JPH03230068A - Ice making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a large amount of ices within a short period of time from normal water of non-transparent characteristic as required by a method wherein when a heater is placed at an opposing position against a water surface of an ice making pan, the heater is electrically energized and in turn when the heater is located at a position apart from the water surface of the ice making pan, the heater is not electrically energized. CONSTITUTION:Under a transparent mode, an intermittent gear 85 is stopped before the intermittent gear 85 of a cam gear 80 reaches an intermittent gear 38 integral with a heater plate driving shaft 32 due to the fact that it is stopped at the two pulse positions. A heater plate 92 is held at an opposing position against the water surface of the ice making pan 91. A heater 29 in the heater plate 92 is electrically energized. In turn, under a normal ice made, the cam gear 80 is rotationally driven in a clockwise direction until four pulses are outputted, so that the intermittent gear 85 of the cam gear 80 is engaged with the intermittent gear 38 integral with the heater plate driving shaft 32 during this operation so as to cause the intermittent gear 38 and the heater plate driving shaft 32 to be rotationally driven in a counterclockwise direction and further the heater plate 92 is rotated up to a position spaced apart from the water surface of the ice making pan 91. The heater 29 in the heater plate 92 is not electrically energized. Accordingly, the ice making pan 91 can be efficiently cooled.

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 drive source to perform an ice removal operation, and the ice cubes are stored in a water storage provided below the ice tray. An automatic ice maker that performs a water supply operation is known in Japan, and is put into practical use by being incorporated into refrigerators and the like. Also.

In order to make transparent ice, a method is known in which the water in the ice-making blood is frozen from the bottom, the surface of the water is not frozen until the end, and the air bubbles generated in the unfrozen water are released into the atmosphere.

FIG. 40 schematically shows a conventional ice making machine for making transparent ice. In FIG. 40, inside the refrigerator 1, there is a heat sink 64.
An ice tray 91 is integrally provided on the top. Heat sink 64
is cooled by the cold air produced by the cooler, and the heat dissipation plate 64
The water in the ice cube tray 91 is frozen by removing heat from the water through the ice tray 91.

A heater plate 92 is arranged above the ice tray 91 so as to face the water surface of the ice tray 91, and the heater plate 92 is connected to the heater 29.
heated by. The periphery of the refrigerator 1 is covered with an appropriate heat insulating material.

In the above conventional ice making device, the water in the ice making tray 91 is frozen from below by cooling the heat sink 64 with a cooler, and the water surface portion of the water in the ice making tray 91 is heated from above with the heater 29. An unfrozen part is created in the area, and air bubbles in the water are driven into this unfrozen part. This unfrozen portion is discarded, and only the ice is released and stored in a water storage tank. The ice made in this way is transparent and has no bubbles.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) According to the above conventional ice making device, even if the heater 29 is not energized in order to make not transparent ice but ice with a conventional general transparency, the heater plate 92 is always connected to the ice making tray 91. Because they are located close to each other and facing each other, it is not possible to make a large amount of ice at once, and the ice making time is longer than with conventional ice making equipment, which cannot make clear ice due to the poor flow of cold air near the water surface. It had become.

The present invention was made in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and is an ice making device that can make highly transparent ice. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ice making device that can make ice in large quantities.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes an ice tray to which water is supplied, a heater that generates heat when energized, and a heater facing the water surface of the ice tray depending on whether the ice making mode is transparent ice or regular rice. a moving means for selectively moving the heater to a position facing the water surface of the ice cube tray or a position away from the water surface, and energizing the heater when the heater is in a position facing the water surface of the ice tray; The heater is characterized in that it has a control means for controlling not to apply electricity to the heater.

(Operation) In the ice-making mode for transparent ice, the heater is moved to a position facing the water surface of the ice tray and energized, while it cools and freezes the water in the ice tray, leaving an unfrozen portion to create transparent ice. make ice In the normal water ice making mode, the heater is moved to a position away from the water surface of the ice tray, and ice is made without energizing the heater. In normal water ice-making mode, the heater is separated from the water surface of the ice-making tray, so multiple ice-making trays can be stacked to make ice.

(Example) An example of the ice making apparatus according to the present invention will be described below.

