JPH01203867A - Ice making device for refrigerator or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a safe ice making device, by a method wherein the title ice making device is provided with a heating interecepting device such as a temperature fuse or the like, which is operated upon overrising of the temperature of a heating means, attached to the vicinity of the heating means. CONSTITUTION:When an user fills water into a first ice making pan 15 to place it into a first ice making chamber 23 and pushes an ice making switch 20, heating operation, effected by a heater 11, is started from the upper surface of the first ice making pan 15. In this case, the surface temperature of the heater is affected by the ON/OFF operation of a compressor 22, therefore, it is at the degree of 20 deg.C at the most. On the other hand, when the ice making switch 20 is pushed at a time when the inside of a refrigerating chamber 3 is not cooled by the cause of gas leakage or the like, the surface temperature of the heater increases some times to the vicinity of 100 deg.C. In this case, a temperature fuse 24, attached to the vicinity of the heater 11, is fused to stop the conduction of the heater 11 whereby the property of safety of the title device may be increased without generating the deformation, smoking and igniting of a heat insulating member 10.

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. It is common practice to generate ice.

However, with this ice generation method, when ice is generated, the water in the ice tray progresses from the water contact surface of the ice tray and the contact surface between cold air and water to the center. As a result, gaseous components and impurities dissolved in the water are trapped in the center of the ice, resulting in a cloudy center and opaque ice, which is sensually suitable for beverages such as whisky. It wasn't something I was looking for.

Therefore, there is a need for transparent ice, and the equipment for producing it is shown in Figures 5 to 7, for example.
The method shown in the figure is being considered. The contents will be explained below according to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator body, which is divided by a partition wall 2 into a freezer compartment 3 at the top and a refrigerator compartment 4 at the bottom. Reference numeral 6 indicates a cooler for the refrigeration cycle, and 6 indicates a forced ventilation blower, which are connected to the freezer compartment 3, respectively.
is located on the back of the.

7 is an ice making device disposed 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 first ice-making chamber 8 is surrounded by a heat insulating material 10 on the outer wall except for the bottom and front surface, and there is an aluminum heating plate 12 on the top surface with a heater 11 on the back surface, and an aluminum heating plate 12 on the bottom surface. 814 is a ventilation passage formed in the upper part of the second ice-making chamber 9, where the cooling plates 13 made of ice cream are arranged.

15 and 16 are the first ice making compartments 8. and 16, respectively. Second ice making room 9
A first ice tray and a second ice tray are housed inside the ice tray. Reference numeral 17 designates a discharge duct for forcing the cold air cooled by the cooler 6 into the ice making device 7 by the blower 9, and a discharge port 18 formed at the lower end allows the ventilation duct 1 to flow through the ice making device 7.
4 and the second ice making chamber 9. Reference numeral 19 denotes a return duct for returning cold air discharged into the freezer compartment 3 to the cooler 6. Further, 20 is a transparent ice making switch, and once the switch is turned on, the heater 11 is turned off.
The device is configured to be energized for a predetermined time (th).

A thermostat 21 is provided in the freezing chamber 3 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 20,
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 apparatus T through the outlet.

The cold air guided into the second ice-making compartment 9 directly cools the second ice-making tray 16, and sequentially freezes the water inside from the water surface and the rest of the water that comes into contact with the second ice-making tray 16. Generates regular 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. Therefore, in order to make transparent ice, 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 2o. 11 starts the heating action via the heating plate 12, and from the bottom surface, the cooling plate 1 is heated by the cold air flowing through the ventilation passage 14.
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 whose capacity is set in advance, so ice grows due to the diffusion rate of gas components in the water. The freezing speed is slower and ice making progresses without air bubbles being incorporated into the ice. If the freezing rate is controlled to about 3ff/h or less in this way.

The gaseous components in the water are finally degassed through the surface of the frozen ice to the outside air, so the ice that is finally formed contains fewer air bubbles and is almost transparent.

If we look at this ice-making process in Figure 9, 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 2o is turned on, and the ice-making process passes through approximately -5°C, when freezing is completely completed. The power supply will automatically stop after a while.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, such a configuration has the following disadvantages.

Even if the heater 11 is energized to produce transparent ice, the temperature rise will be about 20° C. at most since the ice making device 7 is installed in the freezing chamber 3. However, if the heater 11 is energized while the freezer compartment 3 is not cooled down to near room temperature due to poor cooling, the temperature of the heater 11 may reach nearly 100° C., leading to smoke generation 9 and ignition.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a safe ice-making device that shuts off heating of the heating device when the temperature of the heating device increases excessively when the refrigerator or the like is not cooled.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the ice making device such as a refrigerator of the present invention is equipped with a heating cutoff device such as a temperature fuse that is attached to the vicinity of the heating means and is activated when the temperature of the heating means rises too high. There is.

Function The present invention has the above-described configuration, so that when a refrigerator or the like stops cooling due to a malfunction such as failure of the refrigerator, the temperature of the heating device rises excessively.
At this time, a heating cutoff device such as a temperature fuse is activated and smoke is generated.
Will not catch fire.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus such as a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Note that the explanation of the same configuration as the conventional example will be omitted, and only the different parts will be explained. 22 is an ice making device installed under the freezer compartment 3;
A first ice-making chamber 23 for producing transparent ice is provided in the upper stage.

Reference numeral 24 is a temperature shield which melts at about 10° C., and is attached to the heater 11 with an aluminum foil 26, and is connected in series with the heater 11 in terms of an electric circuit. Also 26
is a connector that connects the heater wire and lead wire.

In this configuration, when the user fills the first ice tray 15 with water, puts it into the first ice making chamber 23, and presses the ice making switch 2o, the heating action by the heater 11 starts from the top surface of the first ice tray 15. be done. At this time, the surface temperature of the heater is affected by the 0N10FF of the compressor 22, but the maximum temperature is about 2oC. However, if the ice making switch 2o is pressed without the interior of the freezer compartment 3 being cooled due to a gas leak or the like, the heater surface temperature rises to nearly 100°C.

At this time, the temperature fuse 24 attached near the heater 11 is blown, the power supply to the heater 11 is stopped, and the heat insulating material 1
o is highly safe with no deformation, no smoke, and no ignition.

Effects of the Invention As described above, since the present invention is equipped with a heating means cutoff device such as a temperature fuse that is activated when the temperature of the heating means installed near the heating means increases, it is possible to prevent the heating device from overheating when the heating means is not cooled. When this occurs, the heat cutoff device operates and there is no smoke or ignition, making it possible to provide a safe ice making device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an ice making device such as a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the ice maker, Figure 2 is an electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the ice maker, Figure 4 is an electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator, and Figure 6 is a conventional ice maker. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the ice-making device, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the ice-making device. 10... Insulation material, 11... Heater, 1
2... Heating plate, 13... Cooling plate, 15
...First ice tray (ice tray), 22...
Ice making device, 23...first ice making room (ice making room),
24...Temperature fuse (heat cutoff device). Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 2nd
Figure If)-1! Ir Kumomochi Figure 3 Figure 5 @ 6 Figure Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] a cooling plate; a cooling means for cooling the cooling plate; an ice-making chamber partitioned with the cooling plate as a bottom and an open front; and an ice-making tray housed in the ice-making chamber and placed on the cooling plate. , a heating plate provided on the top surface of the ice-making tray and equipped with a heating device such as a heater; a heat insulating material disposed within the outer wall of the ice-making chamber excluding the bottom and front surface; and a heating means attached near the heating means. An ice-making device such as a refrigerator that is equipped with a heating cutoff device such as a thermal fuse that operates when the temperature of the ice-making device increases.