JP2502032B2 - Automatic ice machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device for automatically producing transparent ice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an automatic ice making device provided in a household refrigerator, water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice making tray to make ice, and after the ice making, the driving mechanism rotates the ice making tray to turn it upside down. There is provided a device in which the operation of releasing ice to store ice, and then supplying water to the ice making tray again to make ice is repeated.

[0003]

However, since the ice produced by such an automatic ice making device generally freezes almost uniformly from the entire surface, only opaque ice containing air bubbles inside can be produced. For this reason, there is a demand for a device that can make transparent ice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ice making device which can satisfactorily produce transparent ice and which can be achieved with a simple structure.

[0005]

According to the present invention, water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice tray to make ice, and after ice making, a drive mechanism rotates the ice tray about a shaft to turn it upside down. In the automatic ice making device configured to release ice by the above, the ice tray is configured to be movable in the axial direction of the shaft portion, and vibration imparting means for imparting vibration in the axial direction to the ice tray during ice making is provided. Further, the present invention is characterized in that a pressing member for pressing and urging the ice tray is provided in a direction opposite to the vibration applying direction of the vibration applying means to the ice tray.

[0006]

When the ice making tray is vibrated by the vibration applying means during ice making, the formation of ice on the water surface side is delayed, and ice is sequentially formed from the bottom side of the ice making tray, so that the water surface side is formed last. The transparent ice can be satisfactorily made by promoting the escape of the bubbles contained in.

Since the ice tray is made to vibrate in the axial direction of the shaft portion which is the center of rotation of the ice tray, the ice tray is easily vibrated while allowing the rotation of the ice tray at the time of ice removal. It can be made to have a structure.

Further, when vibration is applied by the vibration applying means, the biasing force of the pressing member urges the ice making tray against the vibration giving means, so that there is a play between the vibration giving means and the ice making tray. It can prevent sticking as much as possible,
It is possible to reduce the vibration noise generated between the vibration applying means and the ice tray when applying the vibration.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 2, a freezer compartment 2, a refrigerating compartment 3, an ice making compartment 4 and the like are formed inside the refrigerator main body 1, and the cool air cooled by the cooler 5 is blown by the fan 6 into these compartments 2, 3. , 4 are supplied.
An automatic ice making device 7 according to the present invention is provided in the ice making room 4, which will be described in detail below.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a rectangular box-shaped machine body arranged in the front part of the upper part of the ice making chamber 4, and as shown in FIG. 1, an L-shaped support member 9 protruding rearward at one end part of the rear surface. Is provided. Inside the machine body 8, a motor 10, a gear mechanism 11,
A drive mechanism 13 including an output shaft 12 and a shaft portion is provided, and the drive mechanism 13 is configured to reduce the rotation of the motor 10 by the gear mechanism 11 and transmit the rotation to the output shaft 12.

Reference numeral 14 is a plastic ice tray, for example,
It has a thin rectangular container shape with an open top surface, and the inside is divided into a plurality of small chambers. The ice tray 14 has a front center portion which is axially movable to the output shaft 12 and a rear center portion which is axially movable to the support member 9 via a support shaft 15 which is a shaft portion. It is rotatably supported around a support shaft 15, and is rotated by the output shaft 12. A compression coil spring 16 as a pressing member is wound around the output shaft 12 so as to be located between the machine body 8 and the ice tray 14, and the support shaft 15 is located between the ice tray 14 and the support member 9. The compression coil spring 17 as a pressing member is also wound around this. A convex portion 14a is projectingly provided on one end of the rear portion of the ice tray 14, and when the ice tray 14 is rotated in the reversing direction, the convex portion 14a comes into contact with the support member 9 to restrict the rotation thereof. It is supposed to do.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a vibration imparting mechanism which is a vibration imparting means for imparting axial vibration to the ice tray 14, and this is a mechanism for supporting the output shaft 12 in the machine body 8 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Electromagnetic coil 19 provided between member 9 and movable iron core 20 movably inserted in electromagnetic coil 19
And a vibration transmitting member 21 screwed onto the tip of the movable iron core 20, and a collar portion 2 wound around the vibration transmitting member 21.
1a and a compression coil spring 22 disposed between the rear surface of the machine body 8 and a claw portion 21b at the tip of the vibration transmission member 21 formed in the ice tray 14 in a V-shaped engagement. The recess 23 is engaged with the recess 23 so as to be disengageable from below.