First, an outline of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In FIGS. 3 and 4, a drive mechanism section 6 is provided in the refrigerator 1.
A heater plate drive shaft 32, an ice detection shaft 47, and a main shaft 21 protrude from the. A heater plate 92 is connected to the heater plate drive shaft 32 .

The heater plate 92 is made up of a heat sink made of a material with good thermal conductivity such as aluminum or stainless steel, and a heater 29 made of a nichrome wire wrapped around the heat sink. Heater 29 is electrically insulated. The ice detection member 4 is connected to the ice detection shaft 47, and the ice tray 91 is connected to the main shaft 21.

The ice making tray 91 is supplied with water from a water storage tank 77 by a water supply pump 73.The ice making tray 91 is provided on a heat sink 64, and the heat sink 64 is cooled by a cooler.
The heat of the water in the ice cube tray 91 is removed through the ice tray 91, thereby freezing the water. Below the ice tray 91 is a water storage box 90.
is installed.

The water detection member 4 can rotate at an appropriate timing to be described later and enter the water storage box 90, and if there is a predetermined amount or more of ice 10 in the water storage box 90, the ice detection member 4 detects ice 1.
0, rotation is restricted and a water test signal is output. Further, when there is no ice 10 of a predetermined amount or more in the water storage box 90, the water test member 4 rotates over the entire rotation range and no water test signal is output. If the water test signal is not output even if the water test member 4 operates, the ice tray 91 is rotated together with the main shaft 21 to remove ice from the ice tray 91, and the water storage box 90 is removed.
It will be donated to In the transparent ice making mode, the heater plate 92 rotates to a position facing the water surface of the ice tray 91 as shown in FIG. 3 and as shown by the solid line in FIG.
is energized to create transparent ice by leaving an unfrozen portion as described above. On the other hand, in the ice-making mode for regular rice with normal transparency, the heater plate 92 rotates to a position away from the water surface of the ice-making tray 91, as shown by the chain line in FIG. 1, and all the water is frozen. When water is supplied to the ice tray 91, the heater plate 92 rotates to a position away from the water surface of the ice tray 91. When the heater plate 92 rotates to a position facing the water surface of the ice tray 91, the limit switch 7 detects this and the heater plate 9
When the ice tray 91 rotates to a position away from the water surface, the limit switch 8 detects this, and this rotational position is maintained by the magnetic attraction force of the magnet 9.

Note that when the heater plate 92 rotates to a position away from the water surface of the ice tray 91, a space is created above the ice tray 91, so another ice tray 95 is placed in this space as shown in FIG.
can be placed.

Although it is not possible to make transparent ice when multiple ice trays are used in this way, it is possible to make a large amount of ice of normal transparency. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a reed switch 94 is provided on the heater plate 92, and when the heater plate 92 is rotated to a position away from the water surface of the ice tray 91 by the suction force of the magnet 93, the reed switch 94 detects the magnetism of the magnet 93 and detects that the heater plate 92 is in a position away from the water surface of the ice tray 91.

The ice maker described above is incorporated into a refrigerator, and the water storage box 90 can be taken out and attached to the refrigerator as desired.

Next, the internal configuration of the drive mechanism section 6 will be explained.

In FIGS. 5 to 7, 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 driving source, is fitted into the rib that stands up from the upper case 12, and is vertically regulated and fixed by the rib that protrudes from the upper case 12. Motor 13
The output shaft 18 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 fits into the engagement hole of the worm 14, the rotational force of the output shaft 18 is reduced. is transmitted to the worm 14. The worm 14 meshes with a worm wheel 15, and the rotational force of the worm wheel 15 is transmitted to the gear 51 via a reduction gear train 16, 17.
transmitted to.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the gear 51 integrally has a smaller diameter gear 53 on its lower side. The gear 53 has a gear region 54 formed in an approximately 150° range.
and the remaining toothless region 55. The entire region of the toothless region 55 is provided with a protruding circumferential portion 56 that extends along a circle substantially equal to the addendum circle of the gear region 54 . The thickness of the protruding circumferential portion 56 is approximately half the thickness of the gear 53. Four teeth 57, 57 are provided at both ends of the protruding circumferential portion 56. 4 teeth 57.
The thickness of gear 57 in the axial direction is approximately half the thickness of gear 53,
The thickness of the end of the protruding circumferential portion 56 and the thickness of the four teeth 57 are the same as the thickness of the gear region 54. gear 51
has an integral shaft 52 at its center, and this shaft 52 is rotatably supported by a bearing portion 59 of the upper case 11 and a bearing portion 58 of the lower case 12.

