JPH02223779A - Automatic ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the accuracy of horizontal position of an ice making pan by a method wherein the title machine is provided with a first gear, interlocked with a motor and provided with a gear zone and a gear teeth missing zone, a second gear, meshed with and driven by the gear zone of the first gear but not driven by the teeth gear missing zone, and an ice making pan driving shaft, interlocked with the second gear. CONSTITUTION:When ice making is finished, a motor is rotated counterclockwise and a first gear 53 is rotated counterclockwise in accordance with the rotation of the motor and when a thin teeth gear 57 comes to the position of the tooth (b) of thin teeth zone 22 of a second gear, a torque is transmitted to a gear 20 to drive it clockwise whereby a first ice making pan 91 is rotated clockwise to effect ice separating operation and ice and one part of water is shifted to a second ice making pan 92. Subsequently, a switch is put ON and the pan 9 is returned to the initial horizontal position thereof. In this case, the teeth missing zone 55 of the gear 53 is superposed on the thin teeth zone 22 of the gear 20 and the teeth of the zone 22 is opposed to the outer periphery of the projected circular part 56 of the zone 55 without abutting against it whereby the rotation of the gear 20 is regulated by the abutting of a pair of teeth (a), (e) of a thick teeth zone 23 against the outer periphery of the circular part 56.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker that can be incorporated into, for example, a refrigerator.

(Prior art) An ice tray that has completed ice making is rotated by a driving source to perform an ice removal operation, and the ice that has been removed is stored in an ice storage provided below the ice tray. 2. Description of the Related Art An automatic ice maker that performs a "water supply" operation is known in Japan, and is put into practical use by being incorporated into a refrigerator or the like.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The automatic ice making machine as described above has only recently been put into practical use, and there are many points left to be improved. One of them is the problem of horizontal positional accuracy of the ice tray. After rotating the ice tray to remove ice, it is difficult to accurately stop it in a horizontal position when rotating it back to its original position, and even if it is accurately positioned horizontally, when water is supplied to the ice tray, the weight of the water There was a problem that the ice tray rotated and the horizontal position accuracy decreased.

In addition, in order to make clear ice, multiple ice trays are used, and the
When the first ice cube tray freezes with some water left in it, rotate the first ice cube tray and transfer the ice to the second ice tray.In the second ice tray, drain the excess water and clean the surface of the ice. An automatic ice maker has been proposed in which, after drying, a second ice tray is rotated and supplied to an ice storage. In such an automatic ice maker that uses multiple ice trays, it is conceivable to use a single drive source to rotate the multiple ice trays in order to reduce costs. Because of this, there is currently no automatic ice maker that can drive multiple ice trays with a single drive source.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, and its first purpose is to provide an automatic ice maker that can improve the accuracy of the horizontal position of an ice tray.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ice maker that allows a first ice tray and a second ice tray to be driven at predetermined timing using a single drive source.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an automatic ice making machine including: a first gear connected to a motor and having a gear region and a toothless region;
a second gear that meshes with and follows the gear region of the gear and does not follow the tooth-missing region; and an ice tray drive shaft linked to the second gear; The toothless region is provided with a protruding circumferential portion that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from at least the dedendum circle of the gear region from its outer periphery, and the second gear has a tooth thickness in the rotational axis direction. An original image area and a four-tooth area are provided that are formed to have different values, and when the toothless area and the second gear face each other, the teeth of the four-tooth area do not come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential part. A pair of teeth in the original image area that face each other and sandwich the four tooth areas are configured to be able to come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion.

A cam that rotates integrally with the first gear is provided, and an ice detection member that advances and retreats into the ice storage compartment to detect ice by using a predetermined area of the cam is provided. The ice detecting member may perform an ice detecting operation when facing the gear.

A third gear having the same configuration as the second gear is provided.

An output shaft is connected to the third gear, and when the gear region of the first gear and the second gear mesh, the toothless region of the first gear and the third gear face each other, and the third gear faces the third gear. When the gear region of the first gear and the third gear mesh with each other, the toothless region of the first gear and the second gear may be configured to face each other.

The third gear may be provided with an original image area and a four-tooth area similarly to the second gear.

When the second gear and the third gear each face the toothless region of the first gear, the ice detecting member may be operated by a cam that rotates integrally with the first gear.

The output shaft linked to the third gear may be an ice tray drive shaft for supplying ice to the ice storage.

