JP4595743B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with an ice making device.

A conventional refrigerator equipped with this type of ice making device is disclosed in Patent Document 1. That is, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the automatic ice making device 3 is installed in the freezer compartment 2 of the refrigerator body 1. The automatic ice making device 3 is mainly cooled by a cooler 4 and cooled by a fan 5 to cool water with cold air circulating in the freezer compartment 2 to produce ice, and the ice making plate 6 is rotated by a drive shaft 7. A driving device 8 is provided that deforms and separates the ice from the ice tray 6, and an ice storage box 9 that stores the ice released from the ice tray 6. The ice tray 6 is fitted with a front shaft 10 in a downward U-shaped groove 13 provided in a front end portion 12 of an L-shaped frame 11 whose rear end portion is fixed to a driving device 8 fixed to the freezer compartment 2. The rear engagement portion 14 is detachably engaged with the drive shaft 7. Further, the front shaft 10 of the ice tray 6 is fitted with detachment prevention claws 18 and 19 provided on the back surface of the decorative cover 17 whose ends projecting from the grooves 13 are fixed to the front ends of the partition walls 15 with screws 16. The groove 13 is prevented from coming off. 20 and 21 are anti-detachment claws provided on the back surface of the decorative cover 17 that supports the front end portion 12 of the frame 11, 22 is a door of the freezer compartment 2, and 23 is a bendable temperature sensor integrally extended from the drive unit 18. Thus, it is longer than the drive shaft 7 and is located in the engaging portion 14 of the ice tray 6.
Japanese Patent No. 3291833

However, in the conventional refrigerator, a fan 5 that circulates cold air around the automatic ice maker 3 in the freezer compartment 2 is installed in the vicinity of the cooler 4 at the back of the freezer compartment 2, and is installed in an ice tray 6 that produces ice. In order to circulate the cold air, it is necessary to form an air passage beyond the driving device 8 , and as a result, the air flow to the ice tray 6 due to the occurrence of the air passage resistance is reduced, and the ice making capacity is ensured. Is difficult. Further, per direct cool air to the driving device 8, it has a problem that if there is a malfunction occurs in the drive 8.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and provides a refrigerator having an automatic ice making device that can improve ice making capacity and ensure the reliability of freezing of a drive unit in a type in which an ice tray can be easily removed. The purpose is to do.

In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the refrigerator of the present invention is provided with an ice making chamber door that can be opened and closed, the ice making chamber is configured in the refrigerator body, an ice tray, a holding body that holds the ice tray, and the ice tray. A drive unit that separates ice from the ice tray, an ice storage box provided below the ice tray, and an ice detection lever that detects an amount of ice in the ice tray, and water is supplied to the ice tray to generate ice. When ice making is completed after a predetermined time, the drive shaft is rotated by the drive control of the drive unit, the ice tray is rotated, and at the same time, the ice detection lever is used to control the amount of ice in the ice storage box. When the ice is not full, the ice is deiced by reversing and twisting the ice tray, and when the drive shaft is in a predetermined position, the drive motor is stopped and the deicing is completed. Ltd. having a detachable mechanism that can retrieve manufacturing ice tray outside manufacturing icehouse In an ice making chamber comprising an apparatus, a discharge outlet for discharging cold air, and an air passage for guiding the cold air to the ice tray to make ice, the drive unit is provided at the rear side of the ice making door in the opposite direction of the door. The air path is discharged from the discharge port installed at the back of the ice making chamber, passes through the side of the drive unit, cool air is introduced from the long side of the ice tray, and directly from the air path to the ice tray. The opening for introducing cool air is provided with only one opening.

  Thereby, in the refrigerator which can attach or detach an ice tray, the flow volume of the cool air efficiently sent to the ice tray can be increased.

  The refrigerator of the present invention is a refrigerator in which an ice tray of an automatic ice making apparatus can be attached and detached, and the ice making speed is fast and a large amount of ice can be provided in a short time.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice making chamber door that can be freely opened and closed, the ice making chamber is formed in the refrigerator body, an ice tray, a holding body that holds the ice tray, and a drive unit that separates ice from the ice tray. And an ice storage box provided below the ice tray, and an ice detection lever for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage box , water is supplied to the ice tray and ice making is performed, and ice making is performed after a predetermined time. Is completed, the drive shaft is rotated by the drive control of the drive unit, the ice tray is rotated, and at the same time, the ice detection lever determines the amount of ice in the ice storage box based on the lowering angle of the lever, Mitsuru If not ice ice is ice removal by twisting inversion and the ice tray, when said drive shaft reaches a predetermined position, and stops the drive motor ice removal is complete, outside manufacturing icehouse the manufacturing ice tray An ice making device with a detachable mechanism that can be easily removed, and a spout that ejects cold air In an ice making chamber composed of a mouth and an air passage that guides cold air to the ice tray to make ice, the drive unit is provided on the rear side of the ice making door in the direction opposite to the door, and the air passage is located at the back of the ice making chamber. For discharging cold air from the long side of the ice tray, passing through the side of the drive unit, and directly charging cold air from the air path to the ice tray The opening has only one opening, and in the refrigerator in which the ice tray can be attached and detached, the flow rate of the cold air sent to the ice tray can be increased, so that the ice making speed can be increased.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a portion of the ice detection lever disposed between the air passage and the opening is cut out, In the case where the detection lever is disposed in the vicinity of the air path, the cooling air can be efficiently blown to the ice tray, and the freezing speed of each cube of the ice tray can be made uniform.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the ice detecting lever is disposed at a symmetrical position of the air passage across the ice tray, and the ice making lever is made from the air passage. The obstruction at the opening to the plate is eliminated, the shape of the air path is simplified, and cool air can be efficiently blown to the ice tray, and the mold cost can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

