplying water to the water supply tank, the water supply tank is taken out of the refrigerator and the water is exchanged. The water in the water supply tank is sent to an ice tray by a water supply pump and cooled in the freezer compartment to become ice. Then, after the ice is made in the ice tray, the ice tray is rotated by the driving device, twisted to release the ice, and the ice dropped from the ice tray is stored in the ice storage container.

  The user may remove the ice tray from the refrigerator with the automatic ice maker and wash it with a sponge or detergent. Ice trays washed with water by a user may be finely scratched by a sponge or the like, and may not be deiced when twisted with an automatic ice making device.

  In order to prevent such a situation, Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator that can automatically clean an ice tray by supplying water from a water supply tank by a water supply pump and discarding the water in an ice storage container.

JP 2006-329571 A

  Although the ice tray can be cleaned by using the automatic cleaning described in Patent Document 1, it may not be able to be cleaned sufficiently. In addition, users who are not satisfied with one automatic cleaning may repeat automatic cleaning many times.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having a cleaning function more effective than conventional automatic cleaning.

  The refrigerator according to the present invention has an ice making system including an ice tray and an ice making tray operation unit that moves the ice making tray, and a water supply system that supplies water to the ice tray, and moves the ice tray operation unit from the ice making tray. It has an automatic ice maker that de-ices ice, and has a cleaning function of supplying water to the ice tray from the water supply system and performing cleaning by swinging the ice tray a plurality of times by the ice tray operating section.

  Moreover, the water supply from a water supply system may be once, and you may provide the washing | cleaning function which wash | cleans by rock | fluctuating an ice-making tray in multiple times.

  Moreover, you may use warm water as water used for washing | cleaning.

  In addition, an ice storage container for storing deiced ice is further provided, and after washing, the ice tray is moved by the ice tray operation unit to dispose of the water used for cleaning into the ice storage container and remove the water in the ice storage container. You may have.

  In addition, after the guidance, water may be automatically supplied to the ice tray from the water supply system.

  Further, the ice tray operating unit may be moved at a smaller angle when the ice tray is thrown away than when the ice is removed.

  According to the refrigerator of the present invention, since the ice tray can be efficiently cleaned by one automatic cleaning, it is possible to reduce the number of times the user repeats cleaning, and convenience is improved. Further, the water used can be reduced by swinging the ice tray a plurality of times with a single water supply.

  Moreover, effective washing | cleaning can be performed by using warm water as water, and it can also disinfect.

  In addition, the convenience of the user is improved by having a guide function for discarding water.

  In addition, by automatically supplying water after the guidance for throwing away water, ice making can be performed automatically and the convenience of the user is improved.

  Further, the ice tray can be cleaned in a short time by moving it at a smaller angle when the water is discarded than when the ice is removed.

It is a front view of the refrigerator used for this invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator used for this invention. It is sectional drawing of the automatic ice maker of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the washing | cleaning function of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the ice tray of this invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the ice tray of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conventional washing | cleaning function. It is sectional drawing of the automatic ice maker of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the washing | cleaning function of Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Embodiment 1

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator used in the present invention.

  The refrigerator 1 has a refrigerator compartment 2, a vegetable compartment 3, and a freezer compartment 4 as storage rooms. Each storage room is set to a temperature according to the application, the refrigerator compartment 2 is set to 4 degrees, for example, for storing food and beverages, the vegetable room 3 is set to 8 degrees, and is used for storing vegetables, The freezer compartment 4 is set to −20 degrees, for example, and is used for storing ice and frozen food.

  Each storage room has a door, the refrigerator compartment 2 has double doors 5L and 5R, and the vegetable compartment 3 and the freezer compartment 4 have drawer doors 6 and 7, respectively. The door 5L has an operation panel 8, which can be used for temperature setting, ion generator setting, automatic ice maker setting, and the like, and has an LED or liquid crystal display. The operation panel 8 is connected to a control microcomputer, and the above settings are reflected via the control microcomputer.

