JPH06213546A - Refrigerator with automatic ice-making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the device in which the automatic ice-making device occupies a space in a lessened proportion to the freezing chamber so as to make the freezing chamber more convenient. CONSTITUTION:Between the rear end of an ice-making pan 7 and a fan guard for guiding a flow of cooling air, a frame 9 for supporting the ice-making pan 7 and a water-feeding pipe 15 are positioned. A pipe cover 16 which covers the water-feeding pipe 15 is placed on the side of the ice-making pan 7 with respect to the extension of an ice detective lever 17 and the nozzle 18 of the water-feeding pipe 15 is so positioned as to extend over and across the raised edge of the rear end P of the ice-making pan 7 which has cells at least in two rows. The frame 9 for supporting the ice-making pan 7 is composed of a connection frame 9a and a bearing frame 9b having a stopper for giving a twisting force to the ice-making pan.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker, and reduces the proportion of the automatic ice maker installed in the freezer compartment in the freezer compartment to improve the usability of the freezer compartment. The present invention relates to a refrigerator with an ice maker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of a conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice making machine of this type will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a front view of a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment of a conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice maker,
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. In FIGS. 7 and 8, 31 is a freezer-refrigerator, which has a freezer compartment 32 and a refrigerating compartment 33 therein, 34 is a freezer compartment door, and 35 is a refrigerating compartment door. 36 is an automatic ice maker unit installed in the freezing room.
Is equipped with an ice tray 37, and functions to rotate the ice tray 37 and release the ice when the water supplied to the ice tray 37 becomes ice.

The automatic ice making machine unit 36 is provided with a sensor (not shown) for detecting water supply, ice making completion, etc., in addition to rotating the ice making tray 37 to remove ice. Reference numeral 38 denotes an ice storage box in which ice made by the ice tray 37 is stocked. 39 is a water supply tank installed on the refrigerating compartment 33 side, 40 is a fixed quantity plate, 41 is a pump, 42 is a water supply pipe, and the water in the fixed quantity plate 40 is made into an ice tray by this pump 41 via the water supply pipe 42. Water is introduced into 37. At this time, the water supply pipe 42 was arranged right next to the long side 37a of the ice tray 37 as shown in the figure. As this type of conventional example, for example, the one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 20772/1992 is known.

[0004]

The refrigerator with the automatic ice maker having the above structure has the following problems. (1) Since the water supply pipe 42 is located beside the ice tray 37, the W1 dimension occupied by the automatic ice maker is increased by the water supply pipe 42 and the space used in the freezer compartment 2 is reduced. (2) There is a problem in that the W2 dimension of the ice tray 37 that receives the water that jumps out from the nozzle 42a of the water supply pipe 42 cannot be sufficiently secured, and the water may pass the W2 dimension due to voltage fluctuations and the like and jump out of the ice tray 37. there were.

(3) Normally, the ice tray 37 is fixed to the automatic ice maker unit 36 by an L-shaped stainless steel frame. For this reason, the stopper or the like for applying a twisting force to the ice tray 37 needs to be provided with a member 43 separate from the stainless steel frame by screwing or the like.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. With the automatic ice maker, the proportion of the automatic ice maker in the freezer compartment is reduced to improve the usability of the freezer compartment. The purpose is to provide a refrigerator.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to the present invention is installed in a freezing room and rotates an ice tray, an ice detecting means, and an ice tray. A refrigerator with an automatic ice maker equipped with an ice maker unit having means and means for supplying water from a container to the ice maker, wherein the ice maker is supported between the rear end of the ice maker and a fan guard for guiding cold air. The frame and the water pipe conduit portion of the water supply means are positioned, and the pipe cover that covers the water pipe conduit portion is positioned closer to the ice tray than the extension line of the ice detection lever of the ice making detection means. .

More specifically, secondly, the nozzle portion that abuts the tip of the water pipe conduit portion is positioned so as to straddle the rear edge line of the ice tray having at least two rows of cells, and the water discharged from the nozzle is discharged. It is designed to prevent the item from popping out of the ice tray. Thirdly, the frame for supporting the ice tray is composed of a connection frame and a bearing frame provided with a stopper that gives a twisting force to the ice tray, thereby reducing the cost.

Fourthly, the fan guard is provided with a bulging portion projecting toward the freezer compartment side, and a water region is formed in a space area formed in a portion where the bulging portion and the bearing frame are engaged with each other. The pipe cover for covering the pipe lead-out portion is positioned. Fifthly, a bulge portion is provided on the fan guard, and the bulge portion of the fan frame is provided with a protrusion that engages with a hakama portion of a bearing frame provided with a stopper and a protrusion side. And an engaging hole. Further, sixthly, the fan guard and the M plate are fixed to each other at the portion surrounded by the protruding side provided on the fan guard bulging portion.