(Function) When the second gear meshes with the gear region of the first gear and rotates as a result of the first gear, the ice tray drive shaft is rotationally driven to perform an ice removal operation. When the toothless area of the first gear faces the second gear, the pair of teeth in the original area sandwiching the four tooth area of the second gear are the protruding surfaces of the toothless area of the first gear. The ice making tray drive shaft cannot rotate due to contact with the outer periphery of the periphery, and the position of the ice making tray is restricted to a horizontal state.

A cam is provided which rotates integrally with the first gear, and an ice detection member is provided which advances and retreats into the ice storage storage using the cam to detect ice, and the missing tooth area of the first gear is connected to the second gear. If the ice detecting member performs an ice detecting operation when facing each other, the ice detecting operation will be performed when the ice making tray is in a horizontal position.

A third gear having the same configuration as the second gear is provided, and an output shaft is connected to the third gear, and the gear area of the first gear and the second gear are connected to each other.
When the gears mesh with each other, the missing tooth area of the first gear and the third gear mesh with each other.
When the gears of the first gear face each other, and when the gear region of the first gear meshes with the third gear, the missing tooth region of the first gear faces the second gear. The ice tray drive shaft is connected to the third gear, and the output shaft is connected to the third gear.

Like the second gear, the third gear has an original image area and four If a tooth region is provided, the rotational position of the output shaft can be controlled by configuring the pair of teeth in the original image region sandwiching the four tooth region so that they can come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion of the first gear. It can be regulated at a predetermined position.

Even when the third gear is provided, the ice detection operation can be performed when the output shaft connected to the third gear is regulated at a predetermined rotational position.

When the high-force shaft connected to the third gear is the ice tray drive shaft, this ice tray drive shaft and the ice tray drive shaft connected to the second gear can be operated at different timings.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the automatic ice making machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, an outline of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. The ice maker control box 9 includes a first ice tray 91.
The first ice tray quick-acting shaft 2] and the second ice tray 92
The second ice maker to drive! II1. Output shaft 3 which is the drive shaft
2 is provided, and an ice detection shaft 47 serving as the center of swing of the ice detection member 4 is further provided. Each ice tray 91, 92 can rotate from a position shown by a solid line to an inverted position shown by chain lines 9LA, 92A. The ice tray 9]- is supplied with water from an ice storage tank 77 by a water supply pump 73. Water is supplied to the ice storage layer 77 from a water supply tank 78. The water supplied to the ice tray 91 is cooled and turned into ice, but before all the water turns into ice, the ice tray 91 is rotated to remove the ice and create transparent ice without bubbles in the ice. obtain. The ice is transferred to the second ice making tray 92 which is in a substantially water shell position by the above-mentioned ice removal operation. At this time, unfrozen water is removed from the ice tray 92 by the drainage member 2.
Water is drained to the outside through 9. The ice in the ice cube tray 92 is further cooled by 18 degrees to dry the surface.-The ice detection member 4 is swung in a range from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the chain line 4A at a predetermined time to be described later. 1. , , , Detect the amount of ice 1-0 in the ice storage box 90. As a result, if the amount of ice in the ice storage box 90 is less than a certain amount, the second ice tray 92 is driven to rotate (at this point, the first ice tray 91 has already returned to its original position). The ice is supplied to the ice storage box 90. The ice maker described above is incorporated into a refrigerator, and the ice storage box 90 can be taken out and installed at will from the refrigerator.