A gear area 5 of this gear 53 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the gear 53.
A gear 25 is disposed that meshes with and follows the gear 4, but does not follow the toothless region 55.

As shown in FIG. 19, the gear 25 has an original area 43 and a four-tooth area 4 formed to have different thicknesses in the direction of the axis of one rotation.
2. Here, the teeth of the four-tooth area 42 are designated as A, c, and d, respectively, and the original document area 43 sandwiching the four-tooth area 42 is
Let the pair of teeth be a and e.

5 and 19 show each member in its original position, with the missing tooth area 55 of the gear 53 facing the gear 25,
The teeth of the four-tooth region 42 overlap the toothless region 55 in the axial direction, and the pair of teeth a and e of the original document region 43 that sandwich the four-tooth region 42 abut against the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion 56. It is possible.

The gear 25 has a shaft 21 integrally. The shaft 21 protrudes through the lower case 12 and is connected to the ice tray 91 shown in FIG. 4 as a main shaft for driving the ice tray 91. An ice removal operation is performed by rotationally driving the ice making tray 91 together with the main shaft 21. As is well known, the ice tray 91 is rotated to some extent and then twisted to perform an ice removal operation.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the ice tray 91 is placed on the heat sink 64, and a washer 66 is attached to the outer periphery of a pair of bolts 65 that pass through the heat sink 64 and the ice tray 91 from below.
, the coil spring 67 and the washer 68 are fitted, and the nut 69 is screwed in, so that the ice tray 91 is attached to the heat sink 64.
installed on top. From the side of the ice tray 91, the shaft 70
protrudes integrally, and a shaft 70 is connected to the main shaft 21.

In FIGS. 5, 6, and 8, the gear 51 meshes with a relatively large-diameter gear 81 formed on a cam gear 80. As shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 23, the cam gear 80 has a cam 82 for detecting the original position, and also has an intermittent gear portion 85 consisting of two teeth.

Most of the cam 82 is made up of a low step part 83, and the remaining part is made up of a high step part 84. The intermittent gear portion 85 has approximately the same diameter as the gear 81. The tip of the switch lever 74 of the original position detection switch 7S is in sliding contact with the cam 82,
When the switch lever 74 comes into sliding contact with the high step portion 84, a switch 75 is turned on. The intermittent gear 85 can mesh with an intermittent gear 86 formed on the gear 20. As shown in FIG. 23, the gear 20 is
In addition to having the intermittent gear 86 described above, it also has three recesses 44 on the inner peripheral side of one end and protrusions 45 equally spaced between the recesses 44. The gear 20 is rotatably fitted on the outer periphery of the ice test shaft 47, and the water test shaft 47 is rotatably supported by the upper and lower cases 11 and 12. Three radial protrusions 48 are formed on one end side of the water test shaft 47, and these protrusions 48 are located within the recess 44 of the gear 20,
The water test shaft 47 can rotate within the range in which the protrusion 48 can move within the recess 44. A coil spring 62 is wound around the outer periphery of the water test shaft 47, and each end of the coil spring 62 is hung on a pin 78 of the water test shaft 47 and a pin 79 of the lower case 12, so that the water test shaft 47 is In Figure 5, it is urged to rotate clockwise. The water test shaft 47 also has a protrusion 27 on its outer periphery. A stopper 28 extends onto the rotation path of the protrusion 27, and when the protrusion 27 comes into contact with the stopper 28, the rotation range of the water test shaft 47 is regulated. As shown in FIG. 30, the water test shaft 47 has a partial gear 49 on its outer periphery.

