JPH0395375A - Ice-making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To delay the freezing time in one tray of a two-later ice-making tray, make it possible to make transparent ice and facilitate the separation of upper and lower trays after ice making and the pick-up of transparent ice, by providing a planar far infrared heater between a heat-insulating plate, for supporting an ice-making tray thereon, and the bottom surface of the tray. CONSTITUTION:A planar far infrared heater 8 is disposed between a heat-insulating plate 7, for supporting an two-layer ice-making tray 6 thereon, and the bottom surface of the tray 6, thereby warming a lower tray 6b. In the beginning of ice making, the temperature of the lower tray 6b is prevented from falling to or below the freezing point, and a difference in freezing rate is generated between an upper tray 6a and the lower tray 6b of the ice-making tray 6. Because freezing in the lower tray part proceeds after freezing in the upper tray part, the ice frozen in the lower tray pushes up the upper tray 6a due to the increase in volume thereof, whereby separation of the upper and lower trays 6a, 6b after completion of ice making is facilitated. With heater 8 used, secondary radiations of far infrared rays from the ice-making tray 6 function to reduce the cluster in the ice-making tray, so that hard and tasty ice can be provided. Further, since impurities are collected efficiently into the lower tray 6b, the lower tray 6b can be made smaller in capacity, thereby wasting less ice.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ice-making device, and particularly relates to an ice-making device suitable for producing transparent ice in an electric refrigerator. [Prior Art] Ice making for refrigerators Conventionally, plates made of plastic are used that have partitions that allow multiple ice cubes to be made. When you fill this ice cube tray with water and place it in the freezer, the cold air will cool the top surface and the area around the ice cube tray.
The water begins to freeze from the top surface and the part in contact with the container, and impurities such as air, silica, and hardness dissolved in the water remain trapped and freeze, making it inevitable that the water will become cloudy.

Recently, 2M type ice trays have come into use, but for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-53657, in a two-layer ice tray, the upper tray and the lower tray are This is intended to make the ice formed on the upper tray transparent by providing a through hole between the two and transferring impurities to the lower tray.

However, even in this case, impurities in the upper plate remain and cloudiness cannot be avoided.

In addition, the ice making device described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 50-55259 is designed to freeze the bottom wall of the ice tray sequentially from the top surface by heating it, and to provide a cloudy part containing impurities on the bottom surface. are difficult to gather at the bottom. Even if impurities or a cloudy part were to gather in the lower part, no consideration was given to the fact that with this structure it would be difficult to separate the transparent part and the cloudy part, making it impractical.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, in the case of a two-layer ice tray in which an upper tray and a lower tray are stacked, there is not necessarily a difference in freezing time between the upper tray and the lower tray. Therefore, air and impurities contained in the upper pan part tend not to be transferred to the lower pan part.

In addition, if a heater is provided at the bottom of a normal IM type water blood to warm the lower part, it is difficult to collect the cloudy part containing impurities, and it is difficult to separate the transparent part and the cloudy part.

The present invention was made in order to solve the problems in the prior art described above, and includes a two-layer ice tray top tray. By creating an effective temperature difference between the ice and the blood, the freezing time of one tray is delayed, making it possible to make clear ice.In addition to obtaining hard and delicious ice, it is also possible to separate the upper and lower trays after ice making, making it possible to make clear ice. The object of the present invention is to provide an ice making device that can facilitate the collection of ice.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the most basic structure of the ice making device according to the present invention is a two-layer ice making tray in which an upper tray and a lower tray are stacked. (2) consists of a heat insulating plate and a planar far-infrared heater disposed between the heat insulating plate and the bottom surface of the ice tray.

Further, the ice making device according to the present invention has a more specific structure, or a two-layer ice making tray in which an upper tray and a lower tray are stacked, the upper tray having at least l wood holes, and the water hole. a lower tray having a conical protrusion facing the ice-making tray; a heat-insulating plate placed at the position where the ice-making tray is to be placed; and a planar distance plate disposed between the heat-insulating plate and the bottom surface of the ice-making tray. It consists of an infrared heater and a control means that energizes the far infrared heater during a preset time period.

More specifically, the control circuit is equipped with a reed switch that turns on when the ice tray is placed in a predetermined position in the freezer compartment, and a timer that operates to turn on the far-infrared heater at a preset time. It is composed of

In addition, technical means based on the idea behind the development of the present invention are additionally described below.

In order to achieve the above purpose, in a two-layer ice tray, a heat insulating material such as styrofoam is interposed between the styrofoam and the bottom of the ice tray to block heat conduction from the bottom. The far infrared heater is sandwiched between the two.

In addition, in order to allow the water contained in the upper and lower trays to move freely, we made several through holes, which are water holes, at the bottom of the upper tray, which is the boundary between the two. A conical protrusion should be provided directly below.

In the ice-making tray configured in this way, the energization of the heater affects the ice-making time and the bubbles generated in the water, so it is controlled by a timer to find the optimum conditions.

