JP3279865B2 - 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 machine is often used in a refrigerator. As this type of ice making device, for example, a configuration disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-3082 is known.

Hereinafter, the above-mentioned conventional ice making apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of control means of the conventional ice making device, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the conventional ice making device, and FIG.
1 is a schematic view of a conventional ice making device.

The conventional ice making device 300 is roughly divided into an ice tray 301, a reversing device 302, a pump 303, a measuring tank 304, a water supply tank 305, and a pipe 306.

[0005] Among them, an ice tray 301, a reversing device 302,
A part of the pipe 306 is located in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, and the other members are located in the refrigerator compartment.

The ice tray 301 is a tray for freezing the water inside. The reversing device 302 has a built-in gear train, and functions to invert the ice tray 301 and to twist the ice tray 301 to release ice.

The measuring tank 305 is a water tank partitioned into a measuring chamber 307 and a water storage chamber 308. A small hole is provided in the partition wall separating the two, and when the water level of the measuring chamber 307 falls, water flows slowly from the water storage chamber 308. The top of the measuring tank is
It is open.

The pump 303 includes a motor section 309 and a pump section 310. In the conventional ice making device 300, since the pump 303 has no self-priming property, the pump unit 31
0 was directly inserted into the measuring chamber 307.

The water supply tank 305 has a lid 311 provided on a closed tank body. The lid 311 is provided with an on-off valve. The water supply tank 305 is filled with water, and the measuring tank 304 with the lid 311 facing down.
And a part of the above-mentioned on-off valve is provided in the water tank 3
05 and the bottom of the sump chamber 308.

In the conventional ice making device 300, the water supply tank 3
05 falls into the measuring tank 304 and the water reservoir 30
After 8, the measuring chamber 307 is filled with water. And the water
The water is pumped up by a pump 303 inserted into the measuring chamber 307 and supplied to the ice tray 301 through a pipe 306.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 312 denotes a control means of the ice making apparatus 300 comprising an external information storage means 313, an operation order determining means 314 and the like.
An ice tray temperature detecting means 315 for detecting the temperature of the ice tray 301 is connected, and a drive means 316 for driving the reversing device 302 of the ice tray 301 and a drive means 317 for driving the pump 303 are connected to the output.

The operation of the conventional ice making device 300 will be described with reference to FIG. When the power is turned on, the temperature of the ice tray 301 is checked in step 301 and waited until the temperature is sufficiently low.
When the temperature becomes low, the routine proceeds to step 302, where the ice removing operation is performed.

In the ice releasing operation, the ice making tray 301 is inverted by the inverting device 302 and separated from the ice, and the ice is dropped into the ice storage container, similarly to the known ice making device.

Thereafter, in step 303, the timer 301 is started, and in step 304, the motor 309 of the pump 303 is started.
Is rotated forward and water is supplied to the ice tray 301 until the time is up in step 305.

At this time, the ice tray 301 is in a state of being filled with water. Timer 301 expires in step 3
If confirmed in step 05, the rotation of the motor 309 is stopped in step 306, and the process returns to step 301 to freeze the water in the ice tray 301, and thereafter, a series of ice making operations is repeated.

[0016]

The prior art ice making device 3
00 is widely used as a device built in a refrigerator. However, after the water supply, the ice making device 300
There is a problem that water remains in the liquid crystal 06 and freezes.

The water supply to the ice tray 301 is not always performed. Depending on the amount of ice consumed, the water supply to the ice tray 301 may not be performed for a considerable period of time. There is a problem that the water rots and an odor is transferred to the ice.

The present invention focuses on the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and provides an ice making device capable of reducing the chance of water remaining in a water supply path and preventing freezing, spoilage, and generation of an odor. It is the purpose.

[0019]

According to the present invention, there is provided a water supply tank, a pump, an ice tray disposed in a refrigerator, and a pipe connecting these components. This is an absorptive pump, which has a control device that makes multiple reverse rotations after supplying water to an ice tray.