In FIGS. 2 to 5, a box is formed by an upper case 11 and a lower case 12, and the lower case 1
A motor 13, which is a drive source for performing ice detection and ice removal operations, is fitted into the rib that stands up from the upper case 12, and its position is regulated in the horizontal direction, and the position is regulated and fixed in the vertical direction by a rib protruding from the upper case 12. has been done. Motor 1
The output shaft 18 of No. 3 is inserted into the shaft hole of the worm 14 and can be relatively moved in the axial direction, and when the pin 19 driven into the output shaft 18 is fitted into the engagement hole of the worm 14, the output shaft 18 is inserted into the shaft hole of the worm 14. The rotational force is transmitted to the worm 1-4. The other end of the worm 14 is loosely fitted into a bearing portion formed in the lower case 12. Worm 14 is worm foil 15
The rotational force of the worm wheel 5 is transmitted to the spur gear 51 of the cam gear 5 via the reduction gear train 1.6.17. The cam gear 5 has two cams 6.7 on the outside and inside on the top side, a first southeast 53 on the bottom side and a groove force Ax 8 on the inner circumference side. The cam gear 5 also integrally has a shaft 52 in the center, and this shaft 52 is connected to the bearing portion 59 of the upper case 11: the bearing portion of the side case 12: 38
1. As shown in FIG. 2, the cam 6.7, which is rotatably supported, has a cam surface on its outer circumferential surface. The cam 6 is a cam for detecting ice storage, and is formed in a substantially arc shape centered on the shaft 52, and has three concave portions 61.about.62.64 concave in the direction of the rotation center. The central angle from the recess 61 to the recess 62 in the counterclockwise direction is approximately 150°. The recess 64 extends over a relatively wide range of approximately 80°, and both ends thereof are connected to the large diameter portion by inclined surfaces 63.65. The central angle from the position of the recess 62 to the inclined surface 63 in a counterclockwise direction is approximately the same as the central angle from the position of the recess 61 to the inclined surface 65 clockwise. On the other hand, the cam 7
is a cam for displacing the slider described later, and is approximately 270 mm.
The recessed portion 71 is formed in an arc shape in the range of ', and the remaining portion is recessed in the direction of the rotation center.

The cam 8 is a cam for detecting the operating position, and as shown in FIG. 3, it has a small diameter portion 81, an inclined portion 82, a large diameter portion 83, an inclined portion 84 . A small diameter portion 85 and a large diameter portion 86 are formed in this order. Each of the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion is formed along an arc centered on the axis 52.

Said gear 53 No. 1, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, approximately 9
Consisting of a gear region 54 formed in a range of 0° and the remaining toothless region 55, the entire region of the toothless region 55 has a region that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from the dedendum circle of the gear region 54. In the illustrated embodiment in which a protruding circumferential portion 56 is provided, the protruding circumferential portion 56 protrudes radially outward so as to be approximately equal to the addendum circle of the gear region 54. Projecting circumferential part 1
)6 is approximately equal to the thickness of the gear 53. At both ends of the protruding circumferential portion 56, letters 57, 57 are numbered.

The axial thickness of the letters 57, 57 is approximately half the thickness of the gear 53, and the thickness of the end of the protruding circumferential portion 56 and the thickness of the letters 57 are equal to the thickness of the gear region 54. ing.

When the gear 53 is the first gear, the gear region 54 of the gear 53 meshes with the gear region 54 and is driven, and the toothless region 55 is not driven by the second gear 20 and the third gear 25 that are connected to the shaft. The second gear 20 has an anti-tooth area 23 and an engraving area 22, which are formed to have different tooth thicknesses in the direction of the rotation axis. Here, the teeth of the font area 22 are denoted as s, e, and d, respectively, and the pair of teeth of the anti-tooth area 23 that sandwich this font area 22 are denoted as a and e.Similarly, the third gear 2
5 also has a counter-tooth area 27 and an engraving area 26. Let the teeth of this font area 26 be hlilj, and the font area 26
The pair of teeth in the anti-tooth region 27 that sandwich the is assumed to be g+. FIG. 3 shows a state in which each member is in its original position, and the missing tooth area 55 of the first gear 53 is located between the second gear 20 and the third gear 25.
facing each other so that the teeth of the respective engraving areas 22 and 26 do not come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion 56, and
Each of the above-mentioned anti-tooth areas 2'3 sandwiching each of the above-mentioned encyclopedia areas 22 and 26
．． A pair of teeth a, e and gpk of 27 are connected to the protruding circumferential portion 5.
The outer periphery of No. 3 can be brought into contact.

The second gear 20 has a shaft 21 integrally therein. Axis 2
1. protrudes through the lower case 12, and is integrally provided with the first ice tray 91 described with reference to FIG. 1 as a first ice tray drive shaft. On the other hand, a gear 33 is meshed with the third gear 25. The gear 33 integrally has a shaft 32. The shaft 32 protrudes through the lower case 2, and is integrally provided with the second ice tray 92 described with reference to FIG. 1 as a second ice tray drive shaft.

The ice removal operation is performed as described above by the rotation of the first ice tray 9J. After the ice making tray 91 is driven to rotate to some extent, a twisting motion is applied to perform the ice removal operation, but since the ice removal mechanism itself is well known, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

In FIGS. 2 and 4, the above 1. Ice tray drive shaft 2
1 is fitted with an R-shaped lever 35 for rotation. The lever 35 is urged to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2 by a compression coil spring 68 interposed between the projection 38 and the case 12.

