JP3295918B2 - Automatic 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 automatic ice making apparatus in which transparent ice and opaque ice are selectively obtained by providing a lid on an ice tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automatic ice making device provided in a home refrigerator or the like is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-62368, in which water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice tray to make ice. Then, after the ice making, the ice making tray is rotated by a driving mechanism to be turned upside down, so that the ice in the ice making tray is dropped into an ice storage part such as an ice box to perform an ice releasing operation. Further, this automatic ice making device has a lid provided on the upper surface of the ice tray, a lid opening / closing drive mechanism for selectively driving the lid to an open state or a closed state by a changeover switch at the time of ice making, and a drive mechanism for closing the ice making. The ice making tray is equipped with a vibration applying mechanism that applies horizontal vibration to the ice tray.The lid opening / closing drive mechanism makes ice with the lid closed, making transparent ice, and opaque by making ice with the lid open. I make fresh ice.

However, in the above-described configuration, when a function of selecting transparent ice or opaque ice is added to an existing ice making device, a mechanism for directly driving the opening and closing of the lid must be incorporated, and mechanical components in the device are required. Changes will be significant. Therefore, the same applicant of the present application uses an ice storage detection unit that detects the amount of ice in the ice storage unit, and indirectly opens and closes the lid by providing a drive mechanism that moves the ice storage detection unit up and down, An automatic ice making device that can very easily add a function of selecting opaque ice and transparent ice to an existing ice making device has been proposed. That is, in FIG. 17 and FIG.
Is a body in which various driving mechanisms are disposed, and 2 is a support member provided behind the body 1, and the body 1 and the support member 2 are provided.
An ice tray 4 rotatably supported via the shaft portion 3
Is provided. Reference numeral 5 denotes a lid that covers the upper surface of the ice tray 4, and one end of the lid 5 is rotatably connected to a shaft (not shown). Further, an ice box 6 serving as an ice storage section is provided below the ice tray 4, and an ice storage detecting section which can detect the amount of ice in the ice box 6 and abut on the other end of the ice tray 4. The ice storage detection arm 7 is rotatably supported on the body 1 around a pin 7A.

On the other hand, an ice tray driving mechanism 8 for rotating the ice tray 4 after ice making and an ice storage detecting section driving mechanism 9 for vertically moving the ice storage detecting arm 7 are provided inside the body 1. Then, the rotation of the ice tray driving motor 10 constituting the ice tray driving mechanism 8 is reduced by the gear mechanism 11 and transmitted to the driving gear 12 formed integrally with the shaft portion 3 to rotate the ice tray 4. Then, a series of de-icing operation is performed.
The position of the ice storage detection arm 7 is determined by a cam meshing with the shaft 14 of the arm drive motor 13 in the ice storage detection unit drive mechanism 9.
In accordance with the contact position between the lever 15 and the lever 17 rotatable about the shaft 16, there are three stages: upper, middle, and lower. That is, when the transparent ice making process is selected, the lid 5 is opened by moving the tip of the ice storage detection arm 7 to the upper stage by the drive control of the arm drive motor 13, and the gap between the ice tray 4 and the lid 5 is opened. Introduce cold air from. On the other hand, at the time of ice removal, the ice storage detection arm 7 is moved to a lower position than the middle stage, and the ice tray 4 is rotated by the ice tray driving mechanism 8 to open the ice tray 4 and the lid 5, thereby opening the ice tray. The ice in the ice tray 4 is dropped into the ice box 6.

[0005]

The above-mentioned automatic ice making apparatus of the prior art uses the ice storage detecting arm 7 to very easily add a function of selecting between opaque ice and transparent ice to an existing ice making apparatus. However, since the rotation operation of the ice tray 4 and the vertical movement operation of the ice storage detection arm 7 are performed independently by separate drive mechanisms 8 and 9, respectively, the drive mechanisms 8 and 9 are used. There is a concern that the size of the machine body 1 to be stored will increase and the cost will increase.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the above problems,
There is no need to incorporate a mechanism to directly drive the opening and closing of the lid.
Ku, moreover an object to provide an automatic ice making device capable of easily be miniaturized drive mechanism of the ice tray and the ice storage detection unit.

