JPH0746005B2 - Ice makers such as refrigerators - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making device arranged in a freezer or the like of a refrigerator and capable of producing particularly transparent ice.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a refrigerator for a garden or the like, an ice making device for accommodating an ice making plate is arranged in one part of a freezing room, and the water in the ice making plate is frozen by the cooling action of the cold air flowing through the ice making device. It is common practice to produce ice.

However, with such an ice production method, freezing of water in the ice tray during ice production proceeds from the contact surface between the ice tray and water and the contact surface between cold air and water to the central portion. Therefore, the gas components and impurities dissolved in water are confined in the center of the ice, resulting in cloudiness and opaque ice in the center, which is organoleptically suitable for beverages such as whiskey. It wasn't what it was.

Therefore, there has been a need for transparent ice from the past, and devices for producing such ice have been described, for example, in FIGS.
The method shown in the figure is considered. The contents will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, which is divided by a partition wall 2 into a freezer compartment 3 at an upper portion and a refrigerating compartment 4 at a lower portion. 5 is a cooler for the refrigeration cycle, 6 is a blower for forced ventilation, and each is the freezing chamber 3
Is located on the back of. Reference numeral 7 denotes an ice making device arranged at the bottom of the freezing compartment 3, and a first ice making compartment 8 for producing transparent ice in an upper stage and a second ice making compartment for producing ordinary ice in a lower stage. 9 is provided. The outer wall of the first ice making chamber 8 excluding the bottom surface and the front surface is surrounded by a heat insulating material 10, and a heating plate 12 made of aluminum having a heater 11 arranged on the back surface is provided on the top surface and an aluminum plate is provided on the bottom surface. Cooling plates 13 made of aluminum are respectively arranged. Reference numeral 14 denotes a ventilation passage formed in the upper portion of the second ice making chamber 9, and 15 and 16 respectively, a first ice tray and a second ice tray housed in the first ice making chamber 8 and the second ice making chamber 9, respectively. This is an ice tray. Further, 17 is a discharge duct for forcibly ventilating the cool air cooled by the cooler 5 to the ice making device 7 by the blower 6, and the ventilation ducts are respectively formed by the discharge ports 18 formed at the lower end portion.
14 and the second ice making chamber 9 communicate with each other. Reference numeral 19 is a return duct for returning the cool air discharged into the freezer compartment 3 to the cooler 5. Also, 20 is the ice making switch transparent ice, and is configured so as to be energized for a predetermined time to the heater 11 Once turned the switch (t _h). Also, 21
Is a thermostat installed in the freezer compartment 3 for controlling the operation and stop of the blower 6 and the compressor 22 of the refrigeration cycle.

Next, an electric circuit will be described. After the blower 6 and the compressor 22 are connected in parallel, the thermostat 21
Connected to the power supply via. And the heater 11
Is connected in series with the ice making switch 20 and then connected to a power source.

In such a configuration, when the thermostat 21 is turned on, the compressor 22 and the blower 6 are operated, and the air cooled by the cooler 5 is supplied to the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerating compartment 4 by the ventilation action of the blower 6 and at the same time the discharge duct 17 It is discharged into the second ice making chamber 9 and the ventilation passage 14 into the ice making device 7 through the discharge port 18 of.
Then, the cold air introduced into the second ice making chamber 9 directly cools the second ice making tray 16, and the water in the inside is sequentially frozen from the water surface and the remaining surface in contact with the second ice making tray 16. Generates normal ice. However, as described above, the ice thus produced is cloudy and does not become transparent ice. On the other hand, the cold air introduced into the ventilation passage 14 cools the cooling plate 13. Therefore, in order for the user to make transparent ice, the first ice tray 15 filled with water is stored in the first ice making chamber 8 and the ice making switch 20 is turned on, so that the heater from the upper surface of the first ice tray 15 is heated. The heating action by 11 via the heating plate 12 is started, and the ventilation passage is
The cooling or freezing action via the cooling plate 13 by the cold air flowing through 14 is started. Further, since the outer wall of the first ice tray 15 excluding the lower surface is covered with the heat insulating material 10, it is not affected by the cooling from the freezer compartment 3, and the unidirectional freezing action progresses from the lower surface to the upper surface. This freezing action is not only indirect cooling through the cooling plate 13 but also the heating action by the heater 11 set to an appropriate capacity in advance, so that ice grows at a diffusion rate of gas components in water. The freezing speed is slower, and ice production proceeds without bubbles being trapped in the ice. If the freezing speed is controlled to about 3 mm / h or less in this way, the gas components in the water will be degassed from the surface of the water that finally freezes to the outside air, so bubbles will be generated in the finally generated ice. Ice that is hard to be contained and almost transparent is obtained. Looking at this ice making process in FIG. 8, for example, when the outside air temperature is 30 ° C., the heater 11 is continuously energized at the same time as the start of ice making, that is, the turning on of the ice making switch 20, and the ice making progresses to the end of the maximum ice crystal formation zone. automatically energized after t _h from some time after passing through a -5 ° C. is intended to stop.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a configuration, the user is the first ice tray
When 15 is put into the first ice making chamber 8 and the ice making switch 20 is not pushed, the aluminum plate 12 is not heated and becomes a low temperature of about -5 ° C as shown by the broken line in FIG. First ice tray in ice making 15
The water evaporates from the water, but all the steam adheres to the aluminum plate 12 and becomes ice. And when the ice grows, the first
There was a problem that the ice tray 15 was stuck on the ice and could not be taken out.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and even when ice making is performed without pressing the ice making switch 20, there is no inconvenience that the first ice tray 15 cannot be taken out due to ice adhering to the heating plate 12. An ice making device is provided.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the ice making device such as the refrigerator of the present invention is provided with a second heater which is always energized, in addition to a first heater which is energized only during ice making. It is a thing.

