JPH06201237A - Automatic ice making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a positive removal of ice from an ice making pan by a method wherein a heater is installed at a bottom part of the ice making pan and this heater is electrically energized before the ice pan is reversed up side down after the completion of ice making operation. CONSTITUTION:A hook 24 is arranged at a bottom part of an ice making pan 14 and a wire-like heater 25 is arranged over the hook 24. After the completion of ice making operation, the heater 25 is electrically energized and ice is heated at a contact surface with the ice making pan 14. With such an arrangement, ice is melted or a temperature is raised even through the ice is not melted, resulting in that the adhesion of ice onto the ice making pan 14 is lowered. After this state, as the ice making pan 14 is revered upside down and twisted, the ice is easily released from the pan and dropped into an ice storing case 15 and stored there. In addition, since the heater 25 is hung and held there, even if the ice making pan 14 is twisted, the heater is not peeled off the pan differing from that of adhesive one.

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 capable of reliably removing ice from an ice making tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an automatic ice making device provided in a home refrigerator, water supplied from a water supply device is stored in an ice making tray to make ice, and a temperature sensor provided in the ice making tray detects an ice making completion determination temperature. Then, the driving mechanism causes the ice tray to be turned upside down and twisted to separate the ice from the ice tray, store the ice in the ice box, and then supply water to the ice tray again to make ice. ing.

[0003]

In the automatic ice making device, there is a circumstance that the exposure time to the cold air becomes long due to the control structure, and therefore the ice tends to become extremely low in temperature and the adhesion force to the ice making tray is reduced. There is a reason to become stronger. Therefore, when the ice tray is twisted to release the ice, the ice may be broken. Therefore, the present invention is to provide an automatic ice making device in which there is no risk of ice breaking during ice removal.

[0004]

The automatic ice making device of the present invention is one in which after the ice making is completed, the ice making tray is turned upside down and twisted to release the ice, and a heater is provided at the bottom of the ice making tray. It is characterized in that the heater is energized before the upside-down operation after the completion of ice making. In this case, it is preferable that the heater be in the form of a wire and be hung on a hook portion provided on the ice tray.

[0005]

When the ice making is completed, the heater is energized before turning the ice tray upside down. Then, the ice melts at the contact area with the ice tray. For this reason, when the ice tray is turned upside down and twisted, the ice falls off the ice tray without breaking. In this case, since the heater is attached by hooking to the ice tray, not by adhesion, even if the ice tray is twisted, the heater does not come off from the ice tray.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 by applying it to an automatic ice making device incorporated in a home refrigerator. First, FIG. 1 shows an ice making chamber formed in a refrigerator main body, and a machine frame 12 is provided above the ice making chamber 11. Although not shown, a gear reduction mechanism having a motor as a drive source and a vibration applying mechanism having an electromagnet as a drive source are provided in the machine casing 12.

A support frame 13 is provided on the rear side of the machine frame 12, and an ice tray 14 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is provided inside the support frame 13. This ice tray 14
The central portion on the rear side is supported by the support frame 13 via the shaft 14a, and the central portion on the front side is connected to the output shaft of the gear reduction mechanism and the output element of the vibration imparting mechanism via the hollow shaft 14b. Then, when the drive motor of the gear reduction mechanism rotates in the forward or reverse direction, the ice tray 14 is turned upside down or returned from the inverted position to the original horizontal position. Further, when the electromagnet of the vibration imparting mechanism is driven, the movable iron core reciprocates and imparts longitudinal vibration to the ice tray 14. 1
Reference numeral 5 is an ice storage case, and 16 is a lever for detecting the amount of ice in the ice storage case 15.

Water is supplied into the ice tray 14 from a water supply device provided in a refrigerating chamber (not shown) through a water supply pipe 17. Further, a cold air duct 18 is provided in the rear wall of the ice making chamber 11, and cold air sent from a cooler by a fan (not shown) is supplied from the cool air duct 18 into the ice making chamber 11. In this case, the outlet 18a of the cold air duct 18
Is directed obliquely upward, and the cold air discharged from the outlet 18a is blown onto the bottom surface of the ice tray 14. Further, in order to prevent the cold air blown out from the cold air duct 18 from wrapping around to the upper surface side of the water stored in the ice tray 14, a cover 19 made of a heat insulating material covering the upper surface of the ice tray 14 is rotated. It is possible. And
The cover 19 is provided with a heater 20 for heating the ice tray 14 from the upper surface side during ice making.

The ice tray 14 is made of plastic, and the inside thereof is divided into a plurality of recesses 14c for making ice cubes. The cross section between the sides of these recesses 14c is approximately V.
It is separated by a V-shaped groove 22. A temperature sensor 2 for detecting the temperature of the ice tray 14 is provided in a portion of the groove 22 located at the center of the bottom of the ice tray 14.
3 is provided. Further, a projecting piece 14d is provided at the rear portion of the ice tray 14, and the projecting piece 14d abuts the support frame 13 just before the end of the reversing operation of the ice tray 14. The gear reduction mechanism is configured to rotate and drive the front shaft 14b even after the protrusion 14d contacts the support frame 13, whereby the ice tray 14 is twisted, and this twist causes the ice to rotate. Is separated from the concave portion 14c and dropped and stored in the lower ice storage case 15. The cover 19 is supported by the support rod A when the ice tray 14 is turned over, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2, so as not to interfere with the falling of ice.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the outer bottom of the recess 14c of the ice tray 14 is provided with a hooking portion 24 consisting of a pair of L-shaped hooks 24a and 24b. Then, the heater 25 is stretched around the hook portion 24. The heater 25 is formed by covering the resistance heating wire with a covering material having heat insulation and heat resistance, and
c is heated from its outer bottom. In addition,
Both ends of the heater 25 are hollow shafts 14 b of the ice tray 14.
Is installed in the machine casing 12 and is connected to a power source.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. Now, it is assumed that the ice tray 14 is in the horizontal position. Ice making is performed by supplying water to the ice tray 14 in the horizontal position. When the water supply is completed, the heater 20 of the cover 19 is energized, so that the water stored in the ice tray 14 is heated from the water surface side. It should be noted that the heater 20 is cut off during ice making when, for example, a temperature sensor (not shown) that detects the temperature of the lower surface of the cover 19 detects + 5 ° C.

