JP2001041620A - Ice maker and deep freezer refrigerator having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably produce transparent ice by appropriately oscillating an ice making tray without being influenced by conditions of the ice making tray. SOLUTION: An oscillation imparting mechanism 30 comprises rotation shafts 25 disposed on opposing side end parts of an ice making tray 21 to enable the ice making tray 21 to be oscillated, an oscillation motor 31 capable of generating power for oscillating the ice making tray 21, a slot hole for engagement provided as an extension to one end side part perpendicularly crossing a side end of the ice making tray 21 provided with the rotation shafts 25 and a power conversion plate 34 having an engagement pin 33 to be fitted in the slot hole 32 for converting rotational motion of an oscillation motor 31 into oscillation motion of the ice making tray 21 by being rotated by the oscillation motor 31 so that oscillation force is forcedly imparted to the ice making tray 21. By this constitution, force is directly given to the ice making tray 21 without being influenced by conditions of the ice making tray 21 so as to stably produce transparent ice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making apparatus suitable for use in refrigerators and refrigerators in general households and the like, and more particularly to an ice making apparatus capable of producing high-quality transparent ice in a short time, and an ice making apparatus provided with the same. Related to refrigerators and refrigerators.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, home refrigerators and the like are equipped with an ice making device that stores water in an ice tray and make ice substantially as standard equipment. An ice making device that supplies water and automatically makes ice is provided on the market.

[0003] However, it is known that simply making an ice tray to make ice produces cloudy ice. Such cloudy ice has a high melting speed, and its atmosphere rises even when used for whiskey splitting. For this reason, there is a demand for transparent ice, and various types of ice making devices have been proposed.

[0004] That is, the ice tray is divided into a plurality of ice making blocks, and water is stored in each of the ice making blocks. When such an ice tray is simply cooled, freezing starts around each ice making block, and the water inside finally freezes.

[0005] At this time, air dissolved in the water comes into bubbles in the ice-free water, and when the bubbles are trapped in the ice, the ice becomes cloudy.

Therefore, as a configuration for obtaining clear ice by promoting degassing of the generated bubbles, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-22173.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-36, an ice tray is provided so as to be swingable, a magnetic material such as a permanent magnet is fixed to the ice tray, and an electromagnetic coil is provided in a part (fixed and immovable part) of the ice making chamber. Is disclosed.

[0007] An alternating current is supplied to the electromagnetic coil, and the ice tray is rocked by an alternating magnetic field generated at that time.

[0008]

However, in the above configuration, since the weight of the ice tray varies depending on the amount of water stored in the ice tray, resonance sometimes occurs, causing water to spill, and the amplitude to be reduced. When it becomes large, there is a problem that an ice tray or a magnetic material collides with the electromagnetic coil and a hitting sound is generated.

In particular, since the magnetic force is reduced by the square of the distance, if the magnetic material and the electromagnetic coil are separated, the magnetic force acting on them is rapidly reduced and the braking force on the ice tray is drastically reduced. In order to increase the frequency of the magnetic material, the magnetic field of the electromagnetic coil or the magnetic material must be increased so that a large magnetic force does not act even when the magnetic material and the electromagnetic coil are separated from each other, which increases the cost. There is a problem that causes large power loss.

