JPH07260306A - Icemaker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an icemaker in which an opportunity of exposing water to the air in a water supply route is reduced, decomposition of water and generation of offensive odor are prevented and an operating sound of a water supply pump is decreased. CONSTITUTION:The icemaker comprises a water supply tank 7, a pump 6, an icemaking tray 2 and a tube for coupling them. The tank 7 and the pump 6 are fixed to a frame 8 in a cold storage chamber. The tank 7 is removable from the frame 8. The pump on a back surface of the tank is a gear pump, which is reversed after a water supplying operation, and in which the number of revolutions of the pump is reduced at the time of reversing.

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 for a refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an ice maker has often been incorporated into a refrigerator for use. As this type of ice making device, for example, the configuration disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-3082 is known. FIG. 5 for explaining the conventional ice making device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-3082 is a schematic view of the conventional ice making device.

The conventional ice making device 200 is roughly divided into an ice making tray 201, a reversing device 202, a pump 203, a measuring tank 205, a water supply tank 206 and a pipe 207. This internal ice tray 201, reversing device 202
Is in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, and other members are placed in the refrigerator compartment.

The ice tray 201 is a tray that freezes the water inside. The reversing device 202 has a built-in gear train, and functions to reverse the ice tray 201 and to twist the ice tray 201 to remove ice.

The measuring tank 205 is a water tank divided into a measuring chamber 212 and a water storage chamber 213. A small hole is provided in the partition wall that separates the two, so that when the water level in the measuring chamber 212 drops, water slowly flows from the water storage chamber 213. The upper surface of the measuring tank is open.

The pump 203 comprises a motor section 210 and a pump section 211. Prior art ice making device 200
Then, as the pump 203, a spiral pump was adopted.
That is, since the pump 203 used in the related art is a centrifugal pump, it has no self-priming property. Therefore, in the conventional ice making device 200, the pump portion 211 of the pump 203 is
Was directly inserted into the weighing chamber 212.

The water supply tank 206 is a closed tank body provided with a lid 217. The lid 217 is provided with an opening / closing valve. The water supply tank 206 is filled with water, and the measuring tank 205 is closed with the lid 217 facing down.
Is located above the water supply tank 2 and part of the on-off valve described above
The bottom of the water storage chamber 213 of No. 06 contacts.

In the conventional ice making device 200, the water in the water supply tank 206 falls into the measuring tank 205, and the measuring chamber 212 is filled with the water via the water storage chamber 213. Then, the water is pumped up by the pump 203 inserted into the measuring chamber 212, and is supplied to the ice tray 201 through the pipe 207.

[0009]

A conventional ice making device 200
Is widely used as a device incorporated in a refrigerator. However, the conventional ice making device 200 has a problem that the water in the measuring tank 205 is decomposed or an offensive odor is transferred to the ice.

That is, the ice making device 200 of the prior art requires the measuring tank 205 as an essential element, and water is exposed to the air in the measuring tank 205. More specifically, in the conventional ice making device 200, since the centrifugal pump is used as the pump 203, only the pump portion 211 of the pump 203 has to be inserted into the measuring tank 205 from above the measuring tank 205. Further, in the related art, the replenishment of water to the measuring tank 205 is performed by dropping the water from the water supply tank 206. Therefore, the measuring tank 205, which is indispensable in the prior art, must be an open upper surface.

In addition, the water supply to the ice tray 201 is not always performed, and it is not unusual that the ice tray 201 is not supplied for a considerable period depending on the amount of ice consumed.

Therefore, while water is not supplied to the ice tray,
The water in the metering tank is never replaced. During this period, dust and the like floating in the refrigerating chamber fall on the water surface of the measuring tank, and the dust and the like in the water is decomposed over a long period of time. Alternatively, a gas having an offensive odor component in the refrigerator may dissolve into water from the surface of the measuring tank over a long period of time, and the resulting ice may give off an offensive odor.

The present invention focuses on the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, reduces the chance of water being exposed to the air in the water supply path,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ice making device capable of preventing water from spoiling and generating an offensive odor.