This urging force causes the follower 36 on the one end side to come into pressure contact with the cam surface of the cam 6. From the other end of the lever 35, the first
A suppressor 37 for the actuator of the operating position detection switch 75 extends downward. When the lever 35 is rotated by the force, the suppressor 37 presses the actuator of the switch 75, but in the original position shown in FIG.
6 is pressed against the large diameter portion of the cam 6, the lever 35 is rotated against the force, and the suppressing portion 37 is separated from the actuator of the switch 75.

In FIGS. 2 and 5, the ice detecting shaft 47 is rotatably supported between the upper and lower cases 11 and 12. A tongue piece 46 is integrally formed at the upper end of the ice detection shaft 47. The ice detection shaft 47 is urged to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2 by a coil spring 4B. A pin 45 is attached to the tongue piece 46, and one end portion of the slider 40 is connected to the tongue piece 46 so as to be relatively rotatable. The slider 4o has an elongated hole 42 in the horizontal direction thereof, and by fitting the elongated hole 42 into the outer circumference of the bearing portion 59, the slider 4o uses the bearing portion 59 as a guide and moves within the range allowed by the elongated hole 42. A pin 41 is fixed to the tip of the 6-slider 40 that can move in the longitudinal direction, and the pin 41 slides into contact with the cam surface of the cam 7 shown in Af. The diagonally downward movement of the slider 40 in FIG. 2 based on the four forces is restricted.

One end of the ice detection member 4 is integrally connected to the ice detection shaft 47, as shown in FIG. The ice detecting member 4 swings within the ice storage box 90 as the shaft 4 rotates as shown by the chain line 4A.
If there is more than a predetermined amount of ice 6 in the ice storage box 90, the rocking of the ice detection member 4 is restricted by the ice 6, and the shaft 47 and tongue piece 46
The rotation of the slider 40 and the movement of the slider 40 are restricted. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the cam gear 5 is in its original position, and the slider 40 is in a raised position due to the pin 41 slidingly contacting the large diameter portion of the cam 7, and the tongue piece 46 is applied with force. It is in a counterclockwise rotated position.

At this time, the ice detection member 4 is retracted above the ice storage box 90 so that it does not get in the way when ice is taken out from the ice removal port.

In FIG. 2, a projection 43 is integrally formed on the left side surface of the slider 40. As shown in FIG. An inclined surface 44 is formed on the tip end surface of the protrusion 43, which is inclined downward from the top toward the slider 40 main body in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recess 62 of the cam 6 and the recess 71 of the cam 7 are formed at a positional relationship of approximately 90'' with respect to their rotation centers, but the recess 71 of the cam 7 is located at the recess 62 of the cam 6.
It is formed over a wider area and deeper. Therefore, when the pin 41 of the slider 40 faces the center of the lowermost part of the recess 71 as shown in FIG.
1 faces the recess 71 first, the slider 40 begins to move first, and then the follower 36 of the lever 35 faces the recess 62 of the cam 6.
to face. Further, when the follower 36 of the lever 35 faces the recess 62 of the cam 6 and the slider 40 is about to move downward in FIG. It is designed to advance onto the aisle. As shown in Figure 12, slider 4
The pin 41 of the slider 4 faces the recess 71 of the cam 7.
0 moves downward, the tongue piece 46 and the ice detection shaft 47
At the same time, the ice detection member 4 swings to perform an ice detection operation. At this time, if the amount of ice 10 in the ice storage box 90 is less than a certain amount, the rotation of the tongue piece 46 is not restricted, and therefore the slider 40
is moved to the maximum allowable position and its inclined surface 44
advances onto the moving path of the follower 36, the rotation of the lever 35 is restricted, and the switch 75 is not switched. However, if more than a predetermined amount of ice 10 is stored in the ice storage box 90, , ice detection shaft 4 integrated with ice detection member 4
7 and the tongue piece 46 are restricted in the middle, and the slider 40
The movement of the follower 36 is restricted midway, and the inclined surface 44
It does not reach the moving passage of the road. Therefore, the lever 35
The follower 36 is connected to the cam 6 as shown by the chain line in FIG.
The switch 75 is rotated until it falls into the bottom of the recess 62 , and the suppressor 37 of one arm presses the actuator of the switch 75 to switch the switch 75 . By switching this switch 75, a water amount full signal is output.