The gear 20 is connected to the motor 13 by a gear train 14°, 15.
16, 17, 51, 81, 85, and 86, and are rotated clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the rotational direction of the motor 13. When the gear 20 rotates clockwise in FIGS. 1 and 23, its convex portion 45 rotates in a direction away from the protrusion 48 of the ice detection shaft 47, and thus rotates in advance of the water detection shaft 47, causing the ice detection to occur. axis 4
7 rotates clockwise following the gear 20 due to the biasing force of the coil spring 62. By this clockwise rotation of the water test shaft 47, the water test member 4 enters the water storage box 9o and performs a water test operation. On the other hand, when the gear 20 rotates counterclockwise, the protrusion 45 of the gear 20 rotates against the protrusion 4 of the water test shaft 47.
8 to push the protrusion 48 and rotate the water test shaft 47 counterclockwise. This rotation of the water test shaft 47 in the counterclockwise direction causes the water test member 4 to move out of the water storage box 9o and return to its original position.

As shown in FIG. 30, the water test shaft 47 has a partial gear 49, and this partial gear 49 meshes with the partial gear 41 of the water test cam 40. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the outer peripheral surface of the water test cam 40 at one end is a cam surface, and a portion of this cam surface is a notch-shaped low step portion 46.

A partial gear 41 is formed in the middle part of the water test cam 40 in the axial direction. A protrusion 63 (see FIG. 30) of a switch lever 60 is in sliding contact with the cam surface of the water test cam 40.

The switch lever 60 is rotatable around a shaft 61,
The tip faces the actuator of the water test and position detection switch 76. The switch 76 is the switch 7
It is attached to the bottom of 5. When the protrusion 63 of the lever 6o is in sliding contact with the low step portion 46 of the cam 40, the lever 60 rotates clockwise in FIG. When the lever 60 is in sliding contact with the lever 60, the lever 60 is rotated counterclockwise to push the actuator of the switch 76, turning the switch 76 off.

The cam 40 is rotatably fitted on the outer peripheral side of the cam gear 31, and the cam gear 31 is rotatably supported between the upper and lower cases 11 and 12. The cam gear 31 is the twelfth
As shown in FIGS. 13 and 13, a high step portion 3
4, a low step portion 35, a high step portion 36, and a low step portion 37, and has a small diameter gear 33 at the opposite end thereof. This ft wheel 33 is the cam gear 8
It meshes with gear 81 of 0. The two high step portions 34 and 36 of the cam surface are formed at an interval of approximately 90°. The protrusion 63 of the switch lever 6o is connected to the water test cam 4.
0 and the cam surface of the cam gear 31 in sliding contact. The low step portion of the water test cam 40 is within the range of the low step portion 35 of the cam gear 31.

On the path of the intermittent gear 85 of the cam gear 80, there is an intermittent gear 38 integrally formed with the drive shaft 32 of the heater plate 92.
As each intermittent gear 85 and intermittent gear 38 mesh with each other, the heater plate drive shaft 32 is rotationally driven.

In the mechanism described above, the driving source for performing the water test operation, the ice removal operation, and the rotation operation of the heater plate 92 is the single motor 13 mentioned above, and the timing of starting and stopping the motor 13 is All operations are performed by controlling the direction of rotation.

FIG. 18 schematically shows an example of a control system for the motor 13 and the water supply pump 73, which are drive sources for the above-mentioned mechanical parts, and a mechanical system driven by the motor 13. In FIG. 18, a controller 30 constitutes a control means for controlling the operations of the motor 13 and the water supply pump 73. The controller 30 includes an ice making end switch 96, a water storage door switch 98, an operation mode selection switch 89. Monitoring signals from the original position detection switch 75, water test and position detection switch 76, and controlling the forward rotation, reverse rotation, and stop of the motor 13 via the drive circuit 97 according to each of these input signals,
Further, the rotation and stop of the water supply pump 73 is controlled via the drive circuit 99. As already mentioned, the main shaft 21 drives the ice tray 91 through the speed reduction mechanism 71 made up of the gear train 14, 15, 16, 17, etc. by controlling the rotation of the motor 13;
The operations of the heater shaft 32 and the water test shaft 47 are controlled, and the rotational positions of the position detection cam 31 and the original position detection cam 82 are determined according to the rotational position of the motor 13. The rotational position of the water test cam 40 is determined by the rotational position of the water test shaft 47, and the operating state of the water test and position detection switch 76 is determined by the rotational position of the water test cam 40 and the rotational position of the position detection cam 31. Furthermore, the operating state of the home position detection switch 75 is determined by the rotational position of the home position detection cam 82. Detection signals from these switches 75 and 76 are input to the controller 30. The controller 30 also controls energization of the heater 29 in response to signals from the switches 75 and 76.

