JPH0229573A - Ice making device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a transparent ice making plant which is capable of separating transparent ice formed on the upper surface of an ice making pan from much impurity-containing ice formed on the bottom of the ice making pan with ease by forming an air layer on the back of the ice making pan. CONSTITUTION:When an ice making pan 21 is placed on a container 17 and water is injected, water is filled in the container 17 from a through hole 19 bored on the bottom of the ice making pan 21, then the ice making pan 21 is also filled with water. However, water is not allowed to enter an air layer 24. In addition, the ice making pan is fitted into a groove 23 so that it may not be lifted up by the buoyancy of air. If an attempt is made to slow down a freezing speed moderately, the gaseous ingredients molten in the water or the impurities contained in the water will be deposited and discharged out from the crystalline of ice. At that time, a greater portion of gaseous ingredients or impurities are collected on the lower part of the container 17 by way of the through hole 19, since it is bored on the bottom of the ice making pan 21. Therefore, the water in the upper part of the ice making pan 21 is turned into ice which is not cloudy, but highly transparent and tasty with the impurities removed to a great extent.

Description

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

2. Description of the Related Art A method of making ice conventionally used in home refrigerators and the like will be explained with reference to FIG. 1 is the refrigerator itself and outer box 2
．． Inner box 3 and said outer box 2. It is composed of a heat insulating material 4 filled between inner boxes 3.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a partition wall that divides the inside of the refrigerator main body 1 into upper and lower sections, and a freezer compartment 6. A refrigerating chamber 7 is defined in the lower part. Reference numeral 8 is a refrigeration cycle cooler provided on the back side of the freezer compartment 6, and 9 is a blower for forcing the cold air cooled by the cooler 8 into the freezer compartment 6 and the refrigerator compartment. Further, 10 is an ice making compartment provided in one section of the freezer compartment 6C, and 11 is a ventilation path that communicates the discharge side of the blower 9 with the ice making compartment 1o. Reference numeral 12 denotes an ice tray placed in the ice making chamber 1o.

In this configuration, when the ice tray 12 is filled with water and placed in the ice making compartment 10, cold air cooled by the cooler 8 is forced into the ice making compartment 1o through the ventilation path 11 due to the forced ventilation action of the blower 90. The water in the ice making tray 12 is cooled and frozen all around to generate ice.

However, with such an ice generation method, the water in the ice tray 12 freezes when ice is generated.
As it progresses to the center from the contact surface between ice and water and the contact surface between cold air and water, impurities such as gas components and limescale dissolved in the water are trapped in the center of the ice, resulting in The ice becomes cloudy in the center, opaque, and tastes bad.
For example, it was not sensually suitable for use in beverages such as whisky.

Therefore, there has been a need for transparent and good-tasting ice since the past, and an apparatus for producing it is known, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-35438, and this method is
It was as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 6. The basic contents will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Incidentally, the parts common to those of the conventional example shown in FIG. That is, 13 is the insulation material 1 inside.
Freezer compartment 6. Refrigerator compartment 7 at the bottom
The area is divided into sections. Reference numeral 16 denotes an ice-making compartment provided in one section of the freezer compartment e, which communicates with the discharge side of the blower 9 through a ventilation passage 11. Reference numeral 16 denotes an ice making device placed in the ice making chamber 15, which includes a container 17 with an open top and the container 1.
It consists of an ice tray 18 stacked on the inner surface with the opening of 7 as the upper end. Further, 19 is a through hole provided in the bottom surface of the ice tray 17. Incidentally, when the ice making device 16 is placed in the ice making chamber 15, the outer periphery of the ice making device 16 except for the front side is surrounded by the heat insulating material 14 of the partition wall 13.

In this configuration, when water is poured into the ice making device 16, the lower space in the container 17 is first filled with water through the through hole 19 provided on the bottom surface of the ice making tray 18, and then the ice making tray 18 is also filled with water. When the ice-making device 16 filled with water is placed in the ice-making compartment 16, cold air is sent into the ice-making compartment 16 through the ventilation path 11 by the forced draft action of the blower 9, and the upper surface of the building block device 16 is drawn into the ice-making compartment 16. Perform cooling. Here, since the outer periphery of the ice making device 16 is surrounded by the heat insulating material 14 of the partition wall 13, the cooling effect from the outer periphery is weak, and freezing generally progresses in one direction from above to below the ice making device 16. That is, the water in the ice tray 18 stacked on top of the container 17 gradually freezes. If this freezing rate is slowed down to an appropriate degree, gaseous components dissolved in the water and impurities contained in the water will precipitate outside the ice crystals and be discharged into the water below as ice continues to form. A through hole 19 is provided at the bottom of the ice tray 18 so as to communicate with the water filled in the container 17 at the bottom, so that gas components discharged from the ice tray 18 as freezing progresses. and impurities through the through hole 1.
Most of the water is diffused into the water in the lower container 17 and drained through b.

