JPH06159877A - Automatic ice making equipment of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent occurrence of clouding in the central part of produced ice and to supply stably the ice being suitable for drinking and others functionally and having a high transparency, in regard to automatic ice-making equipment which is provided in a refrigerator and enables automatic production of the ice. CONSTITUTION:This equipment is constructed of an ice making tray, an ice making sensor 40 detecting the temperature of the ice making tray, a heat- insulating layer provided under the ice making tray, a first ice making heater 32, a second ice making heater 33, a compressor 10 of a refrigerating cycle, a temperature detector for turning the compressor ON and OFF, a defrosting control device 44 which integrates an operating time of the compressor and executes start and end of defrosting when a prescribed time is reached, and a heater control device 45 which controls electrification of the first ice making heater and the second ice making heater.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device provided in a refrigerator or the like and capable of automatically producing transparent ice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of an automatic ice making device conventionally used in a refrigerator for some homes is shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 54-17139 and will be described with reference to FIGS.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, which is composed of an outer box 2, an inner box 3, and a heat insulating material 4 filled between the inner boxes 3. 5
Is a partition wall that divides the interior of the refrigerator body 1 into upper and lower parts,
A freezer compartment 6 is formed in the upper part and a refrigerating compartment 7 is formed in the lower part.

Reference numeral 8 is a refrigerating cycle cooler provided on the rear surface of the freezing compartment 6, and 10 is a refrigerating cycle compressor. 9 is cold air cooled by the cooler 8 and forcedly ventilated into the freezing compartment 6 and the refrigerating compartment 7. It is a blower for.

Next, 11 is an automatic ice making machine provided in the freezing compartment 6, which is a drive unit 12 having a motor, a reduction gear group (not shown) and the like built therein, and an ice making unit in which a support shaft 13 is fixedly connected to the central portion. The dish 14 and a frame 15 for pivotally supporting the ice tray 14 on the drive unit 12 are configured.

Reference numeral 16 is a stopper provided on a part of the outer shell of the drive unit 12 for straining and deforming the ice tray 14 to perform ice making, and 17 is on the ice tray 14 so as to abut the stopper 16. It is a backing plate attached to. Again 1
An ice storage box 8 is provided below the automatic ice making machine 11.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a water supply tank for storing water for ice making, which is detachably provided in one portion of the refrigerating compartment 7. Reference numeral 20 denotes a water supply port of the water supply tank 19, which is opened and closed by a valve 21. 22 is a water supply port 20 of the water supply tank 19.
Is a water storage tray provided below the water tank, and when the water supply tank 19 is set with the water supply opening 20 facing downward, the valve 21 is pushed up to open the water supply opening 20. or,
Reference numeral 23 is a water supply pump for pumping the water received in the water storage tray 22, and 24 is a water supply pipe connected to the water supply pump so that its outlet faces the ice tray 14 of the automatic ice maker 11. Is.

In this structure, when the user sets the water supply tank 19 filled with water at a predetermined position, the valve 21 is pushed up to open the water supply port 20 and the water storage tray 22 is filled with water. After that, the filled water is pumped up by the water supply pump 23 and poured into the ice tray 14 through the water supply pipe 24. In this way, the water filled in the ice tray 14 by a predetermined amount is frozen in the freezer compartment 6 by the cooling action to generate ice.

When the ice making is completed, the ice making sensor 25 mounted on the bottom of the outer shell of the ice making tray 14 detects the end of the ice making, and the driving device 12 rotates to make the ice making tray 14
The support shaft 13 of the
When the backing plate 17 comes into contact with the ice tray 14, the ice tray 14 is distorted and deformed, and the ice in the ice tray 14 is released.

The deiced ice falls into the ice storage box 18 and is stored therein, and the ice tray 14 which has completed the deicing action is returned to the original position by the reverse rotation action of the drive unit 12. Thereafter, this operation is repeated until the water in the water supply tank 19 is used up, and ice is automatically made and water is stored.