[0007]

According to the present invention, water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice tray to make ice, and after the ice is made, the ice tray is rotated by an ice tray driving mechanism to be turned upside down. An ice storage detecting unit for releasing ice in the ice tray to an ice storage unit and detecting an amount of ice in the ice storage unit; and an ice storage detecting unit driving mechanism for vertically moving the ice storage detection unit. In an automatic ice making device that selectively obtains transparent ice and opaque ice by opening and closing a lid provided on the ice tray by the vertical movement of the detection unit, the rotation operation of the ice tray and the ice storage detection unit co performed by a common driving motor provided a vertical movement operation in the ice tray drive mechanism
When the opaque ice is selected, the tip of the ice storage detector is closed with the lid.
And the lid is opened by contacting the tongue piece of the above.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the rotation of the ice tray at the time of ice removal and the vertical movement of the ice storage detecting unit are performed by using the common drive motor provided in the ice tray driving mechanism. By opening and closing the lid provided on the ice tray by the vertical movement of the part, transparent ice and opaque ice can be selectively obtained. At that time, when the ice storage detection unit is moved upward, savings
Place the tongue in a position where the tip of the ice detector touches and the lid opens.
It is only necessary to provide a piece, and it directly drives the opening and closing of the lid.
There is no need to incorporate any

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 to 15 show a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
21 is cooled by a cooler not shown. Reference numeral 22 denotes a rectangular box-shaped body disposed at an upper portion in the ice making chamber 21. A U-shaped support member 23 protruding rearward is provided. An ice tray drive mechanism 27 having an output shaft 26 attached via a drive motor 24, a gear mechanism 25 and a thrust washer 26A is provided inside the body 22. As shown in FIG. The plate drive mechanism 27 reduces the rotation of the drive motor 24 by the gear mechanism 25, and
The driving gear 28 is formed integrally with the driving gear 28. Numeral 29 denotes a deformable ice tray made of plastic, for example. The ice tray 29 has a thin rectangular container shape with an open upper surface, and the inside is partitioned by a plurality of blocks 30. The output shaft 26 is connected to the front center of one side of the ice tray 29, and the support shaft 31 is connected to the rear center of the other side.
Is connected to the support member 23 through the shaft and is horizontally movable in the axial direction of the output shaft 26 and the support shaft 31, and is supported rotatably about the output shaft 26 and the support shaft 31. . Reference numeral 32 denotes a compression coil spring wound between the ice tray 29 and the support member 23. A convex portion 33 is protruded from one end of the rear portion of the ice tray 29, and the convex portion 33 is provided on the support member 23 when the ice tray 29 is rotated in the reverse direction.
By contacting 33A, its rotation is regulated.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a lid for covering the upper surface of the ice tray 29 at the ice making position, which is a container-shaped bottom plate 35 having an open upper surface.
It is composed of a cover 36 that covers the upper surface of the bottom plate 35 and a heat insulating material 37 such as styrene foam disposed between them. One end of the lid 34 is rotatably supported by the body 22 and the support member 23 via the shaft portion 38, and a tongue piece 39 projects laterally from the free end of the other end. It is formed integrally. Inside the lid 34, a heater 40 is attached to the upper surface of the bottom plate 34.

Reference numeral 41 denotes the ice tray 29 during transparent ice making.
This is a vibration imparting mechanism that imparts axial vibration to the motor. The vibration applying mechanism 41 is a pulse motor provided in the body 22.
42, a cam 44 mounted on a rotating shaft 43 of the pulse motor 42 and provided so as to be able to face the output shaft 26 side, one end of which contacts the cam 44, and the other end of which is a front portion of the ice tray 29. And a shaft-shaped vibration transmitting member 46 which can be rotatably penetrated through the axis of the driving gear 28, and which is not shown, Cam 44
A ball, such as a steel ball, is rotatably provided at one end on the side in contact with the ball by caulking. Then, when the cam 44 rotates in a predetermined direction by the operation of the pulse motor 42, the ice tray 29 vibrates in the axial direction according to the contact position between one end of the vibration transmitting member 46 and the cam 44.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, a temperature sensor 47 is provided on the upper surface of the back surface of the ice tray 29, and the temperature sensor 47 detects the temperature of the upper portion of the ice tray 29. I have. Reference numeral 48 denotes a rectangular parallelepiped heat insulating material provided below the temperature sensor 47, and is formed at low cost by using a material such as foamed polyethylene. In addition, insulation 48
A cover 49 whose side is formed in a substantially mountain shape so as to cover the back surface of the ice tray 29 is attached to the outside. The cover 49 is made of a material such as polypropylene.
48, the temperature sensor 47 is sealed, and the temperature sensor 47 is insulated from external cold air.

