JPH07103630A - Automatic ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To timely feed ice when consumption of ice is increasing by a method wherein when quantity of stored ice has decreased, feed water period is made shorter depending upon the quantity of stored ice and outside temperature at that time, and after deciding the number of revolution of operation of a cold air criculating fan, a forced operation is performed so that an ice making vessel is rapidly cooled, whereby ice making period is made shorter according to the quantity of stored ice and outside temperature at that time. CONSTITUTION:Quantity of stored ice is judged by means of a first and second ice making sensing means 20, 21 to determine feed water period based on the quantity of stored ice at the time of sensing and temperature of an outside temperature sensing means 22 and also number of revolution of a cold air circulating fan 23 is decided so that control is performed by a control means to conduct a forced operation.

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 and adapted to automatically rotate an ice making container to perform an ice removing operation after completion of ice making.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an automatic ice making device attached to a domestic refrigerator, the structure shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-20769 is exemplified. The configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, reference numeral 1 denotes an ice making container, which is installed in a freezer room or an independent room at a freezing temperature (-18 ° C.) when attached to a home refrigerator. Reference numeral 2 denotes a temperature detecting means which is provided on the outer bottom surface of the ice making container 1 and includes a thermistor for detecting the completion of ice making. 3 is a water supply tank,
If it is attached to a home refrigerator, install it in the refrigerator room. Reference numeral 4 is a water supply pump motor for supplying water from the water supply tank 3 to the ice making container 1.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an ice removing mechanism for rotating the ice making container 1 to perform an ice removing operation, and a motor 6 for rotating the ice making container 1.
And a twisting portion 7 for twisting the rotating ice making container 1 to remove ice, a position detecting means 8 including a micro switch indicating completion of twisting, and a horizontal position detecting means 9 for the ice making container 1. There is. The ice making mechanism 5 is installed in an ice making case 10 surrounded by plastic or the like. Below the ice making container 1, an ice storage box for storing the fallen ice.
11 are arranged. In addition, from the ice making case 10, the ice storage box
An ice detecting lever 12 that moves up and down in conjunction with the ice making mechanism 5 and the motor 6 with a part of the ice making case 10 that detects the amount of ice 11 as a fulcrum is located above the ice storage box 11.

When the motor 6 starts to move, the ice detecting lever 12 starts to move down, and after a certain period of time, it moves to the lowest position. When the motor 6 is further moved, the ice detecting lever 12 starts to move up,
Eventually, the ice detecting lever 12 returns to the initial position. If you hit an obstacle such as ice while the ice detection lever 12 goes down,
The ice detecting lever 12 stops at that spot, but the motor 6 continues to move. Then, after a certain time has passed since the motor 6 started to move,
When the operation to raise the ice detecting lever 12 is started, the ice detecting lever 12 is also moved up. Inside the ice making case 10, there is an ice making detecting means 13 comprising a micro switch or the like for judging the amount of ice by the operation amount of the series of ice detecting levers 12.

The control circuit will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 14 is a control means composed of a microcomputer and the like, and the temperature detection means 2, the position detection means 8, the horizontal position detection means 9 and the ice making detection means 13 are connected to the input terminals thereof. Driving means 15 and 16 for operating the motor and the feedwater pump motor 4 are connected to the output terminals. The control means 14 counts the time from when the water supply timer 17 for counting the time during which the water supply pump motor 4 is operated, and when the ice making detection means 13 detects full ice and the control means 14 stops the motor 6. First timer 18 and motor 6
Second timer 19 that counts the time from when the robot starts moving
It is composed of

The automatic ice making operation according to the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, if the state of the horizontal position detecting means 9 is turned on in S1, it is judged that the ice making container 1 is horizontal and S2 is set.
Proceed to. If it is determined in S1 that it is not horizontal, S3
Proceed to and set ON to operate the motor 6.
In S2, the motor 6 is turned off and the process proceeds to S4. In S4,
It is determined whether the temperature of the temperature detecting means 2 is higher or lower than the set value, and if it is higher, the process waits until it becomes low in S4. If it is determined that the temperature is low in S4, it is determined that the ice making is completed and S5 is performed.
Go to and set ON to operate the motor 6,
In the next S6, the second timer 19 is started.

In S7, it is determined whether or not the second timer 19 has counted for a certain period of time. If the counting is not completed, the process stands by in S7. The motor 6 is still moving during this time, and the operation is as follows:
It hits the ice of 11 and stops, or it reaches the lowest point without hitting anything and moves up. The ice making detection means 13 judges the amount of ice by the operation amount of the ice detecting lever 12, and is in the OFF state when the ice is large and is in the ON state when the ice is small. When the series of operations of the ice detecting lever 12 is completed, the second
The time counting of the timer 19 is also completed and the process proceeds to S8.

