JPH08114371A - Ice making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a highly safe ice making apparatus by securely removing water, which attaches onto a connecting cord of an antifreeze electric heater within a water supply pipe on account of water flowing from a refrigerator and condensation due to outer humid air flowing into the refrigerator, from the connecting cord so that smoke emission and fire due to breakdown of a connecting terminal portion is prevented from occurring. CONSTITUTION: A connecting cord 13 is formed in a reversed U-shape by means of a course guide rib 17 installed in a water supply conduit 5 and disposed in a part lower than a connecting terminal 16 of the electric heater connecting cord 13 of an electric heater 12 to which electricity is applied. A blind plate 20 integrated with a water supply apparatus 18 for screening the course guide rib 17 is provided.

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 incorporated in a refrigerator or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an ice making machine is often used by incorporating it into a refrigerator. As this type of ice making device, for example, the configuration disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 50-45556 is known.

A conventional ice making device will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 6, it is composed of an ice tray 201, a detaching device 202, an ice storage 203, a water supply pipe 204, and a water supply device 205. The ice tray 201, the detaching device 202, the ice storage 203, and the water supply pipe 204 are frozen in a refrigerator. It is disposed in the chamber 211, and the others are disposed in the refrigerating chamber 212.

The detaching device 202 has a built-in drive motor (not shown) and freezes the water inside.
1 is rotated, and at the same time, the ice tray 201 is twisted to separate the ice block and drop it into the ice storage 203.

The water supply pipe 204 is constructed by attaching an electric heater 206, and the electric heater 206 is connected to the connection terminal 20.
Connected at 7.

The water supply device 205 is provided with an electromagnetic valve 208 and a water conduit 209 so that water can flow into the water supply pipe 204.

The operation of the ice making device constructed as described above will be described below. The water from the water conduit 209 causes the electromagnetic valve 208 when the ice block in the ice tray 201 is released.
Water is supplied to the ice tray 201 from the water supply pipe 204. During this time, the electric heater 206 of the water supply pipe 204 is energized and the water supply pipe 204 is heated, so that water droplets may remain on the water supply pipe 204 when the water supply is completed. Freezing is prevented.

At this time, due to water scattering due to variations in the amount of water supplied from the water supply pipe 204 to the ice tray 201, water flows down from the water supply pipe 204 and the outlet of the electric heater 206, and travels through the connection cord 210 to reach the connection terminal. Land on 207.
Further, when the electric heater 206 is not energized, the refrigerating room 212
The connection cord 210 portion of the electric heater 206 exposed inside is cooled in the freezer compartment 211, and is further conducted to the inside of the refrigerating compartment 212 to be lower than the temperature in the refrigerating compartment 212.
When the door 213 of No. 2 is opened and closed, the humidity of the outside air flows in to cause dew condensation on the surface of the connection cord 201, which then flows down to the connection terminal 207 and lands on it.

Therefore, the electrical insulation failure of the connection terminal 207 due to the landing of water may occur, causing smoke and ignition.

[0010]

As described above, the conventional structure has a drawback in that the contact terminal 207 is exposed to water and unsafe because of electrical breakdown.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a highly safe ice making device which prevents water from landing on the connection terminal portion, prevents short circuit of an electric circuit.

[0012]

To achieve this object, an ice making device of the present invention comprises a water supply pipe for guiding water sent from a water supply device to an ice tray and an ice block formed on the ice tray. A detaching device for detaching, an ice storage for storing ice blocks detached by the detaching device, an electric heater provided in a water supply pipe and energized, and a cord arranged at a position lower than a connecting terminal portion of a connecting cord of the electric heater A guide rib and a hidden plate integrated with the water supply device that hides the connection cord and the cord guide rib are provided.

[0013]

Since the ice making device of the present invention is provided with the cord guide rib arranged at a position lower than the connecting terminal portion of the connecting cord of the electric heater provided in the water supply pipe, the water from the ice making tray is discharged from the electric heater. Even if the connection cord comes down from the mouth, since the cord guide rib pushes down the connection cord from the connection terminal part, water collects in the connection cord part and acts as a drainer to prevent water from landing on the connection terminal part. Will be prevented.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ice making device arranged in a refrigerator includes an ice tray 2, a detaching device 3, an ice storage 4, a water supply pipe 5, and a lower refrigerating device arranged in an upper freezing chamber 1. Room 6
The water supply device 18 disposed inside has a pump 7, a water supply tank 8, and a pipe 9 connecting the water supply tank 8 and the pump 7.
It is composed of a joint pipe 10 that connects the pump 7 and the water supply pipe 5. The pipe 9 is continuously and airtightly connected without a gap, and the water supply pipe 5 is a nozzle 11 opened on the upper surface of the ice tray 2.
Water is poured into the ice tray 2.

The electric heater 12 provided on the water supply pipe 5 is
A cord that penetrates the partition walls 14 of the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment 6 with a connection cord 13 and is wired inside the refrigerating compartment 6, and energizes an electric circuit with a connection terminal 16 and projects from the refrigerating compartment ceiling 15 into the refrigerating compartment 6. The guide rib 17 is arranged at a position lower than the connection terminal 16.

Connection cord 13, course guide rib 17
Is a structure hidden by a hidden plate 20 which is integral with the rear plate 19 of the water supply device 18.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 3, the ice tray 2 is a tray for freezing the water inside, and the detaching device 3 has a gear train built therein. The ice tray 2 is inverted to detach the ice blocks. The ice storage 4, which is a device that functions, is a container under the ice tray 2 for storing ice that has dropped from the ice tray 2.

The pump 7 of the water supply device 18 and the water supply tank 8
The pipe 9 is held by the frame 21.

The water supply tank 8 includes a tank body 22 made of a resin such as acryl nitrostyrene, and a lid body 23 also made of a resin such as acryl nitrostyrene.
And a filter case 25 including a storage part 24 and a funnel-shaped part 25a and their accessories.

Tank main body 2 which is a container having an open upper surface
Reference numeral 2 is a plate-like member having a shape matching the lid body 23, and packing (not shown) for sealing the tank body 22 is arranged around the plate-shaped member.

A hole 26 for pouring water is provided in the lid 23, and a cap 27 is attached to the hole 26. Further, in the central portion of the lid body 23, a suction pipe portion 28 having a long tubular shape whose lower end reaches the bottom portion of the tank body 22 is provided.

Above the suction pipe portion 28, the lid 2
3, a nozzle-shaped pipe joint member (A) 29 is provided which protrudes upward from 3 and extends in the horizontal direction.

Inside the tank body 22, the filter 3
A filter case 25 containing 0 is arranged.

The resin frame 21 is fixed in the refrigerating chamber 6 and is divided into a water supply tank mounting portion 31 and a pump arranging portion 32.

A pipe joint member (B) 33 and an engaging claw 34 are provided on the back side of the water supply tank mounting portion 31. The pipe joint member (B) 33 has a tubular shape as a whole.

The seal member (not shown) inserted in the pipe joint member (B) 33 is made of an elastic material such as rubber or resin and has a sealing function. Is.

The engaging claw 34 is urged by a spring 35 so as to always move downward. The electric heater 12 provided in the water supply pipe 5 is connected to the connection terminal 16 from the connection cord 13.
Via the cord 37 embedded in the refrigerator heat insulating material 36
Connected to.

The pressing lever 38 arranged near the pump 7 is attached to the frame 21 and has a groove 40.
It can slide inside.

In the lateral direction of the pressing lever 38, the pressing lever 3
A switch 39 that opens and closes in conjunction with the switch 8 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the water supply pipe 5 includes a nozzle 1
The electric heater 12 and the foamed heat insulating material 41 are provided in a portion located in the freezing compartment 1 from the vicinity of the first side, and the connection cord 13 is provided with a connection terminal 16 and the water supply pipe 5 is provided with a joining pipe 10. are doing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the water supply pipe 5 is provided with an electric heater 12. The electric heater 12, the fuse 42, the switch 39, and the neon tube 43 are connected in series, the compressor motor 44 is connected in series with the thermostat 45, and the electric heater 12 is a circuit of the compressor motor 44 rotation side of the thermostat 45 (Fig. The circuit is connected to the power source by connecting the compressor motor 44 to the stop side circuit (NO in the figure) and the switch 39 closing side circuit (NO in the figure) in series.

The operation of the ice making device constructed as above will be described below. Before using the ice making device, first fill the water supply tank 8 with water. When water is added to the water supply tank 8, the cap 27 is removed and water is poured into the water supply tank 8 through the hole 26.

After pouring water into the water supply tank 8, the water supply tank 8 is attached to the frame 21. The water supply tank 8 is mounted by holding the water supply tank 8 horizontally and inserting the water supply tank 8 by pushing it between the frame 21 and the bottom plate 19 of the water supply device.

Here, when the water supply tank 8 is mounted, the nozzle-shaped pipe joint member (A) 29 protruding above the lid 23 of the water supply tank 8 is connected to the rear side of the water supply tank mounting portion 31. It reaches the member (B) 33.

When the water tank 8 is pushed in,
The nozzle-shaped pipe joint member (A) 29 pushes up the engaging claw 34 upward as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2, and the nozzle-shaped pipe joint member (A) 29 becomes the pipe joint member (B) 33. Inserted inside.

The pipe joint member (A) 29 is a pipe joint member (B).
When fully inserted into 33, engaging pawl 34 engages spring 35.
Is lowered by the power of. As a result, the pipe joint member (A) 2
9 is held so as not to come off from the pipe joint member (B) 33.

The pipe joint member (A) 29 is a pipe joint member (B).
As for the internal state when completely inserted in 33, the tip portion of the pipe joint member (A) 29 is a seal member (not shown).
And a complete watertightness is secured.

By attaching and detaching the water supply tank 8, the pressing lever 3
8 includes a switch 39 that slides in the groove 40 and opens / closes in conjunction with the pressing lever 38, and detects attachment / detachment of the water supply tank 8.

Next, the water supply will be described. When the mounting of the water supply tank 8 is completed, the pump (7) starts to rotate by the control device (not shown).

Since the pump 7 of this embodiment is a gear pump and has a self-priming property, the rotation of the pump 7 sucks water directly from the water supply tank 8. That is, water enters the pump 7 from the filter case 25 of the funnel-shaped portion 25a inserted into the water supply tank 8, the filter 30, and the suction pipe portion 28 through the pipe joint members (A) 29 and (B) 33. Then, water is discharged from the nozzle 11 through the joint pipe 10 and the water supply pipe 5 from the pump 7.

As described above, in this embodiment, the amount of water discharged to the ice tray 2 is controlled by controlling the number of revolutions of the pump 7 by a control device (not shown). Since the pump 7 used in this embodiment is a gear pump, the pump 7
It is possible to obtain a discharge amount that is approximately proportional to the total number of rotations. Therefore, a desired amount of water can be obtained by setting the rotation time of the pump 7 constant.

If the internal volume of the filter case 25 is equal to the amount of water required for the ice tray 25, the water level in the filter case 25 will temporarily drop after the pump 7 has supplied the required amount of water. Since 7 sucks in air and water is not supplied any more, more accurate control of water supply can be performed.

After that, as in the conventional ice making device, the water in the ice making tray 2 is frozen, the ice making tray 2 is inverted by the removing device 3 to remove the ice, and the ice is dropped into the ice storage 4.

The electric heater 12 provided in the water supply pipe 5 is
When the water supply tank 8 is inserted, the switch 39 becomes an open side circuit (NO in the figure) by the pressing lever 38, and the thermostat 45 that rotates and stops the compressor motor 44.
The electric heater 12 is continuously energized by being connected in series with the above circuit. At this time, the neon tube 43 is off.

Subsequently, when the water supply tank 8 is pulled out, the switch 39 becomes a closed side circuit (NC in the figure),
The electric heater 12 is energized only when the circuit of the compressor motor 44 of the thermostat 45 is on the rotation side (NC in the drawing), that is, energized only during the cooling operation. At this time, the neon tube 43 is on. In this way, the electric heater 12 prevents the water in the water supply pipe 5 from being frozen during water supply.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the connection cord 13 of the electric heater 12 is wired in the refrigerating chamber 6,
Cord guide rib 1 protruding downward from the refrigerator compartment ceiling 15
By passing the lower part from the tip of 7 and connecting the connection terminal 16 positioned above the cord guide rib 17, spillage of water in the freezer compartment 1 and double injection of water into the ice tray 2 due to a defective control circuit. Even if water flows out from the penetrating portion of the water supply pipe 5 of the partition wall 14 of the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerating compartment 6 due to the splashing of water, the connection cord 13 becomes an inverted U-shape. You can drain water because it is In addition, the humidity of the outside air due to opening and closing the refrigerator compartment 6 door (not shown)
Since the connection cord 13 cooled in the freezer compartment 1 is lower than the temperature of the refrigerating compartment 6, even if dew condensation forms on the connection cord 13 and water drops,
Since the connection cord 13 is hung down by the cord guide rib portion 17, water droplets can be prevented from landing on the connection terminal 16 portion by dropping and draining water at this portion.

Further, the connection cord 13 and the cord guide rib 17 can be covered by the hidden plate 20 which is integrated with the bottom plate 19 of the water supply device 18.

[0049]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides an ice tray and a water supply pipe for guiding the water sent by the water supply device to the ice tray, and a detachment for separating the ice blocks formed in the ice tray. A device, an ice storage for storing the ice blocks separated by the separation device, an electric heater provided in the water supply pipe and energized, a cord guide rib arranged at a position lower than the connection terminal portion of the electric heater connection cord, and connected. The concealed plate that is integrated with the water supply device that hides the cord and the cord guide rib ensures draining of the electric heater connection cord part of the water supply pipe, and smoke from insulation breakdown due to water entering the connection cord connection terminal part. It is possible to realize a highly safe ice making device by preventing ignition.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the main part of the ice making device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the water supply device.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a water supply pipe portion of the ice making device.

FIG. 5: Electric heater control circuit diagram of the ice making device

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional ice making device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Ice tray 3 Detachment device 4 Ice storage 5 Water supply pipe 12 Electric heater 13 Connection cord 16 Connection terminal 17 Code guide rib 18 Water supply device 20 Hidden plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ice tray, a water supply pipe for guiding water sent from a water supply device to the ice tray, a detaching device for detaching an ice block formed on the ice tray, and a detaching device for detaching the ice chunk. An ice storage for storing ice blocks, an electric heater provided in the water supply pipe and energized, a cord guide rib arranged at a position lower than a connection terminal portion of a connection cord of the electric heater, the connection cord and the cord guide rib. An ice-making device comprising a concealing plate integrated with a concealing water supply device.