The body 22 has a circuit board (not shown) provided therein. Reference numeral 51 denotes an ice box serving as an ice storage part which is stored below the ice tray 29 so as to be able to be taken in and out of the ice making chamber 21, and 52 has a notch formed at the tip thereof.
A water supply pipe which constitutes a water supply device together with a water supply pipe (not shown) facing the ice tray 29 via 53, and serves to supply water from a water supply tank (not shown) housed in a refrigerator compartment (not shown). Is supplied to the ice tray 29 via a water supply pump 77 described later. Further, a cool air supply port 54 for supplying cool air into the ice making chamber 21 allows the cool air to flow below the ice making tray 29.

Reference numeral 55 denotes an ice storage detection arm which is an ice storage detection unit disposed along the other end of the lid 34 from the body 22.
The ice storage detection arm 55 detects the amount of ice in the ice box 51, and the tip of the ice storage arm 55 contacts the tongue piece 39 of the lid 34 around a pin 56 formed near the base end in the body 22. It is supported so that it can move up and down. In addition, on the base end side of the ice storage detection arm 55, that is, inside the body 22, an ice storage detection unit drive mechanism 57 for vertically moving the ice storage detection arm 55 is provided together with the ice tray drive mechanism 27.

The internal structure of the fuselage 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 and FIGS. 9 and 10. The ice storage detecting unit driving mechanism 57 includes a support shaft 61 protruding from one side of the fuselage 22. And a pair of arm levers 62 and 63 rotatably mounted around the support shaft 61. The arm lever 62 has a tip portion 62A that is connected to the ice storage detection arm 55.
And an abutment 62B is formed on one side of the base end. The arm lever 63 also has a distal end 63A abutting on the upper end of the base end of the ice storage detection arm 55, and a locking portion 63B formed on one side of the base end.
On the other hand, the drive gear 28 includes a first gear 64 formed integrally with the output shaft 26, and a second gear 65 which forms a pair with the first gear 64 and is loosely fitted to the output shaft 26. , And both gears 64 and 65 rotate around the output shaft 26. On the outer periphery of each of the gears 64 and 65, a gear 66 of the last stage of the gear mechanism 25 is provided.
The meshing portions 64A and 65A meshing with the second gear 65 are formed at a predetermined angle around the output shaft 26.
The number of teeth of 65A is larger than the number of teeth of meshing portion 64A of first gear 64, and meshing portion 64A is formed in a wide angle range with respect to meshing portion 65A. The first gear 64 has an output shaft 26.
A concave portion 67 is formed on the circumference around the center of the circle, and a convex portion 68 inserted into the concave portion 67 is provided on the second gear 65. On one side of each of the gears 64 and 65, cams 64B and 65B each having a predetermined shape are provided.
The engaging portion 62B of the arm lever 62 contacts the cam 64B of the second gear 65, and the arm lever 62 contacts the cam 65B of the second gear 65.
The ice storage arm 55 is positioned such that the cams 64B, 65B and the locking portions 62B,
Depending on the contact position with 63B, it changes in three stages: upper, middle, and lower. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, near the output shaft 26,
Horizontal position detection switch 69 for detecting the horizontal position of ice tray 29
And an inversion position detection switch 70 for detecting the inversion position of the ice tray 29.