[0011]

However, in such an ice making method, the freezing of the water of the ice tray 14 when ice is generated is caused by the contact surface between the ice tray 14 and water and the cold air and water. As it progresses from the contact surface, the gas component dissolved in water is confined in the center of the ice, resulting in a problem that the center becomes cloudy and opaque ice.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ice making device capable of producing highly transparent ice.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic ice making device for a refrigerator according to the present invention for solving the above problems is provided with a first ice making heater and a second ice making heater which are in close contact with the inner surface of a heat insulating layer below the ice making tray. And turning on / off the operation of the refrigeration cycle compressor
The temperature detector for FF, the defrost control device that integrates the operating time of the compressor and defrosts when the predetermined integrated time is reached, and the ice making sensor that detects the temperature of the ice making tray are provided. A heater control device for controlling the energization of the first ice making heater and the second heater for a predetermined period after the end is provided.

[0014]

The automatic ice making device for a refrigerator according to the present invention has the above-described structure to integrate the operating time of the compressor and, when the predetermined integrated time is reached, start and stop defrosting, and then make ice at the time when defrosting is started. If the sensor is above the preset temperature,
By energizing the first ice making heater and the second ice making heater at the same time until the operation of the compressor is turned off, the heating action is commensurate with the cooling capacity of the compressor after defrosting, so that the water is properly directed downward from the water surface. One-way freezing is performed, and ice crystals are generated while discharging gas components in water into the water below.
Finally, the gas components are collected on the projection-shaped bottom surface of the ice tray and the completion of freezing is detected by the ice making sensor, and the ice making is finished. After that, when the drive device is operated, the ice tray is rotated back and the ice is released, and highly transparent ice falls into the ice storage box and is stored.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same components as those of the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 26 is a partition wall containing a heat insulating material 27 therein, and defines a freezing chamber 28 in the upper part and a refrigerating chamber 29 in the lower part. Reference numeral 30 denotes a concave heat insulating layer having an open top surface, which includes a heat insulating material 31 inside, and a first ice making heater 32 and a second ice making heater 33 on the inner surface of the heat insulating layer 30. Reference numeral 34 denotes an ice tray which is superposed on the inner surface of the heat insulating layer 30 and has a protrusion 35 on the bottom surface.

A support shaft 36 is provided at one end of the ice tray 34 and is connected to a drive unit 37. A stopper 38 is provided so as to face the driving device 37, and abuts when the ice tray 34 rotates. An ice storage box 39 is provided below the heat insulating layer 30. Reference numeral 40 denotes an ice making sensor arranged on the outer surface of the bottom of the ice making tray.

On the other hand, 41 is the water storage tray 2 from the water supply tank 19.
The water temporarily stored in 2 is supplied to the ice tray 34 by the water supply pump 23.
A water supply pipe for supplying water to the water supply pipe, one end of which is connected to a water supply pump and the other end of which is opened so as to face the upper surface of the ice tray 34. Reference numeral 42 is a duct for guiding cool air to the upper surface of the ice tray 34. Reference numeral 43 is a temperature detector for turning on / off the operation of the compressor 10 in order to keep the temperature in the freezer compartment 28 appropriate. Reference numeral 44 denotes a defrost control device that integrates the operating time of the compressor 0 and starts and ends defrost when a predetermined integrated time (for example, 10 hours) is reached.

Reference numeral 45 denotes an ice making sensor 40 at the time when defrosting starts after a series of operations is completed by the defrosting control device 44.
Is a heater control device that controls the first ice making heater 32 and the second ice making heater 33 to be energized until the operation of the compressor 10 is turned off when the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature.

In this structure, when the user sets the water supply tank 19 filled with water at a predetermined position, the valve 21 is pushed up to open the water supply port 20 and the water storage tray 22 is filled with water. After that, water enters the ice tray 34 through the water supply pipe 41 by the water supply pump 23, and thereafter, water is sequentially supplied to each small chamber (for example, a predetermined amount of water is supplied by means such as regulation of the operating time of the motor of the water supply pump 23). Done by).

Next, the cool air cooled by the cooler 8 by the blower 9 is forcedly blown onto the water surface of the ice tray 34 through the duct 42 to perform a cooling action, and the compressor 10 is normally operated.
When ON, only the first ice making heater 32, which is in close contact with the inner surface of the heat insulating layer 30, is heated, and since the outer circumference of the ice making tray 34 is surrounded by the heat insulating material 31 in the heat insulating layer 30, there is also a cooling action from the outer circumference. It is suppressed and the freezing action proceeds in one direction from the upper side to the lower side of the ice tray 34.