The vibration applying mechanism 18 includes an electromagnetic coil 19
Is energized, the movable iron core 20 is attracted and moved in the direction of arrow A against the spring force of the compression coil spring 22, and accordingly, the ice tray 14 is moved in the same direction via the vibration transmitting member 21, and When the electromagnetic coil 19 is cut off, the spring force of the compression coil spring 22 causes the movable iron core 20 and the vibration transmitting member 2 to move.
1 and the ice tray 14 are integrally moved in the direction opposite to the arrow A, and by repeating this, the ice tray 14 is vibrated in the axial direction.

Here, when the vibration transmitting member 21 moves the ice tray 14 in the direction of arrow A, the ice tray 14 is urged by the compression coil spring 16 disposed between the ice tray 14 and the machine body 8. When the vibration transmitting member 21 moves the ice tray 14 in the direction opposite to the arrow A, the engaging concave portion 23 is pressed and urged in the direction to press the vibration transmitting member 21 (the direction opposite to the arrow A). , The engaging concave portion 23 of the ice tray 14 is pressed and urged in the direction of pressing the vibration transmitting member 21 (direction of arrow A) by the urging force of the compression coil spring 17 arranged between the ice tray 14 and the support member 9. It will be. Therefore, the compression coil springs 16 and 17 have a function of bringing the engagement recess 23 of the ice tray 14 and the vibration transmitting member 21 into close contact with each other.

A circuit board 24 is provided inside the machine body 8, and a horizontal position detection switch 25 for detecting the horizontal position of the ice tray 14 near the output shaft 12 and an inverted position of the ice tray 14 are detected. Reverse position detection switch 26
Is provided. In addition, at a predetermined portion of the ice tray 14,
As shown in FIG. 5, a substantially circular recess 27 having an open lower surface is formed. 28 is a thermistor 29 and a molding material 29
This is a cylindrical temperature sensor formed by molding with a. The thermistor 29 is inserted and arranged in the recess 27 so that the thermistor 29 is on the upper side, and is fixed by the engaging claw 30 formed on the ice tray 14. The temperature of the upper part of 14 is detected.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 is an ice box that is stored under the ice tray 14 so that it can be taken in and out of the ice making chamber 4, and 32 is an ice storage detection lever that is rotatably supported by the machine body 8. Reference numeral 33 is a water supply device, which supplies water from a water supply tank 34 stored in the refrigerating compartment 3 to the water supply pump 3
5 is configured to supply to the ice tray 14 via the water supply pipe 36, and the tip of the water supply pipe 36 faces the ice tray 14. Further, the cold air supply port 37a of the cold air duct 37 for supplying cold air into the ice making chamber 4 faces the lower side of the ice tray 14, and the cold air is mainly flowed to the lower side of the ice tray 14. Reference numeral 38 denotes a lid provided in the ice making chamber 4 so as to cover the upper surface of the ice tray 14, which is made of a heat insulating material.
As shown in, a heater 39 is provided on the upper part. Further, the lid 38 is configured to allow the rotation of the ice tray 14 and the movement of the ice tray 14 in the axial direction.

On the other hand, FIG. 7 shows an electric circuit relating to the automatic ice making device 7. In the figure, reference numeral 40 is a microcomputer for controlling each process relating to ice making described later. The microcomputer 40 generates a voltage signal based on the detected temperature of the ice tray 14 by the thermistor 29 of the temperature sensor 28 and a reference voltage corresponding to the water supply completion temperature of the ice tray 14 (for example, -9.5 ° C.). Reference voltage from the reference voltage generation circuit 41 and the ice tray 14
A reference voltage is supplied from a reference voltage generation circuit 42 that generates a reference voltage corresponding to the ice making completion temperature (-12.0 ° C., for example).