Next, a circuit configuration of the present apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 71 denotes a microcomputer for controlling each process relating to ice making described later, and a predetermined DC voltage is supplied from a power supply terminal VDD. On the input side of the microcomputer 71, between the power supply terminal VDD and the ground, the horizontal position detection switch 69 via a resistor, a door switch 72 for detecting opening and closing of a door (not shown) of the ice making chamber 21, and an ice making unit. A test switch 73 for forcibly rotating the ice tray 29 with the door of the chamber 21 open is connected.
Detection signals corresponding to the operations of 9, 72, and 73 are separately provided to the microcomputer 71. Further, the microcomputer 71 is supplied with a voltage signal based on the temperature detected by the ice tray 29 from the temperature sensor 47 and, although not shown, reaches the water supply completion temperature (for example, -9.5 ° C.) of the ice tray 29. A reference voltage generating circuit for generating a corresponding reference voltage, and an ice making completion temperature of the ice tray 29 (for example,-
12.5 ° C.) is connected. Further, the microcomputer 71
In addition, the inversion position detection switch 70, an ice storage detection switch 74 that responds to the ice storage detection arm 55, a selection switch 75 for switching between transparent ice and opaque ice, and a device for setting the room temperature in the ice making chamber 21. Each detection signal from the controller 76 is provided.

On the other hand, on the output side of the microcomputer 71, the heater 40 and the water supply pump 77 are connected via transistors 78 and 79, and the vibration imparting mechanism 41
Are connected via a pulse motor drive circuit 80. The drive motor 24 of the ice tray drive mechanism 27 is connected via a motor drive circuit 81. A control signal is supplied from the microcomputer 71 to the drive motor 24, the heater 40, the water supply pump 77, and the pulse motor 42. It is supposed to be.

In the motor drive circuit 81, a control signal of the microcomputer 71 is applied to the base of an NPN transistor 83 via a resistor 82, and a series of resistors 84 and 85 are connected between the collector of the transistor 83 and the power supply terminal VDD. The circuit is connected. The DC voltage from the power supply terminal VDD is supplied to the emitter of the PNP transistor 86,
The base of the transistor 86 is connected to the connection point between the resistors 84 and 85. When a control signal is supplied to the base of the transistor 83, the transistor 86 is turned on. A pair of switching contacts 87a and 87b that can be switched by a control signal from the microcomputer 71 are connected to the collector of the transistor 86, and the drive motor 24 is connected between the common terminals of the switching contacts 87a and 87b. Thus, by switching the switching contacts 87a and 87b at the same time, the polarity of the drive motor 24 is inverted. Further, another NPN transistor 88 is connected between the collector of the transistor 86 and the ground, and the base of the transistor 88 is connected to the microcomputer 71 via the resistor 89.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 12 to 14 showing the control of the microcomputer 71 and a graph showing the positional relationship of the ice storage detecting arm 55 in FIG. First, FIG.
In the step of transparent ice making in the flow chart of FIG. 7, the transparent ice making step is selected in advance by the selection switch 75 in step S1. At this time, the first and second gears 64 and 65 are held at the horizontal position of the ice tray 29 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, and the engaging portions 62B and 63B of the arm levers 62 and 63 are cams.
The lid closing operation of the lid 34 in step S2 is performed in a state where the ice storage detection arm 55 is held at the substantially horizontal position in the middle stage by contacting the contact portions a and a 'of 64B and 65B. In the transparent ice making process, the position of the tip of the ice storage detection arm 55 is held in a horizontal state until the ice making is completed.

In the water supply process, at step S3, the water supply pump
77 is driven for a fixed time to supply water to the ice tray 29.
Then, in step S4, it is determined whether or not the water supply has been completed based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 47. That is,
When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 47 is lower than the water supply completion temperature, water is not supplied, for example, it is determined that water is not supplied to the ice tray 29 because there is no water in the water supply tank,
The water supply abnormality is notified and the operation stops (steps S5 and S5).
6) On the other hand, if it is higher, it is determined that water supply has been completed,
Move to ice making process.

