JPH10259973A - Automated ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To release a locked state of a driving motor and prevent ice making machine function from being lost even when an ice making pan is not rotated normarily. SOLUTION: When ice separation operation is started, a driving motor 21 is positively rotated. Then, unless a first detection switch 32 detects an inversion position of an ice making pan, the driving motor 21 is reversely rotated with ice making pan rotation failure judgement means 57. Hereby, even when the driving motor 21 is locked, the locking state is released at once. Since the ice making pan is restored to a normal state upon ice making before the ice separation operation, the ice making function is not lost.

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 machine having an improved method of controlling a driving motor when rotation of an ice tray is abnormal after ice making.

[0002]

Conventionally, an automatic ice maker mounted in this type of freezer stores water supplied from a water supply device in an ice tray to make ice, and drives the ice tray after ice making. By rotating the motor forward from the stop position to the reversing position by the motor and reversing the upper and lower sides, the ice in the ice tray is dropped onto an ice storage unit such as an ice box, and the ice releasing operation is performed. At this time, when the detection switch serving as the detecting means detects the inverted position of the ice tray, the driving motor reversely rotates the ice tray from the inverted position to the original stop position, and then the detection switch detects the stop position of the ice tray. Then, the power supply to the drive motor is stopped, and the process proceeds to the next water supply operation.

[0003] In the above configuration, for example, when a foreign object enters a rotating portion of an ice tray or a gear portion of a driving device and the ice tray does not rotate normally, a detection switch does not perform a predetermined detection. Alternatively, the energization of the drive motor is continued as it is, or the energization of the drive motor is stopped after a lapse of a predetermined time longer than a normal ice-removal cycle. However, in the former case, if the energization of the drive motor is continued without restriction, there is a problem that the drive motor itself generates heat due to the motor lock. In the latter case, the power supply to the drive motor is stopped while the ice tray does not rotate normally.
Thereafter, the ice making function is lost and the ice making operation cannot be performed.

[0004] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an automatic ice maker which can release the locked state of the driving motor in a short time even if the ice tray does not rotate normally and does not lose the ice making function. Its purpose is to

[0005]

The automatic ice making machine of the present invention comprises:
In order to achieve the above object, the ice making tray is rotated forward from the stop position to the reversing position after the ice making by the driving motor, and when the reversing position of the ice making tray is detected by the detection means, the driving motor is rotated in the reverse direction, When the detecting means detects the stop position of the ice tray, in the automatic ice making machine that stops the energization of the driving motor and performs the ice removing operation, a predetermined time elapses after the driving motor is rotated forward. Even if the detecting means does not perform position detection, the apparatus further includes an ice tray rotation abnormality determining means for reversely rotating the driving motor.

According to the above configuration, even if the driving motor is locked by the invasion of foreign matter, the driving motor is immediately rotated in the reverse direction and the locked state is released. , The heat generated by the driving motor hardly occurs. Also, when the rotation of the ice tray is determined to be abnormal, the drive motor is rotated in the reverse direction without stopping the drive motor. It recovers to the normal condition when ice was made. Therefore, even in a failure state where the ice tray does not rotate normally, the ice making function can be performed again without losing the ice making function. Furthermore, the time for determining the abnormality of the rotation operation of the ice tray may be set slightly longer than the time required for the ice tray to rotate forward and reach the reversal position.
Therefore, the fixed time, which is the set time for the abnormality determination, can be set short, and the locked state of the driving motor can be released in a short time.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the automatic ice maker according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First,
The overall configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. Reference numeral 1 denotes an ice tray having an open upper surface and rotatable in forward and reverse directions. And a base cover 3 constituting an outer shell of the drive device 2. An ice box 4 is provided on the lower surface of the ice tray 1 as an ice storage section that can be inserted and removed, and the ice box 4 is configured to store ice separated from the ice tray 1. Ice tray 1
For example, it is made of a deformable material such as plastic, and the inside is partitioned by a plurality of blocks 5 for ice making. In addition, a cool air duct 7 for introducing cool air to the ice tray 1 through the opening 6 is provided above the ice tray 1. The output shaft 8 of the driving device 2 is connected to a front center portion of the ice tray 1, and a support shaft 9 pivotally supported on the inner surface of the cool air duct 7 is connected to an opposite rear center portion. . The ice tray 1 is rotatably supported around the output shaft 8 and the support shaft 9.

