CN102803872A - Refrigeration device and corresponding ice maker - Google Patents

Abstract

An ice maker for a household refrigeration unit includes at least one tray (1) that is twistable about an axis (23), and a lever (20) extending radially relative to the axis (23) is mounted on the tray (1).

Description

Refrigeration units and corresponding ice machines

technical field

The present invention relates to an ice maker for use in refrigeration installations, in particular domestic refrigeration installations. The invention also relates to a refrigerating device, in particular a domestic refrigerating device, using the ice maker of said type.

Background technique

Known for example from DE 4113767 A1 is a refrigeration device comprising an ice maker in which an electric motor twists an elastic tray in order to remove ice cubes formed in the tray. If, as disclosed in DE 10 2006 017 804 A1, the motor is omitted and the ice maker tray is twisted by hand, the cost of this type of ice maker can be significantly reduced. DE 10 2006 017 804 A1 discloses an ice maker in which the flaps are rotatable about a longitudinal axis and are mounted twistably in a housing formed by joining together two half shells. A cylindrical knob is provided at the end face of the housing, at the boundary of the two half-shells, and extends out of the housing, and can be gripped by a user to turn and twist the tray.

The torque required to reliably remove all of the ice from the tray can be so great that it is difficult for a user to apply such force.

Contents of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ice maker in which the removal of prepared ice cubes from the moulds is simplified.

The above object is achieved by an ice maker comprising at least one tray twistable around an axis at which is mounted a lever extending in a radial direction with respect to said axis.

In order for the lever not to take up too much space when not in use, said lever is preferably repositionable between a stowed position and an actuated position, the distance from the grip section of the lever to said axis being in the actuated position larger than in the stowed position.

In the stowed position, the lever preferably does not extend beyond the longitudinal walls of the tray.

The repositioning movement may be a displacement; preferably said repositioning is a pivoting movement.

If the tray is pivotably mounted in the frame about a first axis, in particular between an icing position and an ice removal position, the lever is preferably pivotable about a first axis between a stowed position and an actuated position. The offset second axis pivots. In this way, the lever can be used in continuous motion to both pivot and twist the tray.

In the actuated position, the pivotal movement of the lever about the second axis is advantageously blocked by the stop, and the lever and the tray together can pivot about the first axis.

A lever and a stop limiting the freedom of pivoting of the tray are advantageously provided at opposite end faces of the tray in order to effectively twist said tray.

According to a preferred refinement, the second tray is pivotable about the first axis and the lever is arranged between the first and second tray. This allows for a compact and robust construction and also makes it possible to make the ice maker bilaterally symmetrical so that it is equally operable regardless of whether the ice maker is mounted in the door as a left-hand or a right-hand hang. good.

In the stowed position, the lever can be supported on the shaft of the tray, thereby being held in a quick and secure grip by the user.

For access and ease of use of the lever it is also advantageous if the first pivot axis is oriented in the width direction of the housing of the refrigeration device.

The tray is preferably divided into a plurality of compartments by partition walls in a manner known per se. An outer wall of the tray that is 15% - 70%, preferably 30% - 40% higher than the partition wall, thus protruding above the upper edge of the partition wall, prevents water from splashing when the tray is moved with liquid water contained in its compartments .

The section of at least one outer wall extending above the dividing wall is preferably concavely curved on the inside of said section so that the water sloshing onto the outer wall due to the acceleration acting on the tray is in a continuous substantially laminar motion deflected, thus preventing splashing.

In order to enable a comfortable grip of the ice maker for filling with water and for removing formed ice, the ice maker is advantageously mounted movable in the refrigeration unit. This is especially true in the case of ice makers whose pivot axis is oriented in the width direction, since these generally do not occupy the entire depth of the interior of the refrigeration device.

According to a first embodiment, an ice maker of said type is mounted at the door of the refrigeration unit and is movable with said door. The ice maker is easily accessible for filling and draining, neither does the ice maker obstruct access to the interior of the refrigeration unit when the door is open, nor does the lid of the interior interfere with filling the tray with water.

Optionally, the ice maker is removably mounted in the frame of the refrigeration unit to allow access to that portion of the interior space behind the ice maker and to allow easy access to the ice maker for filling and removal of ice.

In particular, the removable ice maker can be integrated in the drawer of the refrigeration unit, in particular.

To facilitate the removal of formed ice, a collection container for the ice cubes may be provided, which is removable from the drawer.

Description of drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will appear below by describing exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which include:

Figure 1 shows a partial perspective view of a refrigeration unit door supporting an ice maker according to the invention in a freezing position;

Figure 2 shows the door of Figure 1 with the ice maker pivoted to an ice removal position;

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the ice maker tray;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of two ice maker trays interconnected according to a further modification of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view along the central plane of the structure depicted in Figure 4;

Figure 6 shows the structure of Figure 4 when the tray is distorted in the ice removal position;

Fig. 7 shows a sectional view similar to Fig. 5 according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator door on which an ice maker according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is installed, similar to that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 shows a cross-sectional view through the ice maker of Fig. 8, which illustrates the mode of operation of the ice maker;

Figure 10 shows a perspective view of an ice maker according to a fifth embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a refrigeration unit having the ice maker of FIG. 10 .

Detailed ways

FIG. 1 shows an inside view of the refrigeration unit door 14 . The door 14 has a known structure with an outer shell 15 formed of sheet metal, an inner wall 16 formed by deep drawing of plastic, and a central space enclosed by the outer shell 15 and inner wall 16, which is surrounded by heat-insulating plastic resin foam filling. A large-area protrusion 17 is formed at the inner wall 16, said protrusion 17 engaging in the inner space of the refrigeration unit frame when the door 14 is in the closed position. Arms 18 are formed at the lugs 17 during deep drawing of the inner wall 16 , each pair of arms holding an icemaker tray 1 , which will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3 .

A lever 20 is located in the space between and rigidly connected to the two trays 1 , in the position shown in FIG. 1 , said lever 20 largely conceals the middle of the three arms 18 arm. A gripping eye or hook 21 on the free end of the lever 20 facing the door 14 facilitates gripping the lever 20 .

A pin 22 is molded into each end wall 5 of the two trays 1 facing away from the lever 20 , when the user grasps the lever 20 and pulls it away from the door 14 so that the trays 1 about an axis extending through the arm 18 and parallel to the door 14 23 is rotated to the ice removal position shown in FIG. 2 , said pin 22 touches the corresponding adjacent arm 18 from below.

In the ice removal position of FIG. 2 , the compartment 2 of the tray 1 is turned downwards, and the end walls 5 of the two trays 1 facing away from the lever 20 are stopped on the outer arm 18 by the stop of the pin 22 to prevent any further rotations. By pushing down on the free end of the lever 20, the user causes a twisting movement of the tray 1 about the axis 23 and deforms the compartment 2, causing the ice cubes therein to be squeezed out.

To catch ice cubes, a container 24 is advantageously mounted on the door 14 below the tray 1 . In particular, the container 24 may be of the same design as the door shelf, which is mounted at another location on the inside of the door, not shown in the figures.

Mounting the ice maker tray 1 on the door 14 means that the tray is susceptible to accelerations and decelerations which would impart motion to the liquid water in the compartment 2 and in adverse circumstances would cause The water splashed off the tray. In particular, when the door 14 is closed after the tray 1 has been filled with water, sudden deceleration when the door 14 hits the frame can hardly be avoided.

In this case, the measures to prevent splashing of water can be explained with reference to FIG. 3 , which shows a tray 1 in cross-section. Said section passes through the two longitudinal walls 6 of the tray 1 and the two compartments 2 . The other compartments 2 adjoin this cross-section in the transverse direction. The compartments 2 are separated from each other by partition walls 3 provided at their upper edges with notches 4 through which water can flow from a filled compartment 2 into an adjacent compartment. Therefore, when lying flat, the operating water level 13 of the tray is slightly higher than the lower edge of the notch 4 .

In order to turn out frozen ice cubes more easily, the inside of the compartment 2 has no sharp edges and has a continuously decreasing cross-section downwards. The partition wall 3 and the longitudinal wall 6 or the end wall 5 transition into the bottom surface 8 of the compartment via a continuous curved section 7 .

The inclination of the end wall 5 increases continuously from top to bottom, and at least above the partition wall 3 the end wall 5 extends vertically. On the other hand, the longitudinal wall 6 is divided into three successive sections after the vertical. In the lower section 9, like the end wall 5, the inclination of the wall increases continuously from bottom to top. The inclination reaches its highest value at the horizontal edge 10 which extends at the level of the notch 4 . Above this edge 10 there is an adjoining central section 11 which is less steep than the adjoining lower section 9 . The central section 11 and the upper section 12 merge by a continuous curvature. In the upper section 12 the side wall has a similar inclination to that of the lower section 9 ; it can even overhang inwards, as shown in FIG. 3 .

