JPH0416131Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Industrial application field]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a water tray type automatic ice maker, and more particularly to a novel improvement for ensuring separation of ice falling from a water tray in a connected state.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of water tray automatic ice maker
Various types of ice makers have been proposed, but all of them have adopted the configuration shown in Figure 3 in order to guide the ice that slides down on the water tray into the ice storage. . That is, in FIG. 3, what is indicated by the reference numeral 1 is a main body portion having an ice storage 3 surrounded by a heat insulating material 2. On the lower surface of the ceiling 4 of this main body portion 1, there is a downwardly open type. An ice making member 5 having a large number of ice making chambers 5a is fixed via a mounting piece 6. One end 11a of a water tray body 11 consisting of a water tray 8, an ice-making water tank 9, and a circulation pump 10 is rotatably supported on a pivot support 7 attached near one end of the ceiling 4 in the direction of arrow A. has been done. By the circulation pump 10, the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 9 is injected and supplied into each ice-making compartment 5a from a water fountain hole (not shown) in the water tray 8 via the circulation pipe 12.
The water that has not frozen in the ice making chamber 5a, ie, the ice making water, returns to the ice making water tank 9 and is circulated again as described above. The other end 11b of the water tray body 11 is connected to an arm 13a of a geared motor 13 attached to the top plate 4 via a connecting body 14, and by rotation of this arm 13a, the water tray Body 11 is arrow A
It can be rotated in the direction of. A drainage tray 15 is disposed below the water tray body 11, and a screw 16 and ice cubes are provided in the ice storage 3 to prevent the occurrence of an arching phenomenon in which ice cubes join together like a bridge. Transport screw 1
7 are arranged. Furthermore, the ice fall opening 11c of the water tray body 11 at the upper position of the ice storage 3
An ice storage detection device 18 is provided at a position corresponding to . In the water tray automatic ice maker having the above-described configuration, after ice making is completed, the geared motor 13 is operated,
When the water tray body 11 is forcibly rotated via the arm 13a, the water tray body 11 moves against the resistance caused by the ice generated in each ice making chamber 5a of the ice making member 5 and the freezing of the water tray 8. , from a substantially horizontal closed position to an inclined open position as shown in FIG. When the ice-making member 5 is heated by the heating means (not shown) in the open state described above, the ice 19a grown in each ice-making chamber 5a is connected to each other by the connecting portions 19a, and the ice-making member 5 is heated by the heating means (not shown). It slides down on the water tray 8 and comes into contact with the operating plate 18a of the ice storage detection device 18, and then slides down onto the bottom 3a of the ice storage 3 or the bottom 3.
By colliding with the ice deposited on the surface a, the ice was separated into individual pieces of ice 19 and stored.

[Problem that the idea aims to solve]

Therefore, the conventional water tray type automatic ice maker has the following problems. 1. Since the impact when the ice falls into the ice storage 3 is used as a means to separate the connected ice into individual pieces of ice, the distance from the water tray 8 to the bottom 3a of the ice storage 3 must be sufficiently large. This not only increases the impact noise but also makes it difficult to obtain a compact automatic ice maker. 2 Ice 19 that slipped from the other end 11b of the water dish body 11
After contacting the ice storage detection device 18 located above the end of the ice storage 3, the ice generally falls downward, so that the ice is stored in the state shown by the dashed line 20 in FIG. It was detected that ice storage was complete even though the ice storage was not fully filled, and the ice storage capacity was low compared to the ice storage capacity. 3 As the ice is stored as described above, the distance between the boundary surface of the accumulated ice and the other end 11b of the water tray body 11 is shortened, and the falling distance of the ice is shortened, resulting in a connected state. Even when ice falls, the impact is small, so it is not separated into individual ice cubes and is sometimes stored in a connected state, significantly reducing its commercial value. 4. Furthermore, since the design of recent automatic ice makers has tended to be more compact, the ice storage compartments have also become smaller, making it easy for the phenomenon described in Section 3 above to occur. 5 Furthermore, when the large-shaped connected ice comes into contact with the ice storage detection device 18, it will give a large impact to the ice storage detection device 18.
There were also cases where it was damaged. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a miniaturized water tray type automatic ice maker that can reliably separate consolidated ice into individual ice, store more ice even in a small ice storage, and generate less noise. It is to provide.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes an ice-making member having a plurality of ice-making chambers opening downward, and an ice-making member rotatable between a horizontal position and an inclined position to open and close the openings of the ice-making chambers. In a water tray type automatic ice maker comprising a water tray, an ice making water tank, and a circulation pump that supplies ice making water from the ice making water tank to the ice making member, when the water tray is in the inclined position, the water tray is an ice separation plate disposed near the tip of the water tray that serves as an ice fall opening for connected ice sliding down the top; and an ice separation plate that is bent toward the tip of the water tray at the lower end of the ice separation plate. and a bending plate formed by the water tray, and the ice that slides down on the water tray and reaches the bending plate in a connected state is changed direction by the bending plate, separated into individual pieces of ice, and placed in the ice storage. It is characterized by being designed to be accommodated by falling.