An outwardly protruding convex portion 11 is formed on one side of the rear portion of the ice tray 1. When the ice tray 1 rotates in the forward or reverse direction, the convex portion 11 comes into contact with the inner surface of the cool air duct 7 to regulate the movement thereof. Reference numeral 12 denotes an ice making sensor mounted on the back side of the ice making tray 1. The ice making sensor 12 detects the temperature of the ice making tray 1. The ice making sensor 12 has a heat insulating material 13 below the ice making tray 1.
Although it is provided in a state covered with, the heat insulating material 13
It is provided to remove an error in temperature detection due to the direct contact of the cold air with the ice making sensor 12. Further, a base shaft 14 is provided on one side of the base cover 3.
An ice storage detection arm 15 that pivots up and down about 14 is provided above the ice box 4 along the front and rear direction of the ice tray 1. Although not shown here, water stored in the water supply device is supplied to each block 5 of the ice tray 1 through a water supply pipe.

Next, the internal structure of the drive unit 2 will be described in detail. Inside the base cover 3 having a substantially rectangular box shape, there is provided a rotation drive source for the ice tray 1, which rotates in the forward and reverse directions. A drive motor 21; a first-stage worm gear 22 provided on a rotation shaft of the drive motor 21;
An intermediate stage gear 24 corresponding to a speed reduction mechanism for transmitting the rotational force to the final stage gear 23 is provided. Further, in order to supply a drive voltage to the drive motor 21, a pair of lead wires 25 is connected to the printed circuit board 26. An output shaft 8 connected to the ice tray 1 is provided on the rear side of the last gear 23 so as to protrude from the base cover 3. When the driving motor 21 rotates in the forward direction, the rotating force is reduced by the first worm gear 22. Through the intermediate gear 24 to the meshing portion 27 formed on the outer peripheral portion of the final gear 23, and the final gear 23 and the ice tray 1 rotate in the direction of arrow S in FIG. Conversely, when the driving motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction, the final gear 23 and the ice tray 1 are configured to rotate in the direction opposite to the arrow S in FIG. The meshing portion 27 is formed not in the entire circumference of the final gear 23 but only in a range where the final gear 23 and thus the ice tray 1 is normally rotated. This is because when the ice tray 1 exceeds the normal rotation range, the mesh between the intermediate gear 24 and the meshing portion 27 is released, and the driving motor 21 is released.
Therefore, the locked state of the drive motor 21 can be prevented.

A support piece 31 formed inside the base cover 3
The above-mentioned printed circuit board 26 is attached and fixed.
On the front side of the printed circuit board 26, that is, on the side facing the final gear 23, a first detection switch 32 as a detection means for detecting the stop (horizontal) position and the upside-down inverted position of the ice tray 1 is provided.
And a second detection switch 33 for detecting the position of the ice storage detection arm 15 and detecting the amount of ice stored in the ice box 4. Each of the first detection switch 32 and the second detection switch 33 in the present embodiment is formed of a Hall IC using a Hall effect that generates a potential difference by a magnetic field. The printed circuit board 26 is connected to a lead wire (not shown) of the ice making sensor 12 and the like in addition to the lead wire 25 of the drive motor 21, and also functions as a relay board with the outside of the base cover 3. Play. Reference numeral 34 denotes an external lead wire drawn out from the back side of the printed circuit board 26.

