JPH05332651A - Ice making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and effectively inspect whether an abnormal sound is generated in a vibrating state of an icemaking tray due to a vibration applying mechanism or not in an ice making device for making ice while vibrating the tray by the mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A controller executes a test mode which includes driving of a vibration motor 15 based on an operation of a test switch 30. Since the motor 15 is driven for 2min in the test mode to vibrate an ice making tray 9 for a relatively long time, whether an abnormal sound is generated in the vibrating state of the tray 9 or not can be easily and effectively inspected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making device configured to perform an ice making operation while vibrating an ice making tray in order to produce highly transparent ice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in an ice making device incorporated in a domestic refrigerator, water is supplied to an ice making tray by a water supply device, the ice making tray is vibrated by a vibration imparting mechanism, and the lid heater is heated to make ice to complete the ice making. There is a configuration in which a series of operations of automatically detecting the temperature by a temperature sensor and inverting the ice tray to release the ice are performed. A series of operations from water supply to ice removal in this type of ice making device is controlled by a control device including a microcomputer.

According to this, by vibrating the ice tray during ice making and heating the lid heater, the freezing speed of the water stored in the ice tray on the water surface side is delayed and the ice is contained in the water. It is possible to promote the escape of air bubbles to the water surface side, thereby preventing air from being trapped inside the ice as much as possible, and producing highly transparent ice.

Further, in this type of ice making device, in order to inspect whether or not the connection and operation of each component are normal,
An inspection function is provided. This inspection is performed by operating the test switch to execute the following test mode by the control device.

<Test Mode> When the test switch is continuously turned on for 1 second or longer, the ice tray is first inverted to perform the ice removing operation, and when the ice storage container is not full, the ice tray is returned to the horizontal position. And, the water pump of the water supply device
After operating for 2 seconds, the vibration applying mechanism is operated for 5 seconds to vibrate the ice tray and then the lid heater is energized for 2 seconds.

[0006]

In the test mode described above, it is possible to inspect whether the vibration applying mechanism operates normally by operating the vibration applying mechanism for 5 seconds. It was not possible to determine whether or not abnormal noise would occur in the vibrating state of the ice tray.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to easily and surely inspect whether or not abnormal noise is generated in a vibrating state of an ice tray by a vibration applying mechanism. The purpose is to provide an ice-making device that can.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a test starting means and an operation of the vibration applying mechanism based on the operation of the test starting means in an ice making device for performing an ice making operation while vibrating an ice making tray by the vibration applying mechanism. And a control means for executing a test mode including, wherein the control means operates the vibration applying mechanism in the test mode for a certain period of time during which the auditory inspection can be performed in a vibrating state of the ice tray. To do.

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned means, in the test mode based on the operation of the test starting means, the vibration applying mechanism is operated for a certain period of time so that an auditory inspection can be performed in the vibration state of the ice tray, so that the ice tray vibrates. It becomes possible to determine whether or not abnormal noise occurs.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 2, the refrigerator compartment 2 provided in the refrigerator body 1 is opened and closed by a rotatable door 3, and the ice making compartment 4 provided below the refrigerator compartment 2 is not shown. It is adapted to be opened and closed by a drawer type door 5 slidably supported by a rail mechanism. Inside the door 5, an ice storage container 6 is provided so as to be taken in and out integrally with the door 5.

An ice making device main body 7 is arranged above the ice storage container 6 in the ice making chamber 4. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the ice making device main body 7 includes an ice making chamber 4
Main body case 8 fixedly disposed on the main body case 8, a plastic ice tray 9 movably supported by the main body case 8 via a shaft 9a and slidable in the axial direction, and the ice tray 9
And a lid 11 rotatably provided via a pin 10. Although not shown, the shaft 9a of the ice tray 9 is provided with a coil spring for swingably supporting the ice tray 9 in the axial direction.

In the main body case 8, a tray rotation motor 12 and a gear mechanism 13 for rotating the ice tray 9 around the shaft 9a during ice removal, and the ice tray 9 vibrates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3 during ice production. A vibration imparting mechanism 14, a circuit board (not shown), and the like are provided.

The vibration applying mechanism 14 includes a vibration motor 15
And the vibration motor 15 having the shaft 16a at the eccentric portion.
And a push rod 18 rotatably connected to the other end of the link 17, which is rotatably connected to the shaft 16a. The push rod 18 reciprocates in the direction of arrow A by the rotation of the motor 15 for use, and the push rod 18 gives vibration to the ice tray 9 in the direction of arrow A.

