JP3108855B2 - Ice making equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making device incorporated in a refrigerator or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an ice making device is often used in a refrigerator. As this type of ice making device, for example, a configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-77371 is known. The ice making device will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, when water is supplied to the water supply tank 1, the cap 2 is removed and water is injected into the water supply tank 1 through the hole 3.

If the inside of the water supply tank 1 is dirty, the engaging hook of the lock is removed from the flange 5 of the tank body 4 and the entire lid 6 is removed from the tank body 4 to clean the tank body 4. After water is put into the water supply tank 1, the water supply tank 1 is attached to the frame. When the water supply tank 1 is mounted, the water supply tank 1 is held horizontally, and the water supply tank 1 is pushed between the bottom plate of the water supply tank mounting portion of the frame and the bottom plate 7 of the refrigerator as shown in FIG. It is performed by inserting as follows.

When the water supply tank 1 is installed, when the water supply tank 1 is pushed in, the top surface 9 of the discharge pipe 8 pushes up the engagement claw 10 as shown by a dotted line in FIG. Then, a nozzle-shaped pipe joint member (A) 1 provided at the distal end of the discharge pipe 8
1 is inserted into the fitting (B) 12.

The pipe joint member (A) 11 is a pipe joint member (B)
When completely inserted into the inside 12, the engaging claw 10 is lowered by the force of the spring 13 and engages with the side surface of the discharge pipe 8.
As a result, the pipe joint member (A) 11 becomes the pipe joint member (B) 1
2 so as not to fall out.

The annular projection 14 of the pipe joint member (A) 11 contacts the inner wall of the pipe joint member (B) 12 to improve watertightness.

The pump 15 of the ice making device has a self-priming property,
Water is drawn directly from the water supply tank 1 by the rotation of the motor. That is, water enters the pump 15 from the suction pipe section 16 inserted into the water supply tank 1 via the pipe joint member (A) 11 and the pipe joint member (B) 12. And pump 1
Water is discharged from the nozzle 5 through the pipe (A) 17 toward the ice tray 19 from the nozzle 5. As shown in FIG. 7, a filter case 20 and a filter 21 are provided inside the water supply tank 1.
Is arranged. The filter case 20 is composed of a funnel-shaped member 22 and a storage part 23, and is attached to a seat of the discharge pipe 8. 24 is a pipe (B),
Reference numeral 25 denotes a reversing device, 26 denotes an ice storage container, and 27 denotes a pressing lever. The pressing lever 27 is attached to a frame by a shaft 28 and can swing about the shaft 28. The tip of the pressing lever 27 projects downward from an opening provided in the bottom plate of the frame, and the pressing lever 27 is pressed by the coil spring 29 in a direction away from the pump 15.

[0009]

In the above-mentioned prior art, after water is poured into a water supply tank 1, a cap 2 is screwed and set at a predetermined position in a refrigerator. If the screwing of the cap 2 is insufficient,
Water overflows from the hole 3 of the water supply tank 1 and water drops enter the refrigerator, which is not preferable. That is, screwing of the cap 2 was inconvenient.

When water is supplied to the water supply tank 1 from a water tap or a discharge port of a medicine can, the hole 3 is opened in a lid 6 attached to the tank body 4, and the hole 3 is formed in the lid 6. The lower end of the hole 3 protruding upward from the surface in the tank body 4 is also located at a position aligned with the lower surface of the lid 6.

Therefore, when the water is completely injected to the upper surface of the tank body 4, the water may overflow from the hole 3, or may leak from the sealing portion at the joint surface between the lid 6 and the tank body 4. Was inconvenient.

The filter 21 is formed in a tubular shape and stored in the storage portion 23 of the filter case 20, and water in the water supply tank 1 is sucked through the suction pipe portion 16 from below the funnel-shaped member 22 of the filter case 20. Is what is done. Therefore, when the filter 21 is replaced, it is troublesome to remove and attach the filter 21 and it is inconvenient.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example. An improved cap for opening and closing a hole provided in a water supply tank is provided by a simple operation to prevent water leakage. It is intended to be able to be attached.

In addition, the water supply port of the lid fitted to the tank body is improved so that water can be easily injected so that the water does not overflow into the water supply tank.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the filter housed in the water supply tank so that the filter can be easily attached and detached, so that the filter can be easily used in the replacement work.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a water supply port is provided with a slide cap which is opened and closed by slide, and the slide cap is such that a pipe joint member (A) is fitted to a pipe joint member (B). When they are combined, the water supply port is closed.

