JP3973839B2 - Automatic ice making water supply system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device of a refrigerator, and more particularly, an automatic including a water supply path switching valve provided with a branch valve before water flowing out of a water supply tank is poured into an ice tray, and enables water supply to a plurality of locations. It relates to ice making systems.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, large refrigerators with an automatic ice making function have become common, and ice making functions with higher added value have been devised. For example, Japanese Patent No. 2854505 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-310946 have devised an automatic ice making machine that supplies ice to a plurality of ice trays to make ice. There are many needs regarding the quality, quantity and shape of ice, and it is expected that the number of automatic ice makers with these functions will increase in the future.
[0003]
The conventional automatic ice making machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0004]
FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an automatic ice making machine described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-310946. In FIG. 3, water necessary for ice making is pumped from the water supply tank 60 by the pump 50 and flows into the branch valve 16 through the hose 40. The branch valve 16 selects the direction of draining, and water is poured into the selected ice tray 4A or 4B. According to this publication, the branch valve 16 is constituted by an electromagnetic valve or the like, but the details are unknown. Details about the hose 40 are also unknown.
[0005]
The purpose of supplying water to a plurality of ice trays to make ice is not simply to increase the amount of ice produced, but to use different sizes and shapes of ice depending on the application.
[0006]
For example, when putting ice in drinking water such as juice, it is convenient because small flakes take heat quickly. On the other hand, when used for water splitting, large ice that melts slowly so that the water splitting does not diminish is suitable.
[0007]
When making ice of different sizes and shapes, each ice tray is made according to the size of the ice and water is supplied to each.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the automatic ice making machine described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-310946, when the amount of water supplied to the ice tray is different, the amount of water supplied must be adjusted by the operation time of the pump and the number of rotations.
[0009]
When adjusting the amount of water supply based on the operation time of the pump, the time should be set longer when the amount of water supply is large. However, short-time operation setting has a drawback that the variation in the actual water supply amount with respect to the set water supply amount becomes large.
[0010]
If the water supply time is long, the influence on the total water supply amount may be small even if the water supply time varies somewhat. However, if the water supply time is short, if the same water supply time variation occurs, the influence on the total water supply amount becomes large. Therefore, reducing the amount of water supply per hour and extending the water supply time works to suppress water supply variation.
[0011]
On the other hand, when the amount of water supply is adjusted by the number of rotations of the pump, there is a drawback that the cost for the drive source and control increases.
[0012]
Variations in the amount of water supply have a significant effect on ice deicing performance. In particular, when making small ice, if the water exceeds a specified amount, the deicing property is extremely deteriorated.
[0013]
The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and provides an automatic ice-making water supply system that can reduce the variation even if the water supply amount is small and can be configured at low cost when the water supply amounts of the plurality of water supply destinations are different. For the purpose.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve this problem, the automatic ice making and water supply system of the present invention is configured such that a water supply amount with little variation can be injected into each water supply destination by changing the size of the drainage port of the branch valve.
[0015]
Moreover, the same thing can be done by changing the inner diameter of the water injection hose connected to each drainage port.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention of claim 1 of the present invention is an automatic ice-making water supply system in which water is pumped from a water supply tank by a pump and selectively supplied to a plurality of locations by a water supply route switching valve. The water supply route switching valve has a plurality of different sizes. It has a drain outlet.
[0017]
The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is an automatic ice making water supply system in which water is pumped from a water supply tank by a pump and selectively supplied to a plurality of locations by a water supply route switching valve, wherein the water supply route switching valve has a plurality of drain ports. A water injection hose having a different inner diameter is connected to each drain port.
[0018]
As a result, the amount of water supply can be changed depending on the size of the drain outlet or the water injection hose, so it is not necessary to set the pump operation time short for the water supply destination with a small amount of water supply. Can be kept small. In addition, the drive source and control can be realized at low cost without special measures.
[0019]
【Example】
Embodiments of a water supply path switching valve according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0020]
Example 1
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a water supply path switching valve used in the automatic ice making water supply system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of the automatic ice making water supply system of the embodiment.
[0021]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a body having a semicircular box shape, and a cylindrical water inlet 1c and drain outlets 1d, 1e are provided on side surfaces 1a, 1b. Reference numeral 2 denotes a valve which can be moved by the motor 3 so as to select and close the drains 1d and 1e.
[0022]
In FIG. 2, 4 pumps up water in the water supply tank 5. The pumped water flows into the water supply path switching valve 10 and is poured into the ice tray 7a or 7b through the water pouring hose 6a or 6b. The ice tray 7a is for large ice and the ice tray 7b is for small ice. The iced tray 7a has a larger required water supply amount.
[0023]
The drain ports 1d and 1e in FIG. 1 have different inner diameters, and 1e is smaller than 1d. Accordingly, since the water flowing out from the drain port 1e has a large pressure loss and the amount of flowing water decreases, if water is poured into the ice tray 7b for small ice, the water supply time is poured into the ice tray 7a for large ice. It is possible to supply water in the same amount of time as when doing this. The inner diameter of the water injection hose 6b in FIG. 2 is smaller than that of the water injection hose 6a. Therefore, the amount of flowing water can be reduced even by the pressure loss in the water injection hose 6b, and the amount of water injection per unit time can be reduced.
[0024]
By optimally designing the size of these drainage ports and the inner diameter of the water injection hose, it is possible to set the same water supply time for large ice and small ice.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
The invention of claim 1 of the present invention is an automatic ice-making water supply system in which water is pumped from a water supply tank by a pump and selectively supplied to a plurality of locations by a water supply route switching valve. The water supply route switching valve has a plurality of different sizes. It has a drain. The invention of claim 2 of the present invention has a structure in which the inner diameter of the water injection hose connected to the drain outlet of the water supply path switching valve is different.
[0026]
Thus, even when water is supplied to an ice tray with a small amount of water supply, it is not necessary to shorten the water supply time, so that variations in the water supply amount due to the water supply time can be suppressed.
[0027]
Furthermore, by suppressing this variation, there is a margin in the pump discharge variation, so that the design margin of the pump is increased and the metering pump can be downgraded, leading to cost reduction.
[0028]
In addition, by designing the size of the drain outlet and the inner diameter of the water injection hose optimally, it is possible to set the same water supply time for both large ice and small ice, which simplifies control and further reduces costs.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an internal structure of a water supply path switching valve used in an automatic ice making water supply system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an automatic ice making water supply system in the same embodiment. Structural diagram of an automatic ice maker using valves [Explanation of symbols]
1d, 1e Drain port 4 Pump 5 Water supply tank 6 Water injection hose 10 Water supply path switching valve

Claims (2)

In an automatic ice making water supply system that draws water from a water supply tank with a pump and selectively supplies water to multiple locations with a water supply path switching valve,
The automatic water supply / water supply system according to claim 1, wherein the water supply path switching valve has a plurality of drains of different sizes. In an automatic ice making water supply system that draws water from a water supply tank with a pump and selectively supplies water to multiple locations with a water supply path switching valve,
The water supply path switching valve has a plurality of drainage ports, and water injection hoses having different inner diameters are connected to the drainage ports, respectively.

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