  The refrigerator 1 has an automatic ice making function for automatically making ice. The automatic ice making function includes a water supply tank 21 in the refrigerator compartment 2, an ice storage container 33 in the freezer compartment 4, and the like. Details will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

  A compressor 9 is provided on the rear surface of the refrigerator 1, and a cooler 10, a condenser (not shown) and an expander are connected to each other, and a refrigerant such as isobutane is circulated therein to form a refrigeration cycle. A cool air passage is provided behind each storage chamber, and air exchanged with the cooler 10 on the low temperature side of the refrigeration cycle is sent to each storage chamber via the cold air passage. A blower and a damper are arranged in the cold air passage to control the cold air to each storage room. The blower and damper are controlled by a control microcomputer (not shown).

  In the refrigerator compartment 2, there are a plurality of shelves 11 for placing food. Below the refrigerator compartment 2 is a vegetable compartment 3. Below the vegetable compartment 3 is a freezer compartment 4. Each storage room is partitioned by a heat insulating wall.

  The refrigerator 1 has an automatic ice maker 12 that realizes an automatic ice making function for automatically making ice. The automatic ice maker 12 is divided into a water supply system 20 and an ice making system 30. The water supply system 20 has a water supply tank 21 and the like in the lower left portion of the refrigerator compartment 2, and the ice making system 30 has an ice making tray 31 and an ice storage container 33 and the like in the upper left portion of the freezer compartment 4.

  Water is supplied from the water supply tank 21 to the ice tray 31 through a water supply pipe 25. The water supply pipe 25 is extended from the refrigerator compartment 2 to the freezer compartment 4 through the vegetable compartment 3 and the heat insulation wall. The water supply pipe 25 can prevent freezing by passing through the vegetable room 3 having a relatively high temperature in the refrigerator 1. The water supply pipe 25 need not pass through the vegetable compartment 3 and may pass through the heat insulating wall.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the automatic ice maker 12 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic ice maker 12 exists across a plurality of storage rooms. The automatic ice maker 12 includes a water supply system 20 for supplying water and an ice making system 30 for producing ice. The water supply system 20 includes a water supply tank 21, a water supply pump 24, a water supply pipe 25, and the like. The ice making system 30 includes an ice making tray 31, an ice making motor 32, an ice storage container 33, and the like.

  A water supply tank 21 is installed in the refrigerator compartment 2. This is because if the water supply tank 21 is disposed in the freezer compartment 4, the water in the water supply tank 21 is frozen. Further, the water supply tank 21 may be provided in the vegetable compartment 3, but since the refrigerator compartment 2 has a lower temperature than the vegetable compartment 3, the supplied water can be frozen quickly. Is preferred.

  The water supply tank 21 is provided with a lid 22 to prevent dust and dust from entering the water supply tank 21 and to prevent water from spilling into the refrigerator compartment 2. The water supply tank 21 can be taken out from the door side by a slide mechanism from the lid 22.

  A water supply pipe 23 is installed in the water supply tank 21. A water supply pump 24 is installed on the water supply tank 21, and the water in the water supply tank 21 is sent to the water supply pipe 25 through the water supply pipe 23. Instead of pumping by the water supply pump 24, a hole may be formed in the bottom of the water supply tank 21, and water may be supplied to the water supply pipe 25 by opening and closing the hole.

  A water supply pipe 25 of the water supply system 20 extends from the refrigerator compartment 2 through the vegetable compartment 3 into the freezer compartment 4. The water supply pipe 25 prevents freezing by shortening the piping in the freezer compartment 4. Water supply from the water supply system 20 is performed by a control microcomputer.

  An ice tray 31 is installed in the freezer compartment 4. Water in the water supply tank 21 is supplied to the ice tray 31 from the water supply pipe 25, and the ice is made by a freezing action. The ice tray 31 has a plurality of recesses for holding water in order to generate ice having a predetermined shape. The water in the ice tray 31 is frozen when the inside of the freezer compartment 4 is cooled to a temperature below the freezing point by the cool air generated by the cooler provided in the refrigerator 1.

  The ice tray 31 is provided with a thermistor 35 on the back. The thermistor 35 is connected to the control microcomputer. When water is supplied from the water supply pipe 25, the temperature of the ice tray 31 rises. Therefore, the control microcomputer measures the temperature of the ice tray 31 with the thermistor 35 to reliably detect that water is being supplied. Can do. The thermistor 35 also allows the control microcomputer to detect the completion of ice.