In the invention according to claim 2, both the opening edge of the water supply port and the slide cap are inclined upward with respect to the insertion direction of the water supply tank into the refrigerator, and the tip of the slide cap is formed of the pipe joint member (B). It comes into contact with a portion corresponding to the front surface.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the water supply port has a cylindrical shape, and the lower end edge of the cylindrical water supply port projects into the tank body beyond the joint surface between the tank body and the lid of the water supply tank. In this position, the water supply opening is opened and closed, and the lid is provided with a small hole for allowing air in the tank body to escape.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the filter has a plate-like shape, and a bar for supporting the filter is detachably attached to a side of a filter case provided at a lower bottom portion of the tank body by a projection and a hole. It is intended to be attached to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the pump is a gear pump, and the pump is disposed in the interference wall of the pump mounting section with the gear section on the upper side and the motor section on the lower side.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to any of claims 3 to 5 , further comprising:
The mouth has a slide cap that opens and closes with a slide.
When the fitting (A) is fitted to the fitting (B)
The water supply port is closed .

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the slide cap can open and close the water supply port by sliding, and the water supply port is always closed when the water supply tank is set at a predetermined position in the refrigerator. Things.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the tip of the slide cap according to the first aspect of the present invention is inclined and located above the pipe joint members (A) and (B). Will be.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when filling the water supply tank, the user can visually observe that the water is completely filled into the water supply tank without overflowing the water.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a plate filter which is easy to manufacture is located at a lower portion of the tank body.
In addition, the filter can be replaced by attaching and detaching the bar.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the driving noise of the gear pump is reduced by the interference wall.

The invention according to claim 6 does not have claim 3
In addition to the functions of the invention according to Item 5, the water supply tank is refrigerated.
The water supply port is always closed when set at a predetermined position in the refrigerator.

The present invention can be embodied in various forms by being used in a water supply device which is a part of an ice making device in a form exhibiting the functions of the above claims. A specific embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0029]

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the invention according to claims 1 and 2 will be described below.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the rim of the water supply port 32 of the lid 31 which is fitted to the water supply tank 30 in a watertight manner is formed in the depth direction of the water supply tank 30, that is, in the direction inclined upward to the right in the figures. Have been. A slide cap 33 is slidably attached to the water supply port 32 along the slope of the edge thereof. In FIG. 1, the slide cap 33 opens the water supply port 32 and slides rightward in the figure.

Therefore, with the water supply port 32 opened,
Water can be injected into the tank body 34 of the water supply tank 30 from the water supply port 32. After injecting an arbitrary amount of water into the tank main body 34, the lower projecting edge 35 of the slide cap 33 is slid along the groove 36 on the edge of the water supply port 32, and the slide cap 33 is used as shown in FIG. Close.

Therefore, the water in the tank body 34 is
There is no more overflow. The opening and closing of the water supply port 32 by the sliding of the slide cap 33 can be performed by a so-called one-touch operation, and there is no need to rotate like a conventional screwing cap, and the operation is simple.

Then, if the user uses the slide cap 3
The slide cap 33 automatically closes the water supply port 32 when the water supply tank 30 is set at a predetermined position of the refrigerator even if the water supply port 32 is not closed by the slide 3.

That is, when the water supply tank 30 is set at a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 2, the pipe joint member (A) 37 provided integrally with the lid 31 is connected to the pipe joint member provided on the frame 38. The pipe fitting member (A) 37 and the pipe fitting member (B) 39 are fitted into the member (B) 39, and the water in the tank body 34 is sucked by the drive of the pump 40. The two pipe joint members (A) 37 and the pipe joint member (B)
When the pipe fitting member (A) 37 is completely fitted into the pipe fitting member (B) when the tip portion 41 of the slide cap 33 hits the front surface of the pipe fitting member (B) 39 when
The slide cap 33 retreats and closes the water supply port 32. The distal end portion 41 of the slide cap 33 is located above the pipe joint member (A) when the slide cap 33 is slid rightward to open the water supply port 32, so that the automatic slide at the time of setting is easily performed. Has become.