Next, the operation of the embodiment described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 19 and subsequent figures.

Now, when you start operation by powering on, first,
The motor 13 is driven to rotate and the initial setting operation shown in FIG. 34 is performed. The rotational force of the motor 13 is transmitted to the gear train 14, 15,
16 and 17, and the gear 51 and the cam gear 80 rotate clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the direction of rotation of the motor 13. The above initial setting operation is an operation for bringing each member to the reference position shown in FIG. 5. Third
In FIG. 4, first, the motor 13 is rotated counterclockwise to rotate the cam gear 80 counterclockwise, and the system waits until the home position detection switch 75 is turned on. This switch 75
Turning on means that the switch lever 74 is pushed by the high step 84 of the cam gear 80. When the home position detection switch 75 is turned on, the motor 13 is rotated clockwise. Here, it is monitored whether the selection switch 89 in FIG. Stop at the position. To further explain the 8 forces of the pulse signal from the switch 76, the clockwise rotational force of the cam gear 80 caused by the drive of the motor 13 is transmitted to the gear 33 of the position detection cam 31, causing it to rotate counterclockwise. Therefore, a pulse signal is output from the switch 76 every time the protrusion 63 of the switch lever 60 falls into the lower part 35.37 of the position detection cam 31 (see FIG. 13). In this way, when the cam gear 80 is stopped at the position where two pulse signals are output from the switch 76, the intermittent gear 85 of the cam gear 80 is separated from the intermittent gear 38 that is integrated with the heater temporary sleep shaft 32, and the drive shaft 32 The heater plate 92 is rotated to a position where it faces the water surface of the ice tray 91, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and as shown in FIG. 3, and then stopped. On the other hand, if the mode is not the transparent mode but the normal ice mode with normal transparency, the clockwise rotation of the motor 13 is stopped at the position where the four pulse signals are output from the switch 76. During this period, the rotation of the cam gear 80 causes the intermittent gear 85 to mesh with the intermittent gear 38 and rotate the heater plate sliding shaft 32 counterclockwise, thereby moving the heater plate 92 into the ice tray 9 as shown by the chain line in FIG.
Rotate it to a position away from the water surface in step 1. Note that when stopping the motor 13, a predetermined overrun process is performed, and when the predetermined overrun time has elapsed, the motor is stopped and the initial setting operation is completed.

This initial setting operation places the ice tray 91 in a horizontal position. When the ice tray 91 is placed in a horizontal position, the 19th
As shown in the figure, the toothless region 55 of the gear 53 and the four-tooth region 42 of the gear 25 overlap, and the teeth of the four-tooth region 42 face the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion 56 of the toothless region 55. The pair of teeth a and e of the original image area 43 sandwiching the four-tooth area 42 are in a state where they can come into contact with the outer periphery of the protruding circumferential portion 56, and the rotation of the gear 25 brings the pair of teeth a and e into contact. regulated by. Since the ice tray 91 is thus placed in a horizontal position and its rotation is restricted, the ice tray 91 is correctly held in a horizontal position even when water is supplied to it and a load is applied thereto.

An example of the initial setting operation described above is when a power outage occurs or the power is unplugged during operation, and then the power is removed or the power is plugged in.

This is necessary to first drive the motor 13 and set the gear 51 at its original position to avoid malfunction.

After the above initial setting operation, a water supply operation is performed, and after the water supply, the ice making timer starts operating. As shown in Fig. 35, when the ice making timer times up after a certain period of time, ice making is completed, the water supply signal is turned off, and after confirming that the water storage door is closed, the motor 13 is rotated counterclockwise. do. The cam gear 8 is rotated by the counterclockwise rotation of the motor 13.
0 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. When the high stage portion 84 of the cam gear 8o presses the switch lever 74 due to the rotation of the cam gear 8o, the switch 75 outputs an original position detection signal, and when this original position detection signal is output, the process moves to the water amount judgment operation. The operation up to this point is an operation counterclockwise (CCW) from an arbitrary position in FIG. 33.

The water amount judgment operation described above is as shown in FIGS. 23 to 29. FIG. 23 shows the state at the start of the water quantity judgment operation, in which the rotation of the water test shaft 47 is not only restricted by the urging force due to its protrusion 48 coming into contact with the protrusion 45 of the gear 20, but also forced by the gear 20. The water test member 4 is pushed counterclockwise, and the water test member 4 is moved to the water storage box 9 as shown in FIG.
It is saved from 0 and is in a stored state. When the cam gear 80 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction from this state as described above, the intermittent gear 85 of the cam gear 80 meshes with the intermittent gear 86 of the gear 20, as shown in FIG.
Rotate o clockwise.

As the gear 20 rotates, its protrusion 45 escapes from the protrusion 48 of the ice detection shaft 47, and the ice detection shaft 47 follows the gear 20 and rotates clockwise. Along with this, the water test member 4 rotates toward the water storage box 90 shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 25. The cam gear 80 further rotates counterclockwise as shown in FIGS. 26 and 28, causing the gear 20 to further rotate clockwise. Following the rotation of the gear 20, the water test shaft 47 also tries to rotate as described above, but if there is more than a predetermined amount of ice 10 in the water storage, the ice test is performed as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27. When the lever 4 hits the ice 10 and its rotation is restricted, and the amount of ice 10 in the water storage is less than a predetermined amount, the water test shaft 47 rotates over the entire rotation range as shown in FIGS. 28 and 29. Note that the rotation range of the water test shaft 47 is regulated by the projection 27 coming into contact with the stopper 28 . When the water test shaft 47 detects ice 10 and its rotation is restricted in the middle of its rotation range, as shown at the left end of FIG. 33, even though the home position detection switch 75 outputs the home position detection signal. Since no signal is output from the switch 76, it can be seen that the water level is full.

On the other hand, when the amount of ice is less than the predetermined amount, the partial gear 49 rotates as the water test member 4 rotates over the entire rotation range.
meshes with the partial gear 41 of the cam gear 40, and the cam gear 4
o is rotated counterclockwise, and the sliding contact position of the protrusion 63 of the switch lever 60 shifts from the low step portion 46 of the cam gear 4o to the high step portion, thereby rotating the lever 60, and the 33rd
As shown at the left end of the figure, when the home position detection switch 75 outputs the home position detection signal, the position detection switch 76
The protrusion 63 of the lever 60 is connected to the lower part 3 of the position detection cam 31.
5, the switch 76 is turned off because the protrusion 63 faces the high stage part of the cam gear 40, and since the switch 76 is on and the switch 75 is off, the amount of water is insufficient. It can be seen that

30 to 32 show in detail the operations of the water test shaft 47, cam gear 40, and switch 76 during the water test. The water test shaft 47 can rotate in the range from the position shown in FIG. 30 to the position shown in FIG. 32, and the cam gear 40 can also rotate in the range from the position shown in FIG. 30 to the position shown in FIG. 32. It can be rotated with. However, when the amount of water is full, the rotation of the water test shaft 47 is restricted in the middle of the rotatable range as described above. FIG. 31 shows the limit position where the rotation of the water test shaft 47 is regulated due to the water being full, and the sliding contact position of the protrusion 63 of the switch lever 6o changes from the lower part of the cam gear 40 to the higher part. However, the switch 76 is still on. If the water test shaft 47 rotates further from this state, the amount of water is insufficient, and the third
As shown in FIG. 2, the cam gear 40 also rotates further, and the sliding contact position of the protrusion 63 of the switch lever 60 becomes a high step part of the cam gear 40, and the switch 76 is turned off. Therefore, if the amount of water stored is more than a predetermined amount, the rotation of the water test shaft 47 is regulated starting from the mode shown in FIG. 30 and before reaching the mode shown in FIG. 31, and the switch 76 will not be turned off.

