JP2564732Y2 - Refrigerator with automatic ice maker - 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 maker for a refrigerator, and more particularly to a structure for disposing a water supply pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 6 to 8 show a conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator body, such as urethane foam filled between an outer box 2, an inner box 3, and both boxes 2, 3. The refrigerator compartment 5, the ice making compartment 6, the bottle compartment 7, and the refrigerating compartment 8 and the vegetable compartment 9 are formed on the upper and lower right sides, respectively, from the upper left.

[0003] Reference numeral 10 denotes a partition wall for partitioning the ice making chamber 6 and the refrigeration chamber 8. The rear partition wall 11, which is formed integrally with the inner box 3, fills the inside with the foamed heat insulating material 4, and the rear partition wall 11. The front partition wall 11 is formed separately from the rear partition wall 11 by an injection molding method or the like, and is formed by a front partition wall 12 fixed to the front of the rear partition wall 11 by bonding or the like. Is excessively protruded, the thickness of the inner box 3 is reduced, and the filling of the foamed heat insulating material 4 becomes difficult. Reference numeral 13 denotes a heat insulating material provided in the front partition wall 12, which has been molded in advance and mounted in the front partition wall 12 having a substantially U-shaped cross section.

[0004] Reference numeral 14 denotes an automatic ice maker disposed in the ice maker 6.
The ice tray 15 is rotated by a motor (not shown), and an ice storage box 16 is provided below the ice tray 15 for storing ice separated from the ice tray. 17 is a cool air outlet for cooling the ice tray 15;
Numeral 8 denotes a water supply pipe for supplying water to the ice tray 15, which is guided by a concave portion 19 formed next to the air outlet 17 in the vicinity of one water inlet 18a, and has a through hole 20 penetrating the rear partition wall 11 in the other. It is connected to a water supply pump 21 provided in the refrigerator compartment 8 which is a separate room from the ice making compartment 6. Reference numeral 22 denotes a water supply tray in which the water supply pump 21 is installed, which stores water to be supplied from a water supply tank (not shown). Reference numeral 23 denotes a bush for covering the water supply pipe 18 provided at the through hole 20. Flanges 23a are provided at both ends of the bush 23 so that the foamed heat insulating material 4 does not leak from the through hole 20.

Next, the operation will be described. Water supply pump 2
The water pumped by 1 passes through a water supply pipe 18 and is poured into an ice tray 15. The ice produced by the cool air blown from the cool air outlet 17 is separated from the ice by rotating the ice tray 15 by the motor of the automatic ice maker 14, and falls into the ice storage box 16 set below to store the ice. The water supply pipe 18 penetrates the rear partition wall 11 formed of the filled foamed heat insulating material 4, and the bush 23 for preventing the foamed heat insulating material 4 from leaking is fitted in the through hole 20. .

FIG. 9 shows an example of this type of refrigerator with an automatic ice maker, which is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 1-172685. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 6 to 8 indicate the same or corresponding parts. In the figure,
Reference numeral 24 denotes a water supply tank arranged in the refrigerator compartment 8.

[0007]

Since the conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice maker is constructed as described above, a bush is necessary to prevent leakage when filling the foamed heat insulating material. The defect rate of material leakage was high. Also,
The water supply port at the end of the water supply pipe is located in front of the cool air outlet, and freezing of the water supply pipe occurs.In addition, there is no fixation of the water supply pipe, and it is inserted into the recess formed next to the cool air outlet. However, there was a problem that the position of the water supply pipe staggered and it was difficult to determine the position.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to prevent leakage of the foamed heat insulating material from a through hole portion of a partition wall through which a water supply pipe penetrates.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker that can prevent icing at a water supply port at a tip of a water supply pipe and can increase the reliability of positioning.

[0009]

A refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to the present invention is characterized in that a partition wall is formed by projecting an inner box and filled with a foamed heat insulating material, and a rear partition wall is provided separately from the rear partition wall. The front partition wall is formed as a pair, and a through hole for a water supply pipe is provided in the front partition wall.

[0010]

In the automatic ice maker of the present invention, since the water supply pipe penetrates through the front partition wall, there is no relationship with the foam insulation material to be filled in the inner box, and the leakage of the foam insulation material from the through hole is prevented. Bush is not required.

