JPH01131867A - Ice machine for refrigerator, etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To generate transparent ice stably even if the thermal load conditions of the body of a refrigerator or the like change by operating a heating means such as a heater in synchronization with the operation of a cooling means. CONSTITUTION: When a thermostat 21 is turned on, a compressor 22 and a blower 6 are operated, cold air being cooled by a cooler 5 flows into an ice- making device 23 via a duct 17 and a discharge port 18 and a cooling plate 13 is cooled while the cold air passes through a passage path 14. Then, freezing advances from the lower surface of a first ice-making pan 15. On the other hand, a heating plate 12 is heated simultaneously by a heater 11, and cooling and heating are balanced so that the upper surface of the first ice-making pan 15 cannot be frozen first. Then, when the thermostat 21 is turned off, the compressor 22 and the blower 6 stop, no cold air circulates to the passage path 14, and a cooling capacity for the cooling plate 13 suddenly drops. At the same time, the conduction of the heater 11 is stopped so that a heating operation by the heating plate 12 is lost, one portion of ice being frozen cannon be melted again, and ice-making time cannot be extended more than necessary.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice-making device that is disposed in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator and is particularly capable of producing transparent ice.

Conventional technology Conventionally, in household refrigerators, etc., an ice making device that stores an ice tray is placed in one section of the freezer compartment, and the water in the ice tray is frozen by the cooling effect of the cold air flowing through the ice making device to make ice. It is common practice to generate .

However, with this ice generation method, when ice is generated, the water in the ice tray progresses to the center from the contact surface between the ice tray and the water and the contact surface between the cold air and water. Therefore, gaseous components and impurities dissolved in the water are trapped in the center of the ice, resulting in opaque ice with a cloudy center, making it sensually unsuitable for beverages such as whisky. There wasn't.

Therefore, there has been a need for transparent ice since the past, and the equipment for producing it is shown in Figures 4 to 8, for example.
The method shown in the figure is being considered. The contents will be explained below according to the drawings.

1 is a refrigerator body, and a freezer compartment 3. The lower part is divided into a refrigerator compartment 4. 6 is a cooler for the refrigeration cycle, and 6 is a blower for forced ventilation.
is located on the back of the.

7 is an ice making device placed at the bottom of the freezer compartment 3;
A first ice-making compartment 8 for producing transparent ice is provided in the upper stage, and a second ice-making compartment 9 for producing regular ice is provided in the lower stage. The outer walls of the first ice making chamber 8 except for the bottom and front surfaces are surrounded by a heat insulating material 1o, and an aluminum heating plate 12 with a heater 11 disposed on the back surface is mounted on the top surface, and an aluminum heating plate 12 is mounted on the bottom surface. Cooling plates 13 made of aluminum are respectively arranged. 14 is a ventilation passage formed in the upper part of the second ice making compartment 9, and 16°16 is a ventilation passage formed in the upper part of the second ice making compartment 9, respectively. A first ice tray and a second ice tray are housed in the second ice tray e. Also, 17
is a discharge duct for forcing cold air cooled by the cooler 6 into the ice making device 7 by the blower 6, and a discharge port 18 formed at the lower end connects the ventilation passage 14 and the second ice making device, respectively. It communicates with room 9. Reference numeral 19 denotes a return duct for returning the cold air discharged into the freezer compartment a to the cooler 6. Further, 2o is a transparent ice-making switch, and is configured so that once the switch is turned on, the heater 11 is energized for a predetermined time (th). Also, 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a thermostat that is installed in the freezer compartment a and controls the operation and stopping of the blower 6 and the compressor 22 of the refrigeration cycle.

Next, the electric circuit will be explained. After the blower 6 and the compressor 22 are connected in parallel, they are connected to a power source via the thermostat 21. After the heater 11 is connected in series with the ice making switch 2o,
Connected to power supply.

In this configuration, when the thermostat 21 is turned on, the compressor 22 and the blower 6 are operated, and the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied to the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4 by the ventilation action of the blower 6, and at the same time, the air is supplied to the discharge duct 17. The ice is discharged into the second ice-making chamber 9 and the ventilation passage 14 in the ice-making device 7 through the discharge port 18 of the ice-making device 7 .