Operation The present invention has the above-described configuration, and when the user inserts the ice tray and does not press the ice making switch, the second heater is always energized to raise the temperature of the heating plate, and the vapor evaporated from the ice tray is not discharged. It is discharged from the front of the ice making chamber without adhering to the heating plate.

Example An ice making device such as a refrigerator according to an example of the present invention will be described below.
Description will be given with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The same components as those of the conventional one are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
Reference numeral 23 is an ice making device, which is installed in the lower portion of the freezer compartment 3. 24 is a second heater, and the first heater 11 is attached to the heating plate 12.
And the same surface. Further, in the electric circuit, the second heater 24 is directly connected to the power source separately from the first heater 11, and is independent of the ice making switch 20.

In the above configuration, the case where the first ice tray 15 is placed in the first ice making chamber 8 and the ice making switch 20 is not pushed will be described.

Figure 2 shows the water temperature and the heating plate 12 when the first ice tray 15 was put in.
Shows the temperature change of (indicated by a broken line when the ice making switch 20 is not pressed). The temperature of the heating plate 12 before charging the first ice tray 15 is -15 ° C because the second heater 24 is always energized.
The temperature will be slightly higher. When the first ice tray 15 is put in, the temperature of the heating plate 12 rises at a stroke and the temperature is slightly higher than 0 ° C.
A temperature of ~ 2 ° C is reached. Although steam comes out of the water surface when the first ice tray 15 is charged, the steam does not adhere due to the high temperature of the heating plate 12, and is discharged from the front opening of the first ice making chamber 8 and the cooler 5 Adhere to. Here, the second heater 24 has a small capacity of 1 to 2 W to sufficiently exert the effect of preventing water vapor adhesion. Further, when the ice making switch 20 is pressed, if the capacity of the first heater 11 is set to be smaller by the capacity of the second heater 24 in advance, the transparent ice making time will not be lengthened and there is no problem. .

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, since the second heater that always energizes is provided in addition to the heater that energizes only during ice making, ice does not adhere to the heating plate even when the ice making switch is pressed and energized. There is no inconvenience that the ice tray cannot be taken in and out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a temperature characteristic diagram of water temperature and a heating plate when ice making is performed by the ice making device of the refrigerator, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the refrigerator, FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the ice making device of the refrigerator of FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a conventional refrigerator, FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of an ice making device provided in the refrigerator shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the ice making device shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is an electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 5, and FIG. 9 is a temperature characteristic diagram of the water temperature and the heating plate when ice is made by the ice making device provided in the refrigerator of FIG. 8 …… First ice making room (ice making room), 10 …… Insulation material, 11 ……
First heater, 12 ... Heating plate, 13 ... Cooling plate, 14 ... Ventilation path (cooling means), 15 ... First ice tray (ice tray), 23
...... Ice making device, 24 ...... Second heater.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cooling plate, cooling means for cooling the cooling plate, an ice making chamber having the cooling plate as a bottom face and an opening at the front face, and a compartment for forming the cooling plate housed in the ice making chamber. An ice tray on which the ice tray is placed, a first heater provided on the top surface of the ice tray for energizing only during ice making, and a second heater for constantly energizing, and an outer wall excluding the bottom surface and front surface of the ice making chamber. An ice making device such as a refrigerator provided with a heat insulating material arranged inside.