An ice tray position detecting lever 36, which is rotatable about a shaft 35 on the base end side, is provided near the upper end of the final gear 23. A magnet 37 serving as a magnetic field generating means is disposed on the tip side of the ice tray position detecting lever 36 in close proximity to the first detection switch 32. In addition, a projection 39 that fits into a cam groove 38 on the front surface of the final gear 23 is formed substantially at the center of the ice tray position detection lever 36 that is narrowed in a V shape. The protrusion 39 moves along the cam groove 38. When the ice tray 1 is located near the horizontal position or the reversing position, the protrusion 39 is located relatively on the outer peripheral side of the final gear 23. While the other ice tray 1 is being rotated by the driving motor 21, the projection 39 is formed with a step so that it is located relatively inward of the final gear 23. Therefore, the magnet 37 on the tip side of the ice tray position detection lever 36 is
Only when the ice tray 1 is in the vicinity of the horizontal position or the reversing position, the ice tray 1 moves upward and comes close to the first detection switch 32.

Reference numeral 41 denotes an arm drive lever capable of abutting a distal end portion 42 on one side of the base shaft 14 constituting the ice storage detection arm 15. The arm drive lever 41 is provided so as to be rotatable about a shaft portion 43, and a base end portion 44 of the arm drive lever 41 is fitted into another cam groove (not shown) provided at a rear portion of the final gear 23. doing. Then, with the rotation of the final gear 23, the distal end portion 42 of the arm drive lever 41 gradually moves upward and the base shaft 14
When the base shaft 14 is rotated so as to move the ice storage detection arm 15 upward, and the ice making operation of the ice tray 1 is completed and the ice tray 1 returns to the horizontal position, the distal end portion 42 of the arm drive lever 41 moves downward. And is separated from the base shaft 14. Therefore, the ice storage detection arm 15 stops at a position where it comes into contact with the upper surface of the ice stored in the ice box 4 except when the ice tray 1 is performing the ice releasing operation.

The base shaft 14 of the ice storage detection arm 15 has this base shaft
An arm position detection lever 46 rotatable about 14 is provided. On the tip side of this arm position detection lever 46,
A magnet 47 serving as a magnetic field generating means is disposed in close proximity to the second detection switch 33. The magnet 47 moves in the front-rear direction on the surface of the printed circuit board 26 in accordance with the position of the ice storage detection arm 15, and detects the amount of ice stored in the ice box 8 based on the positional relationship between the magnet 47 and the second detection switch 33. Is performed. In the present embodiment, the first detection switch 32 and the second detection switch 33 using the Hall effect are used, but these may be configured by a photoelectric conversion element combining a light emitting element and a light receiving element. .

FIG. 5 shows the electrical configuration of the automatic ice maker. In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) that controls each step related to water supply, ice making, and ice separation. On the input side of the control means 52 constituting the microcomputer 51, in addition to the temperature detection signal from the ice making sensor 12, an ice tray position detection signal from the first detection switch 32 and an arm from the second detection switch 33 A position detection signal is provided to terminals S1 and S2, respectively. The first detection switch 32 and the second detection switch 33 are grounded by a common ground terminal GND, and a predetermined operation voltage is supplied from a voltage supply terminal + V. On the other hand, the output side of the control means 52 is connected to the drive motor 21 and a water supply pump 53 provided in the water supply device.

The control means 52 performs a control sequence of a program stored in a storage device (not shown) by itself.
Normally, the ice making tray 1 is rotated forward from the stop position to the reverse position after the ice is made by the driving motor 21 and the first detection switch 32 is turned on.
Detects the reversing position of the ice tray 1, the drive motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the first detection switch 32 is
Is provided with an ice release control means 55 for stopping the energization of the drive motor 21 when detecting the stop position. Further, the ice removing control means 55 is a timer functioning as a timer for starting time counting from the start of the ice removing operation for rotating the driving motor 21 in the forward direction.
56, when a predetermined ice tray position detection signal is not sent from the first detection switch 32 to the control means 52 even if the rotation operation time of the ice tray 1 measured by the timing means 56 elapses a predetermined time. An ice tray rotation abnormality determining means 57 for determining that there is some abnormality in the rotation operation of the ice tray 1 and for rotating the driving motor 21 in the reverse direction.

