KR960008174B1 - Automatic ice making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

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Description

Automatic Ice Maker

1 is a perspective view showing the main part of an embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a cross-sectional rear view of an ice tray.

3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the torsional motion performed at one time;

4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the twisting operation performed twice;

5 is a cross-sectional side view of the refrigerator.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

4: ice making room 5: cooler

6: fan 8: drive mechanism

10: ice tray 12: first protrusion

13: second projection 14: cover

17: heater 26: temperature sensor

The present invention relates to an automatic ice making device which automatically makes ice and performs ice by twisting the ice making plate.

In the automatic de-icing device, the ice tray is rotatably connected to the motor in the drive mechanism, water is supplied from the water supply device to the ice tray, and ice is defrosted. Thereafter, the ice is automatically made by repeating the operation of watering and defrosting the ice tray again. However, in this kind of automatic ice making apparatus, when the ice tray is twisted and the ice is peeled off, the ice adheres to the inner surface of the ice tray, so the ice is difficult to peel off. For this reason, it is necessary to twist the ice making plate strongly with a larger torque, and there is a problem that the motor needs to be enlarged, and this problem is remarkable in an apparatus for making transparent ice that does not contain bubbles. In normal ice making, the water in the ice making plate freezes from the water surface to the bottom surface in direct contact with the cold air, so the ice expands in the direction of pressing out of the wall of the ice making plate. Therefore, it is relatively easy to peel off the ice by the repulsive force of the ice tray, but the ice is flowing along the bottom of the ice plate. Water was particularly difficult to ice because water freezes from the bottom side toward the water side and water expands toward the water side, so that no force is pressed against the wall of the ice tray.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic de-icing device which is excellent in moving performance and capable of low torque and miniaturization of a motor. The automatic ice making device of the present invention stores and ices water in an ice making plate and causes the ice making plate to rotate by the driving mechanism after the ice making is carried out by rotating the ice making plate when the ice making operation starts. After twisting in the reverse direction is characterized in that it is configured to twist the ice tray to the ice position to rotate. According to the above means, first, the ice in the ice making plate is easily reversed by the motor in the drive mechanism at the beginning of the ice making operation, and then the ice making plate is rotated forward to the ice making position and twisted again. Because of this, the ice can be reliably peeled off the ice tray, and the ice performance is improved. In addition, since the first torsion is performed to easily peel off the ice from the ice making plate, and the next torsion is to peel off the deteriorated ice from the ice making plate, each torsional torque can be at least surely iced and thus small. Inexpensive motor use becomes possible.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings of an embodiment applied to the refrigerator with an automatic ice making device according to the present invention.

First, in FIG. 5, the freezer compartment 2, the refrigerating compartment 3, and the ice making compartment 4 are formed inside the refrigerator main body 1, and the cold air generated by the cooler 5 installed at the rear part of the freezer compartment 2 is formed. The fan 6 is supplied to each of the spaces 2, 3, 4. In the ice-making chamber 4, an automatic ice-making device 7 suitable for the present invention is provided, which will be described below with reference to FIG. First, although not shown in the drive mechanism 8, a motor, a gear mechanism, and the like are provided. On the other hand, an L-shaped support member 9 protrudes from the outside thereof, and the ice making plate 10 is supported on the support member 9 so as to be inverted up and down about the shaft 11. The de-icing dish 10 is rotated about the shaft 11 by decelerating the rotation of the motor built in the drive mechanism 8 and transmitting it to the shaft 11. In addition, when the ice making plate 10 is rotated in the reverse direction (arrow A direction), the first protrusion 12 is formed on the right side of the ice making plate 10. The rotation stops in contact with the upper surface of the In addition, a second protrusion 13 serving as a water supply port is formed on the front part of the ice making plate 10. Similarly, when the ice making plate 10 rotates in the forward rotation direction (arrow B direction) for ice, the second protrusion (13) abuts against the lower surface of the support member (9) to stop its rotation. In addition, a lid 14 covering the upper surface of the ice making plate 10 is rotatably attached about the shaft 15, and as shown in FIG. 2, a heat insulating material 16 and a heater 17 are formed inside the ice plate 10. It is stored. In addition, the lid 14 is provided with an introduction portion 18 for water supply at a portion corresponding to the second protrusion 13. Moreover, the U-shaped opening cover guide 19 provided in the back part of the drive mechanism 8 of FIG. 1 has the cover 14 when the ice-making plate 10 rotates to the arrow B direction at the time of a ribbing operation. The cover 14 is opened in contact with one end. In addition, a temperature sensor 26 for detecting ice-making completion temperature is provided at the rear of the ice-making plate 10. The water supply device 21 for supplying water to the ice making plate 10 has a water supply tank 22 disposed in the refrigerating compartment 3 and a water first receiving water of the water supply tank 22 as shown in FIG. It consists of the dish 23, the pump 24 which spreads the water of this first water dish 23, and the water supply pipe 25 which draws the water drawn up by this pump 24 into the ice-making dish 10. As shown in FIG. On the rear wall of the ice making chamber 4, an outlet 28 of the cold air passage 27 through which cold air generated by the cooler 5 flows into the ice making chamber 4 is formed toward the bottom surface of the ice making plate 10. Cold air from (28) flows along the bottom surface of the ice making plate 10. In addition, a storage ice case 29 is housed in the lower portion of the ice making chamber 4 so as to be accessible. And the ice storage detection lever 30 is rotatably attached to the said drive mechanism 8 in order to detect the amount of ice stored.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