  The ice tray 31 is connected to an ice making motor 32 that is an ice tray operating unit that moves the ice tray 31. The ice making motor 32 is controlled by a control microcomputer so as to operate the motor to apply a twisting operation to the ice making tray 31 so that the ice is detached from the ice making plate 31 and dropped into the ice storage container 33. have. Note that the ice removing method by the ice making motor 32 is not limited to this.

  The ice storage container 33 is disposed below the ice tray 31 and stores the ice released from the ice tray 31. The ice storage container 33 is provided so as to be detachable from the freezer compartment 4, and the user pulls out the door 7, takes out the ice storage container 33, and uses ice.

  The ice making motor 32 includes an ice storage detection lever 34. The ice making motor 32 has a function of detecting whether or not the ice storage amount in the ice storage container 33 is in a saturated state by rotating the ice storage detection lever 34. When it is detected by the ice storage detection lever 34 that the ice storage amount in the ice storage container 33 is saturated, the control microcomputer does not execute the automatic ice making function until the saturation state of the ice storage container 33 is resolved. Is set.

  As described above, the refrigerator 1 has the automatic ice maker 12 that automatically creates ice. Further, in the automatic ice maker 12 of this embodiment, a water heater 26 is juxtaposed to the water supply pipe 25 to prevent freezing. The water heater 26 does not need to be energized at all times, and it is preferable to energize it as necessary to save energy and at the same time not affect the surrounding food.

  If it demonstrates in detail, since the water supply pipe 25 is exposed to low temperature cold by being arrange | positioned from the refrigerator compartment 2 through the vegetable compartment 3 over the freezer compartment 4, water remains in the water supply pipe 25. In some cases, the water may freeze. In particular, the tip of the water supply pipe 25 located in the vicinity of the ice tray 31 in the freezer compartment 4 maintained below freezing is likely to freeze. When the water supply pump 24 is driven in a state where the inside of the water supply pipe 25 is frozen, not only water cannot be supplied to the ice tray 31 through the water supply pipe 25 but also internal gears of the water supply pump 24 are damaged. Concerned.

  Therefore, the refrigerator 1 is provided with a water heater 26 that heats the water supply pipe 25. The feed water heater 26 is disposed in contact with the feed water pipe 25 and is used for preventing freezing of the water in the feed water pipe 25 and freezing. As shown in FIG. 3, the feed water heater 26 extends to the periphery of the feed water tank 21 and the feed water pump 24, so that freezing of water inside these can also be prevented.

  The water heater 26 has a heating intensity corresponding to two stages of release of freezing and prevention of freezing in the water supply pipe 25. It is possible to set the strength to two or more levels. The feed water heater 26 is an electric heater, and the power supply to the feed water heater 26 is adjusted by controlling the energization rate from the power supply circuit to the feed water heater 26 by the control microcomputer.

  Here, in order to release the freezing of the water in the water supply pipe 25, heat of melting ice (= 80 [cal / g] = 334.72 [J / g]) is required as the heat capacity of the water heater 26, This melting heat of ice is comparable to the energy that raises the temperature of water by 80 degrees.

  Therefore, the power at the time of releasing the freeze is set so that a sufficiently large heating amount can be obtained as compared with the heating amount obtained by the feed water heater 26 when the freeze prevention power is supplied to the feed water heater 26. As described above, this is because the heat of melting of ice is higher than the heat capacity of water. For example, the power at the time of releasing freeze can be set to 3.0 W, and the power at the time of preventing freezing can be set to 1.5 W.

  Next, the automatic washing function of the ice tray 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the cleaning function of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the operation of the ice tray of the present invention.

  First, the user selects the automatic cleaning mode (flow chart 41). The automatic cleaning mode is executed by selecting an operation unit for the automatic cleaning mode on the operation panel 8 in the door 5L of the refrigerator 1. At this time, the ice tray 31 is horizontally arranged as shown in FIG.

  When the operation unit for the automatic cleaning mode is selected, it may be detected whether the amount of water necessary for automatic cleaning is in the water supply tank 21. When the detected amount of water is not sufficient for cleaning, the control microcomputer displays a display for prompting water supply on the display unit of the operation panel 8. By doing so, user convenience is improved.