Further, the microcomputer 40 includes the horizontal position detection switch 25 and the reverse position detection switch 2 described above.
6, and the detection signal from the ice storage detection switch 43 which responds to the ice storage detection lever 32 is given.
Further, the microcomputer 40 includes the motor 10
Is connected via the motor drive circuit 44,
A water supply pump 35, an electromagnetic coil 19, and a heater 39 are connected via transistors 45, 46, 47, respectively, and the motor 10, the water supply pump 35, the electromagnetic coil 19, and the heater 39 are described later by a microcomputer 40. It is controlled by.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. 8 showing the control contents of the microcomputer 40. First, in the water supply process, the water supply pump 35 is driven for a certain period of time via the transistor 45 in step S1 to supply water to the ice tray 14. Then, in step S2, the thermistor 29 of the temperature sensor 28.
The voltage signal based on the detected temperature of 1 is compared with the reference voltage from the reference voltage generation circuit 41 for the water supply completion temperature to determine whether the water supply is completed. That is, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 28 is lower than the water supply completion temperature (−9.5 ° C.), water is not being supplied (for example, since there is no water in the water supply tank 34, water is not supplied to the ice tray 14). ), The water supply abnormality is notified and the operation is stopped (steps S3, S
4) On the other hand, if it is high, it is judged that the water supply is completed,
Move to ice making process.

In the ice making process, a voltage signal having a waveform as shown in FIG. 7 is output from the microcomputer 40 to the transistor 46 in step S5, and accordingly, the electromagnetic coil 19 is controlled to be turned on and off via the transistor 46 to vibrate. The applying mechanism 18 vibrates the ice tray 14 in the axial direction (the arrow A direction and the direction opposite to the arrow A). Step S
At 6, the heater 39 is energized via the transistor 47.

In this ice making process, cold air from the cold air supply port 37a is mainly supplied to the lower side of the ice tray 14, while water is vibrated as the ice tray 14 vibrates, and the heater 39 moves the water surface side up. Since it is heated, the formation of ice on the water surface side is delayed, and ice is sequentially formed from the bottom side of the ice tray 14, and the water surface side is formed last. Therefore, transparent ice is formed by promoting escape of bubbles contained in water to the outside.

Then, in step S7, the temperature sensor 28
The voltage signal based on the temperature detected by the thermistor 29 and the reference voltage from the reference voltage generating circuit 42 for the ice making completion temperature are compared to determine whether or not the ice making is completed. Temperature sensor 2
When the detected temperature of 8 becomes equal to or lower than the ice making completion temperature (-12.0 ° C), it is judged that the ice making is completed, the electromagnetic coil 19 is cut off, and the vibration of the ice making tray 14 is stopped (step S8).
At the same time, the heater 39 is cut off (step S9), and the process proceeds to the next ice removing process.

In step S10, the motor 10 is energized and rotated via the motor drive circuit 44, and the drive mechanism 13 rotates the ice tray 14 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. By the projection 14a coming into contact with the support member 9 and the ice tray 14 being twisted, an ice removing operation for dropping the ice in the ice tray 14 into the ice box 31 is performed. At this time, as the ice tray 14 rotates, the engagement recess 23 of the ice tray 14 and the claw portion 21b of the vibration transmitting member 21 are disengaged. Then, when the reverse position of the ice tray 14 is detected by the reverse position detection switch 26 in step S11, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the motor 10 is rotated in the direction opposite to that at the time of reversing via the motor drive circuit 44, and the ice tray 14 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow B.

When the original horizontal position of the ice tray 14 is detected by the horizontal position detection switch 25 in step S13, the motor 10 is turned off, the rotation of the ice tray 14 is stopped, and the ice tray 14 is returned to its original state. (Step S14). At this time, the engaging recess 23 of the ice tray 14 is in a state of being engaged again with the claw portion 21b of the vibration transmitting member 21. Then, in step S15, the ice box 3 is turned on by the ice storage detection switch 43.
It is determined whether or not the ice stored in 1 is full, and if it is determined that it is not full, the process returns to step S1, and if it is determined that it is full, it waits as it is.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the ice tray 14 is vibrated by the vibration applying mechanism 18 during ice making, the formation of ice on the water surface side in the ice tray 14 is delayed so that the ice is removed from the bottom surface side. It is formed, which makes it possible to make clear ice that is free of bubbles. Moreover, in particular, according to the present embodiment, the cold air is mainly flown to the lower side of the ice tray 14, and the water surface side is heated by the heater 39 provided on the lid 38 that covers the ice tray 14. It can be formed more reliably from the bottom side, and transparent ice can be made more reliably.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the ice tray 14 is made to vibrate in the axial direction of the output shaft 12 and the support shaft 15 which is the center of rotation of the ice tray 14. Therefore, the ice tray 14 is inverted when the ice is released. However, the vibration of the ice tray 14 can be achieved with a simple structure.

