KR20130134304A - Ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ice machine and, more specifically, the ice machine capable of efficiently generating transparent ice, sensing the completion of ice making, and separating the ice while selecting a relatively simple structure as the ice machine can check the completion of the ice making by sensing whether a tray is rotated in horizontal directions, and as the ice machine can separates the ice from the tray by rotating the tray around a rotary shaft which becomes a standard of the rotation and forward backward movements of the tray.

Description

Ice maker {ICE MAKING MACHINE}

The present invention relates to an ice maker, and more specifically, swings the ice tray in front, rear, left and right directions by a mechanism for rotating the tray containing the ice maker in the left and right direction about the axis of rotation and advancing back and forth along the longitudinal direction of the axis of rotation. By making it possible to reliably remove bubbles in the ice-making water that is frozen, it is possible to create more transparent transparent ice, as well as to detect whether the ice is rotated by detecting the rotation of the tray in the left and right directions about the rotation axis. It is possible to defrost ice of the tray by turning the tray around the rotation axis which is the reference for rotation and forward and backward movement of the tray. This relates to an ice maker configured to enable this.

An ice maker is an apparatus for making ice by cooling supplied ice-making water. In recent years, ice makers are provided which can prevent bubbles in ice-making water from swelling (hereinafter abbreviated as 'white').

1 and 2 illustrate an ice maker according to the prior art disclosed in Korean Patent No. 272894 (registered date: 2000.08.31).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ice maker according to the related art includes an ice maker body 10 ′, an ice maker unit 20 ′, and bubble removing means 30 ′.

The ice maker body 10 ′ has an ice reservoir 11 ′ for storing ice made in the ice making unit 20 ′. The compressor 12 'and the condenser 13' constituting the cooling system are installed at the lower portion of the ice reservoir 11 '.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ice making unit 20 ′ includes a tray 21 ′, a cooling plate 22 ′, and an evaporation tube 23 ′. The tray 21 'is filled with ice making water, and a plurality of cooling protrusions 24' are immersed in the ice making water on the lower surface of the cooling plate 22 '. One side of the tray 21 'is provided with pivoting means 25' for tilting the tray 21 'to discharge ice-making water that is not frozen in the tray 21'.

The evaporation tube 23 'is installed on an upper surface of the cooling plate 22' and is connected to a cooling system. A coolant flows into the evaporator 23 ', and the cooling plate 22' and the cooling protrusion 24 'are cooled by heat exchange of the coolant.

When the ice making water flows into the tray 21 'through the ice making water supply pipe 14' and the cooling protrusion 24 'is immersed in the ice making water, the freezing point is caused by the heat exchange of the refrigerant flowing in the evaporating pipe 23'. Cooling water begins to freeze around the cooling projection 24 'cooled below.

The bubble removing means (30 ') is to remove the bubbles in the ice-making water to prevent clouding from occurring during ice-making, the rocking plate 31' flowing up and down in the tray 21 'and the rocking A swinging motor 32 'for flowing the plate 31'.

When the locking piece 33 'installed on the swinging motor 32' lifts up the locking pin 34 'of the swinging plate 31', the swinging plate 31 'moves and the ice making machine swings up and down, Bubbles in the ice water are removed and transparent ice grows around the cooling protrusion 24 '.

After ice of a predetermined size is produced around the cooling protrusion 24 ', the oscillation plate 31' stops flowing, and the compressor does not go through the condenser 13 'in the evaporation pipe 23'. The high temperature refrigerant discharged from 12 'is directly supplied so that the cooling projection 24' is heated, and the tray 21 'is inclined about the pivot axis 26' by the pivot means 25 '. . Thus, the generated ice is separated from the cooling projection 24 'and falls into the ice reservoir 11', and the ice making water remaining without freezing in the tray 21 'is drained along the drain guide plate 27'. Discharged to 15 '.

However, the ice maker according to the related art has a rocking plate 31 'which is vertically flown in the tray 21' to remove bubbles in the ice making water, and a rocking motor for flowing the rocking plate 31 '. 32 '), including the engaging piece 33' and the engaging pin 34 ', but the configuration as described above has the disadvantage that the bubble is not sufficiently removed because the ice making water swings only in the up and down direction, the production of transparent ice, There was a drawback that the structure is complicated because each configuration for the ice detection and deicing are configured independently.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, the object of the present invention is to rotate the tray containing the ice-making water in the left and right direction about the rotation axis and at the same time forward and backward along the longitudinal direction of the rotation axis By swinging the ice making water in the front, rear, left and right directions with the mechanism to make sure that the bubbles in the ice making ice are reliably removed to create more transparent transparent ice, as well as whether the tray rotates in the left and right direction around the rotation axis. It is possible to check whether the ice is detected, and to ice the tray by rotating the tray around the rotation axis which is the reference for the rotation and the forward and backward movement of the tray. Adopting effective ice generation, ice detection and ice removal It is to provide an ice maker configured to enable this.