[0010]

The water supply pipe lead-out portion is provided at the rear end point P (see FIG. 5) of the ice tray in the depth range formed by the bulging portion of the fan guard and the engaging portion of the frame, thereby providing water supply. Move the ice cover made of pipe cover to the left side plate side, and press W1.
The dimensions (see FIG. 1) can be reduced. Further, by arranging the nozzle of the water supply pipe so as to straddle the ridge line portion of the rear end point P of the ice tray, the ice tray can be used in a diagonal direction against the splash of water at the time of water supply.

Further, when the ice tray is rotated, the upper edge R of the ice tray is
When (see FIG. 4) approaches the ice storage box, if the ice storage box is full of ice and there is linked ice, the linked ice is often caught on the edge R of the ice tray 7 and forced. May be lifted up to. At this time, if there is a fixed object such as a conventional water supply pipe cover, there is a problem that the ice is caught between the plate and the water supply pipe cover and the ice tray 7 is locked. However, in the present invention, the water supply pipe cover is used. The above obstacle is eliminated by making the depth direction behind the ice tray.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is A- of FIG.
A sectional view taken along the arrow A, FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the automatic ice maker unit is installed in the freezer compartment, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a rotating state of the ice tray, and FIG. The plan view and FIG.
It is sectional drawing of an automatic ice maker unit attachment part to a fan guard part.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a freezer-refrigerator, and this freezer-refrigerator 1 has a freezer compartment 2 and a refrigerator compartment 3 inside.
4 is a freezer compartment door and 5 is a refrigerating compartment door. 6
Is an automatic ice maker unit installed in the freezer compartment 2. This automatic ice maker unit 6 includes two rows of ice trays 7 as shown in the figure.
Is equipped with. The ice tray 7 is rotated by the rotating means of the automatic ice making machine unit 6 when the water supplied from the water supply bottle side described later becomes ice, and the ice is dropped into the ice storage box 8 below. Of course, the ice tray 7 is twisted during this rotation,
It drops ice. The automatic ice maker unit 6 includes a sensor (not shown) for detecting water supply, ice making completion, etc., in addition to rotating the ice making tray 7 to remove ice.

Next, in FIGS. 3 to 6, reference numeral 9 is a frame for mounting the ice tray 7 on the automatic ice maker unit 6, and the frame 9 comprises a connecting frame 9a and a bearing frame 9b forming a bearing. ing. The bearing frame 9b is integrally provided with a stopper 9c that applies a twisting force to the ice tray 7 when the ice tray 7 is rotated as shown by an arrow in FIG. 4 for the purpose of removing ice. A known method may be used to apply the twisting force. Further, the bearing frame 9b ends near the bearing portion 9f (see FIG. 3) and does not reach the rear portion of the rear end P of the ice tray 7.

Reference numeral 10 is a fan guard, and 11 is an M plate (see FIG. 6). The M plate 11 is provided on the front surface of the cooler 12 (see FIG. 2) and separates the cooler chamber 12a and the freezing chamber 2 from each other. Fan guard 1
0 is located in front of the M plate 11 and includes a cooler 12
It serves as a guide plate when blowing the cool air cooled by the blower 13 into the freezer compartment 2 or the like.

Next, the fan guard 10 and the bearing frame 9
The engagement relationship with b will be described with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 14 denotes a bulging portion provided on the fan guard 10.
At the tip of the bulging portion 14, a projecting side 14c is formed so as to further project toward the freezer compartment. The projecting side 14c has an inverted U-shape, and has a hakama portion 9d of the bearing frame 9b.
And the bearing frame 9b is fixed. Here, in order to reliably position and fix the bearing frame 9b and the bulging portion 14, the bearing frame 9b is provided with a protruding side 9e (see FIG. 3), and the protruding side 9e is provided. It is adapted to be fitted in the hole 14a (see FIG. 6) provided on the side.

In order to remove the ice formed on the ice tray 7,
The torque applied to the ice tray 7 by the automatic ice making machine unit 6 is about 40 to 50 kg / cm. The fan guard 10 supports this torque, so the fan guard 1
0 requires strength to withstand this. Therefore, in order to help improve the strength, the fan guard 10 and the M plate 11 are fastened by the screw 23 as shown in FIG. 6 by the boss portion 14b provided on the bulging portion 14.

