RU2448311C2 - Refrigerating appliance with ice generator - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: personal use articles.

SUBSTANCE: refrigerating appliance has an internal cavity, where an icemaker is placed which is withdrawn with a tray for ice, a central module of the icemaker which is fixed to the inner wall of the refrigerating appliance. The tray for ice is detachably connected to the central module, and water tank is properly connected to the central module so that the water from the reservoir can be transmitted to the central module. The tray for ice and / or water tank is located in such a way that when the tray for ice and / or the water tank is removed, an increase in useful volume occurs, which forms an inside cavity interconnected with the refrigerating compartment.

EFFECT: use of this invention enables to increase the useful volume of the refrigerating appliance, which design does not require any supply of water.

9 cl, 4 dwg

Description

Technical field

The invention relates to a refrigerating apparatus according to the preamble of paragraph 1 of the claims.

State of the art

Known refrigeration apparatus with an ice maker located in the cooled cavity. In this case, ice generators are used, which are filled with water and cooled outside, and the water is frozen on the way from the outside to the inside, as a result of which an ice cube is formed. Further, there are so-called clear ice generators in which several cooling rods are immersed in a container filled with water. Due to the circulation of the refrigerant inside the rods, they are cooled so much that an ice layer builds up on the cooled rods immersed in water. As soon as the ice layer on the cooled rods reaches a usable thickness, it is discarded from the cooled rods. Such a transparent ice generator is described in DE 10336834 A1. Such an ice maker is generally integrated in the refrigeration compartment of the refrigeration-freezer.

There are many options for the implementation of such ice makers. These include fully automatic options connected to the cold water supply network and independently pumping the remaining water after ice preparation into the sewage pipe. The advantage of such an ice maker is its ease of use when, so to speak, transparent ice is prepared at the touch of a button. However, this embodiment implies the presence of water and sewage leads at the installation site of the refrigeration unit.

Typically, an ice tray is provided in which transparent ice accumulates. The ice tray may be emptied, for example, into a glass placed beneath it.

The ice maker has a constant size and is an integral part of the refrigeration unit. Therefore, for all refrigeration units equipped with ice makers, it is important that the ice maker occupy a small fraction of the usable volume. In particular, in refrigerators with a small usable volume, the ice maker significantly reduces the available internal cavity. Even when the ice maker is not used, there is no way to increase the usable volume.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the objective of the invention is to develop such an option of equipping a refrigeration apparatus with an ice generator, which would allow, in the case when the ice generator is not used, to increase the useful volume of the refrigeration apparatus used to store products. In addition, the refrigeration unit must have a design that does not require water supply.

The problem is solved according to the invention by a refrigerating apparatus with the features disclosed in paragraph 1 of the claims. In this case, the central module of the ice maker is fixed on the inner wall of the refrigerator, and the ice tray is detachably connected to the central module. The water tank is also detachably connected to the central module so that water from the water tank can be transferred to the central module. Due to the fact that the ice tray is connected to the central module, the refrigeration unit has a smooth and easy to clean front panel that does not contain holes for dispensing prepared transparent ice. This option is especially beneficial for built-in refrigerators with decorative front panels. Since the ice tray is located near the central module in the refrigerator, it can be removed through the open door, that is, no special slots are required in the front panel of the door.

If the ice tray is in the freezer compartment, the prepared transparent ice can be stored almost indefinitely, since temperatures below 0 ° C prevail in this compartment. If the ice tray is in the refrigerator compartment, then the shelf life is limited. Of course, the melting process is slow, since the temperature is only a few degrees above zero. In this case, ice can also be recovered later.

According to the invention, the ice tray can be removed from the refrigerator. Thanks to this, it can be easily cleaned in a sink or dishwasher. This operation is necessary to remove possibly melt water or possible deposits / contaminants from the ice cube tray.

The water tank is also connected directly to the central module with the possibility of removal and can be removed from the refrigeration unit. This makes it easy to fill the water tank from the water supply. In addition, the water tank removed from the refrigerator is easily cleaned from contamination or deposits. Since the water tank, when ready for use, is connected to the central module so that water can be transferred directly to the central module, there is no need for additional hoses, cables or connections in the internal cavity of the refrigeration unit that would otherwise be required to connect the tank for water and the central module. Such compounds could interfere with the laying and movement of refrigerated products.

The ice tray and the water tank are positioned so that when you remove the ice tray and / or water tank, the useful interior of the refrigerator increases. Therefore, when the ice maker is not used, a larger usable volume is available.

Advantageously, the central module, the ice tray and the water tank are arranged in a block. In this case, the ice tray is installed under the central module so that its surface is flush with the side of the central module. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, a removable water tank adjoins this side wall. When the water tank is removed, the usable volume is freed, immediately adjacent to the previously accessible inner cavity and together with it forms a common large and interconnected usable space. By removing the ice tray, this interconnected storage space for refrigerated products can be increased even further.