In addition, since the above configuration basically swings through an alternating magnetic field, the vibration starting force is weaker than a mechanism that transmits vibration by contact, and therefore, even a little ice adheres to the swing shaft. There is a problem that the swing cannot be started smoothly.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice making device capable of stably producing transparent ice by appropriately rocking the ice making tray without being influenced by the state of the ice making tray.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems, an invention according to claim 1 is directed to an ice making apparatus for cooling water stored in a rectangular ice tray to make ice, and a side end portion of the ice tray. And a rocking mechanism for directly applying rocking power to the ice tray to rock the ice tray, and turning the ice tray upside down to de-ice, and at this time, a rocking mechanism and the ice tray. And a deicing mechanism for releasing the engagement of the ice-making tray, by directly applying a force to the ice-making tray without being affected by the state of the ice-making tray and appropriately swinging the ice-making tray, thereby stably forming the transparent ice. It is characterized by being able to make ice.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a rocking mechanism is provided at the opposite side end of the ice tray, and a rotating shaft for rocking the ice tray, and rocking of the ice tray. A rocking motor for generating a rocking force at the time, a long hole provided at a side end of the ice tray, and an engaging pin inserted into the hole. A power conversion plate that is rotated by a dynamic motor and converts the rotational motion of the oscillating motor into the oscillating motion of an ice tray, with a simple configuration, without being affected by the state of the ice tray. The present invention is characterized in that a transparent ice is stably made by applying a force directly to the ice tray and swinging it appropriately.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a deicing motor, wherein the deicing mechanism engages with a rotating shaft to invert the ice tray up and down;
De-icing has a cam provided on the rotating shaft, and an arm that has one end in contact with the cam and the other end connected to the swing motor, and changes the position of the swing motor in accordance with the movement of the cam. When the motor rotates and the ice tray is turned upside down, the arm shifts the position of the vibration motor to release the engagement between the engagement pin and the engagement hole, so that the It is characterized in that interference with the swing imparting mechanism is prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the engagement hole is provided near the corner of the ice tray, and twisting is applied to the ice tray when the ice tray is swung, so that deicing is facilitated. It is characterized in that it can be performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the swing motor comprises:
The spring is urged toward the ice tray so that the arm always contacts the cam.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claims 1 to 5
A refrigerator is formed by using the ice making device according to any one of the preceding claims.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 2 to which an ice making device 20 according to the present invention is applied, showing a state where a door on the front is removed. FIG. 2 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of the ice making device 20 according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a main part of the ice tray 21.

The refrigerator-freezer 2 has an outer box 3 and an inner box 4 and is a heat insulating structure in which a heat insulating material 5 is filled therebetween.
A plurality of heat insulating partition plates 6 are provided inside the inner box 4 to form a refrigerator compartment 7, a freezing compartment 8, a vegetable compartment 9, and the like.

At the lower end of the refrigerator compartment 7 is provided a water supply tank 11 for storing water for making ice.
Is provided with an ice making device 20 and an ice storage box 12. The ice storage box 12 is provided below the ice making device 20 to receive ice from the ice making device 20 and store the ice.

At the lower end of the refrigerator 2, a compressor for compressing the refrigerant, a capillary tube for restricting the refrigerant,
A refrigeration unit (not shown) including a condenser that radiates and condenses the heat of the refrigerant in a gas state and a cooler that evaporates the refrigerant and cools the internal air is housed therein, while forcibly circulating the internal air. Cooling the refrigerator.

On the other hand, the ice making device 20 includes an ice tray 21 for storing water from the water supply tank 11, a swing applying mechanism 30 for rocking the ice tray 21 at a predetermined cycle, and an ice tray 21 by inverting the ice tray 21 up and down. It has a deicing mechanism 23 for transferring the ice made on the plate 21 to the ice storage box 12 and the like.

The ice tray 21 is made of a synthetic resin having an open upper surface, is divided into a plurality of ice making blocks 24 having a concave inside, and both ends of the ice tray 21 (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the left and right directions)
Is provided, and a water supply port 26 for supplying water from the water supply tank 11 is provided at the left end.

Cooling air is blown to the back side of the ice tray 21 by a cooling device to cool the ice tray 21 from the bottom, and a swing applying mechanism 30 is provided at a side end of each ice making block 24. The ice tray 21 is swung.

The swing imparting mechanism 30 is provided at the opposite side end of the ice tray 21 to enable the ice tray 21 to swing. An oscillating motor 31 for generating oscillating power, an elongated engaging hole 32 provided at one side end orthogonal to the side end of the ice tray 21 provided with the rotating shaft 25, A power conversion plate 34 having an engagement pin 33 inserted into the engagement hole 32 and rotating by the swing motor 31 to convert the rotational motion of the swing motor 31 into the swing motion of the ice tray 21; The swing motor 31 is constituted by a spring 37 or the like which urges in the direction of the ice tray.

When the power conversion plate 34 rotates with the rotation of the swing motor 31, the engagement pin 33 moves circularly.

The engaging pin 33 is engaged with the engaging hole 32 and the engaging hole 32 extends along the side end of the ice tray 21. The engagement pin 33 reciprocates, and the circular movement of the engagement pin 33 is converted into the swing movement of the ice tray 21.

The engaging hole 32 is provided near the corner of the ice tray 21. The reason will be described later.