[Effect]

The function of the above technical means is as follows.

When an ice cube tray filled with water is placed in the ice cube corner of the freezer compartment, the cold air coming out of the outlet at the back cools the top surface of the ice cube tray, and ice begins to form on this surface, increasing in thickness over time. go. At the same time, the container also gets cold, and ice forms on the sides of the container.

The heat from the far-infrared heater is transmitted from the bottom by direct conduction and radiation, and the lower tray freezes later than the upper tray.

When solid and liquid phases coexist when freezing in a two-layer ice cube tray, air components and impurities in the upper tray will migrate to the unfrozen lower tray due to the difference in solubility, and will be directly below the water hole. The protrusions provided on the surface facilitate the transfer of impurities.

Furthermore, far-infrared heaters have good water absorption, require little input energy, and provide uniform heating that improves the transparency of ice.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of a freezer compartment in which an ice tray according to an embodiment of the present invention is placed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a two-layer ice tray,
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the 2/15 type ice tray, and Figure 4 is
Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the installation position of the reed switch, Figure 5 is an electric circuit diagram, Figure 6 is an operation diagram showing the timing of turning the heater on and off, and Figure 7 is an ice making tray shown in Figure 2. FIG.

Figure 1 shows a part of an electric refrigerator that consists of a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, a chilled compartment, a vegetable compartment, etc. 1 is a freezer compartment, 2
is a fan, 3 is a heat exchanger (cooler), 4 is an ice making corner,
5 is a freezing corner.

In the above configuration, heat exchange f! The cool air generated in step 3 is sent into the freezer compartment 2 by a fan 2.

The ice making corner 4 and the freezing corner 5 are separated by a shelf made of plastic.

In FIG. 2.3, 6 is a two-layer water tray (hereinafter simply referred to as an ice tray) in which an upper tray 6a and a lower tray 6b are stacked. One or more water holes 66 are provided at the bottom of the upper tray 6a.
c is drilled, and the diameter of the main hole in it is 3 to 6φ.
A conical protrusion 6d (diameter at the base of 6 to 8 φ, height of 5 to 7 mm) is formed on the lower plate 6b directly below the protrusion.

Although the ice cube tray 6 shown in FIG. 2 has a quadrangular pyramidal shape, it can also be made into a triangular pyramidal shape or any other arbitrary shape.

In order to prevent the ice tray 6 from coming into direct contact with the shelf board, an insulating/heating plate 7 made of styrofoam or the like is installed, and a resistor made of iron foil, a cord heater, or sintered carbon is placed on the top surface of the insulating plate 7. A planar far-infrared heater 8 of 0.5 to 2 W, whose body is a heating element, is disposed to heat the ice tray from the bottom.

Fig. 4 shows the positions of the ice tray 6 and the reed switch 9 attached to the shelf. When the ice tray 6 is placed in a fixed position, the magnet 9a attached to the ice tray automatically activates the reed switch 9. The switch is turned on.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the electrical system. The appropriate power supply voltage for the far-infrared heater 8 is 5 to IOV due to the heater capacity, and for this reason, the voltage is stepped down by the transformer 10 and applied. There is.

When energizing the far infrared heater 8, the timing of energization must be appropriate in order to suppress the growth of ice bubbles and to shorten the ice making time as much as possible. That is, at the beginning of ice making, the power is turned off for 15 to 30 minutes in order to suppress air bubbles, and then the power is turned on, and the power is turned off immediately after the water in the upper tray 6a is completely frozen. These are controlled by setting a timer 11 in advance.

Next, an example of ice making will be specifically explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the following explanation, what is written in parentheses is step N0 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7.

When the ice making tray 6 is filled with a specified amount of water and set in the fixed position of the ice making corner 4 (step ■), the timer 11 starts operating (step ■), and the precooling time T of the lower tray 61 changes to the precooling end time T. , the far infrared heater 8 is energized (step ■), the lower tray 6b of the ice tray 6 is heated, and the upper tray 6a is heated.
Freezing will be delayed. Heating time T of the lower plate 6b,
However, when the time Ts at which the upper plate 6a almost finishes freezing, the far-infrared heater 8 is turned off (step ■), and the lower plate 6a is turned off.
Freezing in b also progresses and ice making is completed (step ■). When the ice making tray 6 is taken out from the ice making corner 4 (step ■), the timer 11 is turned off (step ■) and reset, and starts operating anew the next time ice making is started.