Further, during the operation of the compressor 10, the defrosting control device 44 integrates the operating time of the compressor 10 to reach a predetermined integrated time, and the defrosting is started. Since the temperature inside the freezing chamber 28 has risen considerably and the compressor 10 is continuously operated until the temperature of the temperature detector 43 reaches a predetermined temperature, the operation of the first ice making heater 32 is Also, the cooling effect is superior.

At this time, if the temperature of the ice making sensor 40 is lower than a certain temperature (for example, -5 ° C.), it can be judged that the production of the ice in the ice making tray 34 is almost completed, and in this case, Has a sufficient amount of heating, and only the electricity supplied to the first heater 32 is heated, but at a predetermined temperature (for example, 0
(° C.) or higher, it can be determined that the ice in the ice tray 34 is still in the process of being generated. In this case, the cooling action is superior to the heating action as described above. The heater control device 45, which controls so that 33 is also energized at the same time, operates to maintain a heating amount comparable to the cooling action, and the freezing action gradually progresses in one direction from the upper side to the lower side of the ice tray 34.

Since the compressor 10 is energized until it is turned off, if the freezing speed is appropriately slowed (for example, about 5 mm / h), the gas component dissolved in the water is discharged downward as the ice formation proceeds. To go. The ice that is sequentially generated over such time becomes highly transparent ice.

Then, the ice containing the gas component is finally collected in the projection 35 on the bottom surface of the ice making tray 34 to complete the freezing.
Therefore, although the ice that has been made into ice is partially clouded on the protrusions, it is possible to visually form ice with a high degree of transparency.

When the ice making is completed, the ice making sensor 40 arranged on the bottom surface of the ice making tray 34 detects the end of the ice making, and the driving device 37 operates to start the rotation of the ice making tray 34 via the support shaft 36. Then, the ice tray 34 comes into contact with a stopper 38 provided so as to face the driving device 37, and the ice tray 34 is strained and deformed to remove ice, and the ice falls into the ice storage box 39. (Fig. 1 shows the above ice-free state.
It shows in 0. In this way, after the water supply tank 19 is set by the user, these series of steps are automatically repeated until the water in the water supply tank 19 is used up. As described above, highly transparent ice is stored in the ice storage box 39 of the automatic ice making device of the refrigerator of the present invention, and the user can use the extremely excellent ice for drinking at any time with almost no trouble to the user. can do.

[0027]

As described above, the automatic ice making device of the refrigerator of the present invention is the first ice making heater which is heated in the normal time even if the cooling action is remarkably increased by the continuous operation of the compressor after the defrosting is completed. At the same time, the second ice-making heater is also energized to prevent the sudden freezing action, so that the ice-making tray is gradually cooled from above to below, and the gas components discharged by the progress of ice formation are collected on the bottom protrusions. Stable and highly transparent ice is automatically stored and can be used at any time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the refrigerator according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a heat insulating layer of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the refrigerator according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an energized state of the ice making heater of the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing an energized state of the ice making heater of the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of an automatic ice making device showing the same embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which water is supplied to the automatic ice making device of the same embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where ice is removed by the automatic ice making device of the same embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view of a refrigerator provided with a conventional automatic ice making device.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of a conventional automatic ice making device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Compressor 30 Heat insulation layer 32 First ice making heater 33 Second ice making heater 34 Ice tray 40 Ice making sensor 43 Temperature detector 44 Defrost control device 45 Control device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A compressor for a refrigeration cycle, a temperature detector for detecting ON / OFF temperature of the operation of the compressor, an ice tray, an ice making sensor for detecting the temperature of the ice tray, and an ice tray for the ice tray. A heat insulating layer installed at the bottom, a first ice making heater that is in close contact with the inner surface of the heat insulating layer and is energized in synchronization with the operation of the compressor, a second ice making heater, and the operating time of the compressor is integrated. Then, when the predetermined integrated time is reached, defrosting is started and provided with a defrosting control device for terminating, and after defrosting is finished by the defrosting control device, defrosting is started by the defrosting control device. If the temperature of the ice making sensor at that time is higher than a preset temperature, a heater control for energizing the second ice making heater simultaneously with the first ice making heater until the compressor is turned off. Automatic ice machine for refrigerator equipped with a device .