Next, the operation of the automatic ice maker in the above configuration will be described with reference to the graph of FIG. 5 and the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Each graph in FIG. 5 shows the operation state of each unit at the time of ice removal by the ice removal control means 55, and the top row shows the arm position detection signal (output voltage) of the second detection switch 33. Hereinafter, the position of the ice storage detection arm 15, the ice tray position detection signal (output voltage) of the first detection switch 32, the input voltage supplied to the drive motor 21, and the rotation position of the ice tray 1 will be described. They are shown in order.

In the flowchart of FIG.
During the ice making operation for making ice in the water inside (step S1), the ice tray 1 is at the horizontal position, and each part of the driving device 2 is at the position shown in FIG. In this case, the protrusion of the ice tray position detection lever 36
39 is fitted in the cam groove 38 of the final gear 23 and is located on the outer peripheral side of the final gear 23. The magnet 37 on the tip side of the ice tray position detecting lever 36 is connected to the first detection switch 32. And close to. Accordingly, the magnetic force from the magnet 37 acts, and an on-state detection signal indicating that the ice tray 1 is at the horizontal position is output from the first detection switch 32. In the horizontal position of the ice tray 1, the tip 42 of the arm drive lever 41 is located away from the base shaft 14 of the ice storage arm 15, and unless the ice in the ice box 4 is full, the ice storage arm 15 moves downward by its own weight, and the magnet 47 on the tip side of the arm position detection lever 46
The second detection switch 33 is opposed to the second detection switch 33. Therefore, the magnetic force from this magnet 47 acts, and the ice box 4
A second detection switch 33 outputs an on-state detection signal indicating that the ice in the inside is not full.

When the ice in the ice box 4 is full, the ice storage arm 15 cannot move downward due to the ice, so that the magnet 47 is separated from the second detection switch 47 and is turned off from the second detection switch 33. Is output. Therefore, the control means 52 continues the next step S until the full condition of the ice in the ice box 4 is released.
It waits for the ice removal operation after the second.

If the detection temperature of the ice making sensor 12 decreases to a temperature at which ice can be removed while the second detection switch 33 is outputting the ON-state detection signal (steps S1 and S1).
2) In step S3, the control means 52 of the microcomputer 51 starts the ice removing operation by the ice removing control means 55 by rotating the driving motor 21 forward. At the same time, the time counting means 56 starts time counting in step S4.

When the drive motor 21 rotates forward, the final gear
23 rotates in the direction of the arrow S (see FIG. 4), and the ice tray 1 gradually rotates from the horizontal position to the reverse position. Then, the protrusion 39 of the ice tray position detection lever 36 moves to the inner peripheral side of the final gear 23 along the cam groove 38, and the magnet 37 also moves to a position away from the first detection switch 32. Therefore, when the ice removing operation is started, the detection signal from the first detection switch 32 is immediately switched to the off state indicating that the ice tray 1 is rotating in the forward direction. Thereafter, when the ice tray 1 is further rotated and the convex portion 11 comes into contact with the inner surface of the cool air duct 7, the final stage gear 23 is still supplied with the rotational force from the drive motor 21. It will no longer rotate itself and will be twisted. With the rotation of the final gear 23, the projection 39 of the ice tray position detecting lever 36 is moved to the cam groove 38.
Move to the outer peripheral side of the final gear 23 along
The first detection switch 32 outputs an ON-state detection signal indicating that the ice tray 1 is in an inverted state.

On the other hand, the tip 42 of the arm drive lever 41
When the ice releasing operation starts and the final gear 23 starts to rotate, it comes into contact with the base shaft 14 in the middle of the rotation. Accordingly, the base shaft 14 rotates, the ice storage detection arm 15 moves upward, and the magnet at the tip side of the arm position detection lever 46 is moved.
47 also moves to a position gradually separated from the second detection switch 33. Then, when the ice storage detection arm 15 moves up to a certain position, the detection signal of the second detection switch 33 switches from on to off. The reason why the ice storage detection arm 15 is moved upward before the ice tray 1 is completely inverted is to prevent the ice storage detection arm 15 from being buried by the ice dropped from the ice tray 1 and becoming immobile.

In such a series of operations, the control means 52
The ice making tray rotation abnormality determining means 57 determines whether or not the time counting by the time counting means 56 has passed a predetermined time t0 (step S5). When the first detection switch 23 outputs an on-state detection signal indicating the inverted state of the ice tray 1 before the predetermined time t0 elapses (step S6), the control means 52 determines that the ice tray 1 is normal. , It is determined that the rotation state has been reached, and as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
After the drive motor 21 is rotated forward until the fixed time t1 has elapsed (step S7), the process proceeds to step S8.
The energization of the drive motor 21 is stopped. This fixed time t1
If the ice tray 1 exceeds the normal rotation range on the way, the engagement between the intermediate gear 24 and the engagement portion 27 is released, and the locked state of the drive motor 21 is avoided. When the ice tray 1 is twisted to the maximum rotation angle, the ice in the ice tray 1 separates,
Fall into the ice box 4.

In the step S8, the driving motor
After a certain period of time t2 has elapsed after the stop of the motor 21 (step S9), the control means 52 rotates the driving motor 21 in the reverse direction to rotate the ice tray 1 from the reverse position to the normal position. When the driving motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction, even if the meshing between the intermediate gear 24 and the meshing portion 27 is released, the ice tray 1
Is in a twisted state, the reciprocating force of the ice tray 1 causes the intermediate stage gear 24 and the meshing portion 27 to mesh again. Therefore, the reverse operation of the ice tray 1 is not affected.

When the driving motor 21 rotates in the reverse direction, the components of the driving device 2 operate completely in the opposite direction as when the ice tray 1 rotates in the normal direction. In other words, the reverse rotation of the final gear 23 moves the magnet 37 at the tip end of the ice tray position detection lever 36 to a position away from the first detection switch 32, so that the ice tray 1 rotates in the reverse direction. The first detection switch 32 outputs an off-state detection signal indicating that the switch is ON. Further, the tip end portion 42 of the arm drive lever 41 also gradually moves downward from the middle, so that the ice storage detection arm 15 is moved by its own weight to the ice box 4.
When the user touches the upper surface of the ice inside, the tip end portion 42 of the arm drive lever 41 separates from the base shaft 14. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the ice storage detection arm 15 has moved to the lowest position. In the course of the lowering of the ice storage detection arm 15, the magnet 47 at the tip end of the arm position detection lever 46 is moved to the second position.
The detection signal of the second detection switch 33 is switched from the off state to the on state.

When the ice tray 1 returns to the horizontal position, the magnet at the tip of the ice tray position detecting lever 36 is turned off.
37 again approaches the first detection switch 32, and an on-state detection signal is output from the first detection switch 32 in step S11. In the next step S12, after a predetermined time t3 has elapsed, the control means 52 stops supplying power to the drive motor 21 and ends a series of ice removing operations. After that,
Returning to the procedure of step S1, the next ice making operation is performed.

On the other hand, in steps S5 and S6,
If the detection signal from the first detection switch 32 does not switch to ON even after the fixed time t0 has elapsed since the start of the normal rotation of the driving motor 21, the ice tray 1 does not rotate normally, It is determined that it is in the locked state, and the process proceeds to step S21. Here, the ice tray rotation abnormality determining means 57
Is forcibly rotating the driving motor 21 in the reverse direction,
The gear portion, ie, the first stage worm gear 22, the last stage gear 23, the foreign matter caught in the intermediate stage gear 24, the ice caught in the ice tray 1, the frozen food, and the driving motor 21 locked by the ice scoop, Return to normal immediately. afterwards,
When the drive motor 21 returns to the horizontal position and the detection signal of the first detection switch 32 is turned on in step S11, the power supply to the drive motor 21 is stopped after a certain period of time t3 has elapsed, and the process returns to step S1. The ice making operation is performed.