At S8, the state of the ice making detecting means 13 is confirmed,
If the amount of ice in the ice storage box 11 is small and it is on, S9
Then, the ice removing operation is performed, the ice making container 1 is rotated,
Then, the twisting portion 7 applies a twist to separate the ice from the ice making container 1. Therefore, in S9, the state of the position detecting means 8 is 0.
If it becomes N, it can be judged that the ice removal is completed, and the process proceeds to S10,
The horizontal position detecting means 9 in a state where the ice making container 1 becomes horizontal is O
It returns to S9 until it becomes the state of N.

When the horizontal position detecting means 9 is turned on in S10, it is determined that the ice making container 1 is horizontal, the process proceeds to S11, and the motor 6 is set to OFF so as to be stopped. At S12, the water supply pump motor 4 is set to ON so as to operate to supply water to the empty ice making container 1, and at the same time, S13
The water supply timer 17 is started with and the water supply pump motor 4 is operated until the water supply timer 17 expires in S14. When the water supply time 17 is up in S14, the water supply pump motor 4 is set to OFF so as to be stopped in S15.

After the water supply is completed and the ice making cycle ends, the process returns to S4 again, and this cycle is repeated thereafter to automatically make ice. If the amount of ice in the ice storage box 11 increases in S8 and the ice making detection means 13 is turned off, the process proceeds to S16. In S16, the motor 6 is set to OFF so as to be stopped, and in S17, the first timer 18 is started. In S18, the first timer 18 waits until a predetermined time is reached, and when the predetermined time is reached, the process returns to S5 and the ice detecting operation is performed again.

[0013]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the water supply timer is constant (for example, 6 seconds), that is, the water supply amount is constant, and the ice making container is also at constant temperature. Therefore, the ice making time (for example, 2 hours) is required. Does not change and is constant. Therefore, even when the amount of ice used increases (for example, in summer), ice is supplied only every ice-making time, so if the amount of ice storage decreases extremely, ice shortage will occur, and for consumers,
There was a problem that the ice was not supplied in a timely manner.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ice making device capable of supplying ice in a timely manner.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the automatic ice making device of the present invention determines the operation amount of the ice detecting lever in multiple stages (for example, three stages), and determines the operation amount and the outside air temperature at that time. The water supply time is determined according to, and the rotation speed of the cool air circulation fan is determined to perform forced operation.

[0016]

The automatic ice making device of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure.
When the ice storage amount decreases, the water supply time and the outside air temperature at that time shorten the water supply time to reduce the water supply amount.At the same time, the rotation speed of the cooling air circulation fan is determined and the ice making container is quickly operated by forced operation. Cooling shortens the ice making time.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that the same parts as those of the related art are designated by the same reference numerals, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and only different parts will be described.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ice removing mechanism of the automatic ice making device, and 20 and 21 are the first ice making detections including a micro switch or the like for judging the amount of ice based on the operation amount of a series of ice detecting levers 12. The means and the second ice making detection means are provided in the ice making case 10.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the refrigerator, 22 is an outside air temperature detecting means for detecting the outside air temperature, and 23 is a cold air circulating fan for detecting the temperature of the freezer and stopping the operation.

FIG. 1 is a control circuit diagram, and 24 is a control means composed of a microcomputer or the like, and its input terminal has a temperature detection means 2, a position detection means 8, a horizontal position detection means 9 and a first ice making detection means. 20, a second ice making detecting means 21, and an outside air temperature detecting means 22 are connected, and the motor 6 and the driving means 15 and 16 of the feed water pump motor 4 and the cold air circulation fan 23 are forcedly rotated at high speed at the output terminals. Drive means 25 for driving,
A driving means 26 for forcibly driving the rotation normally is connected, and first and second timers 18, 19 and first, second and third water supply timers 27, 28, 29 are provided therein.

The operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, S1 to S6 are the same as in the conventional case as described with reference to FIG. 6, and it is determined in the next S101 whether the second timer 19 has counted for a certain period of time. If the counting is not completed, the process waits in S101. is doing. The motor 6 is still moving during this time, and the operation is such that the ice detecting lever 12 is first lowered and hits the ice in the ice storage box 11 to stop, or it is reached to the lowest point without hitting anything and then moved up. . Ice detection lever 12
The first ice making detection means 20 is turned off when the ice is full depending on the operation amount of
Is turned on, and otherwise is turned on.

The second ice making detecting means 21 is in the OFF state when the amount of stored ice is more than half of the full ice, and is in the ON state otherwise. When the series of operations of the ice detecting lever 12 is finished, the time counting of the second timer 19 is also finished and S10
Go to 2. In S102, the state of the first ice making detection means 20 is confirmed, and if it is in the ON state, the process proceeds to S103 and the state of the second ice making detection means 21 is confirmed.

If the second ice making detecting means 21 is ON, the routine proceeds to S104, where it is judged whether the temperature of the outside air temperature detecting means 22 is higher or lower than the set value. If the temperature is higher than the set value, in S105 the first water supply timer 27 and in S106 the forced operation with the high speed rotation of the cooling air circulation fan 23 is selected, and if it is lower, S
At 107, the second water supply timer 28 is selected, and at S108, forced operation at the normal rotation of the cool air circulation fan 23 is selected, and the process proceeds to S9.