The cold air guided into the second ice-making compartment 9 directly cools the second ice-making tray 16, and the water inside is frozen sequentially from the water surface and the surface of the remaining ice tray that comes into contact with the second ice-making tray 16. Generate normal ice. However, as mentioned above, the ice produced in this way is cloudy and does not become transparent. On the other hand, the cold air guided into the ventilation passage 14 cools the cooling plate 13. In order to make transparent ice outside, the user stores the first ice tray 16 filled with water in the first ice making compartment 8 and turns on the ice making switch 20. The heating action by the heater 11 is started via the heating plate 12, and the cooling plate 1 is heated by the cold air flowing through the ventilation passage 14 from the bottom surface.
3, the cooling or freezing action begins. Also the first
Since the outer wall of the ice tray 16 except for the lower surface is covered with a heat insulating material 1o, it is not affected by the cooling effect from the freezer compartment 3, and the freezing action progresses in one direction from the lower surface to the upper surface. This freezing effect is indirect cooling via the cooling plate 13, and in addition, a heating effect is added by the heater 11, which is set to an appropriate capacity in advance, so that the number of gas components dissolved in the water is counted. The freezing rate at which the ice grows is slower than the rate at which it spreads, and ice making progresses without air bubbles being incorporated into the ice. If the freezing rate is controlled to approximately 3-/h or less in this way,
Since the gaseous components in the water are finally degassed from the surface of the frozen ice to the outside air, the ice that is finally formed contains fewer air bubbles and is almost transparent.

Referring to FIG. 7, this ice-making process shows that, for example, when the outside temperature is 30°C, the heater 11 is continuously energized at the same time as ice-making starts, that is, the ice-making switch 20 is turned on, and the ice-making progresses until the maximum ice crystal formation zone ends. The current supply is automatically stopped after th, which is a while after passing the temperature of -5°C.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when the heater 11 is continuously energized in this way, the compressor 22 . When a constant amount of S is applied from the heating plate 12 regardless of whether the blower 6 is in operation or stopped, as shown in FIG. 8, when the outside temperature is relatively low, for example when the outside temperature is 10° The amount of heat load on the refrigerator body 1 decreases, the operating time of the compressor 22 and the blower 6 decreases, and the cooling plate 1
When the amount of cooling of the heating plate 12 decreases, the balance with the amount of heating of the heating plate 12 collapses. In other words, the amount of heating increases relatively, making the progress of ice making slower than necessary. For this reason, when the heater 11 is de-energized, even after th, ice-making has not yet been completed, and the water remains in the state (has not passed through the innermost ice crystal formation zone) and the heater 11 is no longer energized. When stopped, the relative amount of cooling suddenly exceeds the level of ice, causing ice to form near the surface of the ice, resulting in a cloudy ice surface that is not transparent. In addition, in order to avoid this, if the energization time th of the heater 11 by the ice making switch 2o is set long enough in advance, the problem of cloudy ice being formed at low outside temperatures can be solved, but The inconvenience that the end time becomes longer than necessary cannot be resolved. In this way, according to the above example, the refrigerator body 1
When there was a change in the heat load conditions, it was not possible to respond each time, and depending on the conditions, opaque ice could be formed.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an ice-making device that can stably produce transparent ice even when there is a change in the heat load conditions of the main body of a refrigerator or the like.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the ice making apparatus such as a refrigerator of the present invention is constructed so that the heating means such as a heater is operated in synchronization with the operation of the cooling means.

According to the above-described configuration, the cooling means operates and the cooling plate cools the bottom surface of the ice-making chart, and in synchronization with this, the heating means such as a heater operates so that the heating plate cools the bottom surface of the ice-making tray. A heating action is performed from the upper surface to maintain a balance between cooling and heating, and ice making progresses from the lower surface to the upper surface at a predetermined freezing rate. or,
When the cooling means is stopped, the heating means is also stopped at the same time to maintain a balance and prevent the water in the process of freezing from being heated more than necessary.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus such as a refrigerator according to an example of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Incidentally, the same components as those in the prior art are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted. 23 is an ice making device, which is installed in the lower part of the freezer compartment 3. Further, in the electric circuit shown in FIG. 1, the heater 11 is connected in series with the ice making switch 2o, and the compressor 22. After being connected in parallel with the blower 6, it is connected to a power source via a thermostat 21.

