JP2014145519A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator with an ice-making device which is cheap and highly reliable.SOLUTION: A refrigerator has a configuration in which: an ice-making device is configured by an ice tray, driving means 22 for driving the ice tray and an ice-making device housing 14 in which the ice tray and the driving means are incorporated; in the ice-making device housing, a recess 17 for a connection member is integrally formed which is independent of ice-making space 16 in which the ice tray is installed; in the recess for a connection member, a recess opening is blocked by a wall surface of a storage chamber in which the ice-making device housing is incorporated to make substantially sealed space; and a connection member 24 is connected in the substantially sealed space. Thereby, even when outside air flows into the ice-making device portion when a door of the storage room is opened, the outside air does not go into the substantially sealed space which is wiring-connected, so that dew condensation does not occur on a wiring-connection member. Furthermore, a separate member is not needed when forming the substantially sealed space, and the substantially sealed space can be formed just by incorporating the ice-making device housing into the storage room; thus, cost does not increase.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a wiring connection portion configuration in an ice making device.

  Generally, an ice making device is incorporated in a part of a storage room of a refrigerator, and wiring of a driving means for driving an ice tray of the ice making device is connected to wiring from a main body control unit.

  The wiring connection part of the ice making device is in the ice making device and has a negative temperature, and the outside air that enters when the door of the storage chamber is opened to take out the ice may condense and cause a failure.

  For this reason, in the conventional refrigerator, a waterproof connector is used as the connection connector for the wiring so as not to cause a failure even if there is condensation.

  Alternatively, even if the door is opened and outside air enters, a substantially sealed connection part space is formed so that condensation does not occur in the wiring connection part, and the occurrence of condensation itself is prevented by performing wiring connection in this space. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  10 to 12 show the refrigerator described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1. 100 is an ice making device incorporated in the storage quality of the refrigerator, and a connection storage box 103 is provided on the side wall portion of the ice making space 102 where the ice making plate 101 is installed. In the connection storage box 103, the wiring connector 104 on the main body control unit side and the wiring connector 106 from the ice tray driving means 105 of the ice making device 100 are connected, and the wiring inlet of the wiring connector 106 is connected to the decorative plate 107. The connection storage box 103 is substantially sealed by being closed.

  According to such a configuration, even if the outside air enters the ice making device 100 portion by opening the door, the outside air does not enter the connection storage box 103, so that dew condensation occurs on the connection portions of the wiring connectors 104 and 106 in the connection storage box 103. Will not occur.

JP-A-4-302971

  Among the above conventional configurations, the former configuration has a problem that the cost is high because the waterproof connector is expensive.

  On the other hand, according to the configuration shown in the latter patent document 1, although it is not necessary to use a waterproof connector, it can be provided at a low cost. However, in order to make the configuration complicated and to form a substantially sealed space, the connection storage box 103 is provided. And a decorative board 107 are required, and there is a problem that the cost increases due to an increase in assembly man-hours and an increase in parts.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and highly reliable refrigerator that can prevent dew condensation without increasing the number of assembly steps and parts.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is arranged in a heat insulating refrigerator main body, a storage chamber provided in the refrigerator main body, an openable / closable door covering the opening of the storage chamber, and a part of the storage chamber. An ice making device, a control board for controlling the ice making device, wiring provided in the ice making device for exchanging control signals with the control board, and connecting the wiring to wiring from the control board A connecting member, and the ice making device includes an ice making tray, a driving means for driving the ice making tray, an ice making device housing incorporating the ice making tray and the driving means, and the ice making device housing includes the ice making tray. A concave portion for a connecting member independent of an ice making space where the ice making space is installed, and the concave portion for the connecting portion is closed by a wall surface of the storage chamber incorporating the ice making device housing to form a substantially sealed space, The connection in the substantially sealed space It is constituted of connecting the wood.