[0014]

The features of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object are a water tank, a pump, and
The pump has a self-priming pump, which has an ice tray arranged in a refrigerator and a pipe connecting these trays. The suction side of the pump is connected to the inside of the water supply tank. The pump is reversely rotated for a certain period of time after water is supplied to the ice tray, and the pump is configured to reduce the rotation speed of the pump to a lower rotation speed than that at the time of water supply.

[0015]

The ice making device of the present invention employs a pump having a self-priming property. The suction side of the pump is connected to the inside of the water supply tank by piping. Therefore, in the ice making device of the present invention, the water is sucked directly from the water supply tank by the rotation of the pump and is supplied to the ice making tray through the pipe. Therefore, in the ice making device of the present invention, there is little opportunity for water to come into contact with air between the water supply tank and the ice tray.

In the ice making device of the present invention, the pump is rotated in the reverse direction for a certain period of time after the water is supplied to the ice tray, so that the water remaining in the pipe is collected in the water supply tank through the pump. At this time, air enters the water supply tank at the same time as the water, so that a sound of air is emitted in the water supply tank. Therefore, by lowering the rotation speed of the pump from the reverse rotation to a rotation speed at the time of water supply, it is possible to reduce the amount of air flowing backward and reduce the discharge noise in the water supply tank.

[0017]

EXAMPLES Specific examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control device of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the ice making device according to the specific embodiment of the present invention.

First, the basic construction of the ice making apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic configuration of the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment, and a frame 8 described later is not shown. The ice making device 1 of the present embodiment includes an ice tray 2, an inverting device 3, an ice storage container 5, a pump 6, a water supply tank 7, and pipes 4 and 9. That is, the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment does not have a member corresponding to the measuring tank, which is essential in the prior art.

The ice making device 1 of this embodiment is placed in a refrigerator. More specifically, the in-house ice tray 2, the reversing device 3, and the ice storage container 5 having the above-described components are located in the lower freezing compartment 10, and the pump 6 and the water supply tank 7 are located in the upper refrigerating compartment 11. . In addition, the pipe 4 includes a water supply tank 7 and a pump 6
Is to be paid. On the other hand, the pipe 9 connects the pump 6 and the ice tray 2. Here, the pipe 4 is continuously connected without a gap, while the pipe 9 has a structure in which a nozzle 13 is opened on the upper surface of the ice tray 2 and water is poured from the nozzle 13 into the ice tray 2.

Among the components of the ice making device 1 described above, the ice tray 2, the reversing device 3 and the ice storage container 5 are not different from the known ones. Briefly, the ice tray 2 is a tray that freezes the water inside. The reversing device 3 has a built-in gear train and functions to reverse the ice tray 1 to remove ice. The ice storage container 5 is below the ice tray 2 and is a container for storing the ice dropped from the ice tray 2.

The characteristic structure of the ice making device 1 of this embodiment is as follows.
Mainly in the pump 6, the water supply tank 7, the pipes 4, 9 and the frame 8 supporting them.

Explaining from the water supply tank 7, the water supply tank 7 is composed of a tank body 15 made of a resin such as acryl nitrostyrene, a lid body 16 also made of acryl nitrostyrene, and accessories such as a filter. It was made.

Here, the tank body 15 is a container whose upper surface is open. In addition to the above-described structure, the lid 16 is provided with a water injection hole 34, and a cap 33 is attached to the hole 34. Further, a hole is provided in the central portion of the lid body 16, and the discharge pipe 30 is attached to this hole. The discharge pipe 30 includes a suction pipe portion 36 and an air vent pipe portion 3.
7 is integrally provided. That is, the suction pipe portion 36 has a long tubular shape, and the end portion reaches the bottom portion of the tank body 15.

Further, the tip of the suction pipe portion 36 has a lid 16
From above, and a pipe breaker member (A) 35
Is provided. The pipe breaker member (A) 35 has a nozzle shape and extends in the horizontal direction. In addition, pipe breaker member (A) 35
An annular protrusion 39 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the. The top surface 42 of the discharge pipe 30 is formed with a slope that decreases toward the axial direction of the pipe breaker member (A) 35.