The ice tray 9 has a plurality of recesses 19 inside and a water receiving port 20 at one end. A groove 21a is formed in a partition wall 21 that partitions each recess 19, so that the water supplied to the water receiving port 20 is distributed to each recess 19. A temperature sensor 22 for detecting the temperature of the ice tray 9 is provided on the outer bottom side of the ice tray 9, and a heat insulating cover 23 is provided around the ice tray 9.

A lid heater 2 is provided inside the lid 11 of the ice tray 9.
4, a lid heater sensor 25, and a heat insulating material 26 are provided. As the ice tray 9 is rotated at the time of ice removal, the lid 11 has its free end side engaged with an engagement convex portion (not shown) provided on the main body case 8 side to be automatically opened. It has become.

The body case 8 is rotatably provided with an ice storage amount detection lever 27 for detecting the amount of ice stored in the ice storage container 6, and the ice storage amount detection lever 2 is also provided.
An ice storage amount detection switch 28 (see FIG. 5) that operates in accordance with the rotation of 7 is provided. Also, in the main body case 8,
Position detection sensor 2 for detecting the rotational position of the ice tray 9
9 (see FIG. 5) and a test switch 30 as a test starting means are also provided. The test switch 30 is
It is provided on the lower surface of the main body case 8 so as not to be operated carelessly.

On the other hand, a tank storage chamber 3 is provided in the refrigerating chamber 2.
1 is provided, and the water supply device 32 is provided here. The water supply device 32 includes a water supply tank 33 that is detachably set on a tank stand 33a, a water receiving tray 34 that receives a certain amount of water from the water supplying tank 33, and stores a fixed amount of water, and a water supply pump 35 that pumps up the water in the water receiving tray 34. It is composed of a water supply pipe 36 for guiding the water drawn by the water supply pump 35 to the water receiving port 20 of the ice tray 9. 37 is a tank switch for detecting the set state of the water supply tank 33.

FIG. 5 shows the electrical construction of the ice making device.
In the above, the control device 38 as a control means is configured to include a microcomputer, and is provided on the circuit board arranged in the main body case 8.

The control device 38 includes a temperature sensor 22,
Lid heater sensor 25, tank switch 37, ice storage amount detection switch 28, position detection sensor 29, test switch 3
0 and signals from the door switch 39 and the like of the ice making chamber 4 are input, and these signals and the control device 38
Based on the control program stored in the refrigerator, a water supply lamp 40, a water supply pump 35, a lid heater 24, a plate rotation motor 12, and a vibration motor 15 provided on an operation panel (not shown) of the refrigerator body 1 are connected and disconnected. It is supposed to do.

In this case, the control device 38 is adapted to execute the test mode shown in FIG. 1 when the test switch 30 is operated, as will be described later.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, a general ice making operation by the control device 38 will be schematically described.

The water supply to the ice tray 9 is performed by the water supply pump 35.
Is driven for a certain time, for example, 6 seconds. That is, when the water supply pump 35 is driven, the water in the water tray 34 is supplied and stored in the ice tray 9 through the water supply pipe 36.

When the water supply operation is completed, the vibration motor 15
And the vibration applying mechanism 14 vibrates the ice tray 9 in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

When 5.5 minutes have elapsed from the start of water supply, the temperature of the ice tray 9 is detected by the temperature sensor 22 to determine whether the temperature is -9.5 ° C or higher. At this time, when the temperature is −9.5 ° C. or less, the amount of water supplied to the ice tray 9 is small, and it is determined that the water supply is abnormal, and the vibration motor 1
5 is stopped and the water supply lamp 40 is turned on to notify the abnormality. When the temperature of the ice tray 9 is −9.5 ° C. or higher, the lid heater 24 is turned on. Then, the ice making operation is continued as it is until the temperature of the ice tray 9 becomes equal to or lower than the ice making completion temperature of -13.5 ° C. Note that the lid heater 24 is controlled to turn on and off based on the temperature detected by the lid heater sensor 25.

Here, during ice making, the water stored in the ice tray 9 is vibrated along with the vibration of the ice tray 9, and the lid heater 24 heats the water surface side. As a result, the generation of ice on the water surface side is delayed, and the bubbles contained in the water are promoted to escape to the water surface side, so that ice is sequentially generated from the bottom side of the ice tray 9, It becomes possible to prevent ice from being trapped inside the ice and to produce highly transparent ice.