  As a result, even if the storage room door is opened and the outside air flows into the ice making device part, the outside air does not enter the substantially sealed space formed by the recess for the connecting member of the wiring and the wall surface of the storage room. Condensation does not occur on the wiring connection member located in the sealed space. In addition, since the substantially sealed space is formed by the connecting member recess formed integrally with the ice making device casing and the wall surface of the storage chamber incorporating the ice making device, a separate substantially sealed space forming member is not required. Moreover, since a substantially sealed space can be formed simply by incorporating the ice making device housing into the storage chamber, the number of assembly steps does not increase and the cost is not increased.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can prevent a failure due to dew condensation on the wiring connection portion without using a waterproof connector, or causing an increase in assembly man-hours or an increase in the number of parts, and can be an inexpensive and highly reliable refrigerator. .

Front view when opening the refrigerator door in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Front view showing the inside of the storage room in which the ice making device of the refrigerator is incorporated Sectional view of the main part of the refrigerator The exploded perspective view which shows the storage chamber frame and the ice storage container which attached the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator The perspective view which looked at the ice making device of the refrigerator from the diagonally upper side The perspective view which looked at the ice making device of the refrigerator from the front upper part Top view of the ice making device of the refrigerator Side view of the ice making device of the refrigerator Front view of the ice making device from the front A perspective view of an ice making device in a conventional refrigerator The perspective view which shows the connection storage box of the ice making apparatus in the conventional refrigerator Sectional drawing which shows the wiring connection state in the connection storage box of the ice making apparatus in the conventional refrigerator

  1st invention is a heat-insulating refrigerator main body, the storage chamber provided in the said refrigerator main body, the door which can be opened and closed which covers the opening of the said storage chamber, the ice making apparatus arrange | positioned in a part of the said storage chamber, A control board for controlling the ice making apparatus; wiring provided in the ice making apparatus for exchanging control signals with the control board; and a connecting member for connecting the wiring to wiring from the control board. The ice making device comprises an ice making tray, a driving means for driving the ice making tray, an ice making device housing incorporating the ice making tray and the driving means, and the ice making device housing is provided with the ice making tray. A concave portion for a connection member independent of the space is integrally formed, and the concave portion for the connection portion closes the concave opening by a wall surface of the storage chamber in which the ice making device casing is incorporated to form a substantially sealed space. The connection member is connected with Are you.

  As a result, even if the storage room door is opened and the outside air flows into the ice making device part, the outside air does not enter the substantially sealed space formed by the recess for the connecting member of the wiring and the wall surface of the storage room. Condensation does not occur on the wiring connection member located in the sealed space. In addition, since the substantially sealed space is formed by the connecting member recess formed integrally with the ice making device casing and the wall surface of the storage chamber incorporating the ice making device, a separate substantially sealed space forming member is not required. Moreover, since a substantially sealed space can be formed simply by incorporating the ice making device housing into the storage chamber, the number of assembly steps does not increase and the cost is not increased.

  According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the position where the wiring enters the substantially sealed space is provided at a position opposite to the position where the cold air is supplied to the ice making space via the substantially sealed space.

  As a result, even if outside air entering when the door is opened condenses on the wiring, the entry position of the wiring into the connecting member space is in a direction opposite to the flow direction of the cold air, so the condensation generated on the wiring. Water can be prevented from flowing through the wiring into the substantially sealed space due to the flow of cold air, and it is possible to more reliably prevent the condensation failure of the wiring connection portion in the substantially sealed space and improve the reliability.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the ice making device housing includes a groove-shaped cold air passage, and the cold air passage is opened by the wall of the storage chamber in which the ice making device housing is incorporated. The wiring from the driving means is configured to enter the substantially sealed space of the recess for the connecting member through the cold air passage.

  As a result, the wiring that touches the outside air that enters when the door is opened becomes a very small portion exposed from the cold air passage, and the wiring that is exposed to the wiring itself is negligible. As a result, the amount of dew condensation water that tends to flow can be reduced, and the dew condensation failure of the wiring connection portion in the substantially sealed space can be more reliably prevented.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first to third aspects of the invention, the ice making device includes an ice detecting lever that is driven in the vertical direction to detect the amount of ice, and when the ice detecting lever does not perform the detecting operation, the connecting member It is configured to be accommodated between the substantially sealed space of the concave portion for use and the ice making space.

