JPS5939572Y2 - automatic ice maker - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement of an automatic ice-making device in which ice-making water and remaining water in a water tank are drained by tilting a water tray upon completion of an ice-making operation.

=Generally in reverse cell type automatic ice making equipment.

Since the water tank is supplied with more water than the predetermined amount of water required for ice making, when the ice making operation is finished, ice making water always remains in the water tank.

Conventional ice-making devices of this kind have a structure in which residual water in the water tank is drained when the water tray is tilted to open the freezer compartment upon completion of the ice-making operation.

Draining water every cycle is extremely wasteful from the standpoint of water conservation.

In view of this, the present invention saves water supply by leaving a portion of the remaining water in the water tank, and reuses a portion of the remaining water to lower the temperature of the water in the water tank at the start of ice making. The aim is to reduce the power consumption of the system's electric compressor and improve ice-making capacity.

Furthermore, the present invention provides an automatic ice making device that makes crystal ice by reducing the amount of impurities contained in the reused ice making residual water as much as possible.One embodiment of the present invention will be explained below based on the drawings. .

Reference numeral 1 denotes a so-called reverse cell type automatic ice making device, which includes a freezing chamber 2 having a plurality of divided ice making sections 2A that open downward;
An evaporation pipe 3 disposed on the earthen wall of the freezer compartment 2, and a water tray 4 with a flat surface that closes the freezer compartment 2 from below with sufficient margin.
a water tank 5 having an open portion 6A on the front surface which is fixed to the water tray 4 and can be tilted and moved together with the water tray 4; and a water pipe 6 provided on the lower surface of the water tray 4 in correspondence with the ice making section 2A. The water in the water tank 5 is force-fed to the water pipe 6 and is sprayed into each ice making section 2A through a plurality of water fountain holes 7 formed on the surface 4A of the water tray 4. A circulation pump 9 is installed to circulate surplus water returning to the water tank 55 from the return hole 8 formed in the surface 4A to the water pipe 6 again.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a drain tray for receiving residual water drained from the front opening 5A of the water tank 5 when the water tray 4 is tilted upon completion of the ice-making operation, and has a drain port 10A communicating with the outside.

Furthermore, 11 is a water sprinkler for sprinkling water on the surface 4A of the water tray 4, and is connected to a water supply source via a water supply valve 12.

When the ice making device configured as described above finishes the ice making operation, the water tray 4 is tilted as shown in FIG. 2 to open the freezing chamber 2.
Ice detached from each ice making unit due to dehydration operation is placed in water tray 4.
The ice slides on the surface 4A and is stored in a water storage portion (not shown).

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, ice-making operation is performed with the water tray 4 blocking the freezer compartment 2, but the water tank 5 contains more ice-making water than the predetermined amount of water required for the ice-making operation. 1
Water is supplied from 1.

Therefore, at the end of the ice-making operation, ice-making water naturally remains in the water tank 5.

This remaining water is drained from the open part 5A of the water tank 5 when the water tray 4 tilts to open the freezer compartment 2, but the present invention is designed so that a part of the remaining water at this time remains in the water tank 5. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, when the water tray 4 is at the stop position where it has finished tilting, a recess 5B is formed in the front part of the water tank 5. The shape of tank 5 is designed.

Thus, when the water tank 5 is in a horizontal state at the end of ice making, the remaining water for ice making remains at the rear of the water tank 5.

Impurities are precipitated in this ice-making residual water, and then
When the water tank 5 starts tilting, the remaining ice-making water at the rear of the water tank 5 moves forward along the bottom surface of the water tank 5, and as the water moves, impurities in the remaining water are stirred and suspended in the water tank 5. The remaining water is effectively drained from the opening 5A.

On the other hand, some of the ice-making residual water that is not drained remains in the recess 5B formed at the front of the water tank 5 and is reused for the next ice-making operation. The amount of water supplied from No. 11 can always be reduced by the amount of remaining water.

In addition, the remaining water in the recess 5B of the water tank 5 is circulated during the ice-making operation, so it is extremely low-temperature water, and since water is newly supplied from the water sprinkler 11 to this water, all the water is poured into the water sprinkler every cycle. The evaporation temperature at the beginning of the ice making operation is lower due to the lower water temperature compared to the case where water is supplied from No. 11.

Therefore, the input to the electric compressor (not shown) of the refrigeration system is reduced by the lower evaporation temperature, reducing power consumption and improving ice making capacity.

As described above, the present invention reuses a portion of the remaining ice-making water for the next ice-making operation, thereby reducing the amount of water supplied from the outside, and exhibits an extremely significant effect on water conservation.

In addition, since the water temperature at the beginning of the ice-making operation can be lowered, the ice-making time is shortened, and the ice-making capacity is improved, and the power consumption of the electric compressor can be reduced.

In addition, since this invention forms a recess in the front part of the water tank that allows some of the ice-making residual water to remain, at the end of ice-making, the ice-making residual water remaining in the rear part of the water tank will move upward when the water tank is tilted. This movement of water causes impurities in the front of the water tank to be agitated and suspended while being drained from the water tank along with the remaining water, so they do not become water scale and adhere to the bottom of the water tank. The practical advantages of this invention include the fact that the concentration of impurities in the residual water that remains in the recesses can be lowered, so even though some of the residual water from ice making can be reused, it does not interfere with the production of crystal ice. The effect is enormous.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional structural diagram of the ice-making device of the present invention with the water tray closed, and Figure 2 (a cross-sectional structural diagram of the ice-making device of the present invention with the water tray open). 4. Water tray, 5 ······water tank.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In an inverted cell type ice making device in which residual water for ice making in a water tank is drained from the front opening of the tank by tilting the water tray upon completion of ice making operation, the water tray stops tilting. A recess is formed in the front part of the water tank to allow part of the remaining water to remain at the position where the water is removed, and a part of the remaining water remaining in the recess is reused for the next ice-making operation. Features automatic ice making device.