KR100273052B1 - Automatic ice making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device, wherein the lever (19) is interlocked with an output gear (14) rotated by a motor by a link between a first cam groove (not shown) and a first pin part (20). In addition, the shaft portion 11a of the detection lever 11 is rotated by the linkage between the second cam groove 16 and the second pin portion 22, and an ice making plate 9 is provided on the output gear 14. When the output gear 14 is rotated in the reverse direction (D), rotation of the detection lever 11 in the direction of the arrow (E) is permitted, and the detection magnet (24) turns on the hall IC. If the output cogwheel 14 is rotated in the forward direction (C), the lever 19 is operated to determine whether the position detecting magnet 21 has the hall IC turned on. The completion of reversal of 9) is detected so that the storage amount detection and the plate state detection are performed by one sensor.

Description

Automatic ice maker

The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device with an improved control configuration for the ice-making operation after ice making is completed.

The conventional automatic ice making apparatus normally performs the next ice-making operation when ice making is completed. That is, the ice tray in the horizontal state is rotated by the motor, for example, in the forward direction, to be reversed in the lower direction, and the ice tray is easily twisted before being lowered, so that the ice is easily removed from the ice tray. By such inversion and twisting, the ice in the ice making plate ices and falls and is stored in the storage container disposed below.

Therefore, in this case, it is difficult to receive ice when a new ice-making operation is performed in a state where much ice is stored by the previous ice-making operation in the ice storage container. The amount of ice storage is detected in advance so as not to do this. That is, since the detection lever is rotatably installed on the ice in the storage container so as to be in contact with the top from the top, the storage state is installed in the full state and the small amount of the state because the rotation angle is different, and based on the output of the sensor To detect whether or not it is full.

In addition, a dish sensor for detecting a horizontal position and an inverted end position of the ice tray is provided, and when the ice tray is reversed in the forward direction and reaches the completion position of the ice, this is detected by the dish sensor. Is rotated back to its original horizontal position, it is also detected by the dish sensor to stop the motor based on this.

However, the above-described conventional configuration has a large number of sensors related to the moving operation, and thus, the electrical configuration is complicated. In addition, since the number of sensors is large, the inspection becomes complicated when a failure or the like occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic ice making apparatus capable of performing a storage amount detection and a plate state detection with one sensor and reducing the number of sensors.

1 is a schematic perspective view of an essential part showing a first embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a part relating to an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator;

3 is a front view of the inside of the body;

4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration;

5 is a view showing the angle of the cam groove when the ice tray is in a horizontal state,

Fig. 6 is a view showing the angle state of the cam groove when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 45 ° in the reverse rotation direction.

Fig. 7 is a view showing the angle state of the cam groove when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 60 ° in the forward direction;

8 is a view showing an angle state of the cam groove when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 180 ° in the forward direction;

9 is a perspective view of an essential part when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 45 DEG in the reverse rotation direction and the amount of ice storage is not full;

10 is a perspective view of an essential part when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 60 ° in the forward direction;

11 is a perspective view of an essential part when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 180 ° in the forward direction;

12 is a perspective view of an essential part when the ice making plate is in a state of approximately 45 DEG in the reverse rotation direction and the amount of ice storage is full;

FIG. 13 is a view showing an operation state of each part in the ice-ice operation and the ice-making operation; FIG.

14 is a view showing a relationship between control contents and an operation of a detection lever when it is determined that they are full;

15 is a flowchart showing control contents;

Fig. 16 is a diagram corresponding to Fig. 14 showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

2: ice-making room 3: storage container

6: automatic ice maker 7 ice machine main body

9: ice tray 10: temperature sensor

11: detection lever 11a: shaft portion (rotary shaft)

12: motor 13: gear transmission mechanism

14 output gear 15 first cam groove (first cam portion)

16: 2nd cam groove (2nd cam part) 18: Hall IC (sensor)

19: Plate position detection lever (operator for plate position detection)

20: 1st pin part (link part for 1st cam part) 21: Magnet for position detection

22: 2nd pin part (connection part for 2nd cam part) 23: Arming arm part for detection (operator for arming)

24: inspection magnet

25 microcomputer (control means)

26: door sensor (door open and close detection means)

The present invention of claim 1,

Motor that can run reverse

An ice-making dish which generates ice and simultaneously ices the ice by rotating in a forward direction by the motor,

