KR200471874Y1 - Cover-free ice maker - Google Patents

Abstract

       The present invention relates to a cover-free ice maker in which there is no fixing cover for the ice making housing, and the cover-free ice maker according to the present invention is an ice making unit having a water supply part having a fastening step and an ice making lever. It consists of a control box which is coupled to one side of the container and the ice making container and extends outwardly with a hook on the upper surface and actuates the ebbing lever, which is connected to the upper bottom of the freezer compartment or the housing by the hook and the elastic fixture and the fastening step. The cover-free ice maker of the present invention is seismically fastened and integrated with fixed mounting means in the control box and the ice making container, respectively, without a separate mounting bracket structure, thereby simplifying the structure and reducing the number of parts and the assembly labor. It has high economical and structural reliability.

Description

Cover-free ice maker {COVER-FREE ICE MAKER}

The present invention relates to a cover-free ice maker, in which there is no fixing cover for the ice making housing, and more specifically, is attached to the upper part of the ice making container and the control box to separate the upper part of the ice making housing or the freezing compartment. Of a cover-free ice machine having a high economic efficiency and structural reliability through the simplification of the structure and the reduction of the number of parts and the assembly labor by forming fixed mounting means in the control box and the ice making container, respectively, without the cover, specifically the mounting bracket structure. will be.

Generally, ice making is ice freezing of liquid water, and is referred to as an ice maker or an ice maker throughout the apparatus used therein, and such an ice maker is widely applied to household appliances such as a refrigerator or a water purifier.

Taking the refrigerator as an example, the conventional refrigerator is divided into a refrigerator compartment and a freezer compartment, and an ice maker is installed in the freezer compartment. Recently, ice is automatically made by automatically supplying water to an ice maker container of an ice maker, and then iced in the ice maker container. Heats slightly with a heater to make it easier to defrost, and then automatically rotates the ice in the above-mentioned ice making container by storing the ice in the separate ice storage container. This is widely adopted.

Here, the reservoir for water supply to the ice making container is located in the refrigerating chamber so as not to freeze, and is supplied from the upper side of the freezing chamber through the water supply line.

Conventionally, ice makers can be roughly divided into two types, which are fixed only to the side walls of the freezer compartment of the refrigerator as shown in FIG. 5 and simultaneously fixed to the side walls and the upper surface as shown in FIGS. 6 to 10.

As shown in FIG. 5, an exemplary ice maker 1 ′ fixed to an approximately center portion of the side wall has two side wall fixtures 12 ′ having a plurality of ice makers 11 ′ and protruding upwardly from behind the side wall. Ice-making container (10 ') having a), and an ice-making lever (13) and an ice-covering lever (13) fixed to one side of the ice-making container (10') described above for detecting whether or not the ice is full. And a control box 20 'in which a motor (not shown) and a microcomputer (not shown) and a reduction gear (not shown) for rotating the operation 14 are accommodated.

Both ends of the above-mentioned ice lever 14 'are rotatably supported by the reduction gear (not shown) and the ice making container 10' in the control box 20 ', respectively. It is rotatably supported by the mounting part formed in the camshaft (not shown) and the water supply base 15 'in the control box 20', respectively.

The ice detection lever 13 'is positioned below the ice container 10' by the operation of a motor (not shown) periodically or at a specific time by a microcomputer (not shown) installed in the control box 20 '. The swinging motion into the upper space of the ice storage container (not shown), and when the ice storage container (not shown) is filled with ice and reaches a predetermined height, the above-mentioned ice detection lever 13 'hits the ice. The microcomputer (not shown) detects this as a full ice state and keeps the ice lever 14 'at a stationary state because the swing motion is stopped or when a force of a certain level or more is applied to the swing. It is controlled so that the ice does not overflow in the (not shown).

In general, water for deicing is introduced into the ice-making container 10 'from the reservoir (not shown) located in the refrigerating chamber by the microcomputer (not shown) at a predetermined level, and by cold air in the freezing chamber. When the water supplied is iced, the heater for detecting the receiving space in the ice container (not shown) located below by the swinging operation of the above-mentioned ice detection lever 13 ', and then facilitates de-icing or ice-making. After a predetermined time of operation (not shown), the above-mentioned ice lever 14 'is rotated to take out ice frozen in the ice making container 10' and fall into an ice storage container (not shown) below. It is stored, and a circulation cycle is introduced again to introduce ice water.

In the figure, reference numeral 16 'is a cold air inflow guide plate.

However, in the ice maker 1 'of the side wall fixing type, it is simply fixed by a screw or the like through the side wall fixing tool 12', so that the screw is caused by the vibration of the compressor (not shown) of the refrigerator and the opening / closing operation of the door during long time use. If the ice maker 1 'is inclined, the water supply may be inclined and the water supplied may overflow or the efficiency of the ice maker 1' may be lowered depending on the incorrect detection of the water supply amount. Furthermore, the water supplied into the ice maker 1 'may be reduced. Since the line (not shown) usually extends from the upper side of the freezer to the lower side, there is a serious problem that water in the water supply line (not shown) is easily frozen and clogged, and above the ice maker 1 '. There is a problem that the space part of the quadrature becomes spatial.

Therefore, as a conventional solution for solving the conventional problems as described above, as shown in Figs. 6 to 9, ice makers 1 " of the type fixed to the side walls and the upper surface (upper) at the same time have been proposed.

FIG. 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of such a conventional ice maker 1 ″, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are exploded perspective views of the control box 10 'and the ice making container 20' and the cover 30 ', respectively. FIG. 8 is a perspective view photograph of the mounting state of FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway perspective view illustrating the mounting state of the housing 40 ′ for convenience of description, and the basic operation mechanism thereof is substantially the same as in FIG. 5. Therefore, I will mainly refer to the differences.

The structure of the conventional ice maker 1 ″ includes an ice maker 10 'having a plurality of ice makers 11' and a side wall fixture 12 'and a plurality of fixing parts 17', and the ice maker described above. Fixed to one side of the vessel 10 'for rotating the gripping lever (not shown: see 13' in FIG. 5) and the moving lever (not shown in 14) in FIG. A control box 20 'on which a motor (not shown) and a reduction gear (not shown) are mounted, and a plurality of fasteners 31 fixed to an upper portion of the control box 20' and one end of an ice making container 10 '. And a cover 30 'having a plurality of fastening holes 32' and an elastic fastener 33 'for fastening with the housing 40' or the bottom surface of the freezer compartment upper plate.

In FIG. 6 to FIG. 9, for convenience of illustration, the illustration of the above-mentioned (see reference numeral 13 ′ of FIG. 5) and the moving lever (see 14 ′ of FIG. 5) is omitted. Substantially the same.

In the illustrated example, a plurality of fasteners 31 'are formed in the cover 30', so that the fixing step 21 '(see FIG. 6) of the control box 20' and the ice making container 10 'are provided. And a rectangular tubular fixing portion 17 'formed at the other end of the ice making vessel 10' opposite to the control box 20 ', respectively. Although the fixture 31 'is not clearly illustrated, it is a protrusion jaw structure of a type that protrudes into the body and is forcedly press-fitted, and the fixture 31' coupled to the rectangular tubular fixing portion 17 'is Although it may be in the form of a rectangular rod having a longitudinal slit, the shape and the fastening manner of the plurality of fasteners 17 'and the fastener 31' are all known in the art and various optional ones are of course selected.

On the other hand, one end coupled to the control box 20 'of the cover 30' is fitted to the upper structure of the refrigerator or a separate housing (40 ') to have a seismic fastening structure by elastic coupling A plurality of fastening holes 32 ′ and elastic fasteners 33 ′ are formed, but although not shown, protrusions or concave stepped jaws for a separate elastic fastening are formed on the other end thereof, and the fastening structure and method are as follows. All are known in the art.