  Invention of Claim 4 provides the opening which ventilates to the bottom face of the said ice tray in a part of said air path in the invention as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3, The ice tray lower part The ice is cooled, and the deicing property of the ice tray and ice can be improved.

(Embodiment 1)
1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the refrigerator according to the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the ice making device for a refrigerator according to the embodiment.

  1 and 2, reference numeral 30 denotes a refrigerator body, which has an ice making chamber 31 and a refrigerator compartment 32, and has an ice making chamber door 31a and a refrigerator compartment door 32a, respectively. A cooler 33 is disposed at the lower back of the refrigerator main body 30, and a fan 34 that circulates the cooled cold air to each chamber is disposed above the cooler 33. In the interior of the ice making chamber 31, a discharge port 36 is installed in a cover 35 that covers the cooler 33, and cool air cooled by the cooler 33 is taken into the ice making chamber 31.

  An ice making device 37 is disposed in the upper part of the ice making chamber 31. The ice making device 37 has a drive unit 38 disposed behind the ice making chamber 31 in the direction opposite to the door, and the ice produced by the ice making tray 39 is driven by the drive unit 38. It is stored in the lower ice storage box 40 by the rotational drive from 38. A water supply tank 41 for storing ice making water is disposed in the refrigerator compartment 32, and water in the water supply tank 41 is supplied to a certain amount of ice making tray 39 through a water supply pipe 43 by a water supply pump 42. Yes.

  Next, the structure of the ice making device 37 will be described in detail. 3 and 4, the drive unit 38 is installed at the end of the frame 44 fixed to the upper part of the ice making chamber 31, and a drive shaft 38 a that rotates in conjunction with the drive source of the drive unit 38 is provided at a substantially central portion. And an ice detection lever 45 for detecting whether or not the ice storage box 40 is full and a control unit (not shown) for controlling the drive source is provided. It has been. The ice tray 39 has rotatable shaft portions 39a and 39b, and is integrated with a holding body 46 having a holding portion for supporting both shaft portions via a holding jig 46a. It can be detachably connected to the shaft 38a.

  The frame 44 is provided with partition walls 44 a and 44 b on the left and right sides, and is configured to extend downward so as to cover the ice tray 39. The inner side surfaces of the partition walls 44a and 44b have a sliding portion for sliding the holding body 46, and are configured to be detachable in the front-rear direction. The sliding portion is, for example, a configuration in which a convex portion 47 is provided from the holding body 46, concave portions 44d are provided on the left and right sides of the partition walls 44a and 44b, and the convex portion 47 is fitted into the concave portion 44d and is slid back and forth. Is representative.

  Next, the structure of the air passage in the ice making chamber 31 will be described in detail. 2 to 4, the frame 44 is configured by providing partition walls 44a and 44b on the left and right sides, a concave cold air duct 44c is provided on the side of the partition wall 44a opposite to the ice tray 39, and the opened upper surface is Sealed by the ceiling surface of the ice making chamber 31, etc., and each has a substantially full length in the front-rear direction of the ice making device 37. The cold air duct 44c extends to the vicinity of the cover 35 in the depth of the ice making chamber 31, and is simply sealed so as to suppress leakage of the cold air discharged from the discharge port 36 into the ice making chamber 31. Further, the front of the frame 44 is opened, and the ice making tray 39 integrally formed with the holding body 46 is attached and detached.

  Further, the partition wall 44 a is provided with a cold air inlet 48 through which cold air is introduced into the ice tray 39, and the cold air inlet 48 opens to the same length as the ice tray 39.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the ice detection lever 45 is provided on the side of the long side of the holding body 46 that integrally forms the ice tray 39.

  The ice making operation in the above configuration will be described. When ice is made by supplying water to the ice tray 39 and the ice making is completed after a predetermined time, the drive shaft 38a is rotated by the drive control of the drive unit to rotate the ice tray 39 and at the same time by the ice detection lever 45. The amount of ice in the ice storage box 40 is judged by the lever lowering angle. If the ice is not full, the ice tray 39 is reversed and twisted to remove the ice, and when the drive shaft 38a is in a predetermined position, The drive motor is stopped and ice removal is completed. The deiced ice is stored in the ice storage box 40 below.