When the water in the ice tray 9 is completely frozen, the temperature of the ice tray 9 suddenly drops, and the temperature of the ice tray 9 decreases to-.
When the temperature becomes 13.5 ° C. or lower, it is determined that the ice making is completed, and the vibration motor 15 and the lid heater 24 are turned off. Then, by driving the plate rotation motor 12 to rotate the ice tray 9 in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 4 to invert it and to give a twist, the ice is separated from the ice tray 9, and the ice is stored in the ice storage container 6. It will fall and be stored.

At this time, the ice storage amount detection switch 28 determines whether or not the amount of ice stored in the ice storage container 6 has exceeded a certain amount (whether or not the ice is full), and it is determined that the ice is full. If it does not reach a certain amount, the ice tray 9 is returned to the original horizontal position, and then water is supplied to the ice tray 9 again, and the ice making operation described above is repeated. become.

On the other hand, when the test switch 30 provided in the main body case 8 is pressed to check the ice making device when the refrigerator is installed or when the ice making device is replaced, the control device 38 causes the control device 38 to operate. Based on the signal from the test switch 30, the normal main routine is deviated, and
The test mode shown in will be executed. The test mode will be described below.

When the test switch 30 is continuously turned on for 1 second or more (step S1), the plate rotating motor 12 is driven to invert the ice making plate 9 to force the ice removing operation. (Step S2).

Next, in step S3, the amount of ice in the ice storage container 6 is determined by the ice storage amount detection switch 28. If the ice storage container 6 is not full, the plate rotation motor 12 is driven to return the ice tray 9 to the horizontal position. Then, the water supply pump 35 is driven for 6 seconds (step S5), and then the lid heater 24 is driven for 2 seconds (step S6).

Then, the vibration motor 15 is driven to vibrate the ice tray 9 by driving the vibration tray 15 for a certain period of time, in this case, 2 minutes in which the ice tray 9 can be inspected by the vibration.
7). When the vibration of the ice tray 9 for 2 minutes is completed, the process returns to the normal main routine.

In step S1, if the operation of the test switch 30 is canceled within 1 second (for example, if the test switch 30 is touched by mistake),
According to "NO", the process returns to the normal main routine.

According to this embodiment, in the test mode based on the operation of the test switch 30, the vibration motor 15 of the vibration imparting mechanism 14 is driven for 2 minutes, and the vibration imparting mechanism 14 causes the ice tray 9 to move to 2 degrees. Since it is made to vibrate for a minute, it becomes possible to easily and surely inspect whether or not abnormal noise is generated due to the vibration of the ice tray 9. Therefore, when the ice making device is incorporated in the refrigerator body 1 in the manufacturing process, or when the refrigerator is installed in a home or the like,
Furthermore, during inspection or replacement of the ice making device, it is possible to easily and reliably detect whether or not abnormal noise is generated due to the vibration of the ice making tray 9.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings. For example, instead of using the vibration motor 15 as the vibration applying mechanism,
For example, an electromagnetic solenoid may be used, and appropriate modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0035]

As is clear from the above description, the present invention is an ice making device that performs an ice making operation while vibrating an ice making tray by a vibration giving mechanism, and in the test mode based on the operation of the test starting means, the above vibration giving is performed. Since the mechanism is operated for a certain period of time that allows the auditory inspection in the vibration state of the ice tray, it is possible to easily and reliably inspect whether the abnormal noise is generated in the vibration state of the ice tray by the vibration applying mechanism. It has an excellent effect of being able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a test mode of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Partial vertical section side view of refrigerator

FIG. 3 is a vertical side view of the ice making device body.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional front view of the ice making device body.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a refrigerator main body, 4 is an ice making chamber, 7 is an ice making device main body, 9 is an ice making tray, 11 is a lid, 12 is a plate rotation motor, 14 is a vibration imparting mechanism, 15 is a vibration motor, 18 is a push rod, 24 Is a lid heater, 30 is a test switch (test starting means), 32 is a water supply device, 35 is a water supply pump, and 38 is a control device (control means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ice making device that performs an ice making operation while vibrating an ice tray by a vibration applying mechanism, and a control for executing a test mode including a test starting means and an operation of the vibration applying mechanism based on an operation of the test starting means. Means for operating the vibration imparting mechanism in the test mode for a certain period of time during which the auditory inspection can be performed in a vibrating state of the ice tray.