On the other hand, the air vent pipe portion 37 has an extremely short tubular shape and communicates the upper surface of the tank body 15 with the outside.

A filter 40 is housed in the filter case 38. The filter 40 used in this embodiment is made of activated carbon having a deodorizing effect and has a ring shape. Further, the filter 40 has a considerably small passage area, and water passes relatively slowly.

The filter 40 is arranged in the filter case 38 as described above, and the suction pipe portion 3 of the discharge pipe 30 is provided.
The 6 openings are located in the central portion of the filter 40.

Pump 6 used in the ice making device 1 of this embodiment
Is a gear pump having self-priming properties. As described above, in the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment, the pump 6 is completely covered by the vibration isolating mount 101, and the bottom surface 91 of the pump disposing portion 6 is located outside the vibration isolating mount 101.
Since it is surrounded by the side surfaces 92, 93, 94, and 95, when the pump 6 is driven as described later, noise of the pump is less likely to leak to the outside.

Suction side of pump 6 and pipe breaker member (B)
The space 71 is connected by a pipe 4. A pipe 9 is attached to the discharge side of the pump. The pipe 9 extends downward and is connected to the nozzle 13, and the nozzle 13 is open at the upper part of the ice tray 2.

The operation of the ice making machine 1 of this embodiment will be described below in accordance with the operating procedure of the ice making machine. Before using the ice making machine 1 of the present embodiment, water is first put in the water supply tank 7. When water is added to the water supply tank 7, the cap 33 is removed and water is poured into the water supply tank 1 through the hole 34.

After pouring water into the water supply tank 7, the water supply tank 7 is attached to the frame 8. Ice making apparatus 1 of the present embodiment
Then, the apparatus of the water supply tank 7 is performed by holding the water supply tank 7 horizontally and inserting the water supply tank 7 by pushing it in.

On the other hand, the state of the portion when the pipe breaker member (A) 35 is completely inserted into the pipe breaker member (B) 71 is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 14, the tip end portion of the pipe severing member (A) 35 abuts on the seal member 76, and complete water tightness is secured.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the present control apparatus.
Is a motor, 120 is a switch, 130 is a control circuit, and 131 is a drive circuit. With this configuration, the rotation speed can be changed by changing the voltage applied to the pump motor in the forward / reverse rotation of the pump motor and in the normal rotation and the reverse rotation. When the mounting of the water supply tank 7 is completed, automatic water supply is performed according to the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the mounting of the water supply tank 7 is completed, the water supply timer 1 is started in step 1, and then the motor 1 of the pump 6 is operated in step 2.
00 starts forward rotation.

Here, the pump 6 used in the ice making apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is a gear pump and has a self-priming property, so that water is directly sucked up from the water supply tank 7 by the rotation of the motor 100. That is, water flows from the suction pipe portion 36 inserted in the water supply tank 7 to the pipe breaker members (A) 35, (B) 71.
And then into pump 6. Then, water is discharged from the pump 6 through the pipe 9 and the nozzle 13.

When the water supply timer 1 expires, the pump 6 is switched to reverse rotation and the discharge of water from the nozzle 13 is stopped. During this reverse rotation, the drive circuit 131 lowers the voltage applied to the motor 100, and
The rotation speed of 00 is reduced. As a result, a large amount of air enters the water supply tank at the same time as water, causing a large air discharge noise in the water supply tank.However, the rotational speed of the pump during reverse rotation is lower than that during water supply. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the amount of backflowing air and reduce the discharge noise in the water supply tank.

As described above, in the ice making device 1 of this embodiment, the amount of water discharged to the ice making tray 2 is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the motor with the timer 1. Since the pump 6 used in this embodiment is a gear pump, a discharge water amount that is approximately proportional to the total number of rotations of the motor can be obtained. Therefore, a desired amount of water can be obtained by setting the motor rotation time constant.

If the inner volume of the filter case 38 is equal to the required water supply amount to the ice tray 2, the water level in the filter case 38 will temporarily drop after the pump 6 has supplied the required amount of water. 6 sucks in air and no more water is absorbed. Therefore, when the said structure is employ | adopted, more accurate control of the water supply amount can be performed.