In addition, the switch 75 has a function as a water amount detection switch as described above, and also has a function as an operation position detection switch due to the combination of the lever 35 and the cam 6.

In FIGS. 3 and 5, the first ice tray drive shaft 21
A lever 87 for detecting the operating position is rotatably fitted on the outer periphery of the bearing portion of the lower case 12 that rotatably supports the lower case 12 . A pin 88 is provided at the end of one arm of the lever 87, and this pin 88 is fitted into the grooved cam 8. The other arm end of the lever 87 faces the actuator of the operating position detection switch 76.

In the mechanism described above, the driving source for performing the ice detection operation and the ice removal operation is the single motor 13 mentioned earlier,
All operations are performed by controlling the start and stop timing and rotation direction of the motor 13. A control circuit for this motor 13 is arranged on a printed circuit board 94 (see FIG. 2), and the printed circuit board 94 is screwed to the lower case 12. As will be described in detail later, the motor 13 is activated when ice making is completed, and is also activated based on the operation of a door opening/closing switch that is linked to the door that opens and closes the ice removal port of the ice storage. This is because the ice 10 in the ice storage is not taken out unless the door is opened or closed, and there is no need to perform ice detection and ice removal unless the ice 10 is taken out.

Next, the operation of the embodiment described above will be explained.

The states shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are at the reference position, and are the states at which ice making has started. This example is for making transparent ice, and the basic operation is as follows.

■First. Water is supplied to the ice tray 91.

■Make ice in the first ice tray 91.

■Complete ice making. Here, the time from the start of ice making is controlled, and in order to make clear ice, a time is set at which some of the water in the ice making tray 91 is in an unfrozen state, and ice making is completed.

(3) The ice tray 91 is rotated and twisted to release the ice, and the ice and some of the water are transferred to the second ice tray 92.

The second ice tray 92 separates ice and water and drains the water.

(2) Rotate the ice detection member 4 to detect the ice layer inside the ice box 90.

■If the amount of ice storage is insufficient, leave the ice in the second ice tray 92 for a certain period of time to freeze the surface and dry it, then actively rotate and twist the second ice tray 92 to place it in the ice storage box 90. It is released and then returns to the reference position to complete one cycle of operation.

In addition, if it is determined that the amount of ice storage is insufficient, the first ice tray 9
1, and then start making ice.

■As a result of ice detection, if the ice storage box 90 is filled with ice 10, a signal is output from the operating position detection switch 75 in accordance with the movement of the ice detection member 4, and this signal causes the motor 1 to
3 to return to the standard position and wait until the ice storage door opening/closing signal is output.

■When the door opening/closing signal is output, the ice test is performed again, and depending on the result, proceed to either ■ or ■.

Next, specific operations will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 15.

The rotational force of the motor 13 is transmitted to the cam gear 5 via the gear train 14, 15, 16° 17, and the cam gear 5 also rotates clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the rotation direction of the motor 13.

Now, at the reference position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when ice making is completed after a certain period of time has elapsed since water supply, the motor 13
is rotated counterclockwise, and the cam gear 5 also begins to rotate counterclockwise. The first gear 53 rotates counterclockwise together with the cam gear 5, and when one of the engraving gears 57 reaches the tooth position of the engraving area 22 of the second gear 20 as shown in FIG. The rotational force is transmitted to the teeth @20, and the gear 20 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction. This allows the first ice tray 9]
7 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 7 and clockwise in FIG. 1st
Figure 0 shows the relationship between the first and second gears 53.20 during this ice removal. When the ice tray 91 rotates to the maximum angle, for example, 165", the recess 61 of the cam 6 comes to the position of the follower 36 of the lever 35, so the lever 35 is rotated by the force and the suppressing part 37 performs the first operation. The actuator of the detection switch 75 is pressed to turn on the switch 75.