A storage container for storing iced ice,

A detection lever rotatably installed to abut on the ice stored in the storage container;

A cam member formed with a first cam portion and a second cam portion in association with the motor;

A sensor installed at the stationary part,

The deicing dish is installed when the deicing dish is in a horizontal state and the motor rotates in the forward direction, and is installed to be operated by the first cam portion having a first cam portion linking portion associated with the first cam portion of the cam member. An operator for detecting the dish position, the one end of which operates the sensor when the moving position is completed;

An interlocking portion for the second cam portion, which is integrally provided with the rotating shaft of the detecting lever, and is capable of allowing rotation of the detecting lever in association with the second cam portion;

An inspection member configured to be integrally installed with the rotation shaft of the detection lever and to operate the sensor when the detection lever reaches a predetermined position according to the reverse rotation of the rotation shaft;

And a control means for rotating the motor in the reverse direction when the command is received to determine whether the amount of ice storage is full according to the presence or absence of a signal from the sensor, and controlling the rotation of the motor in the forward direction to perform the ice. do.

In this configuration, the ice making plate is in a horizontal state during ice making (normal state). However, when an ice command is sent to the control means, the control means rotates the motor in the reverse direction. The cam member rotates by this reverse rotation. That is, the first cam portion and the second cam portion rotate. In this case, since the motor rotates in reverse, the detection lever rotates by linkage between the second cam portion and the linkage portion for the second cam portion. Here, when there is little ice in a storage container, a detection lever reaches to a predetermined position. Upon reaching as described above, the inspecting operator operates the sensor. In addition, when there is much ice in a storage container, a detection lever stops by touching a storage ice before reaching a predetermined position, and a sensor does not operate. The control means determines whether the amount of ice storage is full by the operation or non-operation of this sensor.

If it is determined that the control means is not full, the moving control is executed. That is, the motor is rotated in the forward direction. When rotating as described above, the ice tray rotates, and a twist is applied during rotation to ice the ice. In this case, when the motor rotates in the forward direction, the actuator for detecting the dish position is operated by the linkage of the first cam portion of the cam member and the linkage portion of the first cam portion, and when one of the ice making plates is at the completed iced position, one end of the sensor To operate. By this, the completion of the ice is detected.

In such a configuration, it is possible to perform the storage amount detection and the ice plate position detection by one sensor, so that the number of sensors can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to switch between the determination of whether the motor is full by switching between the reverse rotation of the motor and the forward rotation, and to perform the ice plate position detection operation.

In the invention of claim 2, a door for opening and closing the door and a door opening and closing detection means for detecting the opening and closing of the door are provided in a space in which the storage container is accommodated.

When the control means detects that the vehicle is full, the control unit sets an opportunity for judging whether or not the vehicle is full at a predetermined timing, and when the door is opened or closed, the control unit controls the motor to return the detection lever to its original position and at a later predetermined timing. It is characterized in that a determination is made as to whether it is full.

In this configuration, when the door is opened or closed, the detection lever is returned to the original position, so that the operation of determining whether or not it is full can be performed at the initial position. In addition, since the judgment operation of whether or not the door is full on the condition that the door is opened or closed is performed, the ice judgment operation can be performed at an appropriate period. That is, since the main purpose of the door is to open and close the ice from the storage container, it is appropriate to determine whether the amount of storage is reduced at the timing of opening and closing the door. Therefore, whenever there is a door opening and closing, the ice making judgment operation is performed, and whenever it is detected that the door is not full, the ice making operation is also performed, and after that, it becomes useless moving control. However, in the above configuration, when the door is opened or closed, determination of whether or not the vehicle is full at a predetermined timing thereafter is performed, thereby making it possible to eliminate the unnecessary moving operation.

In the invention of claim 3, a door for opening and closing the door and a door opening and closing detection means for detecting the opening and closing of the door are provided in a space in which the storage container is accommodated.

The control means detects that it is full, and when it detects that the door has been opened or closed, it controls the motor so that the detection lever returns to its original position, at the same time counts a certain time, and checks whether it is full when the count is completed. It is characterized in that the count operation continues to be executed even if the door is opened or closed before the predetermined time is completed.

