JPH11264640A - Ice crusher - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent misdetection of ice storage as full, which is caused by pieces of ice fallen at a specific position to form a high heap although there is still room left for storage, concerning the control of an ice crusher for supplying ice from an automatic icemaker. SOLUTION: An ice crusher 24 comprises a hopper for feeding ice, an arm for transmitting the ice to a crusher, a driving unit for rotating the arm by means of a motor, a rotational direction setting means 25 for setting the rotational direction of the driving unit, a first timer 28 for measuring time from the first occasion of reverse rotation of the arm for leveling pieces of ice heaped at a specific position in the hopper until the subsequent occasion of reverse rotation, and a second timer 29 for measuring the time of the reverse rotation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to control of an ice crusher provided in a refrigerator or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this kind of operation control is disclosed in
A configuration as shown in Japanese Patent No. 80548 is generally used.
The configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing control means of a conventional refrigerator, FIG. 8 is a side view showing the structure of an ice crusher of the refrigerator, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a main part showing the structure of a driving device of the ice crusher. is there. 7, 8, and 9, 1 is a refrigerator main body, 2 is a freezing room, and 3 is an ice crusher provided in a part of the freezing room 2 to crush ice to produce ice chips. Reference numeral 4 denotes a switch for operating the ice crusher 3 for operating the ice crusher 3. While the switch 4 is being pressed, the driving device 6 of the ice crusher 3 is operated by the motor driving means 5 to crush and discharge the ice. Reference numeral 7 denotes a hopper for charging ice, and has an arm 9 for feeding ice to the crushing unit 8. A fixed tooth 10 and a movable tooth 11 are provided in the crushing section 8, and the movable tooth 11 rotates, and crushes the ice therebetween to discharge ice pieces from the discharge port 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes an automatic ice making device, which pumps and stores a predetermined amount of water from a tank 15 storing the water in an ice tray 14 mounted on the automatic ice making device. Then, it is cooled by the temperature of the freezing compartment 2 and the temperature detecting means 1
7, the temperature of the temperature detector 18 attached to the ice tray 14 is checked, and if the temperature is lower than a certain set temperature, it is determined that the ice is frozen.
Then, a full ice detector 20 attached to the hopper 7 by the full ice detecting means 19 checks whether or not the inside of the hopper 7 indicates full ice. 14 is turned over and ice is put into the hopper 7. After that, the motor 22 is reversed and the ice tray 1 is rotated.
4 is returned to the original state, and then the pump driving means 2 is returned again.
Water is pumped up by a pump 16 by 3 and ice is stored in the hopper 7 by repeating this. When the hopper 7 is full of ice, the ice tray 14 is kept on standby until the ice is no longer full.

The operation of the ice crusher of the refrigerator configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional ice crusher. First, an input is taken in step 1, and it is checked in step 2 whether the switch 4 for crushing ice is pressed. If the switch 4 for crushing the ice is pressed, the operation proceeds to step 3 where the driving device 6 of the ice crusher 3 is turned on to break the ice and discharge the ice pieces from the discharge port 12. Use the ice pieces. If the switch 4 for the ice crushing operation is not depressed in step 2, the process proceeds to step 4 and the driving device 6 is turned off. Therefore, when the ice crusher 3 is used, the hopper 7 is provided with a cup or the like, and ice pieces are taken out while the switch 4 for crushing ice is pressed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional automatic ice making device. First, in step 101, an input is taken, and in step 102, the pump 16 is driven by the pump driving means 23 from the tank 15 storing water in the ice tray 14 to pump up a predetermined amount of water. Then, step 103
The temperature of the ice tray 14 is monitored by the temperature detecting means 17 at
When the temperature falls below a certain set temperature, it is determined that the pumped water is frozen, and the routine proceeds to step 104. At step 104, the full ice detecting means 19 checks whether the full ice detector 20 indicates the full ice in the hopper 7, and if it indicates the full ice, it stands by until the ice is no longer in the full ice state. If not, the process proceeds to step 105. Step 105
Then, the motor 22 is moved by the ice maker driving means 21 to invert the ice tray 14, and the ice in the ice tray 14 is dropped into the hopper 7. Then, in step 106, the ice tray 14 is returned to the original state, and the process returns to step 101. Thus,
The automatic ice making device 13 always works to keep the hopper 7 full.

[0007]

However, in the above-described conventional ice crusher 3, since the position where the ice falls from the automatic ice making device 13 is constant, only the place where the ice falls is as shown in FIG. Ice is piled up, and the hopper 7 as a whole detects that the ice is full even though there is room to store a larger amount of ice, and eventually only a small amount of ice is not stored. Therefore,
Even if the user wanted a lot of ice at a time, there was a problem that he could not meet the request.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice crusher free from the above-mentioned problems.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a rotation direction setting means for setting a rotation direction of a driving device of an ice crusher, and a method for removing ice piled up at a specific location in a hopper. A first timer that counts the time from the reverse rotation of the arm to the next reverse rotation for averaging, and a second timer that counts the reverse rotation time are provided, and the arm is moved for a predetermined time at regular intervals. It is configured to average the ice piled up at a specific location by reverse rotation.