The motor 13 is reversed by this signal, and the cam gear 5 is rotated clockwise. The cam gear 5 is shown in FIG.
By rotating to the reference position as shown in FIG. 3, the ice tray 91 returns to its original horizontal position. When the ice tray 91 is in the horizontal position, the first gear 53
The toothless region 55 of the second gear 2o overlaps with the clear text region 22 of the second gear 2o, and faces each other so that the teeth of the clear text region 22 do not come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion 56 of the toothless region 55, A pair of teeth a of the thick tooth area 23 sandwiching the above-mentioned engraving area 22
. On the other hand, the relationship between the first gear 53 and the third gear 25 is also the same,
At the reference position, the rotation of the third gear 25 causes its pair of teeth to
It is regulated by contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion 56. In this way, by restricting the rotation of the second gear 20 and the third gear 25, the rotation of the second gear 20 and the third gear 25 is restricted. Second ice tray 91
．． ．． 92 is correctly regulated to a horizontal position, and is positioned without shifting from the horizontal position even if a weight is applied due to water or ice being supplied.

The motor 13 continues to rotate even after reaching the reference position, and the cam gear 5 also continues to rotate clockwise. When the concave portion 71 of the cam 7 reaches the position of the pin 41 of the slider 4° due to the rotation of the cam gear 5, the pin 41 of the slider 4o is moved to the position of the pin 41 of the slider 4o by the rotational urging force of the ice detection shaft 47, as shown in FIG. Recess 7
1, and the slider 40 moves downward. Accordingly, the ice detection shaft 47 rotates clockwise, and the ice detection member 4 integrated with the ice detection shaft 47 swings counterclockwise as shown by the chain line 4A in FIG. To go. This swinging motion of the ice detection member 4 is an ice detection operation, and when the ice detection member 4 comes into contact with the ice 10 in the ice storage box 90, the ice detection member 4 does not swing any further.
It will stop at a position depending on the amount of ice within 0. This causes the protrusion 43 of the slider 40 to approach the follower 36 of the lever 35, thereby regulating the movement of the lever 35 in accordance with the amount of water. At the same time, the concave portion 62 of the cam 6 is also positioned at the position of the follower 36, so the lever 35 rotates due to its urging force and tries to operate the switch 75, but if the amount of ice stored is If the amount is insufficient, the amount of movement of the slider 40 is large, and the follower 36 is attached to the inclined surface 44 of the projection 43.
The lever 35 is prevented from rotating, and the switch 75 is
doesn't work. Conversely, if the amount of stored ice exceeds the standard, the amount of movement of the slider 40 is small, so the inclined surface 44 cannot restrict the movement of the follower 36, and the lever 35
rotates sharply to turn on the switch 75 to notify that the predetermined amount of ice storage has been met. Since the subsequent operation differs depending on the presence or absence of this ice detection signal, each case will be explained separately below.

1. In case of insufficient ice storage In this case, the switch 75 does not operate, so the cam gear 5
is further rotated clockwise by the motor 13,
The pin 41 of the slider 40 is pushed up by the large diameter portion of the cam 7 and returns to its original position. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 13, the other side of the first gear 53 approaches the tooth k of the third gear 25, and comes just before driving the gear 25. At the same time, the pin 8 of the lever 87 is moved along the inclined part 84 of the cam 8.
8 moves, and the second operating position detection switch 76 is switched from on to off. This signal causes the motors 3 to stop after a certain period of time. In this state, the ice 10 transferred to the second ice tray 92 is separated from the water and dried.

At the same time, water is supplied to the first ice tray 91, and the next ice making process is started.

The left end portion of FIG. 7-5 shows the operation described in .

By leaving the above operating mode for a certain period of time, the ice in the second ice tray 92 is dried, and after that time, the motor 13 is started again and the cam gear 5 is further rotated clockwise. The above-mentioned letter 57 of the second gear 53 reaches the letter area 26 of the third gear 25 and meshing starts, and the second ice tray 57 moves the second gear 25 counterclockwise and engages with the gear 25. The moving shaft 28 is rotated clockwise. As a result, the second ice tray 92 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 7 and clockwise in FIG. 1, and the ice in the ice tray 92 is discharged into the ice storage box 90.

When the ice tray 92 has rotated to the maximum angle, for example, 165 degrees, the follower 36 of the lever 35 is pushed up by the inclined surface 65 of the cam 6, and the lever 35 is rotated against the force.
The operating position detection switch 75 is switched from on to off. With this signal, the motor 13 is reversed, and the cam gear 5 is also reversed to rotate counterclockwise. When the cam gear 5 returns to the standard position, the pin 88 of the lever 87 falls into the inclined part 82 of the grooved cam 8 and rotates counterclockwise, as shown in FIG. is switched from on to off, so motors ] and 3 are stopped after a certain period of time has elapsed from this point. The left part from the center of FIG. 15 shows the operation from ice removal to drying and recovery.