In this configuration, when the door is opened or closed, the detection lever is returned to its original position, so that the operation of determining whether or not it is full can be performed from the initial position. In addition, it is an appropriate timing as described above to perform the operation of determining whether the door is full based on the opening or closing of the door, but if the door is opened once, the door is frequently opened and closed several times in a short time thereafter. have. In this case, if the determination operation of whether the door is full immediately at the time of opening or closing the door is performed, it is also predicted that the problem of overlapping the operation of determining whether or not the door is full afterwards is full. In the above configuration, when the door is detected to have been opened or closed, a predetermined time is counted at that time, and the judgment is made as to whether the door is full at the end of the count.

In this case, for example, if the door is opened or closed during counting and the count is reset (counting from the beginning) due to the door opening and closing, a judgment operation is performed to determine whether the door is full even after several hours when the door is opened or closed before counting up. There is a fear that the timing of the operation of determining whether it is not or is full is delayed. However, in this configuration, since the first count operation is executed continuously even if the door is opened or closed before the predetermined time count is completed, there is no problem as described above.

The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that the ice making plate is twisted at the time of reverse rotation of the motor.

This configuration makes it easy to ice the ice of the ice making plate and facilitates the ice by the forward motor rotation after that.

Embodiment of the Invention

Hereinafter, a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied to an automatic ice maker installed in a refrigerator will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 15.

2 shows a part of the refrigerator related to the ice maker, and an ice maker 2 is provided in the center of the refrigerator main body 1 in FIG. In this ice making chamber 2, cold air from a refrigeration cycle (not shown) is supplied, and the internal temperature is maintained at, for example, -18 ° C. The front opening of this ice-making chamber 2 is opened and closed by the drawer type door 2a, and the storage container 3 is connected to the back part of this door 2a. The ice storage container 3 is allowed to enter and exit from the ice making chamber 2 in accordance with the opening and closing operation of the door 2a. At the time of entry and exit, the ice making body main body 7 and the ice making plate which the rear wall portion 3a describes later. (9) and the detection lever 11 are not in contact with each other. In addition, a refrigerating chamber 4 is provided above the ice making chamber 2, and a freezing chamber 5 is provided below the ice making chamber 2. Moreover, the refrigerator main body 1 is provided with the door sensor 26 (not shown in FIG. 2, see FIG. 4) which is a door opening and closing detection means which detects opening and closing of the said door 2a.

The automatic ice making apparatus 6 is comprised with the ice-making apparatus main body 7 provided in the ceiling part of the ice-making chamber 2, and the water supply apparatus 8 provided in the refrigerating chamber 4. As shown in FIG. The ice maker main body 7 includes an ice making plate 9 on the rear side of the body 7a, in which water from the water supply device 8 is fixedly supplied to the ice making plate 9. It is supplied through 8a to produce ice in the ice tray 9. In addition, the water supply device 8 is supplied when the water is required from a removable water storage tank (not shown). In addition, a tank sensor (not shown) for detecting the arrangement is provided in this water storage tank arrangement portion.

The ice making plate 9 is made of an elastically deformable plastic, and when ice making is completed, the ice making plate 9 is rotated in a horizontal direction in a forward direction by a mechanism to be described later and inverted by approximately 180 degrees. The end on the motor 12 side of the ice making plate 9 is stopped so that the end opposite to the motor 12 abuts a projection (not shown) provided at the stop site, and rotation of the end side in the ice making plate 9 is prevented. Is rotated to the final position) and a twist is applied to the ice making plate 9. This is to perform the ice-ice operation which ices ice. In addition, a temperature sensor 10 for detecting the temperature is attached to the inner surface of the ice making plate 9, and it is possible to determine the completion of ice making or the presence or absence of water supply based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 10. have.

Then, the detection lever 11 for detecting the amount of storage in the storage container 3 is located on the side of the body 7a of the ice maker main body 7 with the shaft portion 11a, which is a rotational axis, as the point (arrows A and B). Direction) is rotatably attached.