Therefore, the ice produced in the upper ice tray 18 has high transparency and good taste with less cloudiness and impurities due to air bubbles. However, the ice that is generated by the final freezing of the water in the container 17 at the bottom of the ice tray 18 has many bubbles and becomes cloudy because the gas components and impurities contained in the initially filled water are concentrated. This results in ice with a bad taste. In other words, ice of different quality is generated in the upper and lower layers, and when used, the upper and lower layers of ice are separated and released, and only the high-quality ice with high transparency and good taste is stored in the upper ice tray 18. It is intended to be used for drinking, etc.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention However, with this configuration, the ice tray 18 and the container 17 are frozen with the generated upper and lower layers of ice, so in reality it is equivalent to separating them and releasing the ice. It is not easy as it requires strength.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an ice-making device that easily produces ice with high transparency and good taste without impairing ice-release properties.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, an ice making device for a refrigerator according to the present invention includes an ice making tray consisting of several small compartments, and a container in which the ice making tray can be stacked on the inner surface. A through hole is provided in the bottom of the ice tray, and when the container and the ice tray are stacked and filled with water, an air layer is formed between the small sections on the back side of the ice tray. .

Function The present invention uses the above-described configuration to freeze ice mainly from the top surface, and transparent ice with little cloudiness and impurities due to air bubbles is produced on the top surface of the ice tray. However, the ice produced at the bottom of the ice tray is cloudy and has a bad taste because the gas components and impurities contained in the water are concentrated. Users drink only the clear ice that forms on the top, but since there is an air layer formed on the back of the ice tray, if you stack the ice tray and container and twist it, the transparent ice that forms on the top will be removed. The chisel is removed.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. It should be noted that the same components as those in the prior art are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted. 2
o is an ice making device installed in the ice making room 16. 22 is a side wall formed to connect the outer periphery of each small section of the ice tray 21.

23 faces 2 so that the outer periphery of the ice cube tray 21 is inserted therein;
Chill with grooves formed on the sides. 24 is an air layer formed between the small sections on the back side of the ice tray 18.

In this configuration, when the ice tray 21 is stacked on the container 17 and water is injected, water is first filled into the container 17 through the through hole 19 provided on the bottom of the ice tray 21, and then the ice tray 21 is also filled with water. . However, water cannot enter the air layer 24. Moreover, the ice tray 19 is stuck in the groove 23 and will not rise due to the buoyancy of the air.

The ice making device 20 filled with water in this way is placed in the ice making compartment 15.

Next, due to the cold air generated by the forced ventilation of the blower 9, freezing progresses in one direction, mainly from the top to the bottom.

If the freezing rate is slowed to an appropriate level, gaseous components dissolved in the water and impurities contained in the water will precipitate out of the ice crystals and be discharged as ice forms. At this time, a through hole 19 is provided in the bottom of the ice tray 21, and most of the gas components and impurities are collected in the lower part of the container 17 through the through hole. Therefore, the upper part of the ice tray 21 contains highly transparent, delicious ice with little cloudiness or impurities. However, gas components and impurities are concentrated in the lower part of the ice tray 21. Next, when the user holds both ends of the ice making device 2o and twists it, air spaces 24 are formed vertically and horizontally in a wedge shape.

It can be easily twisted and only the transparent ice formed at the top of the ice tray 21 can be removed for drinking.

In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, water is poured into the ice tray 21 and the container 17 while being stacked, but an air layer is more reliably formed by stacking the ice tray 21 and the container 17 with water poured into the container.

Further, although the air layer is not in a sealed state in this embodiment, it may be configured to be sealed by blow molding or the like.

Further, although water injection and ice removal are performed manually, the present ice making device may be incorporated into a configuration that allows water injection and ice removal to be performed automatically.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the air layer formed on the back side of the ice tray makes it possible to easily separate the transparent ice formed on the upper part of the ice tray from the ice containing many impurities formed on the lower part. It is possible to provide a transparent ice making device that is easy to use and easy to use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an ice making device such as a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the back side of the ice tray shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is the ice making device shown in Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a refrigerator equipped with an ice-making device showing a conventional example, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of main parts of a refrigerator equipped with an ice-making device showing another conventional example. , FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the back side of the ice making device of FIG. 5. 7...Container, 19...Through hole, 21.
... Ice tray, 20 ... Ice making device, 22.
...Side wall, 24...Air layer. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and 1 other person17
- Late spring 19 - Penetration 2 20 - Ice making training 1 2! - Hair water 24 - Sanity layer 17 - ° - Breathing 19 - Penetration 2θ - Ice making device 21 - Ice breakage 24 - Giant air layer Fig. 19 - Penetration hole 21 - Water attack 22 - - 1 A) Ippi. Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ice tray with a through hole in the bottom consisting of multiple small compartments,
and a container on which the ice tray can be stacked, and when the container and the ice tray are stacked and filled with water, an air layer is formed between the small sections on the back side of the ice tray. An ice-making device for a refrigerator.