The next operation will be after a certain period of time has passed and the ice making will be completed again! The same operation as that described up to Towa or the operation described next when the amount of stored ice reaches a predetermined amount or more is repeated.

2. When the predetermined amount of ice storage is satisfied: In this case, the first operation position detection switch 75 described above is turned on to notify that the predetermined amount of ice is filled. This signal causes the motor 13 to reverse, and the cam gear 5 to rotate counterclockwise. When the cam gear 5 returns to the reference position, the motor 13 stops after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the second operation switch 76 was switched from on to off, similar to the operation described above. In this state, it waits until the opening/closing signal for the ice storage door arrives. In this case, water will not be supplied.

When the door opening/closing signal comes, the motor 13 is started again.
The cam gear 5 is rotated clockwise, and the ice detecting member 4 swings as described above to perform the ice detecting operation. Performs the operation when the predetermined amount of ice storage is met. The right half of FIG. 15 shows the operation when the predetermined amount of ice storage is satisfied and when the door switch signal is received.

Ice making is repeated through a series of operations as described above. If there is insufficient ice, ice making and ice removal are continued until the ice storage box 90 is filled with ice 10. When the ice storage box 90 is filled with ice 10, the door is opened. The system waits until an opening/closing signal is received and does not make ice. However, the second ice tray 92 contains ice, and if the stored amount of ice becomes insufficient, ice is immediately supplied.

In the operation example described above, a certain overrun time is allowed after the reference position signal is detected. The reason for this overrun time is that the pin 88 of the lever 87 is
This is to ensure that the pin 88 stops at the lowest point of the inclined surface 82 and stops the motor at a stable position, avoiding stopping in the middle of the inclined surface 82.

Note that the ice detection member 4 in the embodiment described above can also be used to detect the presence or absence of the ice storage box 90. Also,
By using two members having the same configuration as the ice detecting member, both the amount of ice storage and the ice storage box may be detected.

In the illustrated embodiment, in order to make transparent ice, two ice trays 91 and 92 are used for making ice and for drying, respectively. In this way, a large amount of ice can be made quickly.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, the second gear and further the third gear connected to the ice tray are provided with the nm region and the enzyme region, and these are connected to the first gear region and the toothless region. When the toothless region of the first gear is opposed to the second gear or even the third gear, the teeth of the enzyme region are driven by the protruding circumference of the toothless region of the first gear. Since the pair of teeth in the nm region sandwiching the enzyme region are configured to be able to come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion, the second gear and even the third gear The stopping position of the linked first ice tray and even the second ice tray depends on variations in the gear train from the drive source to the first gear, mounting accuracy, variations in the operating point of the operating position detection switch, and overrun time. The horizontal state of the ice tray can be maintained with high precision without being affected by variations.

Further, when water or ice is supplied to the ice tray, a large rotational moment is generated on the ice tray drive shaft. In the conventional mechanism, the ice tray rotates by the amount of backlash between the gears due to the above moment, causing the ice tray to become unlevel. However, according to the present invention, as shown in item 14, the ice tray rotates by the amount of backlash between the gears. Since the ice tray cannot rotate at the reference position due to its relationship with the second gear, the horizontal position is maintained with high accuracy without being affected by backlash between the gears.

By configuring the first gear and the second gear in the above-mentioned relationship, it is possible to arbitrarily and easily allocate the drive area and restraint area of the second gear and even the third gear. Therefore, a mechanism for driving a plurality of ice trays at different timings can be easily obtained.