In the ice making process, first, in step S7, a driving signal is output from the microcomputer 71 to the pulse motor 42 via the pulse motor driving circuit 80.
The ice tray 29 is vibrated in the axial direction by the vibration imparting mechanism 41.
In this case, the vibration transmitting member 46 vibrates in the axial direction with the rotation of the cam 44, and the vibration of the transmitting member 46 can be transmitted to the ice tray 29. Also, in step S8, the heater
40 is energized. In this ice making process, the cool air from the cool air supply port 54 is mainly supplied to the lower side of the ice tray 29, and the upper surface of the ice tray 29 is covered by the lid 34 and heated by the heater 40. The water is vibrated with the vibration of the plate 29, so that bubbles contained in the water are released, and the formation of ice on the water surface side is delayed, and the ice grows in one direction from the bottom of the ice plate 29 and becomes transparent. Ice forms.

Next, in step S9, it is determined whether or not the ice making is completed based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 47.
When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 47 falls below the ice making completion temperature,
It is determined that the ice making is completed, the pulse motor 42 is turned off, the vibration of the ice tray 29 is stopped (step S10), and the heater 40 is turned off (step S11).
The process moves to the ice removal process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

On the other hand, if the opaque ice making process is selected in step S1, the pulse motor 42 and the heater
In a state where the power is cut off, the process proceeds to step S12 of the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, this step S1
In the second embodiment, the microcomputer 71 has a switching contact 87
a, 87b are switched to reverse the polarity of the drive motor 24, and a predetermined control signal is supplied to the base of the transistor 83, and through the drive motor 24 and the gear mechanism 25,
A driving force for rotating in the direction of arrow A from the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is applied to the first and second gears 64 and 65. At this time, the meshing portion 65A of the second gear 65 continues to mesh with the gear portion 66 in the direction of arrow A, whereas the meshing portion 64A of the first gear 64 does not mesh with the gear portion 66. Specifically, only the second gear 65 not directly connected to the output shaft 26 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and the transmission of the driving force to the ice tray 29 is cut off because the first gear 64 does not rotate. Then, by the rotation of the second gear 65 in the direction of arrow A,
The locking portion 63B of the arm lever 63 is a contact portion a 'of the cam 65B.
The contact position moves to the contact portion b ', and is pushed upward. That is, the tip portion 63A of the arm lever 63 descends and acts to move the tip portion of the ice storage detection arm 55 to the upper stage, and the tip portion of the ice storage detection arm 55 pushes up the tongue piece 39 of the lid 34, Open the lid 34 (Step S1)
3). The microcomputer 71 measures the time from when the drive motor 24 starts rotating to when the lid 34 is opened, for example, by timer means, and stops the rotation operation of the drive motor 24 after a predetermined time has elapsed. (Step S
14). Thereafter, in the opaque ice making process, the tip of the ice storage detection arm 55 is held at the upper position until the ice making is completed.

Next, after water supply is performed in step 15, the process proceeds to step S16, and similarly to step S4, it is determined whether or not water supply is completed based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 47. When it is determined in step S16 that the water supply has been completed, the process proceeds to the ice making process, in which not only the bottom of the ice tray 29 but also the upper surface of the opened ice tray 29 is introduced with cold air. The stored water is made almost uniformly from the entire surface. Then, in step S17, it is determined whether or not the ice making is completed based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 47. When the ice making is completed, the ice removal shown in the flowchart of FIG. Move to the process.