Reference numeral 15 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 denotes a water supply pipe. The water supply pipe 15 is not shown in the figure, but a water supply bottle installed on the refrigerating compartment side, water in a fixed quantity plate via a pump or the like. A water pipe conduit portion leading to the ice tray 7 is constructed.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a pipe cover. The pipe cover 16 has a rear end P of the ice tray and the fan guard 1 as shown in FIG.
It is provided in a space region formed between 0 and 0, that is, a space (hatched portion). In other words, the pipe cover 16
Is provided at a position deviated from the depth direction of the ice tray 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when viewed in the width direction of the ice tray 7, the water supply pipe 15 is provided so as to project to the ice tray 7 side up to a position where it overlaps with the extension line of the ice detection lever 17 of the automatic ice making unit 6. Has been.

Reference numeral 18 is a nozzle portion corresponding to the tip of the water supply pipe 15. The nozzle portion 18 straddles the ridgeline portion of the rear end P of the ice tray 7 and faces the cavity 7a formed by the ice tray. In this way, by locating the nozzle portion 18 at the corner of the ice tray 7 as shown in FIG.
Since the water discharged from 8 is received not in the width dimension of the ice tray 7 but in a substantially diagonal dimension, the discharged water does not jump out of the ice tray 7 as in the conventional case.

Reference numeral 19 shown in FIG. 1 is an automatic ice maker unit 6
Shelf to fix the front part of, 20 is the right side plate, 21 is the left side plate,
The left side plate 21 is formed integrally with the pipe cover 16. Reference numeral 22 is a lead wire, and the gathering portion after the lead wire 22 is connected is the cord storage portion 21a made by the left side plate 21.
(See FIG. 5).

According to this embodiment, the freezer compartment 2 of the automatic ice maker
Since the proportion of the inside of the freezer compartment 2 can be greatly reduced compared to the conventional one, the usability of the freezer compartment 2 is improved. Further, since the pipe cover 16 of the water supply pipe 15 is not located within the rotation range of the ice tray 7, even if the ice in the ice storage box 8 is lifted when the ice tray 7 is rotated, it is still ice-contained as before. However, the ice tray 7 is not forcibly sandwiched between the water supply pipe 15 and the ice tray 7, and as a result, the ice tray 7 is not locked.

[0023]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker is provided in which the proportion of the automatic ice maker in the freezer compartment is reduced to improve the usability of the freezer compartment. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of essential parts of a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the automatic ice maker unit is installed in a freezer compartment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a rotating state of the ice tray.

5 is a plan view taken along the arrow B of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an automatic ice maker unit mounting portion to a fan guard portion.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment of a conventional refrigerator with an automatic ice maker.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Freezer 3 Refrigerator 6 Automatic ice maker unit 7 Ice tray 9 Frame 9a Connection frame 9b Bearing frame 9c Stopper 9e Projection side 9f Bearing part 10 Fan guard 11 M plate 12 Cooler 14 Bulging part 14a Hole 14b Boss part 15 Water supply pipe 16 Pipe cover 17 Ice detection lever 18 Nozzle part

Front page continued (72) Inventor Akio Kouda 800 Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture, Hitachi, Ltd., Living Equipment Division, Cooling & Heat Headquarters (72) Masataka Terauchi 709 Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture 2 of Hitachi Tochigi Electronics Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ice making machine section installed in a freezing room, having an ice making tray, an ice making detecting means, and means for rotating the ice making tray,
In a refrigerator with an automatic ice maker equipped with means for supplying water from a container to an ice tray, between the rear end of the ice tray and a fan guard that guides cold air, the frame that supports the ice tray and the water of the water supply means. A refrigerator with an automatic ice maker, characterized in that the pipe conduit part is located and the pipe cover covering the water pipe conduit part is located on the ice tray side from the extension line of the ice detecting lever of the ice making detection means. . 2. The automatic ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle portion that abuts the tip of the water pipe conduit portion is positioned so as to straddle the rear edge line of the ice tray having at least two rows of cells. Machine-equipped refrigerator. 3. The frame for supporting the ice tray is composed of a connection frame and a bearing frame provided with a stopper for applying a twisting force to the ice tray.
Refrigerator with the described automatic ice machine. 4. The fan guard is provided with a bulging portion that projects toward the freezer compartment, and a water pipe lead-out portion is provided in a space region formed in a portion where the bulging portion and the bearing frame are engaged with each other. The refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a pipe cover for covering is positioned. 5. A bulging portion is provided on the fan guard, and the bulging portion of the fan guard engages with a hanger portion of a bearing frame provided with a stopper and a protruding side, and the protruding side of the bearing frame engages with the protruding side. 2. The refrigerator with an automatic ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator is provided with a matching hole. 6. The fan guard and the M plate are fixed to each other at a portion surrounded by a projecting side provided on the fan guard bulging portion, according to claim 1 or 5. Refrigerator with automatic ice machine.