  As a result, the ice detecting lever blocks even a little of the cold radiation from the ice making space, maintains the temperature of the substantially sealed space of the concave portion for the connecting member, and reduces the possibility of dew condensation at the wiring connecting portion. And can be made more reliable.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
1 is a front view when the door of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is opened, FIG. 2 is a front view showing the inside of a storage room in which the ice making device of the refrigerator is incorporated, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a storage chamber frame and an ice storage container to which the ice making device of the refrigerator is attached, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ice making device of the refrigerator as viewed from obliquely above, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the ice making device of the refrigerator, FIG. 8 is a side view of the ice making device of the refrigerator, and FIG. 9 is a front view of the ice making device of the refrigerator. It is a front view.

  1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator body, which has three storage chambers 2, 3, and 4. The upper storage chamber 2 is a refrigeration chamber (hereinafter referred to as a refrigeration chamber 2), and a lower storage chamber 3. Is a vegetable room (hereinafter referred to as the vegetable room 3), and the storage room 4 below is a freezer room (hereinafter referred to as the freezer room 4).

  The refrigerator main body 1 includes a metal (for example, iron plate) outer box 1a that opens forward, a hard resin (for example, ABS) inner box 1b, and the outer box 1a and the inner box 1b. It consists of a heat insulating material 1c such as hard urethane filled with foam.

  Moreover, the front surfaces of the refrigerator compartment 2, the vegetable compartment 3, and the freezer compartment 4 of the refrigerator main body 1 can be freely opened and closed by doors 5, 6, and 7 having heat insulation properties similar to those of the refrigerator main body 1. The door 5 of the refrigerating chamber 2 supports one end portion thereof so as to be rotatable, and the doors 6 and 7 of the vegetable chamber 3 and the freezing chamber 4 can be pulled out and opened and closed.

  A cooling chamber 8 is provided on the back surface of the freezer compartment 4 of the refrigerator body 1, and a cooler 9 that generates cold air and a blower fan (not shown) that supplies the cold air to each chamber are provided. A compressor (not shown) is provided at the back of the lower surface of the main body of the refrigerator body 1, and a condenser (not shown), a heat radiating pipe (not shown), a capillary tube (not shown), The refrigerant is enclosed in a refrigeration cycle in which the coolers 9 are sequentially connected in an annular manner, and a cooling operation is performed. Further, a recess 10 is formed in the back surface of the cooling chamber 8, and a control board 11 for controlling the cooling operation is disposed in the recess 10.

  12 is an ice making device incorporated in the upper part of the freezer compartment 4 and is controlled by a signal from the control board 11, and the configuration thereof will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  4 to 9, 13 is a storage chamber frame fitted and fixed to the upper inner peripheral wall of the freezer compartment 4, 14 is an ice making device casing assembled to the storage chamber frame 13, and is made of resin such as PS (polystyrene). It is formed in a box shape. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the ice making device casing 14 has a lower opening-shaped ice making space 16 in which the ice making tray 15 is rotatably installed, and the ice making space 16 is independent of the ice making space 16 next to the ice making space 16. A connecting member recess 17 having an upper opening is integrally formed. Further, the upper wall portion of the ice making space 16 is formed with grooved cold air passages 18 and 19, and the cold air from the cold air supply port 4 a (see FIG. 3) provided in the back wall of the freezer compartment 4 is directed to the cold air direction. The change wall 21 supplies the ice making space 16 from a large number of cold holes 20.

  Reference numeral 22 denotes driving means such as a motor provided on the opposite side of the ice making space 16 from the front side of the freezer compartment, that is, on the back side, which drives the ice tray 15 to drop and drop the ice. As shown in FIG. 6, the connecting member 24 of the wiring 23 from the driving means 22 is drawn into the connecting member recess 17 through the cold air passage 19 and the cold air passage blocking convex portion 19a, and from the control board 11. The connecting member 26 of the wiring 25 is also drawn into the connecting member concave portion 17 through the cold air passage 19 and the cold air passage closing convex portion 19a, and is connected in the connecting member concave portion 17. And the concave opening surface of the upper part of the said connection member recessed part 17 and each cold air | gas channel | path 18 and 19 attaches the ice making apparatus housing | casing 14 which integrally formed these to the storage chamber frame 13 of the freezer compartment 4 upper part, and the said freezer compartment. 4 is closed in contact with the ceiling wall. That is, each of the connecting member recesses 17 is a substantially sealed space. In this embodiment, although the connection member recess 17 is not particularly shown, a sponge-like flexible packing is attached to the opening surface to increase the sealing degree.