The water tank and the ice tray are advantageously connected to the central module by means of guide rails. In order to restore the working state of the ice maker after removing the water tank and / or ice tray, the water tank and ice tray must be installed in a certain position relative to the central module. Guide rails make it easy. Thus, after removing the water tank and the ice tray, it is only necessary to hook onto the guide tires and, by continuous displacement, set them to their definite end position. Guide rails advantageously are an integral part of the central module and are made as a whole with it.

Further, due to the use of guide tires, the additional useful volume resulting from the removal of the water tank and / or the ice tray is not separated by the components of the ice maker, such as a frame or mountings. Thus, the increased usable volume is unlimitedly available for laying refrigerated products.

The central module is mounted on the inner wall by means of an intermediate mounting plate. By using an intermediate mounting plate as a connecting element between the inner wall and the central module, standardization of the mounting is ensured. It is particularly advantageous that the same central module can be integrated into various types of refrigeration units. The identity of the structural units contributes to a significant potential cost reduction, since now it is not necessary to change the design of the central module or the inner shell of the refrigeration unit, but only need to adjust the intermediate mounting plate to the appropriate type of refrigeration unit.

At least one sensor is provided for detecting the presence of an ice tray and / or a water tank. To reduce the energy consumption of refrigeration units, it makes sense to turn on additional devices, such as an ice maker, only when they are able to perform the functions expected by the user. If the central module is operated with a missing water tank, the ice maker will not be able to prepare transparent ice. In this case, excess energy is consumed and the associated costs increase. Therefore, from the point of view of environmental protection, it makes sense to determine the presence of a water tank filled with water. The sensors can be, for example, mass sensors, optical sensors or microswitches.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, an additional sensor is provided for detecting an ice tray. Due to this, it is possible to avoid a situation in which, when the ice tray is missing, the prepared transparent ice is discarded unaddressed into the internal cavity of the refrigerator. Regardless of whether the ice maker is in the refrigerator or freezer compartment, significant inconvenience would be associated with this. If transparent ice would be discharged into the freezer compartment, then after a certain time, it would freeze to the inner wall of the freezer compartment. As a result, unloading and thawing of the freezer compartment would have to be carried out. If the ice maker is located in the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator, the clear ice prepared by the central module and discarded in the absence of an ice tray would melt and puddles could be damaged as a result of the formation of puddles. In this case, it would also be necessary to remove the refrigerated products from the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator, check for spoiled products, dispose of them and dry the refrigerator compartment. The sensor avoids the operation of the ice generator in the absence of an installed ice tray.

As in the case of the ice tray, and in the case of the water tank may be insufficient to determine only their presence. If, for example, there is an ice tray, but it is not in the correct position, it may turn out that the prepared transparent ice only partially enters the ice tray. Part of the ice discharged past the tray will cause the inconvenience described above.

If the water tank is in the wrong position, leaks can occur if the central module is full. This is also unacceptable. Therefore, in a particularly advantageous embodiment, by means of a switching contact, it is checked whether the ice tray and / or the water tank are in the intended position.

Advantageously, the ice maker is turned on only when the ice tray and / or water tank is in the intended position.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other details and advantages of the invention follow from the dependent claims in connection with the description of the embodiment, which is explained in detail on the basis of the figures. The figures depict:

Figure 1: schematic view of a refrigerator with a refrigerator compartment and an ice maker;

Figure 2: An exploded view of the components of the ice maker.

The implementation of the invention

The figure 1 shows a refrigeration unit 1 with an open door 2 and an internal cavity 3. The internal cavity 3 is divided into a refrigerating compartment 4 and a freezing compartment 5. For reasons of clarity, the lid of the freezing compartment 5 is not shown. The refrigerator compartment 4, as a rule, is divided by at least one shelf, rearranged in height 6. In the refrigerator compartment 4 there is an ice maker 7.

The ice generator 7 consists of a central module, which in this embodiment is designed as a technological module 8 with a switching contact 11 (see also figure 2), an ice tray 9 and a water tank 10. The mounting plate of the process module 8 not shown here is rigidly connected to the intermediate mounting plate. This intermediate mounting plate is mounted on the left or right side wall of the refrigeration compartment 4. The fixing tab 12 is an integral part of the rear wall of the technological module 8 and protrudes into the internal cavity 3 of the refrigeration unit from the side opposite to the mounting plate of the technological module 8. Using this fixing tab 12 the technological module 8 is rigidly connected to the rear wall of the refrigeration apparatus 1.