  Next, an ice removing operation is performed (flow chart 42). As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the ice making motor 31 is moved by about θa, which is substantially inverted by the ice making motor 32, and the ice is detached from the ice making plate 31 by applying a twisting action, and dropped into the ice storage container 33. As a result, there is no ice in the ice tray 31 and preparation for cleaning is completed. It should be noted that the water in the ice tray 31 is not frozen and contains water, or may be empty for some reason. Even in such a case, in order to ensure that the ice tray 31 is empty. It is recommended to perform the de-icing operation.

  At this stage, a display for prompting the display unit on the operation panel 8 to move the ice in the ice storage container 33 to another place may be displayed. If it does in this way, since the water used for washing | cleaning after this will fall in the ice storage container 33, it can prevent that the stored ice becomes unusable.

  Then, a water supply operation is performed (flow chart 43). As shown in FIG. 5A, the water in the water supply tank 21 is supplied from the water supply pipe 25 to the ice tray 31. The amount of water supplied may be the same as that during ice making, or a larger amount of water may be supplied than during ice making. By using a larger amount of water than at the time of ice making, the top of the ice tray 31 can be washed and can be washed efficiently.

  Next, a swing operation is performed (flow chart 44). As shown in FIG. 6C, the ice making tray 31 is swung so that the ice making motor 32 is at the apex, and the surface of the ice making portion of the ice making tray 31 is washed with water in the ice making tray 31.

  At this time, the ice tray 31 is preferably tilted to θb, which is smaller than the vertical, and rocked a plurality of times. This is because water spills when it is almost reversed as in the ice-breaking operation, so it cannot be shaken multiple times, and if it is shaken to an angle close to vertical, it will prevent the time for one shake from becoming longer. Because. The swinging angle θb may be set to an angle that prevents water from spilling as much as possible from the ice tray 31. However, if the ice storage container 33 or the like is below, it may spill slightly. In the case of moving at a swing angle θb that spills water, the water supply operation may be automatically performed a plurality of times.

  Further, the water used can be reduced by swinging the ice tray a plurality of times with a single water supply. Furthermore, the cleaning can be performed with a slight rocking motion, leading to a reduction in time. Since it is necessary to move in a limited space in the freezer compartment 4, it is preferable to move it in small increments. By swinging the ice tray 31 a plurality of times in this way, it becomes difficult for the water to spill during cleaning, so that it is possible to prevent water from disappearing from the ice tray 31 during the cleaning.

  Finally, a water draining operation is performed (flow chart 45). As shown in FIG. 6 (d), the ice making motor 32 is moved by θc, and the water used for washing is discarded from the ice making tray 31 to the ice storage container 33. When the water has been discarded, the ice tray 31 is returned to the original horizontal state by the ice making motor 32.

  At this time, since the contents of the ice tray 31 are water, the water can be dropped and thrown away even if it is not tilted as much as during the ice removal operation. Therefore, when the water is thrown away, the cleaning time can be shortened by inclining θc, which is an angle smaller than the angle θa during the ice removing operation.

  The ice making motor 32 can be moved at an optimum angle for each operation by moving the ice tray 31 so that the angle θb at the time of cleaning <the angle θc at the time of water removal <the angle θa at the time of ice removal.

  This completes the automatic cleaning (flow chart 46).

  On the other hand, a flowchart of a conventional automatic ice making function is shown in FIG. When the user selects the cleaning mode (flow chart 61), the ice is removed and the ice is removed from the ice tray 31 and dropped into the ice storage container 33 (flow chart 62). Then, the water supply operation is performed, and the water in the water supply tank 21 is supplied from the water supply pipe 25 to the ice tray 31 (flow chart 63), the ice removing operation is performed as it is, and the ice making motor 32 twists the ice tray 31. As a result, the water used for washing falls from the ice tray 31 to the ice storage container 33 (flow chart 64).

  The above is the automatic washing function provided in the conventional refrigerator, which simply supplies water to the ice tray 31 as in ice making and drops the water into the ice storage container 33 as it is. Sometimes it could not be washed.