The deicing mechanism 23 is provided at one end (the right side in FIG. 2) of the ice tray 21 and extends from the driving section 27 to the other end (the left side in FIG. 2) of the ice tray 21. The ice detecting lever 29 for detecting whether or not a predetermined amount or more of ice is stored in the ice storage box 12 and the rotating shaft 25.
A cam 36 fixed to the cam 36, one end of which contacts the cam 36, and the other end thereof is connected to the swing motor 31. The arm 36 changes the horizontal position of the swing motor 31 in accordance with the movement of the cam 36. The drive unit 27 is constituted by a de-ice motor, a gear, an output shaft and the like.

Then, one rotating shaft 25 of the ice tray 21
Is supported by a support member 28, the other rotating shaft 25 is engaged with the output shaft, and the power of the deicing motor is transmitted to the ice tray 21 so that the ice tray 21 is turned upside down to produce ice. Ice falls. The dropped ice is received by the ice storage box 12 and stored.

At this time, since the swing motor 31 is urged by the spring 377, one end of the arm 35 is always in contact with the cam 36, and the other end is connected to the swing motor 31. Swing motor 31 in accordance with the movement of 36
Changes its horizontal position.

Thus, when the deicing motor rotates and the ice tray 21 is turned upside down to deice, the engagement between the engaging pin 33 and the engaging hole 32 is released. I have.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the deicing operation and the swinging operation from being buffered during deicing.

It should be noted that whether or not ice is stored in the ice storage box 12 in a predetermined amount or more is determined by rotating the ice detection lever 29 toward the ice storage box 12 before the ice tray 21 is turned upside down as described above. Thus, the determination is made based on the force received when the ice is stored for a predetermined amount or more.

That is, if the ice detecting lever 29 is rotated by a predetermined amount and does not receive any force, it is determined that the ice has disappeared from the ice storage box 12 and the deicing operation is started.

During deicing, the ice tray 21 is turned upside down. At this time, the ice tray 21 is deflected so that deicing is easy.
Is to be twisted.

Next, an ice making process in the ice making device 20 having such a configuration will be described. First, water is supplied from the water supply tank 11 to the ice tray 21 via the water supply port 26, whereby water is stored in each ice making block 24.

At this time, since cold air is blown to the back surface of the ice tray 21, the stored water is cooled and becomes cold water at 0 ° C., and ice formation is gradually started around each ice making block 24.

The air dissolved in the water comes out as fine bubbles in the uniced water. If the air bubbles are not removed from the water, the air becomes cloudy ice.

Therefore, the rocking mechanism 30 makes the ice tray 2
1 was agitated to stir the water, thereby facilitating degassing of bubbles.

At this time, since the engaging pin 33 is inserted into the engaging hole 32, the swinging power is transmitted directly to the ice tray 21, and for example, the rotation shaft 25 is iced and the movement is deteriorated. Even in such a case, the ice tray 21 can be reliably swung.

When the ice making is completed, the ice making tray 21 is twisted as described above to perform de-icing. The twisting at this time is performed for the purpose of separating the ice from the ice tray 21 because the ice sticks to the ice tray 21 and the ice is not defrosted simply by turning the ice tray 21 upside down.

However, as can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the engaging holes 32 are provided near the corners of the ice tray 21 so that the swinging power is applied to the vicinity of the corners. This is not a part), but a component of a force for twisting the ice tray 21 by the oscillating force acts to prevent ice frozen during ice making from sticking to the ice tray 21.

Accordingly, since the ice is not attached to the ice tray 21 at the time of completion of ice making, there is no need to apply a twist when deicing.

However, it is expected that the ice making surface will be scratched for various reasons. In such a case, there is a risk that the ice may stick at the wound, and a large twist is required to release the ice. Therefore, in the present invention, a twist is added even when deicing.

When a twisting component acts on the rocking power and the ice in the ice making does not stick to the ice tray 21, the frozen ice vibrates due to the rocking operation, whereby the non-freezing water is stirred and bubbles are removed. It also has the effect of promoting the energy

The generation of such a stirring action makes it possible to produce ice with high transparency.

In the above description, the case where the swing applying mechanism 30 is provided on the side surface of the ice tray 21 parallel to the line connecting the rotation shafts 25 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ice tray 21 may be provided on the side surface (the side surface on which the deicing mechanism 23 is provided) perpendicular to the line connecting the rotating shafts 25.

FIG. 4 is a top view, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

The operation is the same as in the above case, and the same effect as in the above case can be obtained, but the operation in the deicing mechanism is slightly different. Note that the same reference numerals are used for the same components.