On the other hand, the cold air blown out from the cold air duct 18 flows along the bottom of the ice tray 14 and cools the water in the ice tray 14 from below. Therefore, each recess 1 of the ice tray 14
In addition to being cooled from the lower side, the water in 4c is gradually cooled from the lower side to the upper side in particular because the water surface side is heated by the heater 20 in this embodiment. It will freeze. Therefore, the bubbles contained in the water can freely escape from the unfrozen water surface, and become transparent ice.

Now, when the water in the ice tray 14 is completely frozen,
When the temperature of the ice tray 14 rapidly decreases and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 23 becomes equal to or lower than the ice making completion determination temperature (for example, -13.5 ° C), the heater 25 at the bottom of the ice tray 14 is energized.
Then, the bottom of the recess 14c is heated, whereby the ice melts at the contact surface with the inner surface of the recess 14c, or the temperature rises even if it does not melt. Then, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 23 becomes higher than the ice making completion determination temperature, for example, -10 ° C or more, the motor of the gear reduction mechanism (not shown) is activated, and the ice tray 14 is turned upside down.

The projecting piece 14d abuts on the support frame 13 just before the end of this upside-down, but the motor of the gear reduction mechanism continues to rotate for a while after that, so that the rear side of the ice tray 14 stops rotating, but the front side of the ice tray 14 stops. It will continue to rotate, and as a result, the ice tray 14 will be twisted. Here, the ice is melted at the contact surface with the inner surface of the recess 14c, or the temperature of the contact surface is slightly increased and the fixing force is lowered, so that the ice tray 14 is easily separated from the recess 14c by twisting and the ice storage case It is dropped and stored in 15. Moreover, since the heater 25 is not adhered to the ice tray 14 but is hooked and held by the hook portion 24a, the degree of freedom of relative movement with the ice tray 14 is large, and the heater 25 is twisted by twisting the ice tray 14. There is no danger of peeling off.

When the ice removal by twisting the ice tray 14 is completed, the motor of the gear reduction mechanism reverses and the ice tray 14 is returned to the original horizontal position. Then, water is supplied to the ice tray 14 by a water supply device (not shown), and thereafter, ice making, ice releasing, and water supply as described above are repeatedly performed.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show other different embodiments of the present invention. The difference from the above-mentioned one embodiment is the hooking structure of the heater 25. That is, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, hooks 26, 26 as hooking portions are provided at diagonal positions on the outer bottom portion of the ice tray 14, and the heater 25 is hung over the hooks 26, 26 in a substantially Z-shape. It was done. According to this structure, since the contact length between the heater 25 and the recess 14c is increased, the heater 25 is not recessed in the recess 14c.
The amount of heat transferred to

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the protrusion 27 is provided between the side outer surfaces of the two recesses 14c facing each other with the groove 22 interposed therebetween.
A bridge piece 27 as a hook portion having a is provided, and the heater 25 is hung over the projection 27a of the bridge piece 27. With this arrangement, the heater 25 can directly heat the side portion of the concave portion 14c, so that the ice is not covered by the concave portion 1c.
It becomes easier to separate from the side surface of 4c.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. In the automatic ice making device according to claim 1, a heater is provided at the bottom of the ice tray, and the heater is energized before the upside-down operation after the ice making is completed, whereby the ice is melted at the contact portion with the ice tray, Alternatively, since the temperature rises and the fixing force decreases even if the ice tray is not melted, when the ice tray is turned upside down and twisted, the ice does not break and easily falls off the ice tray.

In the automatic ice making device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the heater is formed into a wire shape and is hung over the hook portion provided on the outer bottom portion of the ice tray, so that even if the ice tray is twisted,
The heater will not fall off the ice tray.

In the automatic ice making device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the wire-shaped heater is hung over the hook portion provided in the groove existing between the side outer surfaces of the plurality of recesses of the ice tray. Thereby, the ice can be heated even from the side of the recess, and the ice releasing property is further enhanced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional side view of an ice making chamber of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] A vertical sectional front view of an ice tray.

[Fig. 3] Bottom view of the automatic ice making device

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical cross-sectional side view showing a hooking structure of a heater.

[Figure 5] Bottom view of the same

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is an ice making chamber, 14 is an ice making tray, 14c is a concave portion, 15 is an ice storage case, 18 is a cold air duct, 23 is a temperature sensor, 24
Is a hook, 25 is a heater, 26 is a hook (hook), 2
Reference numeral 7 is a bridge piece (hooking portion).

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A device in which an ice tray is turned upside down and twisted to release ice after completion of ice making, and a heater is provided at a bottom portion of the ice tray, and the heater is provided before the upside down operation after the ice making is completed. An automatic ice making device characterized by being energized. 2. The automatic ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the heater is wire-shaped and is hung on a hook portion provided on the outer bottom of the ice tray. 3. The ice tray has a plurality of recesses, and a wire-shaped heater is hung over a hooking portion provided in a groove existing between the side outer surfaces of the recess. Item 1. The automatic ice making device according to Item 1.