In the technological module 8 of the ice maker 7, transparent ice is prepared using several cooled rods in the course of a process not described here in detail, which is discharged into the ice tray 9. The ice tray 9 is located under the technological module 8. The technological module 8 on the side on which its mounting plate is located is extended as a narrow rectangular parallelepiped 13, which is integral with the front side of the technological module 8, so that the lower side of the rectangular parallelepiped 13 when the ice tray 9 is retracted, it is flush with it. On the lower side of the technological module 8 in the area into which the ice tray 9 can be pushed, there are left and right L-shaped guide tires 14, 15. Moreover, one shoulder of the guide tires 14, 15 is rigidly connected to the lower side of the technological module 8 while the other shoulder runs parallel to the bottom side of the process module 8. If the ice tray 9 is pushed into the ice maker 7, one of its sides is flush with the side wall of the process module 8, opposite the mounting plate of the process module 8.

The ice tray 9 has the shape of an open upward bath. The left and right guide tires 14, 15 of the technological module 8 are included in the corresponding grooves 16 of the ice tray 9. Such a groove is an integral part of the left or right side wall of the ice tray 9 and is located on the wall 17 of the bath.

A switching contact 11 is located on the rear wall of the process module 8. This switching contact 11 is activated only if the ice tray 9 is correctly installed. Only when the switching contact 11 has been triggered, the technological module 8 can begin to prepare transparent ice.

In a further embodiment, the switching contact 11 is replaced by a photocell or a presence sensor. In this case, the preparation of transparent ice can also begin only after the sensor is triggered.

The water needed to make clear ice is contained in the water tank 10. The water tank 10 is located next to the technology module 8 on the side opposite the mounting plate of the technology module 8. As soon as the water tank 10 reaches its final position near the technology module 8, a connection between the water tank 10 is established using a connecting device not shown here and the water supply system of the technological module 8. For this, the technological module 8 on the side wall opposite the mounting plate has an upper and lower L-shaped direction the guide tires 18, 19. One shoulder of the guide tires 18, 19 is rigidly connected to the side wall of the technology module 8, while the other shoulders extending parallel to the side wall of the technology module 8 are facing in opposite directions. For tight connection of the water tank 10 with the technological module 8, it is possible to provide, for example, a 90 ° pipe sleeve protruding from the bottom of the side wall of the technological module 8. In order to interconnect the parts, a hole is provided in the rear wall of the water tank 10 O-ring seal. When installing the tank 10 for water, the pipe sleeve slides into the hole and is sealed with an O-ring.

Not shown in the figure, the grooves necessary to move the water tank 10 and engaged in the upper and lower guide rails 18, 19, are an integral part of the water tank 10. When the reservoir 10 for water is retracted, it is in the upper part adjacent to the technological module, and in the lower part - to the ice tray 9. The water tank 10 has a lid 20 that can be removed to fill the tank. An installed lid in the refrigerator compartment prevents water from becoming contaminated or infected.

Removing and installing both the ice tray 9 and the water tank 10 is done from the front.

The ice generator 7 together with the installed ice tray 9 and the installed water tank 10 is a compact structural unit. If an ice maker 7 is not used, the water tank 10 can be removed. Due to the fact that the water tank 10 is located on the side opposite the mounting plate of the technological module 8, its extraction can significantly increase the usable volume available for laying refrigerated products. This net volume can be increased even more due to the fact that in the case when the ice maker 7 is not used, an additional ice tray 9 can be removed. The peculiarity lies in the fact that with the removed ice tray 9 and the extracted water tank 10, the increased usable volume forms a space interconnected with the refrigerator compartment 4.

Claims (9)

1. Refrigeration unit (1) with an internal cavity (3) and an ice generator (7) located in it with an removable ice tray (9), as well as with a central module (8) of the ice generator (7), which is fixed on the inner wall of the refrigerator (1) wherein the ice tray (9) is detachably connected to the central module (8), and the water tank (10) is detachably connected to the central module (8) so that water from the water tank (10) can be transmitted in the Central module (8), characterized in that the tray (9) for ice and / or the reservoir (10) for water ra arranged in such a way that when removing the tray (9) for ice and / or the reservoir (10) for water, an increase in the useful volume occurs, which forms an internal cavity (3) interconnected with the refrigerator compartment (4). 2. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the ice tray (9) and the water tank (10) are arranged in such a way that the volume released due to the removal of the ice tray (9) and / or the tank (10) for water, serves as a useful internal cavity (3) of the refrigeration unit (1). 3. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the central module (8), the ice tray (9) and the water tank (10) are made and arranged in the form of a block. 4. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the ice tray (9) and the water tank (10) are connected to the central module (8) using guide rails (14, 15, 18, 19). 5. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the central module (8) is mounted on the inner wall by means of an intermediate mounting plate. 6. The refrigeration device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one sensor (11) is provided for detecting the presence of a tray (9) for ice and / or a reservoir (10) for water. 7. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that a switching contact (11) is provided, by means of which it is checked whether the ice tray (9) and / or the water tank (10) are in the relative to the central module (8) position. 8. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the ice maker (7) is turned on only when the ice tray (9) and / or water tank (10) is in the intended position. 9. The refrigeration apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the central module (8) has electrical and / or refrigeration connectors that interact with the corresponding connectors of the refrigeration device.

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