Next, FIG.1 and FIG.3 has shown the structure of the inside of the base 7a of the icemaker main body 7. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the gear transmission mechanism 13 which rotates in response to the drive of the motor 12 is provided in the base body 7a which forms a rectangular box shape, and this gear transmission mechanism 13 is provided. The ice making plate 9 is attached to the output shaft 14a of the final output gear 14 and the back of the base 7a of the cogwheels constituting the same. The output gear 14 serves as a cam member. In FIG. 5, the first cam groove 15 as the first cam portion is formed on the inner side, and the second cam groove 16 as the second cam portion is formed on the front side. It is. The final output gear 14 is referred to as the direction of the arrow C in FIG. 5 as the motor 12 rotates forward (this is called the forward direction with respect to the output gear 14 and the ice making plate 9 which rotates integrally with it). And the motor 12 rotates in reverse as shown in Fig. 5, so that the motor 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow D in Fig. 5 (this is referred to as the reverse direction to the output gear 14 and the ice tray 9 which rotates integrally). It is.

The inside of the base 7a is provided with a printed board 17 on the right side of FIG. 3, and the printed circuit board 17 is provided with a hall IC 18 serving as a sensor. Moreover, inside the base 7a, the plate position detection lever 19 which is an operator for plate position detection is provided so that it may rotate about the point 19a. The plate position detecting lever 19 is provided with a first pin portion 20, which is a coupling portion for the first cam portion, which is fitted and engaged with the first cam groove 15 of the output gear 14, and has one end ( The position detecting magnet 21 is attached to 19a).

The lever 19 is configured such that the position detecting magnet 21 attached to one end thereof rotates up and down by the rotation of the first cam groove 15 according to the rotation of the output gear 14. In this case, ice making When the dish 9 is in the horizontal position and the ice tray 9 is in the finished position by the rotation of the motor 12 in the forward direction, the magnet 21 for position detection is the hall IC 18. The operating range is reached, and the Hall IC 18 is configured to output a detection signal. That is, when the ice making plate 9 is in the horizontal position, the first cam groove 16 is in the state shown in FIG. 5, and in this state, the pin portion 20 is positioned at the large diameter portion 15a of the first cam groove 15. At this position, the position detecting magnet 21 of the plate position detecting lever 19 is in the operating range of the hall IC 18. In this state, when the output gear 14 rotates approximately 180 degrees in the forward direction C to the state shown in Fig. 8, the pin portion 20 is positioned at the second large diameter portion 15b, and the position detection lever is at this position. The position detecting magnet 21 at 19 reaches the operating range of the hall IC 18.

In addition, a second pin portion 22, which is a second cam groove coupling portion, which is fitted and engaged with the second cam groove 16, is formed in the shaft portion 11a of the detection lever 11, and is used for detection as an operator for detection. The arm part 23 is formed. The detection magnet 24 is attached to the tip end of the detection arm 23. Since the second pin portion 22 is integrally provided on the detection lever 11, a force is applied to rotate in the direction of the arrow E in FIG. 1 by the weight of the detection lever 11, In the state shown in FIG. 5 (horizontal state of the ice making plate 9), the 2nd pin part 22 is located in the small-diameter part 16a of the 2nd cam groove 16, and the magnet for detecting the arm of the inspection arm part 23 in this position is shown. 24 has not reached the operating range of the hall IC 18. In the state of FIG. 5, when the output gear 14 is rotated approximately 45 ° in the reverse direction D to the state of FIG. 6, the second pin portion 22 enters the large diameter portion 16b of the second cam groove 16. As a result, the detecting magnet 24 of the detecting arm 23 reaches the operating range of the hall IC 18.

4 shows an electrical configuration, and reference numeral 25 denotes a microcomputer as a control means for controlling an automatic ice maker, which includes a temperature detection signal from the temperature sensor 10 and a detection signal from the hall IC 18. And a detection signal from the door opening / closing sensor 20 for detecting the opening and closing of the door 2a, and a control program is stored in the ROM, and the motor 12 is driven in accordance with the control program and the input. It is controlled through the furnace 27.

The contents of the control program are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

The operation of the above configuration will be described together with the control contents by this flowchart. The flowchart of FIG. 15 is started by powering on. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the ice making plate 9 is in a twisted state. (This rotates the motor 12 at a slight angle in the forward and reverse directions, and detects the motor current difference at that time. (Not shown) to determine whether it is in the twisted state.) If it is not in the twisted state, the dish non-horizontal plug is cleared (step S2), and if it is in the twisted state, the ice tray 9 is returned to the horizontal state (step S2). (S3)). This return control drives the motor 12 in the forward direction to rotate the output gear 14 in the forward direction C, and the motor 12 at the place where the Hall IC 18 is operated by the position detecting magnet 21. Stop).

Subsequently, in step S4, a standby operation is performed for a predetermined time so that the ice making plate 9 does not move for a predetermined time for ice making. In step S5, ice making is performed based on a temperature detection signal from the temperature sensor 10. Determine whether it is complete. In this case, when detection temperature -9.5 degrees C or less continues for 2 hours, or when detection temperature -12.5 degrees C or less continues for 10 seconds, it is determined that ice making is completed. This determination of ice making completion is called an ice sheeting command. If it is determined that ice making is completed, the flow returns to step S6.

In step S6, it is judged whether the dish non-horizontal plug is set, and if it is not set (if it is horizontal), the door 2a is closed or the temperature, as can be seen in steps S7 and S8. Determination processing as to whether or not the amount of ice in the storage container 3 is full, as shown in step S9, provided that the detection temperature of the sensor 10 is lower than -9.5 ° C. This is called " detection operation " and the following control is performed.

`` Icing operation ''

(1) In the initial state, the ice tray 9 is in a horizontal position, and the position detecting magnet 21 operates the hall IC 18 (hereinafter, referred to as an on operation).

(2) First, the motor 12 is rotated in the reverse direction,

(3) In this case, it is predicted that the output gear 14 is rotated to approximately 45 °, and when this set time has elapsed, the motor 12 is stopped and the operation state of the hall IC 18 is read and is full. Judge.

As described above, the output gear 14 rotates in the reverse direction D in the state of FIGS. 1 and 5 by the reverse rotation of the motor 12 of the above (2), so that the second pin portion 22 of the detection lever 11 By the weight of the lower side of the second cam groove 16 to fall to the large diameter portion (16a). At this time, when the amount of storage of the storage container 3 is small, since the detection lever 11 is rotated below the predetermined position, as shown in the solid line of FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, the second pin portion 22 is the second cam groove 16. ) Is allowed to fall to the large diameter part 16a, and the arming arm 23 rotates in the direction of an arrow E, and the arming magnet 24 turns on the hole IC 18. As shown in FIG. Here, when the amount of storage of the storage container 3 is large, the detection lever 11 contacts the ice from above and prevents the ice from rotating downward afterwards (there is not reaching the predetermined position). As indicated by the symbol “22 '” in FIG. 6 or as shown in FIG. 12, the dropping of the second cam groove 16 into the large diameter portion 16a is not allowed or the amount of falling falls is small and the arrow of the arming arm 23 for the ice detection 23 is reduced. The amount of rotation in the direction (E) is small so that the detecting magnet 24 does not turn on the hall IC 18.

When the output gear 14 rotates in the reverse direction D, the dish position detecting lever 19 is rotated in the lower direction (arrow F direction) in FIG. 1, and the hole IC is opened by the magnet 21 for the position detecting. The on operation of 18 is released.

Therefore, when the output gear 14 has passed a predetermined time equivalent to 45 ° angle rotation, it is determined that the operating state of the Hall IC 18 is not full when the operating state of the Hall IC 18 is on, and is full when the operating state of the Hall IC 18 is off. It is judged.

In the flowchart of Fig. 15, if it is detected that the state is not full, the flow returns to step S10, and the moving control and the dish horizontal return control are executed. This will be described in detail below. In the state of FIG. 9, the motor 12 is rotated forward. At this time, the ice making plate 9 returns to the horizontal state once, and the hall IC 18 is turned on by the position detecting magnet 21, and then the forward rotation of the motor 12 continues (60 ° in the middle). 10, and as shown in FIG. 11, when the ice tray 9 is inverted approximately 180 degrees, the dish position detecting lever 19 is rotated in the opposite direction to the arrow F, and again the hole IC ( 18 is operated on by the position detecting magnet 21. Based on this on operation, the microcomputer 25 stops the motor 12.

During this forward rotation, the ice making plate 9 is twisted during the inversion, and ice is iced from the ice making plate 9. Thereafter, the motor 12 is stopped by rotating the motor 12 in reverse and detecting that the ice making plate 9 is in the horizontal position by the ON operation of the hall IC 18. Moreover, the operation condition of each part in the ice-breaking operation and the ice-bbing operation is shown in FIG.

After this, the water storage tank is disposed, and the condition (step S11) is changed to step S12. The valve device (not shown) of the water storage tank is opened and controlled to supply water to the water supply device 8 to make an ice making plate (9). ) To feed water. Then, if it is detected that the water has been accommodated in the ice making plate 9 in step S13 (this is detected based on the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 10), the process returns to the step S4, and the water is not received. If it is detected (if it is detected that there is no water in the water storage tank and no water supply is made), it waits for the relocation of the water storage tank (step S14), and returns to step S11.

In step S9, if it is determined that the vehicle is full, the motor 12 rotates forward to return to the angular position of 15 ° while the ice tray 9 is rotated 45 °. Then, in step S16, a timer (software timer) for counting "90 minutes", which is a predetermined timing, is started, and in step S17, it is determined whether the ice making plate 9 is horizontal or not ( In the case of the above 15 ° state, the door 2a is closed (step S18) and the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 10 is not -9.5 ° C or higher (step S19). In step S20), it is determined whether the above "90 minutes" has passed. If "90 minutes" has not elapsed, the process returns to step S17.

If it is determined that the door 2a is opened in step S18 before the "90 minutes" elapses, or if the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 10 is determined to be -9.5 ° C or more in step S19, the process goes to step S22. Then, the motor 12 is rotated forward to return the ice making plate 9 to the horizontal state at 15 °. At this time, the detection lever 11 also returns to the original position of the upper side. If "90 minutes" has elapsed in a state where this step S22 is not executed ("N" in step S20), the flow returns to step S21 to determine whether the ice making plate 9 is in a horizontal state. .

Here, if it is not in the horizontal state (if it is in the 15 ° state), the process returns to step S16 and the timer of "90 minutes" is started again. If it is determined in step S21 that it is horizontal, the process returns to step S7, and once again, the ice detection operation control is executed. In addition, when it is determined in step S17 that the ice making plate 9 is horizontal, the process returns to step S4 when the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 10 becomes -9.5 ° C or more. Further, in step S6, if it is determined that the dish non-horizontal plug is set, the process changes to step S24, and the motor 12 is driven to clear the ice tray 9 horizontally to clear the plug.

Fig. 14 schematically shows the relationship between the control content of step S15 or less and the operation of the detection lever 11 when it is determined that the step S9 is not full. In other words, when it is determined that it is full, it may be judged whether or not it is full at a predetermined timing "90 minutes" cycle. In this case, when the door 2a is not opened or closed, that is, when there is no chance of withdrawing ice, even if this predetermined timing is started, the ice detection operation is not executed. When the door 2a is opened or closed, the detection operation is performed at a later timing. do. If it is determined that the motion is full again, the same case is repeated. If the motion is detected as not full (ice has been taken out), the ice motion is performed.

According to the present embodiment as described above, the single ice IC 18 can detect the amount of ice storage and the position of the ice making plate 9, and the number of sensors can be reduced to simplify the electrical configuration or when a failure occurs. Can contribute to the ease of inspection.

In addition, by switching the reverse rotation and the forward rotation of the motor 12, the ice detection operation and the ice making plate position detection operation can be switched to perform the control.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, when it is determined that the vehicle is full, an opportunity for determining whether the vehicle is full at a predetermined timing ("90 minutes" interval) is set, and when there is an opening or closing of the door 2a, the inspection operation is performed at a later predetermined timing. Since the detection operation is performed under the condition that the door 2a is opened and closed, the detection operation can be performed at an appropriate time. That is, since the door 2a is opened and closed, the main purpose is for the user to take out the ice from the storage container 3, so it is appropriate to determine whether the amount of stored ice has decreased at the time when the door 2a has been opened or closed.

Therefore, if the ice detection operation is performed every time the door 2a is opened or closed, the ice-making operation is performed whenever it is determined that this is not full, and then, after the first time, it becomes useless ice control operation. However, in the above configuration, when the door 2a is opened or closed, since the detection (determination of whether or not it is full) is performed at a predetermined timing thereafter, the unnecessary moving operation can be eliminated. In addition, since the detection lever 11 is returned to the original position prior to this detection, the above detection can be performed at the initial position.

In addition, you may implement this invention as follows. That is, as can be understood from FIG. 16 shown as the second embodiment of the present invention, when it is determined that the vehicle is full, a predetermined time T is counted at the time when it is detected that there has been a door opening and closing, and the detection is performed at the completion time of counting. The operation is executed except that the count operation continues to be executed even if the door is opened or closed before the predetermined time T is completed.

In this second embodiment, the detection and detection operation based on the presence or absence of the door opening and closing may be referred to as the detection operation at the appropriate timing as described above, but if the door is opened and closed once, the door is opened and closed several times thereafter. It often happens.

In this case, if the ice detection operation is performed immediately at the first door opening and closing time, the problem of overlapping the door opening (withdrawal of ice) and this detection operation afterwards is also predicted. The above-mentioned problem is largely solved by anticipating this and, in the above configuration, when a door opening or closing is detected, a predetermined time is counted at that time, and an ice detection operation is executed at the completion of counting.

In this case, for example, if the door is opened or closed during this count, and the count is reset (counting from the beginning) by the door opening or closing, the sensing operation is not performed even after several hours when the opening and closing of the door is performed before the countup or There is a risk of delay. In addition, this configuration does not have such a problem because the count operation continues to be executed even if the door is closed before the predetermined time is completed.

In addition, the present invention may be implemented such that the ice making plate is twisted at the time of reverse rotation of the motor. In this case, the ice of the ice making plate tends to be iced, and the subsequent ice making by the forward rotation of the motor becomes easy.

The sensor is not limited to the hall IC, but may be an optical sensor.

As the present invention has become clear from the above description, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the invention of claim 1, a single sensor can detect the amount of ice storage and the ice plate position, and can reduce the number of sensors. In addition, by switching the reverse rotation and the forward rotation of the motor, it is possible to switch between the ice detection operation and the ice making position detection operation to facilitate control.

According to the invention of claim 2, since the inspection operation is performed on the premise that the door is opened and closed, the inspection operation can be performed at an appropriate time.

According to the invention of claim 3, when it is detected that the door has been opened or closed, a certain time is counted at that time, and an ice detection operation is performed at the completion of the count. This overlap can be effectively prevented.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the ice making plate is twisted at the time of reverse rotation of the motor, the ice of the ice making plate becomes easy to take ice, and the subsequent ice making by the forward motor rotation becomes easy.

Claims (4)

Forward and reverse motor; An ice making plate which generates ice and ices the ice by being rotated forward by the motor; A storage container for storing the iced ice; A detection lever rotatably installed to abut on the ice stored in the storage container; A sensor installed on the cam member and a stop portion formed with a first cam portion and a second cam portion in association with the motor; The deicing dish is installed by the first cam portion, which is connected to the first cam portion of the cam member, and is operated to be operated by the first cam portion. An actuator for detecting a dish position, the one end of which operates the sensor when the moving position is completed; A link portion for a second cam portion which is integrally installed with the rotation shaft of the detection lever and is capable of allowing rotation of the detection lever in association with the second cam portion; An inspection member configured to be integrally installed with the rotation shaft of the detection lever and to operate the sensor when the detection lever reaches a predetermined position according to the reverse rotation of the rotation shaft; And Control means for controlling the motor to rotate in the reverse direction to determine whether the amount of ice storage is full according to the presence or absence of a signal from the sensor, and to control the operation of the motor by rotating the motor in the forward direction when it is not full. Automatic de-ice device, characterized in that provided. The method of claim 1, In the space where the storage container is accommodated, a door for opening and closing the door and a door opening and closing detection means for detecting the opening and closing of the door are provided. The control means sets an opportunity for judging whether or not the vehicle is full at a predetermined timing when it is detected as full, and controls the motor to return the detection lever to its original position when the door is opened or closed at a predetermined timing later. The automatic ice making apparatus characterized by performing determination of whether it is full. The method of claim 1, The space in which the storage container is housed is provided with a door for opening and closing the door and a door opening and closing detection means for detecting the opening and closing of the door. If the control means detects that the vehicle is full and then detects that the door has been opened or closed, the control unit controls the motor to return the detection lever to its original position, and at the same time counts a certain time, and whether or not it is full when the count is completed. And the counting operation continues to be executed even if the door is opened or closed before the predetermined time is counted. The method of claim 1, An automatic ice making device, wherein the ice making plate is twisted when the motor rotates in reverse.