When the closed door 14 comes to a sudden stop on the frame, the path of movement of the water level is marked in figure 3 with the reference numeral 13'. The water will not immediately follow the deceleration of the door so that at the left edge of compartment 2 the water level will rise. The water in the compartment 2 on the right can rise above the partition wall 3 and part of the water overflows into the compartment 2 on the left.

In the left-hand compartment 2 , the water sloshing onto the left-hand longitudinal wall 6 first encounters there the relatively slightly inclined central section. Thus, the water does not slow down abruptly like the gate 14, but is continuously deflected upwards. This reduces the risk of splashing. If the deceleration of the tray 1 is so significant that the water rising at the left longitudinal wall 6 exceeds the upper edge of the left longitudinal wall 6, the overhanging upper section 12 will push the water to the right, so that the water would fall back into compartment 2 instead of splashing out over side wall 6.

Effective protection against water spillage is provided by the combined height of the central section 11 and the upper section 12, which depends on the resulting accelerations and the duration of their effects, in fact , the combined height is equal to one-third to two-thirds of the height of the lower section 9 .

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the tray 1 must be kept at an insignificant distance from the protrusion 17 in the flat position of FIG. The free end of 6 provides space. The greater this distance, the longer the lever 20 can be and the less force the user has to exert on the lever 20 in order to release the ice cubes from the tray 1 . However, the space between the door 14 and the tray 1 can lead to underutilization of space.

This problem is solved by an arrangement of the ice maker tray 1 shown in FIG. 4 . The tray 1 is positioned horizontally and thus in a suitable position for making ice. A lever 20 is mounted in the space between the two pallets 1 and said lever 20 is able to pivot about an axis 25 parallel to the axis 23 and spaced a distance from the axis 23 . In the stowed position, the lever 20 rests on a shaft 26 extending along the axis 23 and connected to the tray 1 . A grip section 27 (not shown in FIG. 4 ) on the free end of the lever 20 faces towards the door 14 , however the grip section 27 does not protrude beyond the longitudinal wall 6 towards the door. In the flat position, the grip section 27 is slightly higher than the tray 1 so that the grip section 27 can be comfortably gripped by the user.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic sectional view through the arrangement described in FIG. 4 along the plane between the trays 1 . Here, it can be seen that in the rest position pivoted slightly more than 90° relative to the stowed position, the projection 28 of the lever 20 hits the projections 29 on the end walls of the tray facing each other. 5 so that the lever 20 moves with the tray 1 when pivoted beyond the stop position, and the axis 23 becomes a common pivot axis of the lever 20 and the tray 1 .

As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 , here too, the end faces 5 of the trays facing away from one another are provided with protruding pins 22 . These protruding pins engage in curved recesses 30 of the arms 18 of the support tray 1 . If the joint pivoting of the lever 20 and the tray 1 means that the pin 22 has reached the end 31 of the recess 30 , further pivoting of the lever 20 can only be performed by simultaneously twisting the tray 1 . Figure 6 shows the arrangement of Figure 4 in this twisted state. The open side of the compartment 2 faces downwards, so that the ice cubes released by the deformation of the compartment 2 can freely fall downwards out of the compartment.

Fig. 7 shows a cross-sectional view similar to that shown in Fig. 5 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the end faces 5 of the two trays 1 facing each other have curved grooves 32 facing each other, the lever 20 placed between the trays 1 and also bent into a curved shape has engaging grooves 32 . 32 ribs 33 . The lever 20 is movable along the groove 32 between a folded position shown in dotted lines and an actuated position in which the locking protrusion 34 of each rib 33 is locked at one end of the groove 32 In the recess 35. By the force applied to the lever 20 to pivot the tray 1 , the latching protrusion 34 is pushed into the recess 35 so that the tray 1 is pivoted and finally can be twisted, as shown in FIG. 6 .

As with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 , the trays of the second and third embodiments may also have the separating side walls 5 , 6 as described with reference to FIG. 3 as spill protection.

The lever 20 shown in Figures 3 and 4 with its free end facing the door 14 in the closed position is difficult to pivot out if other built-in components, such as a door shelf, are installed immediately above the ice maker tray 1 . Fig. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the ice maker in a view similar to that of Fig. 1, in which this problem is solved. A lever 20 is also suspended between the two trays 1 and about an axis 25 ( FIG. 9 ) parallel to the pivot axis 23 of the trays 1 . In the folded position shown in FIG. 8 , the lever 20 hangs down freely.