As a result, the ice falling from the automatic ice making device in the hopper collects at a specific location and is piled up, and it is detected that the whole hopper is full ice even though there is room for storing more ice. In this way, it is possible to prevent the conventional ice crusher from storing only a small amount of ice.

In the present invention, a timer is provided for reversing the arm to count the ice piled up at a specific location in the hopper and counting the reverse rotation time, and the full ice detecting means indicates the full ice. When the arm is rotated backward for a predetermined time, the piled-up ice is averaged, and after the end of the arm reversal, it is checked again whether the full ice detecting means indicates full ice, and the full ice was still indicated. In such a case, it is determined that the inside of the hopper is really full, and the ice tray is not inverted so that the ice falls into the hopper even if ice is formed in the ice tray of the automatic ice making device.

As a result, the ice dropped from the automatic ice making device in the hopper collects at a specific location and is piled up, and the entire hopper detects that the ice is full even though there is room for storing more ice. This prevents a problem that only a small amount of ice can be stored.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention can be realized by the embodiments described in the claims. That is, claim 1
According to the invention described in the above, the hopper for inputting ice, an arm for feeding the input ice to the crushing unit, a movable tooth for crushing ice by a motor, a driving device for rotating the arm, and a rotation direction of the driving device A first direction timer that counts the time from the reverse rotation of the arm to the next reverse rotation to average the ice in the hopper, and a second timer that counts the reverse rotation time. An embodiment may be provided in which two timers are provided, and the arm is reversely rotated for a predetermined time at regular time intervals to average ice in the hopper. Therefore, the ice dropped from the automatic ice making device in the hopper is piled up at a specific location and piled up,
Although the entire hopper has room to store more ice, it is possible to prevent a problem that the ice is detected as full ice and only a small amount of ice can be stored.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a full ice detecting means for detecting an accumulation height of ice piled up at a specific location in the hopper, and an average of ice piled up at a specific location in the hopper. A counter that rotates the arm in the reverse direction and counts the reverse rotation time.If the full ice detection means indicates full ice, the arm is rotated in the reverse direction for a predetermined time to average the pile of ice at a specific location. After the reversal of the arm, it is checked whether the full ice detecting means indicates full ice.If the full ice is still indicated, it is determined that the hopper is full ice and the ice tray of the automatic ice making device is Even if ice is formed, the ice tray is not inverted so that the ice falls into the hopper. Therefore, the ice that has fallen from the automatic ice making device in the hopper is piled up only at a specific location and piled up, and the entire hopper detects that it is full ice even though there is room to store more ice, and a small amount of ice is detected. It is possible to prevent a problem that only the money can be stored.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an ice crusher according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In addition,
The same reference numerals are given to the parts having the same configuration and the same function as those of the conventional art, and the detailed description is omitted.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing control means of a refrigerator in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of the refrigerator, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice crusher. It is.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 24 denotes an ice crusher, and reference numeral 25 denotes a rotation direction setting means for setting a rotation direction of a motor driving means 27 for moving a driving device 26 thereof. Reference numeral 28 denotes a first timer for counting the time from the reverse rotation of the arm to the next reverse rotation. The second timer 29 counts the reverse rotation time.

The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In step 201, a first timer is started, and in step 202, an input is fetched.
Proceed to. When the switch 4 for crushing ice is pressed in step 203, the driving device 26 is rotated forward in step 204. Thus, while the switch 4 is pressed, the arm 9 and the movable teeth 11 rotate, and the crushed ice is discharged from the discharge port 12. If the switch 4 has not been pressed in step 203, the driving device 26 is turned off in step 205, and it is checked in step 206 whether the first timer 28 has counted up. First timer 28 in step 206
If has not counted up, the process returns to step 202. If the first timer 28 has counted up, the first timer 28 is cleared in step 207, and step 2
In 08, the second timer 29 is started, and step 209 is executed.
To the motor driving means 2 by the rotation direction setting means 25.
7 is set to the reverse rotation direction, and the driving device 26 is reversed. In step 210, it is checked whether or not the second timer 29 has counted up. If not, the process returns to step 209, and the driving device 26 continues to rotate in the reverse direction.
In step 1, the driving device 26 is turned off. In step 212, the second timer 29 is cleared, and the process returns to step 201. In this manner, the arm 9 is reversely rotated for a predetermined time at regular time intervals, and the ice piled up at a specific location is averaged. Therefore, the ice dropped from the automatic ice making device 13 in the hopper 7 collects at a specific location and is piled up, and the entire hopper detects that the ice is full, although there is room for storing more ice. The problem that only ice can be stored can be prevented.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing control means of a refrigerator in Embodiment 2 of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a side view showing the structure of an ice crusher of the refrigerator, and FIG. 6 is an operation of the ice crusher. It is a flowchart which shows.