In step S103, the state of the second ice making detecting means 21 is OF.
If the state is F, the process proceeds to S109, and it is determined whether the temperature of the outside air temperature detecting means 22 is higher or lower than the set value. If the temperature is higher than the set value, the second water supply timer 28 is selected in S107 and the forced operation of the cool air circulation fan 23 in the normal rotation is selected in S108. If the temperature is lower, the third water supply timer 29 is selected in S110 and the process proceeds to S9. Here, the relation of the water supply time is the first water supply timer 27 (for example, 3 seconds)
<Second water supply timer 28 (for example, 4 seconds) <Third water supply timer 29
(For example, 6 seconds).

As described with reference to FIG. 6, the steps S9 to S13 proceed in the conventional manner. In the next step S111, the set water supply timer is counted, and if the time is up, the step proceeds to step S15. .

Further, in S102, the first ice making detecting means 20 is turned off.
If it is, the process proceeds to S112, the forced operation of the cool air circulation fan 23 is stopped, the process proceeds to S16, and the subsequent steps are as usual.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the ice storage amount decreases, the water supply time is shortened by the ice storage amount and the outside air temperature at that time, and the cooling air circulation fan is forcibly operated after the rotation speed is determined to open the ice making container. Since it cools quickly, the ice making time can be shortened according to the amount of ice storage and the outside air temperature at that time.

[0029]

As described above, according to the automatic ice making device of the present invention, when the ice storage amount decreases, the ice making time can be changed by the ice storage amount and the outside air temperature at that time. The water supply time can be determined so as to be shortened, and the method of claim 2
According to the configuration described, when the number of revolutions of the cold air circulation fan is determined, forced operation is performed, and the ice making container can be quickly cooled, so when the amount of ice used increases (for example, in summer).
Moreover, ice can be supplied to consumers in a timely manner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control circuit of an embodiment of an automatic ice making device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart relating to the ice making operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an ice removing mechanism portion of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a refrigerator-freezer using this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control circuit of a conventional automatic ice making device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart relating to an ice making operation of a conventional automatic ice making device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an ice removing mechanism portion of a conventional automatic ice making device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional automatic ice making device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ice making container, 2 ... Temperature detection means, 3 ... Water supply tank, 4 ... Water supply pump motor, 5 ... Ice removing mechanism, 6 ...
Motor, 8 ... Position detecting means, 9 ... Horizontal position detecting means, 10 ... Ice making case, 11 ... Ice storage box, 12 ... Ice detecting lever, 15, 16, 25, 26 ... Driving means, 18 ... First timer,
19 ... Second timer, 20 ... First ice making detection means, 21 ... Second
Ice making detection means, 22 ... Outside air temperature detection means, 23 ... Cold air circulation fan, 24 ... Control means, 27 ... First water supply timer,
28 ... 2nd water supply timer, 29 ... 3rd water supply timer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A water supply tank, an ice making container, a water supply pump motor for supplying water from the water supply tank to the ice making container,
A temperature detecting means attached to the ice making container, a motor for rotating the ice making container, a position detecting means for detecting a position of the rotating ice making container, a horizontal position detecting means for detecting a horizontal position of the ice making container, An ice removing mechanism that rotates an ice making container to drop ice, an ice making case in which this ice removing mechanism is installed, an ice storage box under the ice making container for storing the released ice, and an ice making case protruding from the ice making case. And an ice detecting lever that is interlocked with the motor and moves up and down on the ice storage box to detect the amount of ice, and ice making detection means that determines the amount of ice in multiple stages based on the operation amount of the ice detecting lever. A first driving period of driving the motor to horizontally position the ice making container, a cooling period until the temperature detecting unit becomes a predetermined temperature or less,
After the end of the cooling period, the ice detection lever is operated to detect the amount of ice by the ice making detection means, and the water supply time is determined from the amount of ice and the outside air temperature detected by the outside air temperature detection means, followed by an ice detection period. A second drive period in which the ice making container is rotated, and a water supply period in which the water supply pump motor is driven for a water supply time determined by the ice making detection means after the second drive period has ended. When the ice making detection means detects full ice during the ice detecting period in the ice making cycle that proceeds to the cooling period again later, the ice detecting operation is performed again after waiting for a certain period of time and the next period is continued until the ice storage amount becomes insufficient. An automatic ice making device comprising: a control means for controlling a period so as not to operate. 2. A cooling air circulation fan for detecting the temperature of the freezing compartment to stop the motion, wherein the control means operates the ice detection lever after the end of the cooling period to detect the amount of ice by the ice making detection means. In addition to the detection, the number of ices and the outside air temperature detected by the outside air temperature detecting means are used to determine the rotation speed of the cooling air circulation fan, and the period control of the ice detection period is performed so as to perform forced operation. The automatic ice making device according to claim 1.