In the deicing process, first, the microcomputer 71 supplies a predetermined control signal to the base of the transistor 83, thereby causing the drive motor 24 to rotate forward through the motor drive circuit 82, and Rotation is gear mechanism 25
Is transmitted to the first and second gears 64 and 65 from the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 in the direction of arrow B. At this time, the meshing portions 64A and 65A of the first and second gears 64 and 65 are both meshed with the gear portion 66 on the arrow B direction side, and the respective gears 64 and 65 rotate in the arrow B direction. The ice tray 29 starts the reversing operation (step S18), and the lid 34 rotates around the shaft 38 relative to the ice tray 29. With the rotation of the gears 64, 65 in the direction of arrow B, the locking portions 62B, 63B of the arm levers 62, 63 are moved from the contact portions a, a 'of the cams 64B, 65B to the contact portions c, c'. Through the contact portions d and d '
The contact position moves. Therefore, arm lever
When the locking portions 62B, 63B of the 62, 63 move to the positions of the contact portions c, c ', the tip portions 63A of the arm levers 62, 63 rise, and the tip portion of the ice storage detection arm 55 is lower than the middle stage. When the locking portions 62B and 63B move to the positions of the contact portions d and d ', the contact portion d of the cam 64B pushes up the locking portion 62B.
The tip of the ice storage detection arm 55 rises again to the middle horizontal position. Then, the ice tray 29 is turned upside down by approximately 180 °, and the projection 33 is brought into contact with the receiving portion 33A of the support member 23 and twisted, so that ice in the ice tray 29 is dropped into the ice box 51. Is performed.

Next, in step S19, when the reversing position detecting switch 70 detects the reversing position of the ice tray 29, the microcomputer 71 switches the switching contacts 87a and 87b,
The drive motor 24 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of the normal rotation (step S20). At this time, the gears 64 and 65 rotate in the direction of arrow A, the ice tray 29 rotates in the direction opposite to the direction of the reversal, and the locking portions 62B and 63B of the arm levers 62 and 63.
Are the contact portions c, c from the contact portions d, d 'of the cams 64B, 65B.
The contact position moves to the contact portions a and a 'via the', and the tip of the ice storage detection arm 55 once lowers from the middle stage, and then returns to the middle horizontal position again.

When the horizontal position detecting switch 69 detects the position under the ice tray 29 in step S21, the microcomputer 71 stops supplying the control signal to the transistor 83 and cuts off the drive motor 24. (Step S22). Then, immediately in step S23, a control signal is supplied from the microcomputer 71 to the base of the transistor 88. At this time, the transistor 88 is turned on and the drive motor 24 is short-circuited, so that the drive motor 24 itself is actuated by a power generation brake and stops instantaneously. When it is determined in step S24 that the predetermined 0.5 seconds have elapsed, the microcomputer 71 stops supplying the control signal to the transistor 88, turns off the transistor 88, and turns off the drive motor 24. The short-circuit state is released in a very short time (step S25). That is, a series of operations from step S23 to step S25 is performed immediately after the drive motor 24 is cut off by the external inertial force acting on the drive motor 24.
24 acts as a generator to eliminate the problem of not stopping instantaneously and to keep the stop position of the ice tray 29 constant. Thereafter, in step S26, the ice storage detection switch 74 determines whether or not the ice stored in the ice box 51 is full. If it is determined that the ice is not full, the process returns to step S1 in FIG. If it is determined that it is full, it waits as it is.

Note that the steps S18 to S18
If the door of the ice making chamber 21 is opened during the rotation operation of the ice tray 29 reaching 22, the microcomputer 71 performs the operation until the door of the ice making chamber 21 is closed again based on the detection signal from the door switch 72. The operation of the drive motor 24 is stopped. However, when the drive motor 24 is forcibly driven via the test switch 73, the rotation of the ice tray 29 is continued even if the door of the ice making chamber 21 is opened.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the rotation of the drive motor 24 is transmitted to the first and second gears 64 and 65 via the gear mechanism 25 and connected to the first gear 64 by the output shaft 26. The ice making tray 29 is rotated and the first and second gears 64 and 65 are provided with cams 64B and 65B.
The locking portions 62B and 63B of the arm levers 62 and 63 that make up the 57 are brought into contact with each other, and the ice storage detection lever 55 is moved up and down in accordance with the contact position. An ice tray at the time of ice removal using the drive motor 24
Since the rotation operation of the ice storage tray 29 and the vertical movement of the ice storage detection lever 55 can be performed, the entire structure of the ice tray drive mechanism 27 and the ice storage detector drive mechanism 57 can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to easily achieve the miniaturization of the shape of each of the drive mechanisms 27 and 57. At this time, the ice storage detection level
When the bar 55 moves upward, the tip of the ice storage detection lever 55
A tongue piece 39 is provided at a position where the end abuts and the lid 34 opens.
A mechanism that directly drives the opening and closing of the lid 34
There is no need to incorporate