According to this embodiment, by creating a temperature difference between the upper tray 6a and the lower tray 6b of the two-layer ice tray 6, the following effects can be obtained. That is, by heating the lower tray 6b with the far infrared heater 8 of about 2W, the temperature of the lower tray is prevented from dropping below the freezing point in the initial stage of ice making, and a difference occurs in the freezing speed of the upper tray 6a and the lower tray 6b. . At this time, since a through hole for the water passage 66c is provided at the bottom of the upper plate 6a, the upper plate 6a
, Water moves between the lower plates 6b, and as the upper plate 6a freezes, dissolved impurities move toward the lower plate 6b.For this heating, if the far-infrared heater 8 is used, the water absorbency increases. Since the temperature is good, it can be heated evenly and impurities can be easily transferred. Then, the transparent ice freezes on the upper tray 6a, and a cloudy part appears on the lower tray 6b.

Table 1 shows the electrical conductivity of the water obtained by melting the upper and lower trays of ice made by various methods.

Table 1 Electrical conductivity of raw water: 0. ]. 52X103μv/cm
As is clear from Table 1, the amount of impurities in the upper and lower plates is different when heating with the far-infrared heater 8 than with a simple ordinary heater, and the conductivity of the melted water of the ice on the upper plate 6a is smaller. Therefore, the transparency was also good.

Furthermore, it is clear from Table 1 that when the protrusion 6d is provided on the lower plate 6b, the heat capacity and heat dissipation effect of the protrusion 6d delay freezing of the surrounding area, making it easier for impurities to coagulate and be separated.

In this way, since there is a difference in the freezing speed of the upper plate 6a and the lower plate 6b, the lower plate part freezes after the upper plate part freezes, and the volume expansion at that time pushes up the upper plate 6a. This has the effect of making it easier to separate the upper tray 6a and lower tray 6b after ice making is completed.

Furthermore, by using the far-infrared heater 8, the group (cluster) of small molecules in the ice-making tray becomes smaller due to the action of the far-infrared rays secondarily emitted from the ice-making tray 6, thereby providing hard and delicious ice. I can do it.

Further, since impurities are efficiently collected in the lower tray 6b, the lower tray 6b only needs to have a small volume, and there is an effect that less ice is wasted.

In addition, in the flowchart 1 shown in FIG. 7 of the above-mentioned embodiment, the same result can be obtained even if a means such as a temperature sensor is used in the ice tray 6 to turn on and off the far-infrared heater 8 in addition to the timer 11. Can make clear ice.

Furthermore, by installing a heater on the top of the ice tray and configuring it to blow cold air to the bottom of the ice tray, the transparent ice is made to extend from the bottom of the ice tray to a certain extent, and a cloudy layer is formed on the top of the ice tray, and a cloudy layer is formed on the bottom of the ice tray. It is also possible to make clear ice and separate the cloudy water from the clear ice when separating the 2WI ice tray.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, an effective temperature difference is provided between the upper tray and the lower tray of a two-layer ice tray, thereby delaying the freezing time of one tray and making transparent ice. It is possible to provide an ice-making device that makes it possible to obtain hard and delicious ice, as well as to facilitate the separation of an upper tray and a lower tray after ice making and the collection of clear ice.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of a freezer compartment in which an ice tray according to an embodiment of the present invention is placed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a two-layer ice tray,
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the two-layer ice tray, Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram showing the installation position of the reed switch, Fig. 5 is an electric circuit diagram, and Fig. 6 is a diagram for turning the heater on and off. The operation diagram illustrating the timing, FIG. 7, is a flowchart I when ice is made using the ice tray of FIG. 2. 1...Freezer compartment, 4...Ice making corner, 6...Ice making tray, 6a...Upper tray, 6b...Lower tray, 6c...Water hole, 6d...Protrusion, 7 ... Insulation board, 8 ... Far infrared heater, 9 ... Reed switch, 11 ... Timer Kon7's younger brother 6th Akiotsu 423

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A two-layer ice tray in which an upper tray and a lower tray are stacked, a heat insulating plate placed at a position where the ice tray should be placed, and a connection between the heat insulating plate and the bottom surface of the ice tray. An ice-making device comprising: a planar far-infrared heater disposed between the ice-making device; 2. A two-layer ice cube tray with an upper tray and a lower tray stacked together,
an upper plate having at least one water hole; a lower plate having a conical protrusion facing the water hole; a heat insulating plate placed at a position where the ice tray is to be placed; An ice-making device comprising: a planar far-infrared heater disposed between the bottom surface of the ice-making tray and a bottom surface of the ice-making tray; and a control means for energizing the far-infrared heater during a preset time period. 3. The control circuit is equipped with a reed switch that turns on when the ice cube tray is placed in a predetermined position in the freezer compartment, and a timer means that operates so that the far-infrared heater is energized at a preset time. Claim 1 characterized in that
or any of the ice making devices described in 2. 4. A two-layer ice cube tray with an upper tray and a lower tray stacked together,
It consists of an upper plate having at least one water hole and a lower plate having a conical protrusion opposite to the water hole, the bottom of the lower plate is exposed to the cold air of the freezer compartment, and the top of the upper plate is equipped with a heater. An ice making device characterized in that: 5. One tray of the two-layer ice tray is heated by the heater,
5. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein the ice-making device freezes later than the other tray.