[0020] Further, there is provided a control device characterized in that the pump is stopped for a predetermined time during the plurality of reverse rotations.

[0021]

The present invention employs an ice making device having a self-priming pump. After the water is supplied to the ice tray, the pump rotates several times in reverse, so that even if water or foreign matter remains in the piping, it is surely collected in the water tank through the pump, freezing and decaying in the piping And prevent odor.

Further, the reverse rotation time per rotation can be shortened by a plurality of reverse rotations, and the reverse rotation noise can be reduced.

Further, by changing the reverse rotation time per cycle individually, residual water can be collected in the tank without considering the influence of the pipe length.

In addition, by stopping the pump for a certain period of time between the reverse rotations, the startability of the pump is improved, and even if foreign matter enters the pump or the piping, it is collected in the water supply tank through the pump. can do.

If the water supply tank is located at a position higher than the ice tray and there is water in the piping, the water in the water tank flows into the ice tray naturally due to the pressure difference. Since the startability is improved, the water in the pipe is collected in the water supply tank, and can be prevented from flowing into the ice tray.

[0026]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of control means for an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pump of the ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

First, the basic configuration of the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The ice making device 1 of the present embodiment includes:
The ice tray 2 includes a reversing device 3, an ice storage container 5, a pump 6, a water supply tank 7, and pipes 4 and 8.

The ice making device 1 is arranged in a refrigerator. More specifically, the internal ice tray 2, the reversing device 3, and the ice storage container 5 of the above-described components are located in the lower freezer compartment 9, and the pump 6 and the water supply tank 7 are located in the upper refrigerator compartment 10. You.

The pipe 4 is provided with a water supply tank 7 and a pump 6
Are combined. On the other hand, the pipe 8 connects the pump 6 and the ice tray 2. Here, the pipe 4 is continuously connected without any gap, while the pipe 8 has a configuration in which a nozzle 11 is opened on the upper surface of the ice tray 2 and water is injected from the nozzle 11 into the ice tray 2.

Among the components of the ice making device 1 described above, the ice tray 2, the reversing device 3, and the ice storage container 5 are not different from known ones. In brief, the ice tray 2 is a tray for freezing the water inside. The reversing device 3 has a built-in gear train, and functions to reverse the ice tray 1 and release ice. The ice storage container 5 is located below the ice tray 2 and stores ice dropped from the ice tray 2.

In FIG. 4, the pump 6 has a motor 12 and a pump body 13 integrated with each other.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 14 denotes the external information storage means 1.
5 and the control means of the ice making apparatus 1 constituted by the operation order determining means 16 and the like. The input thereof is connected to an ice making temperature detecting means 17 for detecting the temperature of the ice making dish 2, and the output is A driving means 18 for driving the reversing device 3 and a driving means 19 for driving the pump 6 are connected.

The operation of the ice making apparatus 1 according to a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. When the power is turned on, the counter 201 starts in step 201, the timer 201 starts in step 202, the motor 12 rotates in the reverse direction in step 203, and continues to rotate in the reverse direction until the time in step 204 is up. At 205, the timer 202 is started, and the motor 12 is stopped until the time is up at step 207.

The reverse rotation and stop of the motor 12 are continued a plurality of times until the count is up in step 208.

Here, the pump 6 employed in the ice making apparatus 1 of this embodiment is a gear pump having self-priming properties. Even if a power failure occurs during water supply and water remains in the pipes 4 and 8, the motor 6 The startability of the pump 6 is improved by the multiple reverse rotations and stops of the pump 12, and the pump 6 is reliably collected in the water supply tank 7 and freezing of water in the water supply path can be prevented. In addition, since the motor is reversely rotated a plurality of times, the reverse rotation time per rotation can be shortened and the reverse rotation noise can be reduced.

Thereafter, in step 210, the system waits until the temperature of the ice tray 2 is sufficiently lowered, and in step 211, the ice removing operation is performed. In this ice releasing operation, similarly to the known ice making device, the ice making tray 2 is inverted by the inverting device 3 to separate ice and drop the ice into the ice storage box 5.