  Next, the air path for the purpose of ice making will be described. In order to cool the inside of the refrigerator, the cool air cooled by the cooler 33 is blown into the respective cabinets by the fans 34. Cold air blown by a fan 34 is discharged into the ice making chamber 31 from a discharge port 36 provided in the depth of the ice making chamber 31. Next, it passes through a cold air duct 44c provided on the side of the frame 44 to which the ice making device 37 is fixed. Next, the cold air that has passed through the cold air duct 44c is supplied to the ice tray 39 from the cold air inlet 48 provided in the partition wall 44a, and the water supplied to the ice tray 39 is cooled, so that the water reaches a predetermined temperature. When cooled, it becomes ice. At this time, the ice making device 37 has a drive unit 38 disposed behind the ice making chamber 31 in the counter-door direction, and the ice tray 39 has rotatable shaft portions 39a and 39b, and a holding portion that supports both shaft portions. Since the holding body 46 is integrated with the holding jig 46a, the air passage for circulating the cold air in the ice making chamber 31 is positioned on the long side, which is the side of the ice making tray 39, and the ice making tray Since the cold air inlet 48 is opened in the same manner as the entire length of the ice 39, the cold air is uniformly blown from the side surface of the ice tray 39, so that the ice making speed can be improved.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an ice detection lever of the refrigerator in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  A lightening hole 60 is opened at the tip of the ice detection lever 45 opposite to the rotating shaft. The front end portion where the lightening hole 60 is opened is disposed at the cold air inlet 48 part, and a part of the cold air sent from the cold air duct 44 c passes through the lightening hole 60 of the ice detection lever 45 and blows to the ice tray 39. Is done. Thereby, the freezing speed of each cube of the ice tray 39 can be made uniform, and incomplete ice such as perforated ice can be prevented.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an ice making device for a refrigerator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  The ice detection lever 45 is disposed at a position symmetrical to the cold air duct 44c with the ice tray 39 as a center.

  Thereby, the obstruction | occlusion of the cool air inlet 48 part from the cool air duct 44c to the ice tray 39 is eliminated, and the shape of the cool air duct 44c is also simplified.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an ice making device for a refrigerator according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

  A lower cold air duct 61 that blows cool air from the lower part of the cold air duct 44 c to the lower part of the ice tray 39 is disposed on the frame 44.

  Thereby, the lower part of the ice tray 39 is cooled, and it is possible to prevent the ice making performance of the ice tray 39 and the ice from being improved and the automatic ice maker not working.

  As described above, the refrigerator according to the present invention has an air passage that circulates the cold air in the ice making chamber located on the side of the ice tray, and can take in the cold air directly from the side of the ice tray. In addition to being able to reduce the variation depending on the position, it is possible to improve the ice making speed, so that it can be applied not only to the refrigerator but also to an ice making machine.

The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of this invention Partial longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator in the same embodiment Partial longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator in the same embodiment The exploded perspective view of the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator in the embodiment Sectional drawing of the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator in the embodiment Component diagram of ice making device for refrigerator in embodiment 2 of the present invention Sectional drawing of the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator in Embodiment 3 of this invention Sectional drawing of the ice making apparatus of the refrigerator in Embodiment 4 of this invention Longitudinal sectional view of the ice making unit of a refrigerator equipped with a conventional ice making device Perspective view of ice tray part in the ice making device

Explanation of symbols

30 Refrigerator main body 31 Ice making room 31a Ice making room door 36 Discharge port 37 Ice making device 38 Drive part 39 Ice tray 39a Shaft part 39b Shaft part 40 Ice storage box 44 Frame 44a Partition wall 44b Partition wall 44c Cold air duct 45 Ice detection lever 46 Holding body 48 Cold air inlet 60 Meat hole 61 Lower cold air duct

Claims (4)

Openable and closable ice-making room doors are provided, and the ice-making room is configured in the refrigerator body. The ice-making tray, a holding body for holding the ice-making tray, a drive unit for separating ice from the ice-making tray, and a lower portion of the ice-making tray An ice storage box and an ice detection lever for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage box , water is supplied to the ice tray, ice making is performed, and when the ice making is completed after a predetermined time, the drive unit is driven. The drive shaft is rotated by the control, and the ice tray is rotated. At the same time, the ice detection lever determines the amount of ice in the ice storage box based on the lowering angle of the lever. ice is ice removal by inverting and twisting, when the drive shaft reaches a predetermined position, the drive motor is stopped and ice removal is completed, had a detachable mechanism that can retrieve manufacturing ice tray outside manufacturing icehouse An ice making device, a discharge port for blowing out cold air, and the front to make ice In an ice making chamber composed of an air passage that guides cold air to an ice making tray, the drive unit is provided behind the ice making door in the direction opposite to the door, and the air passage is discharged from the discharge port installed at the back of the ice making chamber. The opening for passing cold air from the long side of the ice tray, passing through the side of the drive unit, and direct cooling air from the air path to the ice tray has only one opening. A refrigerator characterized by that.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the ice detection lever disposed between the air passage and the opening is thinned.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice detection lever is disposed at a symmetrical position of the air passage across the ice tray.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an opening for blowing air to a bottom surface of the ice tray is provided in a part of the air path.

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