In this configuration, to explain the ice making process with reference to FIG. 2, when the ice making switch 20 is turned on, the heater 11 is also energized in synchronization with the operation of the compressor 22 and the blower 6, and the compressor 22 and the blower 6 are stopped. Then, the energization of the heater 11 is also stopped. That is, when the thermostat 21 is turned on, the compressor 22 and the blower 6 are operated, and the cold air cooled by the cooler 5 is sent to the duct 17. Ice making device 2 via outlet 18
The cooling plate 13 is cooled while flowing into the cooling plate 3 and passing through the ventilation passage 14. Then, freezing progresses from the bottom surface of the first ice tray 16. On the other hand, at the same time, the heating plate 12 is heated by the heater 11, and a balance between cooling and heating is maintained so that the upper surface of the first ice tray 16 is not frozen first. Then, when the thermostat 21 is turned off, the compressor 22 and the blower 6 are stopped, and no cold air flows through the ventilation path 14, and the cooling power applied to the cooling plate 13 is rapidly reduced. At the same time, the energization of the heater 11 is also stopped, so that the heating effect of the heating plate 12 is also eliminated, so that a part of the frozen ice does not melt again, and the ice making time does not become longer than necessary. That is, thermostat 21
Even under conditions where the OFF time is long, for example when the outside temperature is low, the amount of heating decreases as the amount of cooling decreases, so the amount of cooling and the amount of heating are always balanced, and the time required to complete ice making becomes almost constant. In the example in Figure 2, the outside temperature is 30℃ and 1
Although the case of 0° C. is shown, ice making is completed within the set time (th) of the ice making switch 20 under any conditions, and transparent ice is produced. Furthermore, conditions in which the heat load conditions on the refrigerator body 1 change other than changes in outside air temperature, such as opening/closing the door in actual use or adding a food load, increase the ON time of the thermostat 29 and reduce the cooling amount of the cooling plate. When the amount of heat increases, the amount of angular heat also increases in synchronization to maintain balance.
This also allows the ice making time to be controlled to a constant level, resulting in clear ice.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, even if there are changes in the outside temperature, or changes in conditions such as an increase or decrease in the heat load on the main body of the refrigerator, etc. due to changes in the outside temperature, opening/closing of the door, or putting in food, the ice cube tray will not be damaged. The heating means is operated only when the cooling means is operating, and when the cooling means stops operating, the heating means also stops operating, so the balance between cooling and heating is always maintained and the time required for ice making is reduced to about 1. It is possible to produce transparent ice of constant quality and in the minimum amount of time necessary.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 shows the ice making characteristics of the ice making device installed in the refrigerator.
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the same refrigerator, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional refrigerator, Fig. 5 is an enlarged front view of the ice making device installed in the refrigerator shown in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a FIG. 7 is an electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 8 is an ice making characteristic diagram of the ice making device installed in the refrigerator shown in FIG. 4. 8...First ice making room (ice making room), 10...
...Insulating material, 11... Heater (heating means), 1
2... Heating plate, 13... Cooling plate, 14
...Ventilation passage (cooling means) 16...First
Ice tray (ice tray) 23...Ice making device. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 2nd
Figure 8-11 First ice making room (ice making room)

Claims (1)

[Claims] a cooling plate; a cooling means for cooling the cooling plate; an ice-making compartment partitioned with the cooling plate as a bottom and an open front; and an ice-making tray housed in the ice-making compartment and placed on the cooling plate. a heating plate provided with a heating means provided on the top surface of the ice making tray; and a heat insulating material disposed within the outer wall of the ice making chamber excluding the bottom and front surface, An ice-making device such as a refrigerator configured to operate a heating means.