That is, the contact surface of the arm 36 on the cam 36 is provided at an inclination, and the arm 35 slides on the contact surface against the spring 37 when the cam 36 rotates. As a result, the engagement between the engagement hole 32 and the engagement pin 33 is released, and the ice tray 21 is turned upside down to perform deicing.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ice making tray is provided so as to be engageable with the side end of the ice tray.
A swing applying mechanism for directly applying a swinging power to the ice tray and swinging the ice tray is provided, and the ice tray is turned upside down to deice, and at the same time, a decoupling mechanism for releasing the engagement between the swing applying mechanism and the ice tray Since the ice mechanism is provided, it is possible to apply a force directly to the ice tray and perform appropriate rocking without being affected by the state of the ice tray. Ice can be made.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the swing applying mechanism includes a rotation shaft, a swing motor, an engagement hole provided at a side end of the ice tray, and an engagement hole inserted into the engagement hole. Since the power conversion plate is provided with a mating pin and converts the rotational motion of the rocking motor into the rocking motion of the ice tray, the rocking power can be reliably applied to the ice tray with a simple configuration, This makes it possible to swing the ice tray appropriately without being affected by the state, thereby making it possible to make transparent ice with high transparency stably.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the cam comes into contact with the arm for changing the position of the swing motor, the engagement between the engagement pin and the engagement hole is released, so that the configuration is simple. Interference between the deicing mechanism and the swing imparting mechanism during deicing can be prevented, and transparent ice with high transparency can be stably produced.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the engagement hole is provided near the corner of the ice tray so that the ice tray is twisted when the ice tray is swung. Sticking to the ice tray is suppressed, thereby promoting deaeration of air bubbles and de-icing can be easily performed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the rocking motor is urged in the direction of the ice tray by the spring so that the arm always comes into contact with the cam. Interference between the deicing mechanism and the swing applying mechanism can be prevented, and transparent ice with high transparency can be stably produced.

According to the invention of claim 6, according to claim 1,
Since the refrigerator-freezer is formed using the ice making device described in any one of (5) to (5), a high-quality refrigerator-freezer can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a refrigerator-freezer to which an ice making device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the ice making device applied to the description of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial side sectional view showing a main part of the ice making device.

FIG. 4 is a top view of an ice making device showing a configuration of another embodiment.

5 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 20 ice making device 21 ice making tray 23 deicing mechanism 24 ice making block 25 rotation axis 30 swing applying mechanism 31 swing motor 32 engagement hole 33 engagement pin 34 power conversion plate 35 arm 36 cam 37 spring

(72) Inventor Hideaki Kamiya 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junichi Mogi 2-5-2-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ice making apparatus for cooling water stored in a rectangular ice tray and making ice, the ice tray being provided so as to be able to engage with a side end of the ice tray to directly apply a swinging power to the ice tray. And a de-icing mechanism for releasing the ice tray by turning the ice tray upside down and de-icing and disengaging the rocking mechanism from the ice tray. And ice making equipment. 2. A swing shaft provided at opposite side ends of the ice tray, wherein the swing imparting mechanism is capable of swinging the ice tray, and a power for swinging the ice tray. A rocking motor that generates the following; a long hole provided at a side end of the ice tray, and an engaging pin inserted into the engaging hole; 2. The ice making device according to claim 1, further comprising: a power conversion plate that is rotated by the motor to convert the rotational motion of the rocking motor into the rocking motion of the ice tray. 3. A de-icing motor, wherein the de-icing mechanism is engaged with the rotating shaft to turn the ice tray upside down, a cam provided on the rotating shaft, one end of which is in contact with the cam. The other end is connected to the rocking motor, and the arm changes the position of the rocking motor in accordance with the movement of the cam. The deicing motor rotates to turn the ice tray upside down. 3. The ice making device according to claim 2, wherein the arm shifts the position of the vibration motor to release the engagement between the engagement pin and the engagement hole. 4. The ice tray according to claim 2, wherein the engagement hole is provided near a corner of the ice tray, and twisting is applied to the ice tray when the ice tray is swung. 3. The ice making device according to 3. 5. The ice making device according to claim 3, wherein the swing motor is urged toward the ice tray by a spring so that the arm always contacts the cam. . 6. A refrigerator comprising the ice making device according to claim 1. Description: