JPH10103828A - Regulator for feed water amount for automatic icemaker of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a regulator for a feed water amount for an automatic icemaker of a refrigerator by measuring a water level in the icemaker and setting a predetermined quantity of feed water. SOLUTION: The regulator for a feed water amount comprises a first moisture sensor 160 for sensing a water level in an icemaking container 1145 at a position of a side supplied with water in the container 145, and a second moisture sensor 162 for controlling water supply upon energizing of the sensor 160 with the water in the container at a position of opposite side to a position of the side supplied with the water. The sensors 160, 162 are disposed on an initial recess l144a and a last recess l144d in the container, and a feed water pump 136 is stopped after the recesses 144 are fully filled with a quantity of the water at a full water level. Accordingly, a predetermined quantity of water is supplied to the container, ice releasing operation can be not only smoothly conducted after the icemaking operation, but also an ice production efficiency can be increased by fully filling the water to the last recess.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for adjusting the amount of water supplied to an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator, and more particularly to an apparatus for adjusting the amount of water supplied to an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator so that the amount of water supplied is constant. For controlling the amount of water supply of an automatic ice machine of a refrigerator for use in a refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, and an ice making compartment are provided inside a main body of a refrigerator. The air cooled by the cooler is supplied to a freezing room, a refrigerator room, and an ice making room by a fan, and the ice making room is provided with an ice making device. Water is supplied to the ice-making container provided in the ice-making room by a water supply device to make ice, and after the ice-making, the ice-making container is rotated by a driving mechanism to be turned upside down to separate the ice, to store the ice, and to further supply the ice-making container. The operation of making ice is repeated.

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view showing the ice making device 4. The ice making device 4 includes a rectangular box-shaped box 50 in the upper part of the ice making chamber. An L-shaped support member 41 protruding rearward is provided at one end of the rear surface of the box 50.

A motor 48 and a gear mechanism 4 are provided inside a box 50.
A drive device 49 including the drive shaft 7 and the output shaft 46 is provided. The driving device 49 reduces the rotation of the motor 48 by the gear mechanism 47 and transmits the rotation to the output shaft 46.

[0005] Inside the support member 41, an ice making container 45 is provided.
Is arranged. The center of the front part of the ice making container 45 is connected to the output shaft 46, and the center on the opposite side is rotatably supported by the support member 41 through the support shaft 42. The rotational force generated by the motor 48 is transmitted to the output shaft 46 through the gear mechanism 47 and the rotation of the output shaft 46 causes the ice making container 45 to rotate.
Can rotate.

A projection 43 is formed at the rear of the ice making container 45. When the ice container 45 rotates in the opposite direction, the protrusion 43 comes into contact with the support member 41 to prevent the ice container 45 from rotating. The ice making container 45 has the shape of a hexahedral container having an open upper surface, and is internally partitioned into a number of concave portions 44 for producing ice.

The recess 44 has a reverse mesa-shaped cross section so that ice can be easily removed from the ice making container 45. A water channel 45a is formed above the partition wall 44p that defines the concave portion 44, and supplies water to the concave portion 44 from a nearby concave portion 44 filled with a certain amount of water at a certain level.
Conversely, water is supplied from the concave portion 44 to the nearby concave portion 44.

The ice making container 45 is supplied with water by an ice making water supply device. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a water supply device 39 used in a conventional automatic ice maker of a refrigerator.

The ice making water supply device 39 has an ice making water supply tank 37 provided in the refrigerator. A water receiving tank 38 for receiving water in the ice making water supply tank 37 is provided, and a certain amount of water is provided to the ice making container 45 on the side of the water receiving tank 38 in communication with the water receiving tank 38. Basin 58 is provided.

A water supply pump 36 for supplying water in the measurement tank 58 to the ice making container 45 through a water supply pipe 35 is provided above the measurement tank 58. The water supply pump 36 sucks the water in the measuring tank 58 through the suction port 36a,
The water is discharged into the water supply pipe 35 through the discharge port 36b.
The ice making container 45 is provided with a temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting an ice making completion temperature for detecting that the supplied water is frozen and turned into ice.

At the top of the measuring tank 58, there is provided a pair of moisture sensors 54 which are adjacent to each other, and a lead wire 56 of the moisture sensor 54 is connected to a microcomputer (not shown).
It is connected to. The lower end of each of the moisture sensors 54 is immersed in the water in the measuring tank 58.

The ice making container 45 is initially supplied with water in the measuring tank 58 by operating the water supply pump 36 at a horizontal position. When the water supply pump 36 is operated, a large amount of water in the measuring tank 58 is initially sucked by the high-speed rotation of the pump. As the water is sucked and supplied to the ice making container 45, the amount of water in the measuring tank 58 is reduced. Then, the water in the water receiving tank 38 moves into the measuring tank 58. At this time, since the amount of water supplied to the ice making container 45 is larger than the amount of movement to the measuring tank 58, the lower ends of the pair of moisture sensing sensors 54 immersed in the measuring tank 58 are positioned above the water surface. Exposed. When the lower end of the moisture sensor 54 is exposed above the water surface, the operation of the water supply pump 36 is stopped by a signal from the microcomputer.

As the water in the measuring tank 58 decreases, the water in the water receiving tank 38 flows into the measuring tank 58. At this time, the lower end of the moisture sensor 54 is exposed to the upper part of the water surface within a relatively short time after the initial operation of the water supply pump 36,
Even after the operation of the water supply pump 36 is stopped, the water receiving tank 3
8 flows into the measuring tank 58, and the water surface in the water receiving tank 38 and the water surface in the measuring tank 58 have the same height.

The water supplied into the ice making container 45 flows into the respective concave portions 44 sequentially through the flow passages 45a formed at the upper part of the partition wall 44p. However, when the amount of water supplied into the ice making container 45 is small,
Finally, the amount of water in the concave portion 44d filled with water is smaller than the amount of water in the concave portion 44a filled first.

When the amount of water in the concave portion 44 is small, the contact area between the ice in the ice making container 45 and the inner surface of the ice making container 45 becomes small after the ice making operation is completed. Then, there is a problem in that the ice releasing operation due to the twisting of the ice making container 45 is poor and the amount of ice to be iced is reduced.

The water supply adjusting device 52 includes a measuring tank 58.
Due to the upper position, the structure of the water supply adjusting device 52 is complicated, which is not only difficult to assemble at the time of manufacture, but also inconvenient for maintenance and repair.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the technical problem of the present invention is to measure a water level in an ice machine of a refrigerator and to measure a fixed amount of water. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for adjusting the amount of water supplied to an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator so that ice of a certain size can be generated by supplying water.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an apparatus for adjusting the water supply of an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator for supplying a fixed amount of water at a constant water level to an ice maker of the refrigerator. A first moisture detection sensor provided at a location on the side of the ice making container to which water is supplied, for sensing a water level in the ice making container; and a first moisture sensor on the side of the ice making container to which the water is supplied. Water supply for an automatic ice maker provided at a location opposite to the location and having a second moisture sensing sensor for controlling the supply of the water by supplying electricity to the first moisture sensing sensor with water in the ice making container; Provides a quantity adjustment device.

Further, the present invention provides an ice making container having a plurality of grooves which are sequentially filled with ice making water, a pump for supplying water to the ice making container through a pipe, and a pump for supplying water in the ice making container. A first moisture sensor for detecting a water level in the ice making container provided at a location on the side where the water is supplied; and a first moisture sensor provided at a location opposite to the location on the side where the water is supplied in the ice making container. A second moisture sensor for supplying a certain amount of ice making water having a certain water level into the ice making container by controlling the operation of the pump by supplying electricity to the first water sensing sensor with water in the ice making container; Provided is an ice making device for a refrigerator having a sensor.

The ice making container has a plurality of recesses into which water flows in sequentially, and the first moisture sensor is located on the first of the recesses into which ice making water flows first. The second moisture sensor is located on the last concave portion into which the ice making water flows last. At this time, the first moisture sensor is located at the same height as the certain water level or below the certain water level, and the second moisture sensor is located above the certain water level and the first water sensor The supply of water is controlled to be constant by interrupting the supply of water to the ice making container when the moisture sensor and the second water level sensor are energized.

[0021]

According to the present invention, the sensors for detecting moisture are located on the first concave portion where water flows first and the last concave portion where water finally flows in the ice making container, so that each concave portion of the ice making container has a full water level. After the water is filled with the amount of water, the operation of the water supply pump is stopped. Therefore, after the ice making operation is performed by supplying a certain amount of water to the ice making container, not only the ice removing operation is smoothly performed, but also the ice production efficiency can be increased by filling the last concave portion with water.

The above objects and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some preferred embodiments of the present invention to which reference is now made.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an ice making device 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. The ice making device 140 includes a box 150 in the shape of a rectangular box in an upper part of the ice making chamber. One end of the rear surface of the box 150 has a rearwardly projecting L
A letter-shaped support member 141 is provided.

A driving device 149 including a motor 148, a gear mechanism 147, and an output shaft 146 is provided inside the box 150. The driving device 149 reduces the rotation of the motor 148 by the gear mechanism 147 and transmits the rotation to the output shaft 146.

The ice making container 1 is provided inside the support member 141.
45 are arranged. The front center of the ice making container 145 is connected to an output shaft 146, and the opposite center is rotatably supported by a support member 141 through a support shaft 142. The rotation force generated from the motor 148 is
Is transmitted to the output shaft 146, and the rotation of the output shaft 146 allows the ice making container 145 to rotate.

A projection 143 is formed at the rear of the ice making container 145. The protrusion 143 contacts the support member 141 when the ice making container 145 rotates in the opposite direction, and prevents the ice making container 145 from rotating. The ice making container 145 has the shape of a hexahedral container having an open top, and is internally partitioned into a number of concave portions 144 by partition walls 144p for producing ice.

The recess 144 has an inverted mesa (reverse trapezoidal) shape in side cross section so that ice can be easily separated from the ice making container 145. A water channel 145a is formed at the upper part of the partition wall 144p that divides the concave portion 144, and supplies water to the nearby concave portion 144 from the concave portion 144 filled with a certain amount of water at a certain level, and conversely, from the nearby concave portion 144. For example, water is supplied to the concave portion 144.

Water is supplied to the ice making container 145 by an ice making water supply device. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a water supply device 139 used in an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The ice making water supply device 139 has an ice making water supply tank 137 disposed in the refrigerator. A water receiving tank 138 for receiving water in the ice making water supply tank 137 is provided, and a certain amount of water is communicated with the water receiving tank 138 on a side portion of the water receiving tank 138 to supply the ice making container 145 with water. A metering tank 158 for providing is provided.

The measuring tank 158 is provided above the measuring tank 158.
The water supply pump 136 for supplying the water in the ice making container 145 via the water supply pipe 135 is provided. Water supply pump 1
36 sucks the water in the measuring tank 158 through a suction port 136a, and feeds the water supply pipe 1 through a discharge port 136b.
Exhale to 35. The ice making container 145 is provided with a temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting an ice making completion temperature for detecting that the supplied water is frozen and turned into ice.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the ice making container 14
First moisture sensing sensor 160 for sensing the water level in 5
Is provided. Further, the ice making container 145 is provided at a position opposite to the side of the ice making container 145 to which water is supplied.
The second moisture sensor 16 for controlling the supply of the water by supplying electricity to the first moisture sensor 160 with the water in the
2 are provided. The first and second moisture sensors 16
0, 162 can be used in a form having a simple metal electrode structure because they can be used only by having a structure in which current can flow through water.

The ice making container 145 has a plurality of recesses 144a, 144b, 144c, 144d into which water flows in sequence.
And the first moisture sensor 160 is provided with the recess 14.
4a, 144b, 144c, and 144d, a concave portion 144a into which ice-making water that is a water supply side first flows in.
The second moisture sensing sensor 162 is located on the last concave portion 144d where ice making water is finally introduced, that is, on the opposite side to the water supply side.

The first moisture sensor 160 may be positioned at the same height as the predetermined amount of water that determines the amount of water flowing into the last recess 144d, or may be positioned below a certain water level. The second moisture sensor 162
Is located on the same water level as the water level based on the amount of water flowing into the last recess 144d (the water level of the certain amount of water).
Accordingly, when water is supplied to the ice making container 145 through the water supply pipe 135 by the action of the pump 136, the water is supplied from the first concave portion 144a to the last concave portion 144d sequentially. When the amount of water supplied to the last concave portion 144d reaches a certain amount, the second moisture sensor 162 is in a state where it can be energized with the first moisture sensor 160. Ice making container 14
Since the water supplied to 5 generally contains electrically ionic impurities such as inorganic ions, the first moisture sensor 160 and the second moisture sensor 162 can be energized.

The first moisture sensor 160 and the second moisture sensor 160
When the moisture sensor 162 is energized, an electric signal is transmitted to a microcomputer (not shown), and the microcomputer sends a pump 13 for supplying water to the ice making container 145.
6. Stop the operation of 6.

When the supply of water is completed, the first and second moisture sensors 160 and 162 are separated from the ice making container 145 by a separating device (not shown) to perform an ice making operation. Is desirable. Thus, the first
And the second moisture sensing sensors 160 and 162
5, the first and second moisture sensors 160 and 162 can be protected and the deicing operation can be performed smoothly.

Hereinafter, the operation of the water supply device of the ice making machine having the above-described configuration will be described.

The ice making container 145 is initially in a horizontal position, and the water in the measuring tank 158 is supplied by the operation of the water supply pump 136. When the water supply pump 136 is operated, the water in the measuring tank 158 is sucked by the rotation of the pump, and the first concave portion 1 is formed.
It is discharged to the discharge port 44a through the discharge port 136b of the pump 136. When the water is sucked and supplied to the ice making container 145, the first concave portion 144a is filled.
Water flows to the next concave portion 144b through a water channel 145a formed above the partition wall 144p. Therefore, the concave portions 144a, 144b, 144c, 144 of the ice making container 145 are provided.
As for d, water flows sequentially from the first concave portion 144a to the final concave portion 144d.