  An ice detecting lever 27 is disposed between the ice making space 16 of the ice making device casing 14 and the substantially sealed space formed by the connecting member recess 17. The ice detecting lever 27 is usually housed between the ice making space 16 and the connecting member recess 17 and is appropriately driven by the driving means 22.

An opening 29 for a water supply pipe 28 (see FIG. 3) is provided in the ceiling wall of the ice making space 16 on the drive means 22 side, and the cold air passage 19 detects the temperature in the ice making space 16 to detect the amount of cold air. Temperature detecting means 30 for adjusting the temperature is provided. Further, an ice storage container 32 integrated with a frozen product storage container 31 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the freezer compartment 4 below the ice making device 12, and is drawn out from the refrigerator body 1 by opening the door 7. It is like that.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

  First, cold air is generated in the cooling chamber 8, and this cold air is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 2, the vegetable compartment 3, and the freezer compartment 4 to cool these chambers.

  The cold air supplied to the freezer compartment 4 flows through the cold air passages 18 and 19 of the ice making device casing 14 and is supplied from the cold air holes 20 to the ice making space 16. The cold air supplied to the ice making space 16 cools the water in the ice tray 15 to make ice, and returns to the cooling chamber 8 from the cold air return port 4b (see FIG. 3) provided on the back surface of the freezing chamber 4. Then, the driving means 22 appropriately drives the ice detecting lever 27 based on the signal from the control board 11 to rotate downward, confirms the amount of ice in the ice storage container 32, and if the amount of ice is below a predetermined amount. The ice tray 15 is rotationally driven to drop the ice inside the ice storage container 32.

  In this state, when the user opens the door 7 of the freezer compartment 4 and pulls out the ice storage container 32 in order to take out the ice, outside air enters the freezer compartment 4 and the outside air drifts around the ice making device 12.

  However, in this refrigerator, the recess 17 for the connection member that connects the connection member 26 of the wiring 25 from the control board 11 and the connection member 24 of the wiring 23 of the driving means 22 has a concave opening in the upper part thereof. Therefore, air from outside the space does not enter the substantially sealed space. Therefore, no dew condensation due to the outside air occurs at the connection portions of the connection members 24 and 26 connected in the substantially sealed space, and there is a high reliability without a failure due to the dew condensation.

  Further, since the substantially sealed space is formed by the connecting member recess 17 integrally formed in the ice making device casing 14 and the ceiling wall surface of the freezer compartment 4 incorporating the ice making device 12, a separate substantially sealed space forming member is required. In addition, a substantially sealed space can be formed simply by incorporating the ice making device casing 14 into the freezer compartment 4. Therefore, in forming the substantially sealed space, the number of parts does not increase and the number of assembling steps does not increase, and the cost is not increased.

  In this embodiment, the entry position of the wiring 23 from the driving means 22 and the wiring 25 from the control board 11 into the substantially sealed space is the supply position of the cold air to the ice making space 16, that is, upstream of the cold air flow. Since this is provided at the opposite electrode position through a substantially sealed space, even if dew condensation occurs in the wiring 23 and 25 itself of the portion exposed from the cold air passage 19, this dew condensation water enters the connecting member recess 17 and causes failure. There is no cause. That is, even if the outside air that enters when the door 7 is opened touches the exposed portions 23a (see FIG. 6) of the wirings 23 and 25 to cause condensation, the entry position of the wirings 23 and 25 into the recess 17 for the connecting member is cold. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the condensed water generated in the wiring exposed portion 23a from flowing through the wirings 23 and 25 into the substantially sealed space of the connection member recess 17 by the flow of cold air. It is possible to reliably prevent dew condensation at the wiring connection part in a substantially sealed space.

  In particular, in this embodiment, since the cold air passage 19 is also closed by the ceiling wall surface of the freezer compartment 4 as described above, the outside air does not enter this portion, so that the connection member recess 17 is formed through the cold air passage 19. It is possible to prevent the outside air from touching and condensing most of the wiring 23 from the driving means 22 drawn into the substantially sealed space, and even if condensation occurs on the slight exposed portion 23a exposed from the cold air passage 19, As described above, the condensed water can be prevented from entering the substantially sealed space, and the failure caused by the condensed water generated in the wiring itself can be more reliably prevented.