In FIGS. 35 and 39, if the water amount is insufficient as a result of the water amount judgment, the rotation direction of the motor 13 is reversed clockwise,
The cam gear 80 is rotated clockwise. cam gear 80
When the position detecting cam 31 rotates clockwise, the position detecting cam 31 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 5 due to the meshing of the gear 81 with the gear 33 of the position detecting cam 31. As the cam 31 rotates, each time the protrusion 63 of the switch lever 60 comes into sliding contact with the lower part 35. Output. Therefore, these pulse signals are counted, and when nine pulse signals are counted, the motor 13 is reversed counterclockwise again to perform a motor stop process. The operation until the nine pulse signals from the switch 76 are counted is the operation from the left end to the right end in FIG.
The ice removal operation is performed from

The ice removal operation is performed as follows. As mentioned above, the fact that the motor 13 and the cam gear 80 are actively rotated in the clockwise direction means that the gear 51 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction.
As shown in FIG.
The gear 25 is engaged with the teeth of the four-tooth region 42 to rotate the gear 25 clockwise. Since the gear 25 is integral with the main shaft 21 and the ice tray 91 is connected to the main shaft 21 as shown in FIG. 4, the ice tray 91 is also rotated as the gear 25 rotates. FIG. 21 shows a state in which the gear 25 is being rotated.

In this way, the gear 25 rotates clockwise until a signal is output from the switch 75, and during this time the ice tray 91 rotates approximately half a rotation. During the rotation of the ice tray 91, a portion of the ice tray 91 comes into contact with the stopper, twisting the ice tray 91, and effectively removing the ice. The heat sink 64 also rotates together with the ice tray 91. As explained in FIGS. 16 and 17, since the ice tray 91 is movably attached to the heat sink 64 with the intervention of the spring 67, the heat sink 64
does not interfere with twisting the ice tray 91.

After the signal is output from the switch 75, the rotational direction of the motor 13 is reversed counterclockwise, and the motor 13 is stopped at approximately the center in the left-right direction of the chart shown in FIG. 33 by the aforementioned motor stop processing. At this stop position, as can be seen from FIG. 33, the main shaft 21 is returned to its original rotational position and the ice tray 91 is approximately horizontal, and the heater shaft 32 is rotated and the heater plate 92 is placed on the ice tray 91. The water test shaft 47 is in a position away from the water storage box.

In this state, the water supply signal is turned on, and water is supplied to the ice tray 91.

Once ice making is completed after water supply, the operation from the beginning is repeated.

In FIGS. 35 and 39, if the water amount is determined to be full, the rotation direction of the motor 13 is reversed clockwise and a motor stop process is performed.

The motor stop processing is as shown in Fig. 36, and in the case of transparent mode, a predetermined amount of overrun processing is performed at the position where two pulse signals are output from the switch 76, and when normal ice is not in transparent mode, In the ice making mode, a predetermined amount of overrun processing is performed at the position where four pulse signals are output from the switch 76, and the motor 13 is stopped. In this way, in the transparent mode, the cam gear 80 is stopped at two pulse positions, so the cam gear 80 stops before the intermittent gear 85 reaches the intermittent gear 38 that is integrated with the heater plate drive shaft 32, and the heater plate 92 is held at a position facing the water surface of the ice tray 91. Further, when the heater plate 92 is in this mode, the heater 29 within the heater plate 92 is energized. On the other hand, in the normal ice mode, the cam gear 80 is rotated clockwise until four pulses are output.
The intermittent gear 38 and the heater plate drive shaft 32 integrated with the intermittent gear 38 are rotated counterclockwise in FIG. Rotate. In this operating mode, the heater 29 in the heater plate 92 is not energized. After the motor stop process as described above, when it is detected that the water storage door is opened and closed, the operation is suspended for a predetermined period of time, and then the initial operation is resumed. The reason why it returned to the initial operation by opening and closing the door is that it is likely that the ice in the water storage was taken out by opening and closing the door, and it is necessary to re-evaluate the amount of water and perform ice removal or ice making. Because there is.

According to the embodiment described above, the heater plate 92 is connected to the ice tray 9
Since it is possible to selectively move the ice to the position facing the water surface (1) and the position away from the water surface, it is possible to make ice by arbitrarily selecting between transparent ice and normal ice of normal transparency as needed. can. In addition, when normal ice making is selected, the heater plate 92 moves to a position away from the water surface of the ice tray 91, so the ice tray 91 can be efficiently cooled, and multiple ice trays can be stacked. You can also
With this, you can make a large amount of ice in a short time.

Note that the means for moving the heater relative to the ice cube tray may be manual or electric, and the direction of movement is not limited to single opening as in the illustrated embodiment, but may also be horizontal or vertical movement.
Alternatively, the ice tray may be moved.