FIG. 16 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of the common parts will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the motor drive circuit 81 is modified so that the control of the transistor 88 in the first embodiment is performed by a logic circuit.
A series circuit of a resistor 91, a diode 92 and a horizontal position detection switch 69 is connected between the resistor 91 and the diode 92, and a series connection of a capacitor 93 and a resistor 94 is provided between a connection point of the resistor 91 and the diode 92 and a base of the transistor 88. A circuit is inserted and connected. Further, a resistor 95 and a diode 96 are connected between the base and the emitter of the transistor 88, respectively. The horizontal position detection switch 69 is opened when the ice tray 29 is in a horizontal state.

When the ice tray 29 returns to the original horizontal position after the ice-releasing operation, the horizontal position detecting switch 69 is switched to the open state, and the capacitor 93 is connected via the resistor 91 until the capacitor 93 is charged up. , A differential current flows. At this time, the base potential of the transistor 88 rises and the driving motor
By temporarily short-circuiting 24, the same operation and effect as in the first embodiment can be achieved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the internal structures of the ice tray driving mechanism and the ice storage detecting section driving mechanism can be appropriately changed, and the ice tray and the rotating shaft may be connected like a spline shaft.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the water supplied from the water supply device is stored in an ice tray to make ice, and after the ice is made, the ice tray is rotated by an ice tray driving mechanism so that the ice tray is turned upside down. An ice storage detecting unit that releases ice to the ice storage unit and detects an amount of ice in the ice storage unit; and an ice storage detecting unit driving mechanism that moves the ice storage detecting unit up and down. In an automatic ice making apparatus that selectively obtains transparent ice and opaque ice by opening and closing a lid provided on the ice tray by movement, a rotation operation of the ice tray and a vertical movement operation of the ice storage detection unit. Is performed by a common drive motor provided in the ice tray drive mechanism, and opaque ice is selected.
Sometimes, the tip of the ice storage detecting section is brought into contact with the tongue of the lid.
The lid is opened by opening and closing the lid.
It is possible to provide an automatic ice making device that does not need to incorporate a mechanism for directly driving the ice making device and that can easily reduce the size of the driving mechanism of the ice tray and the ice storage detecting section.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partly cut away, of the same.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of the same.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ice storage detecting unit driving mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a main part showing a mounting structure of the temperature sensor.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a main part on the first gear side according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a main part on the second gear side according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a circuit configuration diagram of the same.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart in a transparent ice making process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart in the opaque ice making process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the deicing process.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing a positional relationship of the ice storage detection arm according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a circuit configuration diagram of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a main part showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 24 Drive motor 27 Ice tray drive mechanism 29 Ice tray 34 Lid39 tongue pieces  51 Ice box (ice storage unit) 52 Water supply pipe (water supply device) 55 Ice storage detection arm (ice storage detection unit) 57 Ice storage detection unit drive mechanism

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Osamu Motomura 2570-1, Gosuda, Oaza, Kamo-shi, Niigata Toshiba Home Techno Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-62368 (JP, A) JP-A-Hei 6-117739 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model 3-100778 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25C 1/00-1/12 F25C 1/16-5 / 18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ice tray, wherein water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice tray and ice is made. After the ice tray is made, the ice tray is rotated by an ice tray driving mechanism so that the ice in the ice tray is turned upside down. An ice storage detecting unit for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage unit and an ice storage detecting unit driving mechanism for moving the ice storage detecting unit up and down, wherein the ice making is performed by the vertical movement of the ice storage detecting unit. In an automatic ice making apparatus in which transparent ice and opaque ice are selectively obtained by opening and closing a lid provided on a dish, the rotation of the ice tray and the up and down movement of the ice storage detection unit are performed by the ice tray. This is performed by a common drive motor provided in the drive mechanism, and the storage is performed when opaque ice is selected.
Open the lid by bringing the tip of the ice detector into contact with the tongue of the lid.
An automatic ice making device characterized by being configured to release .