It is now assumed that the ice making plate 10 is in the horizontal ice making position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. When the pump 24 is energized in this state, the water in the first water dish 23 is drawn up by the pump 24, introduced into the inlet 18, and supplied into the ice making plate 10. When the water supply is completed, the heater 17 in the cover 14 generates heat. In addition, the cool air generated by the cooler 5 is sent by the fan 6, blows from the outlet 28 of the cold air passage 27 into the ice making chamber 4, and flows along the bottom surface of the ice making plate 10. . The water stored in the ice making plate 10 is frozen from the bottom side by the cold air, but since the upper surface of the ice making plate 10 is covered by the cover 14 having the heater 17 therein, the cold water does not directly touch the water surface. Water is more reliably obtained from the bottom side toward the water side. For this reason, the air contained in the water in the ice making process can freely escape from the water surface of the unfrozen water, so that transparent ice can be produced without containing bubbles. When the ice making is completed and the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 26 falls below the set temperature, the heater 17 is disconnected.

The ice making plate 10 is then rotated by the drive mechanism 8 in the direction of arrow A (reverse direction) in FIG. 1 about the axis 11. At this time, the first protrusion 12 of the ice making plate 10 comes into contact with the upper surface of the supporting member 9, and its rotation stops, but thereafter, as shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. The ice making plate 10 is twisted in the direction of arrow A because the driving side continues to rotate a little. The twisting force lowers the adhesion between the ice making plate 10 and the ice. The torsional torque does not have to be large because this torsion is an operation for making the ice easily peel off from the ice making plate 10. Then, the motor (not shown) in the drive mechanism 8 rotates forward as opposed to the above, and the ice making plate 10 is rotated in the arrow B direction (forward rotation direction). As a result, the lid 14 is opened, and the lid 14 that is in contact with the lid guide 19 is gradually opened.

After that, when the second protrusion 13 of the ice making plate 10 comes into contact with the lower surface of the supporting member 9, its rotation stops, but since the driving side of the ice making plate 10 continues to rotate slightly, the ice making plate 10 ) Is twisted in the direction indicated by the arrow B in the opposite direction as indicated by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. Since the ice making plate 10 is twisted in such opposite directions, ice is reliably peeled off the ice making plate 10 and falls into the storage ice case 29. In this case, since the adhesion between the ice and the ice-making plate 10 is lowered due to the torsion in the direction A, the torsion torque can be at least firmly moved in the B direction. Thereafter, as described above, water supply is performed into the ice making plate 10 and the ice making operation is repeated. If the ice storage lever 30 detects that the amount of ice in the storage ice case 29 is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount, the ice making operation is stopped. As described above, according to the embodiment, the dominant ice tray 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow A (reverse direction), and the twisting force is applied in the same direction to decrease the adhesion between the ice and the ice tray 10, and then the arrow of the ice tray 10 is changed. It rotates in the B direction and reverses up and down. In particular, in the automatic ice making apparatus of the method of freezing water in order from the bottom side of the ice making plate 10 to the water surface side and making transparent ice as in this embodiment, the ice does not expand in volume in the direction of pressing the wall of the ice making plate 10 The adhesion of the ice tray 10 is very large and difficult to ice in the usual way, but even in this case, the ice is twisted in the direction opposite to the ice tray 10 as in the present embodiment. It is simply peeled off. At the same time, the torsion in the direction of arrow A, which is performed at the same time for the first time, is a torsion for making the ice easily peel off from the ice making plate 10, and the torsion in the direction of the next arrow B is peeling the ice whose adhesion has decreased from the ice making plate 10. Each torsional torque is surely at least iced because it is a torsion to achieve. Therefore, it is possible to use a small motor with a small torque, so it can be a cheap automatic ice making device. In the present embodiment, the upper surface portion of the ice making dish 10 is covered by the lid 14 incorporating the heater 17, but of course, the heater 17 may be omitted, or the upper portion of the ice making dish 10 may be covered. The configuration without providing (14) may be sufficient, and various deformation | transformation is possible. As can be seen from the above description, according to the present invention, ice is made by rotating the ice tray in a direction opposite to the conventional ice direction and applying a twist in the same direction by the motor in the drive gear at the beginning of the ice breaking operation. Since the ice making plate is twisted in the ice making direction (forward rotation direction) after being easily peeled off from the plate, the ice is reliably peeled off the ice making plate, thereby improving the ice making performance. The first torsion is performed to make it easier to peel off the ice and the ice making plate, and the torsional torque at the time of each rotation is at least good and the use of a small motor is sufficient since the subsequent torsion is enough to peel off the ice having a low adhesion. This makes it possible to provide an inexpensive automatic ice making device with an excellent effect.

Claims (1)

An automatic ice making device for supplying water to an ice making plate and making ice and rotating the ice making plate to an ice making position by means of a drive mechanism connected to the ice making plate after completion of ice making, wherein the ice making plate is moved in a first direction by the driving mechanism. Direction) and a locking portion 12, 13 which stops the rotation at a predetermined position when rotated in the second direction (B direction) opposite thereto. An automatic ice making apparatus, comprising: rotating an ice tray in a first direction to give a torsion and then rotating in the second direction to perform an ice.