However, any of these conventional ice makers 1 ″ has a separate member 30 having a cover 30 'having an area and a shape corresponding to the entire area of the control box 20' and the ice making container 10 '. In addition, the number of parts and the number of assembly processes are increased, and the requirement of the resin material for forming the cover 30 'is increased, resulting in an increase in cost, and the cover 30' is separately provided. Since the cover 30 'and the control box 20' and the ice making container 10 'may be separated from each other by being assembled into a member of the freezer compartment or fixed to the upper part of the freezing chamber or the upper part of the housing 40', the above-mentioned ice making container ( 10 ') must be provided with a plurality of side wall fixtures (12'), there is a problem that the increase in the number of assembling is also inevitable.

Therefore, the development of the ice maker of the new structure that solves the above-mentioned conventional problems have been widely desired in the art.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0040450 (2008.05.08)

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to provide a ice maker that can be mounted firmly and with high reliability without a cover on the lower surface of the housing in the freezer compartment or inside thereof.

The second object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker that can improve economics by reducing the number of parts and the production cost in addition to the first object described above.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker useful for increasing productivity due to the reduction of assembly maneuver in addition to the above object.

The fourth object of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned object is an ice maker which has an elastic seismic binding structure that excludes the influence of vibration caused by the opening and closing of the compressor and the door of the refrigerator, thereby eliminating or minimizing the problem of screw loosening. It is to provide.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the aforementioned objects of the present invention, an ice making container having a water supply portion having a fastening step and an ebbing lever; The upper surface has a hook and an elastic fastener extending outwardly and comprises a control box for operating the above-mentioned moving lever: a cover seismically fastened to the upper bottom of the freezer compartment or the housing by the hook, the elastic fastener and the fastening step. A cover-free ice maker is provided.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the aforementioned objects of the present invention, a cover pre-ice machine is provided, wherein the hook is a concave hook formed by a protruding frame and a bottom frame.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described objects of the present invention, a cover free ice maker is provided in which the hook is a protruding hook.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described object of the present invention, there is provided a cover-free ice machine in which the protrusion insert for fixing the ice-making container is formed in the ice-making container. .

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described objects of the present invention, the cover and the elastic fastener of the upper surface of the control box is fixed as a separate part or integrally formed cover A pre-ice machine is provided.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described object of the present invention, there is provided a cover-free ice maker in which a resilience adjusting slit is formed at the end of the elastic fastener.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described objects of the present invention, the water supply unit extends upwardly from at least some region side surfaces in the width (width) direction of one end of the ice making container. A cover free ice maker is provided.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described objects of the present invention, the cover free of the ice box is forced to press or screwed by the step fastening structure Ice makers are provided.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described object of the present invention, a fixing pin is formed at one end side of the water supply portion of the ice making container, the shaft hole is formed in the water supply portion A cover free ice maker is provided.

According to yet another preferred aspect of the present invention for smoothly achieving the above-described objects of the present invention, an ice detection lever and an ice moving device for easily detecting whether or not ice is present are readily available. There is provided a cover free ice maker further comprising a heater.

As described above, the cover free ice maker according to the present invention can be mounted on the bottom surface of the upper part of the freezer compartment or inside the housing, with high reliability and high reliability without the need for a separate mounting bracket structure. Economics can be improved by improving the efficiency, and furthermore, it is useful for improving productivity by reducing assembly labor, and has an elastic seismic binding structure that eliminates the influence of vibration caused by the compressor's compressor and door opening and closing. Problems can be eliminated or minimized.