4 and 5, reference numeral 30 denotes an ice crusher, and 31 denotes a rotation direction setting means for setting a rotation direction of a motor driving means 33 for moving a driving device 32 thereof. Numeral 34 is a timer for rotating the arm in the reverse direction and counting the time of the reverse rotation in order to average ice piled up at a specific location in the hopper.

The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In step 301, the input is taken, and the flow advances to step 302. If the switch 4 for the ice crushing operation is depressed in step 302, the driving device 3
Turn 2 forward. Thus, while the switch 4 is pressed, the arm 9 and the movable teeth 11 rotate, and the crushed ice is discharged from the discharge port 12. If the switch 4 is not depressed in step 302, the driving device 32 is turned off in step 304, and it is checked in step 305 whether or not the full ice detecting means 19 indicates full ice. Return. If the full ice detecting means 19 indicates full ice in step 305, the timer 34 is started in step 306, the driving device 32 is reversed in step 307, and if the timer 34 has not counted up in step 308, the flow proceeds to step 307. Returning, if the count has been increased, the driving device 32 is turned off in step 309, and the timer 34 is cleared in step 310. In this manner, if the full ice detecting means 19 indicates that the ice is full, the driving means 32 is reversely rotated for a predetermined time to average the ice stored in a specific location in the hopper 7. Next, in step 311, it is checked again whether the full ice detecting means 19 has detected full ice, and if not, the process returns to step 301 and the full ice detecting means 1 is detected.
If 9 detects that the ice is full, in step 312 the automatic ice making device 13 is set in a stand-by state for ice release and the process returns to step 301.
In this way, when the full ice detecting means 19 indicates that the ice is full, the arm 9 is rotated in the reverse direction for a predetermined time to average the ice piled up at a specific location, and after the arm 9 completes the reverse rotation, the full ice detecting means 19 becomes full again. It is checked whether or not ice is present. If the ice is full, it is determined that the inside of the hopper 7 is full. Even if ice is formed in the ice tray 14 of the automatic ice making device 13, the ice falls into the hopper 7. Do not flip the ice tray 14 to make it
That is, the automatic ice making device 13 is configured not to wait for ice removal. Therefore, the ice dropped from the automatic ice making device 13 in the hopper 7 collects at a specific location and is piled up, and the whole hopper detects that the ice is full but has a small amount of ice even though there is room to store more ice. The problem that only ice can be stored can be prevented.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the arm is reversely rotated for a predetermined time at regular time intervals to average the ice piled up at a specific location. However, the ice falling from the automatic ice making device in the hopper collects at a specific location and is piled up, and the entire hopper detects that it is full ice even though there is room to store more ice and stores only a small amount of ice. It is possible to prevent the inconvenience of not being able to do so.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the full ice detecting means indicates full ice, the arm is reversely rotated for a predetermined time to average the ice piled up at a specific location, thereby completing the reverse rotation of the arm. After that, the full ice detecting means further checks whether the ice is full, and if the ice is still full, the inside of the hopper is judged to be full ice, and even if ice is formed in the ice tray of the automatic ice making device, the ice is formed. Is not inverted so as to fall into the hopper, that is, the automatic ice making device does not wait for ice separation. Therefore, the ice that has fallen from the automatic ice making device in the hopper collects in a specific location and is piled up, and the entire hopper detects that it is full ice even though there is room to store more ice, and only a small amount of ice is detected. The problem of not being able to save can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing control means of a refrigerator in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of the ice crusher of the refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice crusher.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing control means of a refrigerator in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the structure of the ice crusher of the refrigerator.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice crusher.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing control means of a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the structure of the ice crusher of the refrigerator.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a main part showing a structure of a driving device of the ice crusher.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ice crusher.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic ice making device.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a malfunction state of the ice crusher.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Hopper 8 Crushing part 9 Arm 10 Fixed tooth 11 Movable tooth 13 Automatic ice making device 19 Full ice detecting means 24, 30 Ice crusher 25, 31 Rotation direction setting means 26, 32 Drive device 28 First timer 29 Second timer 34 Timer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ice crusher for making ice pieces by rotating movable teeth to rotate ice to be put into a hopper from an automatic ice making device, and sending the put ice to a crushing section having the movable teeth and fixed teeth. An arm, a driving device that rotates the movable teeth and the arm in forward and reverse rotation directions by a motor, a rotation direction setting unit that sets a rotation direction of the driving device, and an average of ice piled up in the hopper. An ice crusher provided with a first timer for counting the time from the reverse rotation of the arm to the next reverse rotation and a second timer for counting the reverse rotation time. 2. A full ice detecting means for detecting a height of piled-up ice in the hopper, and an arm is rotated in reverse to average the piled-up ice in the hopper, and the reverse rotation time is counted. The ice crusher according to claim 1, further comprising a timer.