The slide cap 33 automatically closes the water supply port 32 by the above-described setting operation of the water supply tank 30, so that even if the user forgets to close the water supply port 32, there is no water leakage naturally. Slide cap 33
The water supply port 32 is closed by this.

Compared with the conventional screw cap, the slide cap 33 of the present invention is adapted to the operation of the push-in setting of the water supply tank 30, so that its use is simple and reliable.

Reference numeral 42 denotes an engaging claw.
3 to lock the water supply tank 30 at a predetermined position. Although not shown in the figure, the engaging claw is rotated by a spring, and the water supply tank 30 is pushed out of a predetermined position, that is, leftward in the figure by a coil spring (not shown).

Accordingly, the water supply tank 30 is set at a fixed position by the engagement claws 42. When the engagement claws 42 are disengaged, the water supply tank 30 is pushed forward by a coil spring so as to be easily taken out from a predetermined position of the refrigerator. It is a thing.

(Embodiment 2) An embodiment of the invention according to claim 3 will be described below.

In FIG. 3, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

A lower edge 44 of the water supply port 32 protrudes into the tank body 34. The lower edge 44 extends near a reference line 45 provided on the side wall of the tank body 34. That is, the water supply port 32 is cylindrical and the tank body 34
A lower edge 44 extends below a watertight fitting portion between the cover 31 and the cover 31.

Therefore, when water is injected from the water supply port 32 through a tap such as a water tap or a medicine can, even if water injection is continued without stopping at the reference line 45 provided on the side wall of the tank body 34, first, water supply is performed. If the water level of the port 32 rises and the water injection is stopped by the easily visible water level, the water in the water supply port 32 spreads above the lower surface of the lid 31 of the tank body 34.

Accordingly, the water surface of the water supply port 32 immediately drops downward. The small hole 46 on the top surface of the lid 31 serves to discharge air existing on the water surface in the water supply tank 30, and the water surface of the water supply port 32 is immediately lowered by the small hole 46.

As described above, it is possible to prevent water from leaking to a location where water leaks from the watertight fitting portion between the lid 31 and the tank body 34.

The conventional water supply port is provided so as to protrude above the lid and does not protrude into the tank body in the water supply tank. Compared with the fact that the possibility of leakage from the fitting portion between the lid and the tank body is large, the present invention has an effect of easily preventing over-water injection and is easy to use.

(Embodiment 3) An embodiment of the invention according to claim 4 will be described below.

In FIG. 4, the same parts as those in FIGS.

Reference numeral 47 denotes a filter case which has a cylindrical shape. A bayonet 48 is provided at the upper portion for engaging with a projection provided on the back side of the lid 31. The lower end has a corner extending to a position close to the bottom of the tank body 34. A filter mounting portion 49 is formed. 50 is a filter holding activated carbon,
One of the side walls of the crosspiece 51 supporting the filter 50 is provided with a projection 52 on the upper side and one tongue piece 53 on the lower side thereof, and two protruding pieces 54 on the opposite side wall.

A hole 55 into which the projection 52 of the bar 51 is fitted and two long holes 56 into which the projecting pieces 54 are fitted are provided at both ends of the side wall of the filter mounting portion 49.

Accordingly, the filter 50 is supported by the bar 51, and the projection 52 on the side wall of the bar 51 is attached to the filter mounting portion 4.
9, and the two projecting pieces 54 provided on the opposing side walls of the projections 52 are inserted into the holes 55 of the filter mounting portion 49.
The bar 51 is attached to the filter attaching portion 49 by fitting into a long hole 56 provided on the side wall opposite to the side wall provided with.

Then, the hole 55 and the long holes 56 at both ends thereof are formed.
Are provided in parallel on two opposite side walls of the filter mounting portion 49. Therefore crosspiece 51 without particularly considering the directionality of the filter mounting portion 49, the operation to fit the side wall with a hole in the filter mounting portion 49 can be done by tongue 53, easily be removed to the mounting arrangement of filter 50 Can be done.

The filter case 47 removes the lid 31 from the tank body 34 by removing the lock member 57, and exposes the filter case 47 provided with the filter 50 in the tank body 34 by removing the bayonet 48.

Then, the hole of the hollow short cylinder 58 above the filter case 47 is extended from the lid 31 into the hollow long cylinder 5.
9 and the filter case 47 is taken out.
Can be removed to replace the filter 50 with a new one.

The operation of replacing the filter 50 as described above can be performed extremely easily, and the filter 50 is also flat and easy to manufacture as compared with a conventional cylindrical filter. Reference numeral 60 denotes a packing which is placed on the upper edge 61 of the tank main body 34 to achieve a watertight structure between the lid 31 and the tank main body 34.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the pump 40 is driven, the water in the water supply tank 30 is sucked from the substantially bottom surface of the tank body 34 and deodorized and the dispersion is removed by the filter 50 below the filter case 47. Hollow long cylinder 59
Pipe joint member (A) 37, pipe joint member (B) 39
, And then poured into an ice tray 63 via a pipe 62, and then cooled to ice. Here, 64 indicates an ice storage container.

The conventional pipe 62 made of aluminum is replaced with a plastic pipe, and a heater 65 is wound around the pipe 62 to solve the conventional problem that dew adheres to the pipe 62.

(Embodiment 4) An embodiment of the invention according to claim 5 will be described below.

The structure of the pump 40 shown in FIG. 2 can be changed to the structure shown in FIG. That is, the pump unit 40 is used as a gear pump, and the gear unit 66 is set up, and the motor unit 67 that rotates the gear unit 66 is set down. Then, the motor unit 67
A plastic foam material is attached to the lower part of the housing, and the motor part 67 is inserted and fixed to an annular interference wall 69 made of plastics fixed to the pump attachment part 68 as shown by an arrow in FIG. I do. Therefore, the driving noise of the motor unit 67 is reduced by the interference wall 69, and the driving vibration noise of the pump 40 is small, so that a quiet water supply device can be set in the refrigerator.

[0059]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the water supply port is provided with a slide cap which is opened and closed by sliding, and the slide cap has a pipe joint member (A) and a pipe joint member (B). Since the water supply port is closed when fitted to the water supply port, the water supply port can be opened and closed with a so-called one-touch operation by a slide operation, unlike the conventional example having a cap that is screwed together. Even if the water supply port is insufficiently closed, the water supply port is automatically closed if the water supply tank is set in the refrigerator.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the opening edges of the slide cap and the water supply port are inclined, the structure of the slide cap can be easily manufactured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the water supply port has a cylindrical shape, and the lower edge of the cylindrical water supply port extends into the tank body beyond the joint surface between the tank body and the lid of the water supply tank. The water supply opening is opened and closed at the protruding position, and when the water is poured into the water supply tank and the water supply almost fills the water supply tank, the water surface of the cylindrical water supply port may rise first. Because it is visible, water injection until it overflows can be naturally detected and stopped. In addition, since the lid has small holes for venting air, the water level in the tubular water supply port immediately drops, and overflow of water can be prevented.

In the invention according to claim 4, since the filter is not a tube but a plate, processing of the filter is easy and the amount of filtration is constant. And the crosspiece which supports a filter can be made detachable with a simple structure by the side part of a filter case, and therefore exchange of a filter is easy.

In the invention according to claim 5, since the gear pump of the gear pump is disposed in the interference wall with the gear section up and the motor section down, a quiet pump with reduced driving noise is provided. An ice making device provided with the same.

The invention according to claim 6 provides a power supply in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 3 to 5 described above.
Refrigerates the water tank even if the water port is not sufficiently closed
The slide cap automatically fills the water when set in the refrigerator
To prevent water overflow .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a water supply tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the ice making device provided with the water supply tank.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a water supply tank provided with the water supply port.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the filter device.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the gear pump.

FIG. 6 is a side view of an essential part showing a conventional ice making device.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the water supply tank.

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view showing a state where the water supply tank is set at a predetermined position in the refrigerator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 water supply tank 31 lid 32 water supply port 33 slide cap 34 tank body 37 pipe joint member (A) 39 pipe joint member (B) 40 pump 41 tip end 44 lower end edge 45 reference line 46 small hole 47 filter case 49 filter attachment portion Reference Signs List 50 Filter 51 Crosspiece 52 Projection 53 Tongue piece 54 Projection piece 55 Hole 56 Long hole 59 Hollow long cylinder 66 Gear unit 67 Motor unit 68 Pump mounting unit 69 Interference wall

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akihiko Manabe 4-2-5 Takaida Hondori, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Inside Matsushita Refrigerating Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshifumi Nakamura 4-chome Takaida Hondo, Higashi Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture No.2 No.5 Matsushita Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-6-300402 (JP, A) JP-A-9-273843 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB Name) F25C 1/24 F25C 1/22

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] An ice tray disposed in a refrigerator and a detachable ice tray.
Tank body provided with an opening at the top and the tank
A water supply tank comprising a lid covering an opening of the main body;
A pump for supplying water in the water supply tank to the ice tray,
A water supply port provided in the lid and housed in the tank body
A filter, a hollow long cylinder communicating with the filter,
A pipe joint member (A) having one end communicating with the hollow long cylinder;
A pipe joint member (B) having one end communicating with the suction side of the pump;
And the pipe joint member (A) is connected to the pipe joint member.
(B) through the pump by making it removable
The water tank and the ice tray are communicated by a pipe.
In things, the provided slide cap to open and close by sliding in the water supply port, wherein the sliding cap, when the pipe joint member (A) is fitted to the fitting member (B), the position for closing the water inlet Ice making device as in 2. The opening edge of the water supply port and the slide cap are both inclined upward with respect to the insertion direction of the water supply tank into the refrigerator, and the tip of the slide cap has a pipe joint member (B).
When the fitting (A) is completely inserted into the fitting (B), the slide cap is pushed by the fitting corresponding to the front of the fitting (B). The ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the ice making device can be slid to a position where the opening edge of the water supply port is closed. 3. An ice tray disposed in a refrigerator and a detachable ice tray.
Tank body provided with an opening at the top and the tank
A water supply tank comprising a lid covering an opening of the main body;
A pump for supplying water in the water supply tank to the ice tray,
A water supply port provided in the lid and housed in the tank body
A filter, a hollow long cylinder communicating with the filter,
A pipe joint member (A) having one end communicating with the hollow long cylinder;
A pipe joint member (B) having one end communicating with the suction side of the pump;
And the pipe joint member (A) is connected to the pipe joint member.
(B) through the pump by making it removable
The water tank and the ice tray are communicated by a pipe.
Wherein the water supply port is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a lower edge of the cylindrical water supply port is located at a position protruding into a tank body beyond a joint surface between a tank body and a lid of a water supply tank, An ice making device that has a water inlet that opens and closes, and a lid that is provided with a small hole that allows air in the tank body to escape. 4. An ice tray disposed in a refrigerator and a detachable ice tray.
Tank body provided with an opening at the top and the tank
A water supply tank comprising a lid covering an opening of the main body;
A pump for supplying water in the water supply tank to the ice tray,
A water supply port provided in the lid and housed in the tank body
A filter, a hollow long cylinder communicating with the filter,
A pipe joint member (A) having one end communicating with the hollow long cylinder;
A pipe joint member (B) having one end communicating with the suction side of the pump;
And the pipe joint member (A) is connected to the pipe joint member.
(B) through the pump by making it removable
The water tank and the ice tray are communicated by a pipe.
In the above, the hollow long cylinder is inserted into a filter case and opens at a lower bottom portion of a tank body of a water supply tank, and a cross section for supporting a plate-like filter is provided at a filter mounting portion below the filter case at a side portion thereof. An ice making device wherein the filter is removably mounted by fitting the protruding pieces and protrusions provided in the filter into the long holes and holes of the filter mounting portion. 5. An ice tray disposed in a refrigerator and a detachable ice tray.
Tank body provided with an opening at the top and the tank
A water supply tank comprising a lid covering an opening of the main body;
A pump for supplying water in the water supply tank to the ice tray,
A water supply port provided in the lid and housed in the tank body
A filter, a hollow long cylinder communicating with the filter,
A pipe joint member (A) having one end communicating with the hollow long cylinder;
A pipe joint member (B) having one end communicating with the suction side of the pump;
And the pipe joint member (A) is connected to the pipe joint member.
(B) through the pump by making it removable
The water tank and the ice tray are communicated by a pipe.
An ice making device , wherein the pump is a gear pump, and a gear unit constituting the pump is arranged upward, and a motor unit for driving the gear unit is arranged downward in an interference wall of a pump mounting unit. 6. A slide which is opened and closed by a slide at a water supply port.
The slide cap is provided with a pipe fitting.
When the member (A) is fitted to the pipe joint member (B), the water supply port
6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the valve is located at a position where it is closed.
The ice making device according to any one of the above.