By the way, the vibration applying mechanism 1 as described above.
In the configuration in which the ice tray 14 is vibrated by means of 8, the vibration transmission member 21 and the engaging recess 23 of the ice tray 14 are engaged during ice making (when vibration is applied), and at the time of ice release, those vibration transmitting members are engaged. Since it is necessary to disengage the engagement between the engagement recess 21 and the engagement recess 23, a dimensional margin is inevitably required between the vibration transmission member 21 and the engagement recess 23. However, if there is a dimensional allowance between them, rattling occurs between the vibration transmitting member 21 and the engaging recess 23 when the vibration is imparted by the vibration imparting mechanism 18, resulting in relatively large vibration. There is a problem that sound is generated. Such a vibrating sound is annoying especially at night.

In this regard, in this embodiment, the ice tray 14
A compression coil spring 16 is provided between the ice tray 14 and the support member 9, and a compression coil spring 16 is disposed between the ice making plate 14 and the support member 9.
7 is arranged so that the engaging concave portion 23 of the ice tray 14 and the vibration transmitting member 21 are always brought into close contact with each other by the biasing force of the compression coil springs 16 and 17 when vibration is applied. It is possible to prevent rattling between the member 21 and the engaging recess 23 as much as possible, and thus it is possible to reduce the vibration noise generated between the vibration applying mechanism 18 and the ice tray 14 when applying vibration.

The compression coil springs 16 and 17 are
It also has a function of preventing collision noise that may occur between the ice tray 14 and the machine body 8 and between the ice tray 14 and the support member 9.

[0030]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the water supplied from the water supply device is stored in the ice tray to make ice, and after the ice making, the drive tray is used to center the ice tray around the shaft portion. In an automatic ice-making device that is rotated by turning it upside down to remove ice by making the ice-making tray vibrate in the axial direction of the shaft portion, which is the center of rotation of the ice-making tray, during ice making. By this, transparent ice can be satisfactorily produced, and this can be achieved with a simple structure. In addition, by providing a pressing member for pressing and biasing the ice tray in a direction opposite to the direction in which the vibration imparting means applies vibration to the ice tray, there is a rattling between the vibration imparting means and the ice tray when the vibration is imparted. The sticking can be prevented as much as possible, and thus the vibration noise generated between the vibration applying means and the ice tray can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic ice-making device showing an embodiment of the present invention with a part cut away.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a main part of a vibration applying mechanism in a separated manner.

5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional front view of a lid portion.

FIG. 7 is an electric circuit diagram

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the function of the microcomputer.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 is an ice making chamber, 7 is an automatic ice making device, 10 is a motor, 12 is an output shaft (shaft part), 13 is a drive mechanism, 14 is an ice tray, and 15
Is a support shaft (shaft portion), 16 and 17 are compression coil springs (pressing members), 18 is a vibration imparting mechanism (vibration imparting means), 19 is an electromagnetic coil, 20 is a movable iron core, 28 is a temperature sensor, 33
Is a water supply device.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice tray to make ice, and after ice making, a drive mechanism rotates the ice tray about a shaft to turn it upside down to remove ice. In the automatic ice making device, the ice tray is configured to be movable in the axial direction of the shaft portion, and vibration imparting means for imparting vibration in the axial direction to the ice tray at the time of ice making is provided, and the vibration imparting means is further provided. An automatic ice-making device, comprising: a pressing member that presses and biases the ice tray in a direction opposite to the direction in which the ice tray is vibrated.