  Further, since the ice making device 12 is configured such that the ice detecting lever 27 when the ice detecting operation is not performed is accommodated between the substantially sealed space of the concave portion 17 for the connecting member and the ice making space 16, the ice detecting lever 27 is made of ice. Even a slight amount of cold radiation from the space 16 can be shielded to increase and maintain the temperature of the substantially sealed space, thereby reducing the possibility of dew condensation occurring at the wiring connection portion. As a result, the probability of occurrence of condensation at the connection portion in the substantially sealed space can be reduced, and the occurrence of condensation can be prevented more reliably and the reliability can be improved.

  Moreover, since the packing is provided on the concave opening surface of the connecting member concave portion 17 constituting the substantially sealed space, the airtightness with the ceiling wall of the freezer compartment is improved, and there is a momentum for intrusion of outside air when the door is opened. However, this can be prevented more reliably. In particular, since the packing is formed of a sponge-like soft material, the airtightness at the entry position of the wiring 23 can be secured satisfactorily, and the entry of outside air can be more reliably prevented.

  Note that the substantially sealed space formed by the connecting member recess 17 and the ceiling wall surface of the freezer compartment 4 does not have to be completely sealed, so that outside air entering the vicinity of the ice making device does not enter when the door is opened. It goes without saying that a sealed one is sufficient.

  As described above, this refrigerator can prevent a failure due to condensation without causing an increase in the number of assembling steps and parts, but can be variously modified within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention. Needless to say.

  For example, although the concave opening for the connecting member recess 17 is provided on the upper surface and closed by the ceiling wall surface of the freezer compartment 4, the substantially closed space is formed. It may be closed with a wall surface to form a substantially sealed space.

  As described above, the present invention can prevent a failure due to dew condensation of the wiring connection portion without using a waterproof connector, or causing an increase in assembly man-hours or an increase in the number of parts, and an inexpensive and highly reliable refrigerator. It can be provided, and can be widely applied to refrigerators for business use as well as general use.

1 Refrigerator body 2 Refrigerated room (storage room)
3 Vegetable room (storage room)
4 Freezing room (storage room)
5, 6, 7 Door 8 Cooling chamber 9 Cooler 10 Recess 11 Control board 12 Ice making device 13 Storage chamber frame 14 Ice making device casing 15 Ice making plate 16 Ice making space 17 Recessed portion 18 for connecting member 18, 19 Cold air passage 20, 21 Cold air Hole 22 Driving means 23, 25 Wiring 24, 26 Connecting member 27 Ice detecting lever 28 Water supply pipe 29 Opening 30 Temperature detecting means 31 Frozen product storage container 32 Ice storage container

Claims (4)

A heat-insulating refrigerator body, a storage room provided in the refrigerator body, a door covering the opening of the storage room, an ice making device disposed in a part of the storage room, and a control for controlling the ice making device A board, a wiring provided in the ice making device for exchanging control signals with the control board, and a connecting member for connecting the wiring to a wiring from the control board; And a drive means for driving the ice tray, and an ice making device housing incorporating the ice making plate and the driving means, wherein the ice making device housing has a recess for a connecting member independent of the ice making space in which the ice making tray is installed. And the concave portion for the connection portion is configured to close the concave opening by the wall surface of the storage chamber incorporating the ice making device housing to form a substantially sealed space, and the connection member is connected in the substantially sealed space; Cold The refrigerator. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the entry position of the wiring into the substantially sealed space is configured to be provided at a position opposite to the supply position of the cold air to the ice making space via the substantially sealed space. The ice making device housing has a groove-shaped cold air passage, and the cold air passage closes the concave opening by the wall surface of the storage chamber incorporating the ice making device housing, and the wiring from the driving means is connected through the cold air passage. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the refrigerator is made to enter a substantially sealed space of the concave portion for members. The ice making device is provided with an ice detecting lever that detects the amount of ice by driving in the vertical direction, and when the ice detecting lever does not detect, the ice making device is stored between the substantially sealed space of the recess for the connecting member and the ice making space. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the refrigerator is configured as described above.