The first gear on the driving side can drive a plurality of driven gears, and the cam integrated with the first gear above allows the driven side to perform predetermined operations such as rotation, stop, and reversal. Therefore, each of the above operations can be controlled while maintaining their mutual relationship with high precision.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing an outline of an embodiment of an automatic ice maker according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the main parts of the above embodiment, and Fig. 3 shows a state in which a part of the main parts of the above is removed. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the above embodiment taken along each axis and developed; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment taken along each axis and developed from different angles; 6 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the first gear and the second gear in the above embodiment, and FIG.
The figures show an outline of the operation of the above embodiment, a side view seen from the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the first gear and the second gear in the reference position, and Fig. 9 The figure is a plan view showing the same two gears at the ice removal start position, Figure 10 is a plan view showing the same state during ice removal operation, and Figure 11 is a plan view showing the state during ice detection operation. , FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the operating mode of the ice detection mechanism portion of the above embodiment, FIG. 13 is a plan view of the operating position detection mechanism portion of the above embodiment, and FIG. 14 is a plan view related to the ice detection mechanism portion. FIG. 15, which is a plan view of the operating position detection mechanism portion, is a timing chart showing the operation of the above embodiment. 4...Ice detection member, 7...Cam, 13...
・Motor 20...First gear, 21...
・First ice tray drive shaft, 22... Enzyme region, 2
3... 4 tooth area, 25... 3rd gear, 2
6... Enzyme region, 27... 4 tooth region, 32
...Second ice tray drive shaft, 53...First gear, b4...Gear region, 55...Toothless region, 56...Protruding circumferential portion, 90 ...Ice storage box, 91...First ice tray, 92...Second ice tray, d. b...a pair of teeth, g,k...a pair of teeth. Figure 8 Figure 13 Figure 2 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The ice making tray that has completed ice making is rotated by a drive source to perform an ice removal operation, and the ice that has been removed is stored in an ice storage provided below the ice making tray, and after the ice making is done, the ice is removed. An automatic ice maker that supplies water to an ice tray includes a motor as a driving source, a first gear connected to the motor and formed with a gear area and a toothless area, and the above-mentioned part of the first gear. A second gear that meshes with and follows the gear region and does not follow the toothless region, and an ice tray drive shaft connected to the second gear, and the first gear has the toothless region. The region is provided with a protruding circumferential portion that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from at least the dedendum circle of the gear region from the outer periphery, and the second gear is provided with a protruding circumferential portion that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from the outer periphery thereof, and the second gear is provided with a protruding circumferential portion that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from the outer periphery thereof, and the second gear is provided with a protruding circumferential portion that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from the outer periphery of the gear region. A thick tooth region and a thin tooth region are provided, and when the toothless region and the second gear face each other, they face each other so that the teeth of the thin tooth region do not come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion. The automatic ice maker is characterized in that a pair of teeth of the thick tooth region sandwiching the thin tooth region can come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion. 2. A motor comprising: a cam that rotates integrally with the first gear; and an ice detection member that enters and exits the ice storage by using a predetermined area of the cam surface of the cam to perform an ice detection operation; The automatic ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the ice detecting member performs an ice detecting operation using a predetermined region of the cam surface of the cam when the toothless region of the first gear and the second gear face each other due to the rotation of the ice maker. . 3. After the ice making is completed, the ice making tray is rotated by a drive source to perform an ice removal operation, and the removed ice is stored in the ice storage provided below the ice making tray, and after the ice making is done, water is supplied to the ice making tray. In an automatic ice maker, a motor serving as a driving source, a first gear connected to the motor and having a gear region and a toothless region formed therein, and the gear region of the first gear mesh with each other. a second gear and a third gear that are driven but not driven with respect to the toothless region;
an ice tray drive shaft connected to a gear, and an output shaft connected to a third gear, and the relationship between the first gear, the second gear, and the third gear is
When the gear region of the first gear and the second gear mesh, the toothless region of the first gear and the third gear face each other, and the gear region of the first gear and the third gear An automatic ice maker characterized in that the toothless region of the first gear and the second gear face each other when they mesh with each other. 4. The toothless region of the first gear is provided with a protruding circumferential portion that protrudes outward in the gear radial direction from at least the dedendum circle of the gear region from its outer periphery, and the second gear and the third gear are When the second gear or the third gear faces the toothless region in which the teeth have different thicknesses in the direction of the rotation axis, the teeth in the thin tooth region overlap the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion. 4. The automatic ice making machine according to claim 3, wherein the pair of teeth of the thick tooth region which face each other so as not to come into contact with the thin tooth region and sandwich the thin tooth region are configured to be able to come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion. 5. It has a cam that rotates integrally with the first gear, and an ice detection member that enters and exits the ice storage by using a predetermined area of the cam surface of the cam, and performs an ice detection operation. 4. The ice detecting member performs the ice detecting operation using a predetermined region of the cam surface of the cam when the second gear and the third gear each face a toothless region of the first gear due to rotation. automatic ice maker. 6. The automatic ice making machine according to claim 3, wherein the output shaft connected to the third gear is an ice tray drive shaft for supplying ice to the ice storage.