After de-icing, the timer 203 starts at step 212, and the motor 12 is turned off at step 213 at step 214.
To rotate forward until the time is up. That is, water is sucked up from the water supply tank 7, water is discharged from the nozzle 11 through the pipe 8 from the pump 6, and injected into the ice tray 2.

Next, at step 215, the counter 201 is started, at step 216, the timer 201 is started, at step 217, the motor 12 is rotated in the reverse direction, and continues to rotate backward until the time is up at step 218. The timer 202 starts, and the motor 12
The stop is continued until the time is up at 21.

The reverse rotation and stop of the motor 12 are continued a plurality of times until the count is up in step 222. For this reason, even if water remains in the pipes 4 and 8, it is reliably collected in the water supply tank 7 through the pump 6, and freezing, decay, and odor in the pipes can be prevented.

Further, since the motor 12 is reversely rotated a plurality of times, the reverse rotation time per rotation can be shortened, and the reverse rotation noise can be reduced.

Further, by stopping the motor 12 for a certain period of time between the reverse rotations, the startability of the pump 6 is improved, and even if foreign matter enters the pump 6, it can be collected in the water supply tank 7. it can.

In addition, if the water supply tank 7 is higher than the ice tray 2 and there is water in the pipes 4 and 8, the water in the water supply tank 7 naturally flows into the ice tray 2 due to the pressure difference. The water in the pipe is supplied to the water tank 7
In the ice tray 2 can be prevented.

Returning to the flowchart, step 222
With the count UP, the motor 12 stops and returns to step 210 to freeze the water in the ice tray 2, and thereafter, a series of operations is repeated.

That is, in the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment, a pump having self-priming properties is adopted for the pump 6, and after water is supplied, the pump 6 is reversely rotated a plurality of times, and the pump is stopped for a certain time during the reverse rotation. Therefore, the reverse rotation time of the motor 12 per time can be shortened, and the startability of the pump 6 can be improved, so that the water in the pipes 4 and 8 can be reliably collected in the water supply tank 7.

In this embodiment, step 201
The counter in step 215 and the timer in step 202 and the timer in step 216 and the timer in step 205 and step 219 need not be the same. The motor 12
Is rotated and stopped a plurality of times, but the reverse rotation time and the stop time may be changed each time.

In this embodiment, a gear pump is used as the pump 6. However, the present invention is not limited to a gear pump as a pump type, and any other self-priming pump can be employed.

[0048]

The ice making apparatus of the present invention employs a pump having a self-priming property. After water is supplied, the pump is reversely rotated a plurality of times, and the pump is stopped for a certain time between the reverse rotations to start the pump. The water and foreign matter in the pump and the pipe can be reliably collected in the water supply tank, and there is an effect of preventing freezing, decay and odor in the pipe.

Further, the reverse rotation time per operation can be shortened, which is effective in reducing the reverse rotation sound. In addition, when the power is turned on,
By performing the same control as after water supply, even if a power outage occurs and water remains in the piping, it is reliably collected in the water supply tank, which has the effect of preventing freezing in the route.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of control means of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a pump of the ice making device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of control means of the conventional ice making device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the conventional ice making device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a conventional ice making device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ice making device 2 ice making tray 3 reversing device 4 piping 6 pump 7 water supply tank 8 piping 9 freezing room 10 refrigeration room 12 motor 13 pump body 14 control means 17 ice tray temperature detecting means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25C 1/00-1/12 F25C 1/16-5/18 F04D 15/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A water supply tank, a pump, an ice tray disposed in a refrigerator, and a pipe connecting the ice tray and a pipe connecting the ice tray and the pump. An ice making device, comprising: 2. The ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the pump is provided with a control device that reversely rotates a plurality of times after supplying water to the ice tray, and stops the pump for a predetermined time between the reverse rotations. apparatus.