[0011]

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG.
In FIG. 3 to FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in the related art indicate the same or corresponding parts. In the drawing, reference numeral 25 denotes a protrusion which projects a rear portion of the front partition wall 12 backward.
The rear partition wall 11 is recessed along 5, and the projection 25 of the front partition wall 12 is formed with the through-hole 20 through which the water supply pipe 18 passes. 26 is a hole formed in the heat insulating material 13 forming the through hole 20, and 27 is a through hole 2
0, and are formed to protrude inside the left and right side walls 12a, 12b of the front partition wall 12, respectively, with flanges fitted to both ends of the hole 26, and the flange 27 is formed with the left and right side walls 12a, 12b. The heat insulating material 13 is attached to the hole 24 in a state where it is spread.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a shielding plate provided behind the water supply pipe 18 of the ice making chamber 6 and is formed integrally with the left side wall 12a of the front partition wall 12, so that the cool air from the cool air outlet 17 directly hits the water supply pipe 18. I try not to. Reference numeral 18a denotes a water supply port of the water supply pipe 18, whose upper end is expanded in a trumpet shape and is located above the ice tray 15.

Next, the operation will be described. Automatic ice maker 1
The water supply method of No. 4 is the same as the conventional one. Water supply pipe 18
Is passed through a through hole 20 provided in the front partition wall 12 formed by injection molding or the like. The front partition wall 12 has a pair of left and right side walls 12a and 12b sandwiching a heat insulating material 13 to form one through hole 20. For this reason, since the through-hole 20 is provided in a portion where the foamed heat insulating material 4 is not filled, there is no need to provide a bush 23 for preventing leakage of the foamed heat insulating material 4 used conventionally.

According to this embodiment, the cold air outlet 1
Since the cool air blown from 7 is blown to the ice tray 15 without the cool air hitting the water supply pipe 18 by the shielding plate 28,
Freezing of the water supply pipe 18 in this part is prevented, and the end of the water supply port 18a of the water supply pipe 18 is expanded in a trumpet shape, so that the drainage at the end of the water supply is good and there is no remaining water in the water supply pipe 18, Further, icing can be prevented.

Embodiment 2 FIG. In the sanity embodiment, the water supply pipe 18 is merely fixed through the through hole 20 and is not fixed as in the prior art. However, as shown in FIGS. May be provided and fixed to the front partition wall 12. In the figure, a protective cover 29 is formed by integrally forming a half of a cylindrical shape by a mirror hinge portion 30 in which a member of the protective cover 29 is formed thin, and a claw 31 formed on one side and a hole formed on the other side. 3
2 and are fixed around the water supply pipe 18. Reference numeral 33 denotes a mounting flange formed on the front partition wall 12 side of the protective cover 29, and is fitted into grooves of upper and lower L-shaped ribs 34a and 34b formed integrally with the front partition wall 12, respectively. Reference numeral 35 denotes a stopper formed on the front partition wall 12, and the mounting flange 33 comes into contact with the stopper.

The protective cover 29 is attached to the L-shaped ribs 34a and 34b provided on the front partition wall 12 by pulling the mounting flange 33 from the rear toward the front and abutting against the stopper portion 35, and the water supply pipe 18 is cooled by cold air. And the water supply pipe 18 is fixed to the front partition wall 12. According to this embodiment, the water supply pipe 18 can be securely fixed at an accurate position, and splashing due to fluctuations in the position of the water supply pipe 18 during water supply can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the shielding plate 28 is provided on the front partition wall 12.
9 may be integrally provided with a shielding plate 28, and the same effect as in the above embodiment is obtained.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the front partition wall is formed separately from the rear partition wall in which the through hole of the water supply pipe is formed so as to protrude the inner box and fill the inside with foam insulation. In this case, a member such as a bush for preventing the leakage of the foamed heat insulating material from the through hole can be eliminated, and there is an effect that an inexpensive and high-quality product can be obtained. Further, since the through hole of the water supply pipe is provided in the front partition wall at the front of the storage, workability is good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker, showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the refrigerator of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of a partition wall of the refrigerator in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker, showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part for explaining attachment of the protective cover of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice maker with a door removed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of the refrigerator of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing the refrigerator of FIG. 6 cut away at a water supply pipe portion.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view showing a main part of another conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice maker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body 3 Inner box 4 Foam insulation 10 Partition wall 11 Rear partition wall 12 Front partition wall 14 Automatic ice machine 18 Water supply pipe 20 Through hole

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A refrigerator body is formed by an outer box, an inner box, and a foam insulating material filled between the two boxes, and is partitioned by an ice-making room in which an ice-making tray is arranged, and the ice-making room and a partition wall. In a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker that supplies water arranged in another chamber into an ice tray through a water supply pipe penetrating the partition wall by a water supply pump, the partition wall is formed by projecting the inner box and forming the inner box therein. A rear partition wall filled with foamed heat insulating material, a front partition wall formed separately from the rear partition wall in front of the rear partition wall, and a through hole of the water supply pipe is formed in the front partition wall. A refrigerator with an automatic ice maker, which is provided on a wall.