[Effect]

In the water tray type automatic ice maker according to the present invention, the ice detached from the ice making member slides down on the water tray in a connected state, that is, in the form of an ice plate, and the tip of the ice slides down on the water tray, and eventually hits the ice separating plate. In this state, since none of the ice has separated from the ice plate yet, the gravity of the ice plate is large, so as soon as the tip of the ice plate hits the ice separating plate, a large load is applied to it, causing the ice at the tip to To separate. In this way, the ice is separated one after another, and as the ice plate approaches the end, the weight of the ice plate becomes lighter, so the load applied to the abutting portion when it hits the ice separating plate becomes smaller. Therefore, not only the ice that comes into contact with the ice separating plate separates, but also the second to third pieces of ice that are affected by the large bending moment caused by the ice separating plate are connected to the ice mentioned above, and the ice plate is separated. It will be separated from The ice separated in a row in this way is changed direction in a U-turn shape by a bending plate at the bottom of the ice separation plate, and when this direction change occurs, the connecting part of the ice in a row breaks, It separates into individual pieces of ice and falls to the center of the bottom of the ice storage.

【Example】

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the water tray automatic ice maker according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Note that the same or equivalent parts as in the conventional example will be described using the same reference numerals. FIG. 1 is for showing a preferred embodiment of the water tray type automatic ice maker according to the present invention. This main body part 1
An ice-making member 5 having a large number of downwardly open ice-making chambers 5a is fixed to the lower surface of the top plate 4 via attachment pieces 6. One end 11a of a water tray body 11 consisting of a water tray 8, an ice-making water tank 9, and an example of a circulation pump is pivotally supported on a pivot support 7 provided at one end of the top plate 4 so as to be freely openable and closable in the direction of arrow A. ing. During the ice making cycle,
By the circulation pump 10, the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 9 is injected and supplied into each ice-making chamber 5a from the water fountain hole (not shown) of the water tray 8 through the circulation pipe 12, and the ice-making water is injected into each ice-making chamber 5a. The ice-making residual water that has not frozen returns to the ice-making water tank 9 and is circulated again. The other end 11b of the water dish body 11 is connected to an arm 13a of a geared motor 13 attached to the top plate 4 via a connecting body 14.
By rotating 3a, the water dish body 11 can be opened and closed in the direction of arrow A. A drain tray 15 is disposed below the water tray body 11, and an arching prevention screw 16 and an ice transport screw 1 are provided in the ice storage 3.
7 are arranged. Further, above this ice storage 3, at a position corresponding to the ice fall opening 11c of the water tray body 11, that is, the tip of the water tray 8, there is an ice separating plate 21 that extends almost vertically, and its attachment portion 22 is connected to the attachment screw 23.
A bending plate 24 is integrally formed at the lower end of the ice separation plate 21 and bent toward the water dish body 11 side. As shown in the enlarged perspective view of FIG.
5, and a notch 26 is formed in the center of the vertical portion 25. An ice storage detection device 18 having an actuating plate 18a is attached to a mounting plate 28 attached to the vertical portion 25 with a mounting screw 27 at a position corresponding to the notch 26. Therefore, this ice storage detection device 18 is disposed corresponding to the notch 26, and a portion of the ice 19 is placed in the notch 26.
It is configured to come into contact with the actuating plate 18a of the ice storage detection device 18 via. The water tray type automatic ice maker according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained below. After ice making is completed, operate the geared motor 13,
When the water tray body 11 is forcibly rotated downward via the arm 13a, the water tray body 11 resists the resistance force due to freezing between the ice making member 5 and the water tray 8, and moves to a substantially horizontal position (not shown). From the closed state, as shown in Figure 1,
It will be in a tilted open state. When the ice-making member 5 is heated by a heating means (not shown) in the above-mentioned state, the ice 19 grown in each ice-making chamber 5a forms an ice plate-like shape connected to each other by the ear-like connecting portions 19a. The ice falls onto the water tray 8, slides down the same water tray 8, and drops into the water tray 8 at the ice fall opening 11c.
move away from The tip of the ice 19 in this connected state eventually hits the ice separation plate 21. In this state,
Since none of the ice has separated from the ice plate yet, the weight of the ice plate is large, so as soon as the tip of the ice plate hits the ice separating plate 21, a large load is applied thereto, causing the ice at the tip to separate. In this way, the ice is separated one after another, and as it approaches the end of the ice plate, the weight of the ice plate becomes lighter, so that when it hits the ice separating plate 21, the load applied to the abutting portion becomes smaller. Therefore, not only the ice that comes into contact with the ice separating plate 21 separates, but also two pieces of ice that are affected by a large bending moment due to the ice separating plate 21.
~3 pieces of ice are connected to the ice mentioned above and separated from the ice plate. The ice separated in a row in this way is turned in a U-turn shape in the direction of arrow B by the bending plate 24 at the lower end of the ice separation plate 21, and at the time of this direction change, the ice in the row is separated. The connecting part of the ice breaks, the ice is separated into individual pieces, and the ice falls to the center of the bottom of the ice storage 3. As described above, the ice 19 after being separated by the bending plate 24 is separated by the bending plate 24 and its tip 24.
Since the position a is located so that the ice falls on approximately the center of the bottom 3a of the ice storage 3, the ice falls approximately at the center of the ice storage 3, resulting in the state shown by the solid line 32 in FIG. ice is stored in Also, if the ice is in the notch 2
6, the actuating plate 18a of the ice storage detection device 18 is contacted, and the completion of ice storage is detected. Therefore, compared to the ice storage amount indicated by the two-dot chain line 20 indicating the conventional ice storage completion state, the ice storage capacity is greatly improved. It should be noted that the shape of the ice separating plate in this embodiment is merely an example, and it goes without saying that the same effects can be obtained even if some changes are made.