  Therefore, a user who is not satisfied with one automatic cleaning repeatedly presses a button for selecting an automatic cleaning mode on the operation panel and repeats the automatic cleaning function (flow charts 65 and 66). In general, since a refrigerator for home use is invisible from the inside of the storage room, it is necessary for the user to open and close the door many times for confirmation. Not only is the opening / closing operation of the door troublesome, but opening and closing the door many times in a short time causes a problem that the outside air enters the freezer compartment and the temperature in the cabinet rises.

  However, according to the present invention, since the ice tray 31 can be efficiently cleaned by one automatic cleaning, the conventional problems can be greatly reduced.

Embodiment 2

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an automatic ice maker according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the description will be focused on the parts different from the first embodiment. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the cleaning capability is increased by using warm water as water used at the time of cleaning. The automatic ice maker 12 of this embodiment is provided with an ice tray heater 36 on the bottom surface of the ice tray 31 in the freezer compartment 4.

  The ice tray heater 36 may be attached to the bottom of the ice tray 31 in order to increase the transparency of ice. In such a case, the ice tray heater 36 may be used as it is.

  When the user selects the cleaning mode, the ice removal operation is performed to remove the ice from the ice tray 31 and drop it into the ice storage container 33. Then, a water supply operation is performed, and water in the water supply tank 21 is supplied to the ice tray 31 from the water supply pipe 25. The amount of water supplied may be the same as that during ice making, or a smaller amount of water may be supplied than during ice making. When a smaller amount of water is used than when ice making, the cleaning efficiency can be increased by rocking at an angle larger than the angle θb of the first embodiment.

  After the water is supplied to the ice tray 31, the ice tray heater 36 operates to warm the water in the ice tray 31. The washing effect can be enhanced with warm water rather than with cold water. In addition to enhancing the cleaning effect, most bacteria are killed at a water temperature of 49 degrees, and almost all bacteria are killed at 65 degrees, so that a bactericidal effect can also be obtained. Therefore, the sterilization effect can be obtained by heating the ice tray 31 with the ice tray heater 36 so that the water temperature in the ice tray 31 is about 50 to 65 degrees.

  Even if the ice making tray 31 is in an ice making chamber dedicated to ice making, or in the freezer compartment 4 and away from other stored items, even if the temperature is increased by the ice making heater 36, the surroundings are affected. Since it is difficult to give, there is no problem, but if there is a stored item nearby, it may affect the stored item, so it is more desirable to perform pasteurization at about 50 degrees.

  As described above, the electric power necessary for the melting heat of ice, that is, the electric power at the time of freezing is comparable to the energy when the temperature of water is raised by 80 degrees. Considering that the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 2 is about 4 degrees and the water temperature in the water supply tank 21 in the refrigerator compartment 2 is also 4 degrees, the ice tray heater 36 may be a heater having a calorific value that is used when the water heater 26 is released from freezing. There is enough heat generation.

  Next, a rocking operation is performed, the ice tray 31 is rocked by the ice making motor 32, and the surface of the ice making portion of the ice tray 31 is washed with hot water in the ice tray 31. Finally, the ice making motor 32 applies a twisting operation to the ice tray 31 to drop the water used for cleaning from the ice tray 31 to the ice storage container 33, thereby completing the cleaning operation.

  When washing with warm water, the amount of heat generated by the ice tray heater 36 may increase. Therefore, it is desirable not to affect the surroundings by covering the surfaces other than the surface in contact with the ice tray 31 with a heat insulating material. .

  Further, if the ice tray heater 36 is used, the surroundings may be affected. Therefore, the water supplied into the ice tray 31 may be warmed using the water heater 26. At this time, the water may be warmed with the electric power at the time of releasing the freezing of the water heater 26 described above. Furthermore, if the water heater 26 and the ice tray heater 36 are used in combination to warm the water, the heat generated by the ice tray heater 36 can be reduced and the influence on the surroundings can be reduced.

  Further, after the ice tray 31 has been washed, cold air is blown to the ice tray 31 to be once cooled, and then the ice making operation may be started. At that time, if air is blown to the ice making portion of the ice tray 31, dust in the freezer compartment 4 or dust in the cold air passage in the refrigerator 1 may be attached to the ice making portion of the ice tray 31. Cool air may be blown to the side surface of the ice tray 31.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the ice tray 31 can be more effectively cleaned, so that the conventional problems can be greatly reduced.