FIG. 9 also shows a section through the ice maker of FIG. 8 along a plane extending between the trays 1 . Here too, the degree of freedom of pivotal movement of the lever 20 relative to the tray 1 is limited by a projection 28 of the lever 20 which touches a projection 29 of the connection tray 1 . However, the direction of rotation of said pivoting movement is opposite to that of the previous embodiment; the upper side of the tray 1 is pivoted towards the door 14 until the pin 22 touches the upper side of the arm 18 . In this position, the lever 20 is located in the gap 36 between two containers 37 arranged above the tray 1 . In this position, as depicted in dotted lines in FIG. 9 , by pressing the free end of the lever 20 towards the door 14 , the tray 1 is twisted and the ice cubes are dislodged. The contact between the lever 20 and the door 14 or, in the case shown in FIG. 9 , the damper 38 placed in the gap 36 between the containers 37 limits possible twisting of the tray 1 and prevents permanent deformation of the tray 1 .

Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of an ice maker according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. This ice maker is substantially similar to that of Figure 8, but the tray 1 is not held on arms protruding from the door, but in a frame 39 surrounding said tray and open above and below. The ice maker in FIG. 10 is provided to be installed in the drawer 40 of the refrigeration device frame 41, as shown in FIG. 11 . A separate compartment 42 is provided in the front edge region of the drawer 40 , into which the ice maker can be placed in a form-fitting manner from above. At the base of the compartment 42 a narrow lug 43 encloses a large aperture 44 . The lugs 43 are used to support the frame 39 . An eyelet 44 leads into a removable drawer 45 at the front side of the drawer 40 . The lever 20 in its stowed position depends beyond the rear wall 46 of the compartment 42 into the main compartment 47 behind the drawer 40 .

To remove ice cubes from the molds in the tray 1, the user can withdraw the drawer 40 from the frame 41 and pivot the free end of the lever 20 facing away from the user upwards and pull said lever towards himself , until the tab 22 of the tray comes into contact with the inclined surface 48 ( FIG. 10 ) of the frame 39 and the tray 1 begins to twist. The ice cubes dislodged by twisting fall through the eyelet 44 into the drawer 45 so that the ice cubes can be removed.

Claims (16)

1. An ice maker comprising: at least one tray (1) capable of twisting around a first axis (23), characterized in that a lever (20) extending in radial direction with respect to the axis (23) ) is mounted on the tray (1). 2. The ice maker according to claim 1, characterized in that the tray (1) comprises a plurality of compartments (2) separated by partition walls (3) and outer walls (5, 6) which are larger than The partition wall (3) is 15%-70%, preferably 30%-40%, high. 3. The ice maker according to claim 2, characterized in that the section (11, 12) of at least one outer wall (6) extending above the partition wall (3) is concave on the inside of said section curved. 4. The ice maker as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the sections (11, 12) extending above the partition wall (3) are partially overhanging. 5. The ice maker according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lever (20) is displaceable between the folded position and the actuated position, the grip section (27) of the lever (20) The distance from the axis (23) is greater in the actuated position than in the retracted position. 6. The ice maker according to claim 5, characterized in that, in the closed position, the lever (1) does not protrude beyond the longitudinal wall (6) of the tray (1). 7. The ice maker according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the tray (1) can be pivotally mounted around a first axis (23), and the lever (20) can be pivotally mounted around the first axis ( 23) A parallel offset arranged second axis (25) pivots between a stowed position and an actuated position. 8. The ice maker according to claim 7, characterized in that, in the actuated position, the pivotal movement of the lever (20) around the second axis (25) is prevented by a stop (29) and the lever ( 20) and the tray (1) are pivotable together about a first axis (23). 9. The ice maker according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the lever (20) and the stop (22; 31 ) limiting the pivoting freedom of the tray (1) are arranged on the opposite side of the tray (1) at the end face (5). 10. The ice maker according to any one of claims 7-9, characterized in that the second tray (1) can pivot around the first axis (23), and the lever (20) is arranged between the first and between the second pallet (1). 11. The ice maker according to any one of claims 7-10, characterized in that, in the retracted position, the lever (20) is supported on the shaft (26) of the tray (1). 12. A refrigerating device, especially a domestic refrigerating device, comprising: a housing and the ice maker according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that the first pivot axis (23) is along the housing of the refrigerating device The widthwise orientation of the body (14; 41). 13. The refrigeration device according to claim 12, characterized in that the ice maker is installed at the door (14) of the refrigeration device. 14. The refrigeration device according to claim 12, characterized in that the ice maker is removably installed in the frame (41) of the refrigeration device. 15. The refrigeration device according to claim 14, characterized in that the ice maker is integrated in the drawer box (40). 16. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that the collection container (45) for ice cubes can be withdrawn from the drawer (40).

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