[Effect of the idea]

Since the water tray type automatic ice maker according to the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it can achieve various effects as described below. 1. Since a bending plate is provided at the bottom end of the ice separation plate, which is bent toward the tip of the water tray, the connecting part breaks while the connected ice comes into contact with the bending plate, ensuring that the ice separates into individual pieces. There will be no storage of connected ice. 2. Due to the presence of the bent plate, the point where the ice falls is almost at the center of the bottom of the ice storage, so ice can be stored without leaving any wasted space in the ice storage, and the ice storage capacity is approximately 20% lower than that of conventional configurations. It can be improved by ~30%. 3. Since ice in a connected state is separated using an ice separating plate and a bending plate without relying on falling impact, there is no need for an unnecessarily large ice storage like in the past, so a small automatic ice maker is used. Obtainable. 4 Due to the effects of the above-mentioned items 2 and 3, the distance from the ice fall opening to the bottom of the ice storage can be shortened, so the impact sound when ice falls becomes smaller, significantly reducing noise generation. be able to. Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, the following effects can be achieved. 5. Since only a portion of the ice comes into contact with the ice accumulation detection device through the notch, a large load is not applied to it.
The life of the ice storage detection device can be greatly extended. 6. When ice falls from the ice drop opening, it passes through the notch and reliably contacts the operating plate of the ice storage detection device, so ice storage completion can be detected reliably.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing a water tray type automatic ice maker according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing an ice separation plate and a bending plate used in the water tray type automatic ice maker of Fig. 1. , FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional water tray type automatic ice maker. 3...Ice storage, 5...Ice making member, 5a...Ice making chamber, 8...Water tray, 9...Ice making water tank, 10
...Circulation pump, 11c...Ice fall port, 21...
Ice separating plate, 24...bending plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An ice-making member 5 having a large number of ice-making chambers 5a opening downward, a water tray 8 rotatably provided between a horizontal position and an inclined position to open and close the opening of the ice-making chambers 5a, and an ice-making water tank 9. and a circulation pump 10 that supplies ice-making water from the ice-making water tank 9 to the ice-making member 5. Ice falling opening for connected ice that slides down 1
1c, an ice separating plate 21 disposed near the tip of the water tray 8, and a bent plate 24 formed by bending the lower end of the ice separating plate 21 toward the tip of the water tray 8. The ice that has slid down on the water tray 8 and reached the bending plate 24 in a connected state is
4, the water tray type automatic ice maker is configured to change direction, separate ice into individual ice cubes, and drop and store the ice cubes in an ice storage 3.