When using a motor as a drive source for each mechanism, the type of motor is not particularly limited, and any motor may be selected. Further, as the speed reduction mechanism connected to the motor, any suitable speed reduction mechanism other than the gear speed reduction mechanism may be used as appropriate, and the speed reduction cost may also be set arbitrarily.

As a means for detecting the rotation limit of the heater plate 92 and other rotating members, a Hall element, a Hall IC, or the like may be used instead of the microswitch or reed switch shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Further, when a pulse motor is used as the drive source, the position can be controlled by counting drive pulses, so the detection element as described above can be omitted.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, since the heater can be selectively moved to a position facing the water surface of the ice tray and a position away from the water surface, it is possible to move the heater to a position facing the water surface of the ice tray and a position away from the water surface. It is possible to make ice by selecting any level of clear normal ice. In addition, when normal ice making is selected, the heater moves away from the water surface of the ice tray, allowing for efficient cooling of the ice tray and the ability to stack multiple ice trays. , it is also possible to make large amounts of ice in a short time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an outline of an embodiment of the ice making device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view showing an outline of another operation mode of the above embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a front view showing an outline of another operation mode of the above embodiment. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the external appearance of the main parts of the above embodiment, FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the above embodiment viewed from the axial direction of each member, and FIG. 6 is the above FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the embodiment cut along each axis and developed, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the embodiment cut along each axis and developed from a different angle. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken from a different angle and shown unfolded, Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken taken from a further different angle and shown developed. A sectional view of the gear in the above embodiment, FIG. 11 is a top and bottom view of the same, and
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the cam gear in the above embodiment, Fig. 13 is a top and bottom view of the same, Fig. 14 is a sectional view of the cam in the above embodiment, Fig. 15 is a top and bottom view of the cam gear, and Fig. 16 is a top and bottom view of the cam gear in the above embodiment. An exploded perspective view showing the structure of the ice tray part in the example, FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the same as above,
FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the relationship between each part of the above embodiment;
FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the relationship between some gears in the upper gutter embodiment, FIG. 20 is a plan view showing another operating mode of the same upper gear, and FIG. 21 is a plan view showing still another operation mode of the same upper gear. FIG. 22 is a plan view showing another operating mode on the plate of the same gear as above; FIG. 23 is a plan view showing the operation of the water test shaft;
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another operating mode of the water test shaft, FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing the water test shaft in the operating state of FIG. 24, and FIG.
Figure 6 is a plan view showing yet another operating mode of the water test shaft.
Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the water test shaft in the operating mode shown in Fig. 26, Fig. 28 is a plan view showing another operating state of the water test shaft, and Fig. 29 is a water test shaft in the operating state shown in Fig. 28. Fig. 30 is a plan view showing one operating mode of the water test switch, Fig. 31 is a plan view showing another operating state of the water test switch, and Fig. 32 is a plan view showing another operating state of the water test switch. FIG. 33 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above embodiment; FIG. 34 is a flow chart showing the operation of the above embodiment; FIG. 35 is a flow chart showing the operation following FIG. 34; The figure is a flowchart showing the details of the motor stop processing operation in Figure 35, Figure 37 is an exploded perspective view of the portion from the cam gear to the water test shaft in the above embodiment, and Figure 38 is the same cam gear and water test shaft. FIG. 39 is an inverted perspective view showing the gears interposed between the shafts, FIG. 39 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above embodiment, and FIG. 40 is a front view showing an outline of a conventional ice making device. ■... Refrigerator, 13... Motor as a moving means, 29... Heater, 30... Controller as a control means, 32... Drive shaft as a moving means.・Deceleration mechanism as a means of transportation. 1... Ice tray. Figure Figure L Figure Figure 12 Figure Figure 14 Figure Figure 1611 Figure 8 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 20 Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 2 Figure 24 Figure 26 Garden No. 30 Figure 3 Figure 32 Figure 36 Figure 0 Figure q Figure 34 Figure 35

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ice tray provided in the refrigerator to which water is supplied, a heater that generates heat when energized, and the heater placed in a position facing the water surface of the ice tray or opposite to the water surface of the ice tray depending on whether the ice making mode is clear ice or regular ice. a moving means for selectively moving the ice tray to a position away from the water surface; and when the heater is located at a position facing the water surface of the ice tray, the heater is energized; and control means for controlling the heater so as not to be energized when the heater is turned off.