As described above, in this embodiment, if the first detection switch 32 does not perform position detection even after a certain period of time t0 after the drive motor 21 is rotated forward, the ice tray rotation is performed. The abnormality determining means 57 determines that there is some abnormality in the rotation operation of the ice tray 1, and rotates the driving motor 21 in the reverse direction. Therefore, even if the driving motor 21 is locked by a foreign matter caught in the gear portion of the driving device 2 or the rotating portion of the ice tray 1, the driving motor 21 is immediately rotated in the reverse direction to release the locked state. Therefore, heat generation of the driving motor 21 due to continuous energization of the driving motor 21 without limitation as in the related art hardly occurs. Further, when it is determined that the rotation operation of the ice tray 1 is abnormal, the drive motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction without stopping the drive motor 21 at that time, so that when the ice tray 1 returns to the horizontal position, that is, the stop position, The ice tray 1 recovers to a normal state at the time of ice making before the ice releasing operation. Therefore, even if the ice tray 1 reaches a failure state in which the ice tray 1 does not rotate normally, the ice making operation can be performed again without losing the ice making function.

Further, in the prior art, if the energization of the driving motor is stopped due to an abnormality, the subsequent ice making function is lost. Therefore, the time for determining the abnormality is set to at least the ice-release cycle. In the example, the drive motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction when it is determined that there is an abnormality. Therefore, at least the time period in which the ice making tray 1 is determined to be in an abnormal state may be set to be slightly longer than the time until the ice making tray 1 rotates forward and reaches the reversal position. For this reason, since the set time of the abnormality determination, that is, the fixed time t0 can be set short, the locked state of the driving motor 21 can be released in a short time, and a failure due to the locking of the driving motor 21 can be prevented.

That is, after the ice making by the driving motor 21 is completed, the ice making tray 1 is normally rotated from the stop position to the reversing position, and when the first detection switch 32 as the detecting means detects the reversing position of the ice making tray 1, the driving motor 21 is turned on. When the first detection switch 32 detects the stop position of the ice tray 1 while rotating in the reverse direction, the drive motor 21 is rotated forward in an automatic ice maker that stops the energization of the drive motor 21 and performs the ice removing operation. After that, when the first detection switch 32 does not perform the position detection even after the lapse of the fixed time t0, the ice tray 1 is normally operated by providing the ice tray rotation abnormality determining means 57 for rotating the driving motor 21 in the reverse direction. Even if the rotation stops, the locked state of the driving motor 21 can be released in a short time, and the ice making function can be prevented from being lost.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0031]

According to the automatic ice making machine of the present invention, the ice making tray is rotated forward from the stop position to the reversing position after the ice making by the driving motor, and when the reversing position of the ice making tray is detected by the detecting means, the driving motor is turned on. When the detecting means detects the stop position of the ice making tray while rotating in the reverse direction, in the automatic ice making machine which stops the energization to the driving motor and performs the ice removing operation, after rotating the driving motor forward, An ice tray rotation abnormality determining unit that reversely rotates the driving motor when the detecting unit does not perform the position detection even after a certain period of time, and the ice tray does not rotate normally. In addition, it is possible to provide an automatic ice maker that can release the locked state of the driving motor in a short time and that does not lose the ice making function.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electric configuration of an automatic ice maker showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the automatic ice making machine.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the automatic ice making machine.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the same driving device.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an operation state of each unit of the above.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the above.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ice tray 21 Drive motor 32 First detection switch (detection means) 57 Ice tray rotation abnormality determination means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ice tray is rotated forward from a stop position to a reversing position after ice making by a driving motor, and when the reversing position of the ice tray is detected by a detecting means, the driving motor is reversely rotated and the ice tray is rotated. When the detecting means detects the stop position of the automatic ice making machine which stops the energization of the driving motor and performs the ice removing operation, even if a certain time has elapsed after the driving motor is rotated forward. An automatic ice making machine comprising: an ice tray rotation abnormality determining unit that reversely rotates the driving motor when the detecting unit does not perform position detection.