Returning to the explanation of the flow chart, when the expiration of the water supply timer 1 is confirmed in step 3, step 4
Then timer 2 opens the start. The set time of the timer 2 is shorter than that of the timer 1 described above. When the timer 2 starts to start, the motor 100 is switched in step 5 to rotate the motor 100 in the reverse direction.

The reason why the motor 100 is reversely rotated for a fixed time in this way is to collect the water remaining in the pipe 9 into the water supply tank via the pump 6.

When the expiration of the timer 2 is confirmed in step 6, the rotation of the motor 100 is stopped in step 7 and the series of water supply process is completed. After that, at the same time as the known ice making device,
The water in the ice tray 2 is frozen, the ice tray 2 is inverted by the reversing device 3 to remove ice, and the ice is dropped into the ice storage container 5.

Then, the water supply process is repeated again. Here, as described in the description of the prior art, there is a considerable time interval from one water supply to the next water supply, but the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment
Then, water does not come into contact with air during this water supply interval.

That is, in the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment, there is no need to fill water in a member having an open upper portion such as a measuring tank, and water is pumped out from the water supply tank 7 when necessary. In addition, in the ice making device 1 of the present embodiment, even when a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the ice tray 2, even water remaining in the pipe is collected in the water supply tank 7. Further, since the water supply tank is sealed except for the air vent pipe portion 37, there is no concern that dust or the like will enter inside.

In this embodiment, a gear pump is used as the type of the pump 6. Gear pumps are easy to manufacture,
It is most preferable as the pump adopted in the present invention because it has few failures. However, the present invention is not limited to the gear pump as the type of pump, and any other pump having self-priming property can be adopted. As a concrete example, it is possible to adopt a vane pump, an axial piston pump, a diaphragm pump, or the like.

[0044]

The ice making device of the present invention employs a pump having a self-priming property, and water is sucked out directly from the water supply tank by the rotation of the pump and is supplied to the ice tray through the pipe. Therefore, in the ice making device of the present invention, there is little opportunity for water to come into contact with air between the water supply tank and the ice tray. Therefore, in the ice making device of the present invention, there is an effect that dust or the like does not fall into the water and the odorous gas component is not mixed to contaminate the water, and the water can be always kept in a clean state. As a result, the ice made by the ice making device of the present invention has a very delicious effect.

Further, in the configuration in which the pump is rotated in the reverse direction for a certain period of time after the water is supplied to the ice tray, the water remaining in the pipe is collected in the water supply tank through the pump, so that a more perfect water purification is possible. There is an effect that the sex is secured. Further, the rotation speed of the motor is reduced by lowering the voltage applied to the motor. As a result, a large amount of air enters the water supply tank at the same time as water, causing a large air discharge noise in the water supply tank.However, the rotational speed of the pump during reverse rotation is lower than that during water supply. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the amount of backflowing air and reduce the discharge noise in the water supply tank.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control device of an ice making device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice making device according to the specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a conventional ice making device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ice Maker 2 Ice Tray 3 Inverter 6 Pump 7 Water Tank 8 Frame 9 Piping 10 Freezer 11 Refrigerator 15 Tank Main Body 16 Lid 26 Lock Member 30 Discharge Pipe 35 Pipe Joint Member (A) 36 Suction Pipe 37 Bleed Pipe Part 38 Filter case 40 Filter 60 Water tank mounting part 61 Pump placement part 71 Pipe joint member (B) 72 Engaging claw 76 Sealing member 98 Pump body 99 Draining hole 100 Motor 101 Anti-vibration mount 108 Filter

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A water supply tank, a pump, an ice tray arranged in a refrigerator, and a pipe connecting these, the pump is a self-priming pump, and the suction side of the pump is the water supply tank. An ice making device connected to the inside of the ice making device, comprising a control device that reversely rotates after supplying water to an ice tray for a certain period of time, and makes the rotation speed of the pump at the time of reverse rotation constant from the rotation speed at the time of water supply.