Ice maker according to the present invention to achieve the above object, by using the heat exchange of the ice maker body having an ice storage tank therein, and the refrigerant passing through the evaporation pipe connected to the cooling system to freeze the ice making water to generate ice An ice maker including an ice making unit and bubble removing means for removing bubbles in the ice making water by shaking the ice making water, wherein the ice making unit accommodates a predetermined amount of ice making water and has a rotation axis centered on the ice maker body. And at least one cooling protrusion fixed to the ice maker body and coupled to the evaporator tube to be cooled and immersed in the ice making water accommodated in the tray to freeze ice making water. It is configured to include a cooling plate, the bubble removing means, the left and right of the tray around the rotation axis Including a swing unit which rotates in a direction characterized in that configured.

In addition, the ice maker according to the present invention, the ice making unit, the tray is supported by the ice maker main body to move back and forth along the longitudinal direction of the rotating shaft, the bubble removing means, the tray is a longitudinal direction of the rotating shaft According to the characterized in that it further comprises a forward and backward moving unit for reciprocating forward and backward.

In addition, the ice maker according to the present invention, the swing unit, the swing motor, the first swing cam is coupled to the swing motor eccentrically rotated, protrudes outward along the rotation axis from the tray integrally with the tray And a second swing cam fixed to the shaft protrusion and contacted with the first swing cam at a predetermined cycle and rotating the shaft protrusion in one of left and right directions about the rotating shaft, and the left or right of the shaft protrusion. And a swing return spring for returning rotation in any one direction, wherein the front and rear movement unit has a first inclined surface inclined in the front and rear direction of the shaft projection and is fixed to the ice maker body in close proximity to the shaft projection. When the first inclined cam and the shaft projection is rotated in the horizontal direction about the rotation axis, the first inclined cam is engaged with the first inclined cam and the rotation of the shaft projection A second inclined cam fixed to the axle with a second inclined surface corresponding to the first inclined surface such that the inclined protrusion is moved forward or backward along the direction, and the first inclined cam and the second inclined cam are engaged with each other; It characterized in that it comprises a forward and backward return spring to provide an elastic pressing force in the direction.

In addition, the ice maker according to the present invention further comprises ice-covering means for detecting the ice of the ice gradually grown around the cooling projection, the ice-covering means, from the tray to contact the ice in the ice state And a motion detecting sensor protruding inwardly, and a motion detecting sensor for detecting that the rotation of the tray stops in the left and right directions by mutual pressure when the ice grows and contacts the ice contacting protrusion. It is done.

In addition, the ice maker according to the present invention further comprises a defrosting means for transferring the ice produced in the ice making unit to the ice storage tank, wherein the defrosting means is separated from the cooling projections and the ice contained in the tray It characterized in that it comprises a swing motor for turning over the tray by rotating the shaft projection so as to be separated from the tray to fall.

According to the above configuration, the ice maker according to the present invention has the advantage of reliably removing bubbles in ice-making water that is frozen, thereby creating more transparent transparent ice, and adopting a simple structure as a whole, effectively generating transparent ice, sensing ice and There is an advantage that can be removed.

1 is a side cross-sectional view of an ice maker according to the prior art.
Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the main part of the ice maker according to the prior art
3 is an exploded perspective view of an ice maker in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a side cross-sectional view of an ice maker in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exploded perspective view of main parts of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 6 is a front view of the main part of the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention
Figure 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing the state of use of the main portion of the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention

Hereinafter, an ice maker according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings.

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention 6 is a front view of an essential part of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing a main part use state of an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ice maker main body 10, the ice making unit 20, the bubble removing means 30, the ice detection means 40, the ice removing means 50 And, the ice discharge means 60 is configured to include.

The ice maker body 10 forms an outer shape of the ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the ice storage tank 11 and the purified water storage tank 12 therein in a configuration in which other components constituting the ice maker are supported and accommodated. Is provided, the upper cover 14 is provided on the top.

The ice storage tank 11 is a lower portion of the ice making unit 20 is configured to store the ice (I) generated in the ice making unit 20, the purified water storage tank 12 is the purified water is stored Configuration.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the purified water storage tank 12 is partitioned by the overflow side wall 121 on one side of the ice storage tank 11 so that the water stored in the purified water storage tank 12 is the overflow side wall 121. Overflow through the overflow groove 121a is formed in the upper end of the ice storage tank 11 is configured to flow.

That is, the purified water falls from the upper end of the overflow side wall 121 to the ice storage tank 11 and is cooled by heat exchange with the ice stored in the ice storage tank 11 and the boundary plate 13 to be described later. It is stored in the cold water in the lower space of the ice storage tank 11 partitioned by.

On the other hand, inside the ice storage tank 11 is provided with a boundary plate 13, the boundary plate 13 is formed through the through-hole 121 through which the ice is filtered and water is entirely formed the ice storage tank 11 ) Is divided into an upper space where ice is stored and a lower space where cold water is stored.

In addition, the boundary plate 13 according to an embodiment of the present invention is made of a material floating in water in the vertical direction in the ice storage tank 11 according to the buoyancy by the water and the weight of the ice stored in the upper space. Configured to flow.

Of course, as shown in the figure it is preferable to have a floating guide 132 for guiding the flow in the vertical direction of the boundary plate 13, the boundary plate 13 is provided in the ice storage tank (11) It is preferable to include a float limiting stopper 133 for limiting the float height of the boundary plate 13 so as not to rise higher than the height of the inlet end of the connected ice discharge passage 61.

By the configuration of the boundary plate 13 as described above, the ice cube is caught in the through hole 121, thereby preventing the ice cube from flowing into the cold water valve 15 connected to the lower space of the ice storage tank 11. Will be.

In addition, when the amount of ice stored in the upper space of the boundary plate 13 is small, the boundary plate 13 is at the inlet end of the ice discharge passage 61 communicated with the ice storage tank 11 by the buoyancy of water. It can be floated adjacent to shorten the ice discharge waiting time, on the contrary, if the amount of ice stored in the upper space of the boundary plate 13 is relatively large, the boundary plate 13 is fixed by the weight of the ice Is immersed in the water to a depth will be able to contribute to the cold water of the water stored in the lower space of the boundary plate (13).

The ice making unit 20 is configured to freeze the ice making water by using heat exchange of a refrigerant passing through an evaporation tube connected to a cooling system as described above in the background to generate ice (I), and cooling. The plate 22 is comprised.

The tray 21 is frozen and configured to receive a predetermined amount of ice making water to be generated as ice (I) in an embodiment of the present invention to be rotatable about the rotation axis (C) in the ice maker body (10) While being supported and supported so as to be movable back and forth along the longitudinal direction of the rotating shaft C, the ice removing water 30 is rotated and moved forward and backward, and the ice making water received therein swings in the front, rear, left and right directions.

The cooling plate 22 is fixed to the ice maker body 10 and coupled to an evaporation tube connected to a cooling system to be cooled, and a plurality of cooling protrusions 221 are provided on a lower surface thereof.

The cooling protrusion 221 is cooled below the freezing point by heat exchange of the refrigerant flowing in the evaporator tube and freezes the ice making water so that ice (I) grows around the lower surface of the cooling plate (22). It is provided with a plurality in the immersion in the ice making water accommodated in the tray 21.

The bubble removing means 30 swings the ice making water and removes bubbles in the ice making water to freeze, thereby creating transparent ice that is transparent ice (I). It is configured to include).

The swing unit 31 has a swing motor 311, a first swing cam 312, a shaft projection 313, and a configuration in which the tray 21 is rotated in a horizontal direction about the rotation shaft C. , A second swing cam 314 and a swing return spring 315 are configured.

That is, the swing unit 31 is a swing motor 311 that provides a rotational force, the first swing cam 312 is eccentrically rotated by being coupled to the swing motor 311, and the rotary shaft (3) from the tray 21 A shaft protrusion 313 protruding outwardly along C) and integrally flowing with the tray 21, and fixed to the shaft protrusion 313 and contacting the first swing cam 312 at predetermined intervals, and the shaft A second swing cam 314 for rotating the projection 313 in one of the left and right directions about the rotation axis C, and a swing return for returning the rotation of the shaft 313 in one of the left and right directions. It is configured to include a spring (315).

The front and rear movement unit 32 is configured to move the tray 21 back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft C, and the first inclined cam 321, the second inclined cam 322, and the front and rear travel. It comprises a return spring (not shown).

That is, the front and rear movement unit 32 has the first inclined surface 321a inclined in the front and rear direction of the shaft projection 313 and surrounds the shaft projection 313 so as to approach the shaft projection 313 and the ice maker body. When the first inclined cam 321 fixed to the (10) and the shaft projection 313 is rotated in the left and right direction about the rotation axis (C) is engaged with the first inclined cam 321 and the shaft projection ( A second inclined cam (2) having a second inclined surface (322a) corresponding to the first inclined surface (321a) so as to advance or reverse in accordance with the rotation direction of the 313, the fixed inclined projection (313) 322, and the first inclined cam 321 and the second inclined cam 322 is configured to include a front and rear return spring (not shown) to provide an elastic pressing force in the direction in which they interlock.

By the organic coupling relationship between the swing unit 31 and the front and rear movement unit 32 as described above, the ice making water accommodated in the tray 21 flows in the front, rear, left and right directions, and in the ice making water in case of flow in any one direction. The bubble can be removed more reliably to produce more transparent ice (I).

The ice detection means 40 is configured to detect the ice of the ice (I) gradually grown around the cooling projection 221, comprising an ice contact projection 41 and the motion sensor 42 do.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ice contacting projection 41 is provided to protrude inward from the tray 21 so that the ice I gradually grown around the cooling projection 221 is in contact with the ice in the iced state. It is configured to be.

The motion detection sensor 42 is configured to detect that the rotation of the tray 21 in the left and right direction stops in the embodiment of the present invention within the predetermined range on one side of the spinneret 313 in the spinneret. Rotating bar 421 configured to rotate integrally with 313 and an optical sensor 422 for detecting the movement of the rotating bar 421 using light.

That is, when the ice I gradually grown around the cooling protrusion 221 contacts the ice contacting projection 41 in the full ice state, the tray 21 is eventually moved to the left and right directions due to mutual pressing force. When the rotation is stopped, the motion detection sensor 42 detects that the rotation of the tray is stopped and thus detects that the ice I gradually grown around the cooling protrusion 221 is in an iced state. .

The ice removing means 50 is configured to transfer the ice I produced in the ice making unit 20 to the ice storage tank 11 so that the ice state of the ice I in the ice detection means 40 is increased. If detected, the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor is directly supplied to the evaporator tube connected to the cooling system as described above in the background without heating the condenser, thereby heating the cooling protrusion 221, and the ice (I) in the full state. The state in which the cooling projections 221 can be separated.

The defrosting means 50 is provided with a turning motor 51 which rotates the shaft protrusion 313 to turn the tray 21 upside down. The tray 21 is turned over by the operation of the turning motor 51. In this case, as described above, the ice I separated from the cooling protrusion 221 and received in the tray 21 is separated from the tray 21 and dropped, and then transferred to the ice storage tank 11.

The ice discharging means 60 discharges the ice stored in the ice storage tank 11 to the outside by a user's manipulation. The ice discharging passage 61, the block insertion hole 62, and the gate block 63 ) And a gate driver 64.

The ice discharge passage 61 is formed so as to penetrate downwardly from the one side wall inlet end of the ice storage tank 11 toward the outer outlet end so that the ice stored in the ice storage tank 11 is opened to the outside. It is a configuration to discharge.

The block insertion hole 62 is formed to pass through one side wall of the ice storage tank 11 at the inlet end of the ice discharge passage 61 so that the gate block 63 is inserted.

The gate block 63 is slidably moved forward and backward by the block insertion hole 62 to move forward and backward by the operation of the gate driver 64 to open and close an inlet end of the ice discharge passage 61. to be.

The gate driver 64 is configured to move the gate block 63 back and forth, as shown in the use state diagram of FIG. 7. The opening and closing motor 641, the crank 642, the opening and closing guide groove 643a, And a clearance groove 643b, a guide pin 644, and a block cover 645.

The open / close motor 641 has a structure in which the rotating motor rotation shaft 641a is disposed in a direction orthogonal to the forward and backward directions of the gate block 63 and fixed to the block cover 645.

The crank 642 is eccentrically rotated to the open / close motor 641 and the power transmission shaft 642a parallel to the motor rotation shaft 641a forms a predetermined rotation radius about the motor rotation shaft 641a. Configuration.

The opening and closing guide groove 643a is formed to be long in the vertical direction in the gate block 63 and the power transmission shaft 642a is connected to the vertical movement so as to be in the state (b) of FIG. As described above, the rotational motion of the crank 642 in one direction is converted to the forward and backward motion of the gate block 63.

The block cover 644 is fixed to the ice maker body 10 and surrounds the gate block 63.

The guide pin 645 is provided at an upper end portion of the side of the gate block 63 to guide the movement of the gate block 63 and serves as a hinge axis so that the gate block 63 can be rotated. As the block 63 moves forward and backward, the block cover 644 is movably connected back and forth.

The clearance groove 643b extends forward or backward from the lower end of the opening and closing guide groove 643a, and the gate block 63 is moved forward or backward and the ice discharge passage 61 is opened. When the power transmission shaft 642a is positioned and stopped by the clearance groove 643b, the gate block 63 can be rotated back and forth by the hinge shaft of the guide pin 645, and the flow back and forth according to the discharged ice state. As a result, the ice can be optimized.

That is, as shown in (b) to (c) in FIG. 7, the gate block 63 is finally retracted to further open the ice discharge passage 61 and further leave the remaining ice. It is to be able to prevent the ice jam in the discharge passage (61).

The ice maker described above and illustrated in the drawings is only one embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the technical idea of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined only by the matters set forth in the claims below, and the embodiments which have been improved and changed without departing from the gist of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It will be said to belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

I ice
C axis of rotation
10 ice maker body
11 ice storage tank
12 Water Purification Tank
121 overflow side wall 121a overflow groove
13 boundary plate
131 through
132 Injury Guide
132 Injury Limit Stopper
14 Upper cover
20 Ice Making Unit
21 trays
22 cold plate
221 cooling projection
30 Bubble removing means
31 swing units
311 swing motor
312 first swingcam
313 spinneret
314 second swingcam
315 Swing return spring
32 forward and backward mobile unit
321 First Slope Cam 321a First Slope
322 Second Slope Cam 322a Second Slope
40 ice detection means
41 Ice contact projection
42 Motion Sensor
421 Rolling Bar
422 light sensor
50 De-ice means
51 slewing motor
60 Ice discharge means
61 Ice drainage path
62 block insertion hole
63 Gate Block
64 gate driver
641 open / close motor 641a motor shaft
642 crank 642a power train
643a Opening and closing guide groove 643b Clear groove
644 block cover
645 guide pin

Claims (5)

An ice maker main body having an ice storage tank therein, an ice making unit which freezes ice making water by using heat exchange of a refrigerant passing through an evaporation tube connected to a cooling system, to generate ice, and the ice making shakes the ice making water. In the ice maker comprising a bubble removing means for removing bubbles in the ice water,
The ice making unit includes a tray for receiving a predetermined amount of ice making water and being rotatably supported around a rotation axis of the ice making machine body, and fixed to the ice making machine body to be cooled by being coupled to the evaporator tube to freeze ice making water. It comprises a cooling plate provided with at least one cooling projection immersed in the ice-making water accommodated in the tray to grow ice,
The bubble removing means, characterized in that it comprises a swing unit for rotating the tray in the left and right direction about the rotation axis. The method of claim 1,
The ice making unit is supported by the tray to be moved back and forth along the longitudinal direction of the rotating shaft to the ice maker body,
The bubble removing means further comprises a front and rear movement unit for moving the tray back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the rotary shaft. 3. The method of claim 2,
The swing unit may include a swing motor, a first swing cam that is eccentrically rotated by being coupled to the swing motor, a shaft protrusion protruding outwardly along the rotation axis from the tray, and integrally flowing with the tray; A second swing cam fixed and in contact with the first swing cam at a predetermined cycle and rotating the shaft projection in one of left and right directions about the rotating shaft; and returning rotation of the shaft projection in one of the left and right directions. Including swing return spring,
The front and rear movement unit, the first inclined cam having a first inclined surface inclined in the front and rear direction of the shaft projection is fixed to the ice maker body close to the shaft projection, and the shaft projection is in the left and right direction about the rotation axis A second inclined cam that is engaged with the first inclined cam and has a second inclined surface corresponding to the first inclined surface so as to move forward or backward in accordance with a rotation direction of the spinneret; And a forward and backward return spring for providing an elastic pressing force in the direction in which the first inclined cam and the second inclined cam interlock with each other. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
It further comprises a sea ice detection means for detecting the ice of the ice gradually grown around the cooling projections,
The ice detection means includes an ice contacting protrusion projecting inwardly from the tray so that the ice contacts in the iced state, and when the ice is grown and is in contact with the ice contacting protrusion, the ice contacting protrusion is formed in the left and right directions of the tray by mutual pressure. Ice making machine comprising a motion sensor for detecting that the rotation of the stop. 5. The method of claim 4,
It further comprises a defrosting means for transferring the ice produced in the ice making unit to the ice storage tank,
The ice making means, the icemaker is characterized in that it comprises a swing motor for turning over the tray by rotating the spinneret so that the ice contained in the tray is separated from the tray and fall off from the tray.

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