Embodiment 3

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the cleaning function of the third embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, a description will be given centering on differences from the first and second embodiments. In this embodiment, the flow at the time of discarding the water used at the time of washing differs from the other embodiments.

  When the user selects the cleaning mode (flow 71), the ice removal operation is performed to remove the ice from the ice tray 31 and drop it into the ice storage container 33 (flow 72). And water supply operation | movement is performed and the water in the water supply tank 21 is supplied to the ice tray 31 from the water supply pipe 25 (flow 73).

  Next, a rocking operation is performed, the ice tray 31 is rocked by the ice making motor 32, and the surface of the ice making portion of the ice tray 31 is washed with warm water in the ice tray 31 (flow 74). Before the swinging operation, the water in the ice tray 31 may be warmed by the ice tray heater 36, or the supplied water may be warmed by the water heater 26 to enhance the cleaning effect.

  Next, water used for washing is thrown away from the ice tray 31 to the ice storage container 33 by the ice making motor 32 (flow 75). Thereafter, when the ice tray 31 returns to the horizontal position, the control microcomputer displays a warning so that the water in the ice storage container 33 is removed on the display unit of the operation panel 8 (flow 76). This warning may be displayed by characters, marks, warning lights, or voice guidance.

  After the user opens the door 7 of the freezer compartment 4 and removes the water in the ice storage container 33, the user returns the ice storage container 33 to its original position, closes the door 7, and cancels the warning display on the operation panel 8. By canceling the warning display, the control microcomputer determines that the cleaning operation has been completed (flow 77).

  Note that not only the user determines that the cleaning operation has been completed by operating the operation panel 8, but the cleaning operation is automatically terminated using a sensor that detects that the ice storage container 33 has returned to its original position. You may make it judge.

  When the control microcomputer determines that the cleaning has been completed, it operates the automatic ice maker 12 to start the water supply operation and start automatic ice making (flow 78).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, not only can the ice tray 31 be efficiently washed, but automatic ice making is automatically started, so that the user's trouble can be reduced.

  As described above, the embodiment has been described with reference to the drawings. However, various modifications of the embodiment of the present invention are possible. For example, the water supply system 20 has been described using a water supply system that supplies water manually, but a water supply system that automatically supplies water by piping to the refrigerator 1 can also be used. In addition, when the user selects automatic cleaning, a series of cleaning can be automatically performed a plurality of times.

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with an automatic ice maker that automatically executes a series of ice making operations for supplying ice from a water supply tank to an ice tray to produce ice, and particularly relates to control of washing of the ice tray.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 2 Refrigeration room 3 Vegetable room 4 Freezing room 8 Operation panel 9 Compressor 10 Cooler 12 Automatic ice making machine 20 Water supply system 21 Water supply tank 24 Water supply pump 25 Water supply pipe 26 Water supply heater 30 Ice making system 31 Ice tray 32 Ice making motor (ice making motor) Dish moving part)
33 Ice storage container 35 Thermistor 36 Ice tray heater

Claims (6)

An ice making system comprising an ice tray and an ice making tray operation unit for moving the ice tray, and a water supply system for supplying water to the ice tray, and moving the ice tray operation unit to remove ice from the ice tray. In a refrigerator equipped with an automatic ice maker,
A refrigerator having a cleaning function of supplying water to the ice tray from the water supply system and performing cleaning by swinging the ice tray a plurality of times by the ice tray operating unit.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning function of performing cleaning by oscillating the ice tray a plurality of times once by supplying water from the water supply system.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein warm water is used as the water used for the washing.   An ice storage container for storing deiced ice is further provided. After the cleaning, the ice tray is moved by the ice tray operating unit to dispose of the water used for cleaning to the ice storage container, and the water in the ice storage container is removed. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator has a guiding function.   The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein water is automatically supplied from the water supply system to the ice tray after the guidance. 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice tray operating unit moves the ice tray at a smaller angle when the water is discarded than when the ice is released.