1A and 1B are respectively a perspective view and a plan view of a cover free ice maker according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a perspective view of a cover free ice maker according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a partially cutaway perspective view illustrating a housing mounting state of the ice maker according to FIG. 1A.
4A and 4B are exploded perspective views of the control box and the ice making container of the cover pre-ice machine of FIG. 1A, respectively.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an ice maker of the conventional typical side fixed type.
FIG. 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of an ice maker of a conventional typical side and top fixed type. FIG.
7A and 7B are exploded perspective views of the control box and the ice making container of the ice maker of FIG. 6, respectively.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the mounting state of FIG. 6. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway perspective view illustrating a housing mounted state of the conventional ice maker according to FIG. 6.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A and 1B are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of a cover free ice maker 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a part showing a mounting state of the housing 30 of the ice maker 1 according to FIG. 1A. 4A and 4B are exploded perspective views of the control box 20 and the ice making container 1 of the cover pre-ice machine 1 of FIG. 1A, respectively, which will be mentioned first for convenience of description. And, Figure 2 showing a cover-free ice maker 1a according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described later.

First, the basic structure of the cover-free ice maker 1 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a water supply unit 13 having a fastening step 13b and an ice lever (not shown in FIG. 5). And an ice making container 10 having the same as that of 14 ', and a hook 23 and an elastic fastener 24 extending outward on an upper surface thereof, and a control box for operating the above-mentioned ice lever (not shown). 20).

On the other hand, in the present invention, optionally, the protrusion inserting portion 12 may be integrally formed on one side of the ice making container 10, and the protrusion inserting portion 12 may be formed on one side of the ice making container 10. It may be coupled to prevent the rotation or torsion of the ice-making container 10, but if necessary it can also be fixed using a separate fixing means such as a screw as in the conventional case.

The fastening extending upwardly formed on one side of the hook 23 and the elastic fastener 24, and the ice making container 10, which are integrally formed on the upper surface of the control box 20 or made of a separate component and fixed. By fastening elastically to the upper bottom surface of the freezing chamber (not shown) or the housing 30 by the step 13b, the seismic fastening is performed to maintain a firm fastening state even when the compressor and / or the door is opened and closed.

Although the control box 20, the hook 23, the elastic fastener 24, and the ice making container 10 and the water supply part 13 are shown in different colors on the drawings, this is for convenience of understanding the improved part. They are only intended to be integrally formed as the same material or may be fixed using a suitable fixing means known in the art after being molded into a separate part, in any case is within the scope of the present invention.

The cover free ice maker 1 according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

The ice making container 10 has a plurality of ice making units 11 partitioned by a plurality of spaced apart partitions 11a, and a protrusion inserting portion 12 is integrated upward on one side of the side that is fastened to the control box 20. The water supply part 13 extending upwardly outward is integrally formed or fixed as a separate part, on the other side side spaced apart from the control box 20. The water supply unit 13 has an opening 13a for water supply on one side thereof, and a fastening step 13b is formed adjacent thereto, and a shaft hole 14 is formed in the lower center thereof. A shaft of an ebbing lever (not shown: 14 'in FIG. 5) extending from 20 is coupled, and a fixing pin 15 may be formed at one end of one side where the shaft hole 14 is located. have.

In this case, the fastening step 13b may be coupled to the fastener 32 of the housing 30 by a forced press, for example, and an upper surface of the water supply part 13 may be connected to the opening 31 of the housing 30. In communication with the present invention, whether or not the housing 30 is optional is optional, and a fastening structure may be formed in advance on the upper portion of the freezer compartment (not shown) and may be directly fastened thereto. Mine

Therefore, there is no side wall fixture (refer to reference numeral 12 'in FIGS. 5 and 6) as in the conventional case in the ice making container 10 of the present invention.

Although not shown, control of an ice detection lever (not shown) in FIG. 5 to detect whether ice is present in the ice container (not shown) is shown. Of course, a heater (not shown) may be installed between the box 20 and the ice making container 10, or in addition, a heater (not shown) may be installed on the bottom surface of the ice making container 10. , These are known in the art.

On the other hand, in the control box 20 including the box body 21 and the box cover 22, a motor (not shown) and a microcomputer (not shown) for rotating and operating an ice detection lever (not shown) and / or an ice lever (not shown) Not shown), a reduction gear (not shown) and a cam (not shown) is accommodated.

The microcomputer (not shown) installed in the control box 20 swings into an upper space of an ice container (not shown) positioned below the ice making container 10 by operating a motor (not shown) at a periodic or specific point in time. By detecting the amount of ice filled in the ice storage container (not shown) to control the operation and water supply of the ice lever (not shown) and the amount thereof, and to operate the heater (not shown) to facilitate de-icing or ice-making. Etc. are the same as those mentioned in the related art, and thus further description thereof will be omitted.

In the present invention, the control box 20, more specifically, although not limited to the upper surface of the front box cover 22, the bottom frame 23b and the protruding frame 23a spaced upwardly with some space therefrom. A plurality of concave hooks 23 are formed by the plurality of concave hooks, and the elastic fasteners 24 extending outward from the center of the protruding frame 23a are described above. ) And / or are integrally formed on the top surface of the box cover 22 or made of a separate component for fixing.

The hook-type hook 23 is fitted with a hook portion (not shown) protruding inward from the bottom of the upper portion of the freezer compartment or the upper portion of the housing 30, and the elastic fastener 24 is pressed upwards as it is pressed downward. It is elastically supported to achieve seismic coupling, and the elastic fastener 24 may be formed with a slit 24a for selectively adjusting elastic force.

Next, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cover free ice maker 1a according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, and its basic configuration is substantially the same as that of the cover free ice maker 1 described above. do.

In the illustrated example, the elastic fastener 24 is integrally formed at the center of the upper surface of the box cover 22 or fixed as a separate component and extended to the outside, and a plurality (two in the illustrated example) is provided on the upper surface of the box body. The protruding hook 25 is integrally formed or fixed as a separate part.

In addition, the water supply unit 13 is formed to extend upwardly outward only in a partial region of one side of the ice making container 10, but the present invention is not limited thereto and may be formed to extend upwardly outward over the entire area of one side. Of course.

Except for the above matters, all matters are the same as described above, and further description thereof will be omitted.

1: ice maker (1,1a) according to the present invention
10: ice tray
11: ice maker 11a: bulkhead
12: protrusion insertion part 13: water supply part
13a: opening 13b: fastening step
14: shaft hole 15: fixing pin
20: control box
21: box body 22: box cover
23: concave hook 23a: protruding frame
23b: bottom frame 24: elastic fasteners
24a: slit 25: protruding hook
30: Housing
31: water supply opening 32: fastener

Claims (10)

An ice making container in which a water supply having a fastening step is formed; And
A control box coupled to one side of the ice making container, the control box having an upper hook and an elastic fixture extending outward;
It is seismically fastened to the upper bottom of the freezer compartment or the housing by the hook, the elastic fastener and the fastening step,
The fastening step of the water supply part is a cover-free ice maker, which extends upwardly from at least a portion of the side surface of one end of the ice making container and elastically fastens to an upper bottom surface of the freezing compartment or the housing. The cover-free ice maker of claim 1 wherein said hook is a recessed hook formed by a protruding frame and a bottom frame. The cover free ice maker of claim 1 wherein said hook is a protruding hook. The cover free ice maker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cover free ice maker further includes a protrusion inserting portion coupled to the control box at one side of the ice making container to fix the ice making container. The cover-free ice maker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the hooks and elastic fasteners on the upper surface of the control box are fixed or integrally formed as separate components. The cover-free ice maker of Claim 1 in which the slit for elastic force adjustment is formed in the edge part of the said elastic fastener. delete 2. The cover-free ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the attachment of the ice making container to the control box is screwed. The cover-free ice maker of Claim 1 in which the fixing pin is formed in the water supply part side end part of the said ice-making container, and the axial hole is formed in the said water supply part. The cover-free ice maker according to claim 1, further comprising an ice detection lever for detecting whether it is full of ice and a heater for facilitating detachment or ice.

Images