When the water flows into the last recess 144d and reaches the water level where the second moisture sensor 162 is located, the second moisture sensor 162 comes into contact with ice making water. Therefore, the second moisture sensor 162 is connected to the first recess 1.
Electricity can be supplied to the first moisture sensor 160 that is in contact with the ice making water in 44a, and such an energized state is transmitted to the microcomputer to stop the operation of the water supply pump 136.

On the other hand, if the first moisture sensor 160 and the second moisture sensor 162 are not energized within a predetermined time after the operation of the water supply motor 136, a warning light (not shown) is used. Notify the user to refill the water supply.

Next, when the water flows into the last concave portion 144d to the full water level and the operation of the water supply pump 136 is stopped, the first and second moisture detecting sensors 160 and 162 are separated from the ice making container 145. Perform the ice making operation. After the ice making operation, the temperature sensor for detecting the ice making completion temperature
It detects that the water supplied into the ice making container 145 has frozen and turned into ice. When the ice making is completed, the ice making container 145 is turned upside down to perform a de-icing action by a twisting operation. After the ice release operation, the ice making container 145 is further rotated to the initial state,
As described above, the first and second moisture detecting sensors 160 and 162 respectively include the first recess 144a and the last recess 14a.
After being located at 4d, the water supply pump 136 is further operated to perform a water supply operation. Ice can be automatically manufactured by repeating such an operation.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sensors for detecting moisture are located at the first concave portion and the last concave portion in the ice making container, and each of the concave portions of the ice making container has a full water level. The operation of the water supply pump is stopped after being filled with the amount of water. Accordingly, not only can the ice releasing operation be smoothly performed after the ice making operation by supplying a constant amount to the ice making container, but also the ice production efficiency can be increased by filling the last concave portion with water.

Also, since the first and second moisture detecting sensors can be formed with a simple electrode structure, the water supply device can be manufactured easily and easily, and maintenance and repair are easy.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and any person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs may depart from the spirit and spirit of the present invention. Rather, the invention could be modified or changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view showing a conventional ice making device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a water supply amount adjusting device used in a conventional automatic ice machine of a refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view showing an ice making device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a water supply adjusting device used in an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 135 water supply pipe 136 water supply pump 136a suction port 136b discharge port 137 water supply tank 138 water receiving tank 139 water supply device 141 supporting member 144 concave portion 145 ice making container 146 output shaft 149 driving device 158 measuring tank 160, 162 first and second moisture sensing

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for adjusting the amount of water supply in an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator for supplying a fixed amount of water at a constant water level into an ice maker of a refrigerator, wherein a point on the side of the ice maker where water is supplied is provided. A first moisture sensor for detecting a water level in the ice making container, provided at a position opposite to a side to which the water is supplied in the ice making container; An apparatus for adjusting a water supply amount of an automatic ice maker, comprising: a second moisture sensor for controlling supply of the water by supplying electricity to the first moisture sensor with water in the interior. 2. The ice making container has a plurality of recesses into which water is sequentially introduced, and the first moisture sensor is located on a first one of the recesses into which ice making water is first introduced. The second moisture sensor is located on a last concave portion into which the ice making water flows last.
2. The water supply adjusting device for an automatic ice maker according to claim 1. 3. The first moisture sensor is located at the same height as the predetermined water level or below the predetermined water level, and the second moisture detection sensor is positioned above the predetermined water level, The supply amount of water is controlled to be constant by interrupting supply of water to the ice making container when the first moisture sensor and the second moisture sensor are energized. Item 2. An apparatus for adjusting the amount of water supplied to an automatic ice maker according to Item 1. 4. An ice making container provided with a plurality of grooves which are successively filled with ice making water, a pump for supplying water to the ice making container through a pipe, and a pump for supplying water in the ice making container. A first moisture sensor for detecting a water level in the ice-making container provided at a location; and the ice-making container provided at a location opposite to a location on the water-supply side in the ice-making vessel. A second moisture sensor for supplying a constant amount of ice making water having a constant water level to the ice making container by controlling the operation of the pump by supplying electricity to the first moisture sensing sensor with water in the container; An ice making device for a refrigerator, comprising: 5. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the first moisture sensor is located on a first of the recesses into which ice making water is first introduced, and the second moisture sensor is a last of the ice making water flowing into the recess. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first concave portion is located on the last concave portion.
3. The ice making device for a refrigerator according to claim 1. 6. The first moisture sensor is located at the same height as the certain water level or below the certain water level, and the second moisture sensor is located above the certain water level and When the first moisture sensor and the second water sensor are energized, the operation of the pump is stopped to interrupt the supply of water to the ice making container, thereby controlling the supply amount of the water to be constant. The ice making device for a refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein: