JP3198231B2 - Water supply for automatic ice making equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water supply device for an automatic ice making device for supplying a fixed amount of water to an ice making container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 10 shows a conventional structure of a water supply device of this kind in a refrigerator. This water supply device is configured such that water stored in a plastic water tray 2 in a refrigerator compartment 1 is supplied to an ice tray 5 as an ice making container provided in an ice tray 4 by a water supply pump 3. A water storage tank 6 is detachably mounted on the upper side. The water storage tank 6 is connected to a water receiving tray 2 from a water supply port 8 having a water supply valve 7.
Water is supplied such that the inside water level always maintains a constant water level that closes the lower end opening of the water supply port 8.

The inside of the water receiving tray 2 is divided into a water receiving chamber 11 and a constant water volume chamber 12 by a partition wall 10 having a water passage hole 9. Part 8 is inserted, and the water inlet 3 of the water supply pump 3 is
a is inserted. When the water supply pump 3 is started, the water supply pump 3 supplies the water in the constant volume chamber 12 with the ice making container 5.
To supply. At this time, the water level in the constant volume chamber 12 gradually decreases and a water level difference occurs with the water receiving chamber 11.
The water passage 9 communicating the first and the second holes 12 has a small diameter, and very little water flows into the constant volume chamber 12 from the water receiving chamber 11 through the water passage 9 during the water supply by the water supply pump 3. Is supplied with a fixed amount of water stored in the constant volume chamber 12.

[0004] In the water supply apparatus of this configuration, it is assumed that the amount of water flowing into the constant volume chamber 12 from the water receiving chamber 11 through the water holes 9 during water supply by the water supply pump 3 is limited to a very small amount. Quantitative water supply has been established. However,
The diameter of the water passage hole 9 may vary due to a molding error of the water receiving tray 2 or the like. If the diameter of the water passage hole 9 is larger than a design value, the water supply chamber 3 moves from the water receiving chamber 11 to the constant water volume chamber 12 during water supply by the water supply pump 3. The amount of water flowing into the ice tray 5 varies, and as a result, there is a problem that the amount of water supplied to the ice tray 5 varies from product to product.

Therefore, recently, a water supply device is provided with a fixed-quantity water reservoir provided with a water discharge valve mechanism, a water storage tank provided with a water supply valve mechanism disposed on the fixed water supply mechanism, a water supply valve mechanism and a water supply valve mechanism. By opening and closing the water discharge valve mechanism and opening the water supply valve mechanism by the valve operation device, a certain amount of water is supplied from the water storage tank to the fixed amount water reservoir, and then the water supply valve mechanism is operated. It is considered that a fixed amount of water stored in a fixed quantity water reservoir is supplied to an ice tray by a head by closing and opening a water discharge valve mechanism.

[0006]

In the head-type water supply apparatus described above, an opening is provided on the upper surface of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism.
This opening is closed by packing. this
Is a flush valve which is moved up and down by the lifting shaft of the valve operating device.
To transmit the movement of the valve stem of the mechanism to the valve stem of the water supply valve mechanism
This is a necessary configuration. In this case, the packing is
When attached with nuts from the side, water will collect
Easily dents at the boundary between packing and nut
In the two dents at the border between the socket and the valve
A large amount of water stain etc. adheres to the valve body and slimming is likely to occur.
Become. In addition, if water is supplied from the constant volume reservoir to the ice tray and the water outlet is kept closed, water drops accumulate in the water outlet, causing water stains to adhere or slime. In addition , when the water collected at the water outlet dries, the minerals contained in the water precipitate out, and this is caught between the water outlet and the valve body, impairing the sealability and causing water leakage. Or become.

[0007] The seal between the water outlet and the valve body of the fixed-quantity water reservoir is made by using an annular packing. This annular packing is attached to the water outlet side. In this case, the mounting of the annular packing is performed by, for example, tightening and fixing with a nut.However, since the annular packing is crushed and deformed by the tightening, roundness is easily lost,
When it comes into contact with the valve body, a gap is locally formed, which may cause water leakage. In addition, if the annular packing comes into contact with the valve body at a thick, so-called stiff part, the adaptability to the valve body is low, so that a gap may occur locally and water may leak out. I do.

[0008]

In order to reduce the space for disposing the case accommodating the valve operating device, it is conceivable to dispose the case in the recess. At this time, the elevating shaft part for vertically moving the valve rods of the water supply valve mechanism and the water discharge valve mechanism is configured to contact the valve rod through a hole provided at the bottom of the water supply passage. The hole provided at the bottom of the water supply channel is closed by packing, but when water leaks from the hole for some reason, the water falls on the upper surface of the case and then enters the concave portion along the case. Then, water may accumulate in the concave portion, and the water may enter the case and wet electric components such as a motor therein.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a valve for a water discharge valve mechanism.
The seal for closing the opening of the body is
It can be installed with few places with it,
Also it is possible to prevent accumulating in Mizuguchi portion out remaining water droplets adhering to the inner surface of the quantity container, it is possible to prevent the gap generated between the further annular packing and the valve body to be mounted on the water outlet, also the valve It is an object of the present invention to provide a water supply device for an automatic ice making device, in which water does not accumulate in a recess in which a case of an operation device is arranged.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A water supply device of an automatic ice making device to which the present invention is directed is located above the ice making container and has a water outlet at the bottom, and a water supply device of the water supply device. The valve that opens and closes the water port and moves up and down with respect to this valve
A water discharge valve mechanism provided with a possible valve stem, a water storage tank disposed on the fixed-quantity water reservoir and supplying a fixed amount of water to the fixed-quantity water reservoir from a bottom water supply port, and the water supply port of the water storage tank A water supply valve mechanism that opens and closes, and when water is supplied to the ice making container, by raising the valve rod of the water supply valve mechanism and the valve rod of the water discharge valve mechanism, the water outlet is closed and the water supply port is opened to open the water supply port. After supplying a certain amount of water from the water storage tank to the fixed amount water reservoir, by lowering the valve rod of the water supply valve mechanism and the valve rod of the water discharge valve mechanism, close the water supply port and open the water discharge port. A valve operating device for supplying a fixed amount of water stored in the fixed amount water reservoir to the ice making container via a water supply channel.

[0012] The first means of the present invention, the water outlet
The valve body of the valve mechanism is provided with packing to close the opening.
The packing of the seal is attached to the inner surface of the valve body and the inside of this valve body.
Fastened between the attached mounting member
It is characterized by the following (claim 1). The second means is that the valve operating device is always provided with a valve stem of the water discharge valve mechanism.
So as to keep the outlet open.
It is characterized by comprising (claim 2). The third means is a water outlet of the water discharge valve mechanism.
The peripheral surface that touches the side is tapered so that the diameter increases downward.
(Claim 3).

A fourth means is to mount an annular packing provided with an annular fin having a projecting cross section on the water outlet side, and to attach the annular fin of the annular packing to a valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism. The valve body and the water outlet are configured to be sealed by contacting each other (claim 4 ).

The fifth means is arranged on the water outlet side with an annular packing for sealing between the water outlet and the valve element of the water discharge valve mechanism, and the annular packing is attached to the water outlet side by rotation. And the annular packing is configured such that an annular projection is protruded all around the portion of the annular packing that the fastening member contacts, so that the fastening member presses the annular projection. (Claim 5 ).

The sixth means is characterized in that a drain hole is formed in the mounting member (claim 6).

A seventh means is to arrange the case of the valve operating device in a recess provided below the water supply passage, and to protrude from the upper surface of the case to provide a valve stem of the water discharge valve mechanism and An up / down shaft part for vertically moving the valve stem of the water supply valve mechanism is configured to pass through a hole formed at the bottom of the water supply passage, and protrudes outside the case from a portion corresponding to the hole on the upper surface of the case. And a drainage channel extending to the outside of the concave portion is formed (claim 7). The eighth means is characterized in that a gap between the elevating shaft part and the hole through which the elevating shaft part passes is set to a predetermined area or less (claim 8).

[0017]

According to the water supply device of the present invention, when water is supplied to the ice making container, the water discharge valve mechanism is first closed and the water supply valve mechanism is opened, so that a fixed amount of water is supplied from the water storage tank to the fixed amount water reservoir. Since the water supply valve mechanism is closed and the water discharge valve mechanism is opened, a certain amount of water stored in the fixed amount water reservoir is supplied to the ice making container. Then, in the first aspect of the present invention, out
The packing for sealing the opening on the upper surface of the valve body of the water valve mechanism is
Since it is fixed by the mounting member inside the valve body,
The only place where there is accumulation is the border between the packing and the valve.
You. In the second means, after the water supply to the ice tray, until the start of water supply to again ice tray, the water valve mechanism is held at an open water outlet of the quantity container. For this reason, the water droplets remaining on the inner surface of the fixed amount water reservoir flow down from the water outlet.

In the third means, since the peripheral surface of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism has a tapered shape, water droplets adhering to the valve body flow down along the tapered peripheral surface. In the fourth means, since the annular fin of the annular packing is formed in the shape of a protruding piece, it is easily bent and deformed, and freely bends following the outer surface of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism.

In the fifth means, when the annular packing is tightened between the water outlet and the annular packing by the fastening member, the annular projection of the annular packing is pressed and crushed. For this reason, the deformation of the annular packing is stopped at the annular projection.
In the sixth means, the water that has entered the inside of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism escapes from the drain hole formed in the mounting member.

In the seventh means, the water that has fallen from the water supply channel side to the upper surface of the case through the hole through which the elevating shaft portion of the valve operating device passes is received by the drainage channel and discharged to the outside of the concave portion. In the eighth means, since the gap between the hole and the elevating shaft is set to be equal to or less than a predetermined area, a large amount of water does not flow out of the hole to the case side at a time, and the drainage passage is provided. There is no risk of water overflowing.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automatic ice making device for a refrigerator will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 9, an ice tray 22 as a plastic ice container is provided in an ice tray 21 of the refrigerator, and water stored in the ice tray 22 is cooled by cold air supplied to the ice tray 21. Becomes ice. On the other hand, a plastic mounting table 24 is provided in the refrigerator compartment 23 above the ice making chamber 21, and a circular water receiver 25 is formed integrally with the mounting table 24. In addition, a part of the front side of the water receiver 25 is extended forward. The front surfaces of the ice making chamber 21 and the refrigerator compartment 23 are opened and closed by a door (not shown).

The water receiver 25 is for receiving a predetermined amount of water and supplying it to the ice tray 22. An outlet 26 is provided at the bottom of the portion extended forward as shown in FIG. Is formed. A tube 28 that penetrates a partition wall 27 between the ice making chamber 21 and the refrigerator compartment 23 is connected to the outlet 26, and the water received by the water receiver 25 is connected to the tube 2.
8, and is poured into the ice tray 22.
Therefore, the water receiver 25 and the tube 28 function as a water supply passage 29 that receives a fixed amount of water and supplies the water to the ice tray 22. In addition, in FIG. 9, 30 is the tube 2
8 is a water force reducing member for reducing the force of the water supplied from 8 to prevent water from jumping from the ice tray 22.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Has a circular opening 31 at the bottom. A double cylindrical body 32 is inserted into the opening 31 from below, and the cylindrical body 32 is fastened and fixed to the opening 31 by a nut 33 screwed on the upper part thereof. The cylindrical body 32
The inside of the hollow portion of the inner cylindrical portion 32a is a hole 34 present at the bottom of the water receiver 25 constituting a part of the water supply passage 29. The hole 34 is formed between the cylindrical body 32 and the nut 33. O between
Seal member 36 fastened and fixed via ring 35
Is sealed watertight.

Inside the water receiver 25, a circular fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 made of plastic is housed. The fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 is detachable from the water receiver 25, and in a stored state, the annular rib 37 a around the upper part is received on the stepped surface 25 a formed at the upper opening of the water receiver 25. It has become supported.

A water outlet 38 is formed at the center of the bottom of the fixed quantity water reservoir 37, and the water outlet 38 is connected to the water discharge valve mechanism 3
9 is opened and closed. The water discharge valve mechanism 39 includes a valve stem 40,
The valve stem 41 is a main component, and the valve stem 40 has an upper valve stem 42 having a large-diameter flange portion 42a at the lower end.
And a lower valve rod 43 also having a large-diameter flange portion 43a at the lower end. Further, the valve body 41 is formed in a hollow substantially frustoconical shape with both upper and lower sides opened by plastic, for example, ABS resin.

As understood from FIGS. 4 and 5, the upper valve rod 42 is vertically movably inserted through a central bearing portion 37c of a plurality of ribs 37b erected on the inner bottom surface of the fixed quantity water reservoir 37. , Is stopped by the stop ring 44,
A first compression coil spring 45 for urging the upper valve stem 42 downward is provided between the bearing portion 37c and the flange portion 42a of the upper valve stem 42.

On the other hand, as understood from FIGS. 4 and 7, the lower valve rod 43 is attached by elastic engagement to an elastic claw 41a formed integrally with the valve element 41 inside the valve element 41. It is vertically movably inserted through a circular mounting member 46 and is prevented from coming off by a stop ring 47. Between the mounting member 46 and the flange portion 43a of the lower valve rod 43,
A second compression coil spring 48 for urging the valve element 41 upward with respect to the lower valve rod 43 is provided. And the valve element 41
A packing 49 made of an elastic material for sealing the upper surface opening portion 41b in a watertight manner is disposed in the upper surface opening portion 41b. Lower surface of peripheral portion of opening 41b and mounting member 4
6 and is fixed. The mounting member 46
Is formed with a drain hole 46a, and the inside of the packing 49 is opened downward by the drain hole 46a.

The valve body 41, the lower valve rod 43, the second compression coil spring 48, and the packing 49 thus assembled are combined.
Is configured as a separate unit from the upper valve stem 42 and the first compression coil spring 45 attached to the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37, and can be separated from the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37. The lower unit of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 can move up and down toward the water receiver 25 by fitting the lower cylindrical portion 41c of the valve body 41 to the outside of the nut 33 which is a protruding portion of the water supply passage 29. It is in the state supported by.

After the lower unit of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 is attached to the water receiver 25,
In this storage state, the upper valve rod 42 and the lower valve rod 43 abut on each other with the packing 49 interposed therebetween, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The first compression coil spring 45 is connected to the lower valve rod 4 via the upper valve rod 42.
3 is urged downward. And the valve element 41 is
When the lower valve rod 43 is pushed up as described later, the lower valve rod 43 is pushed up through the second compression coil spring 48 and comes into contact with the annular packing 50 attached to the periphery of the water outlet 38 from below, whereby the lower valve rod 43 is pressed. When the water outlet 38 is closed and pressed down by the urging force of the first compression coil spring 45,
The water outlet 38 is opened by moving away from the annular packing 50 downward.

Here, the mounting structure of the annular packing 50 will be described with reference to FIGS.
Is made of, for example, silicone rubber, and as shown in FIG. 6, an annular projection 50b is formed on the lower surface of the ring portion 50a so as to project therearound. A protruding annular fin 5 having a protruding cross section
0c is integrally protruded. Then, the ring portion 50a is fitted into an annular groove 51 formed on the lower surface of the periphery of the water outlet 38, and a thin spacer 52 made of, for example, polyethylene terephthalate is applied under the annular protrusion 50b of the ring portion 50a. By attaching a ring-shaped fastening member 53 to the peripheral wall of the water outlet 38, the ring 5
Oa is fixed between the peripheral wall of the water outlet 38 and the fastening member 53. In this case, the fastening member 53 is configured to be attached by screw engagement or bayonet engagement or the like so that the fastening member 53 can be attached to the peripheral wall portion of the water outlet 38 by a simple rotation operation.

When the valve body 41 moves upward, the valve body 41 comes into contact with the annular packing 50. The contacting portion of the valve body 41 has a tapered shape whose diameter increases downward. In the case of the annular packing 50, the peripheral surface 41d is formed as an annular fin 50c so that the two are in line contact with each other all around.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a water storage tank 54 detachably mounted on the mounting table 24 is provided on the fixed amount water reservoir 37. At the bottom of the water storage tank 54, a cylindrical portion 54a is provided so as to project downward.
A cap 55 is screwed to a. This cap 5
5 is formed on an inclined surface 55a.
5a is provided with a water supply port 56 and a cap 5
5 has a short large-diameter ring portion 55 protruding downward.
b is formed.

The water supply port 56 is opened and closed by a water supply valve mechanism 57. The water supply valve mechanism 57 includes a valve rod 58 movably supported by a central bearing portion 55d of a support frame 55c attached to a cap 55, and a spherical valve attached to a lower end of the valve rod 58. And a valve body 59. And valve stem 5
8 is urged downward by a compression coil spring 60 as urging means provided between the valve body 59 and the bearing portion 55d, and always closes the water supply port 56. The water storage tank 54 is sealed except that it is connected to the outside through a water supply port 56, and a water purification filter 61 is provided in the water storage tank 54.

The cylindrical portion 54a of the water storage tank 54 is formed to have a considerably large diameter, for example, a diameter larger than that of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 so as to be used as a care opening when cleaning the inside of the water storage tank 54. . Accordingly, the cap 55 is also formed to have a diameter larger than the upper surface of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37, is located in the upper-side enlarged portion 25 b of the water receiver 25, and faces the upper end of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 with a small gap. The upper surface of the water reservoir 37 is closed. The large-diameter ring portion 55b of the cap 55 is set to be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37, and a small gap is formed between the fixed-size water reservoir 37 and the inner peripheral surface thereof. 37. The valve stem 58 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 is located on the same axis as the valve stem 40 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39.

On the other hand, a concave portion 62 is formed in the partition wall 27, and a valve operating device 63 for opening and closing the water discharge valve mechanism 39 and the water supply valve mechanism 57 is provided in the concave portion 62. This valve operating device 63 converts a rotary motion of the motor 66 into a vertical motion of the vertical shaft 65, and a motor 66 shown in FIG. For example, a cam mechanism 67 is provided as conversion means. The cam mechanism 67 is configured by attaching a cam plate 70 to a cam shaft 69 that is rotationally driven by a motor 66 via a speed reduction mechanism 68.
The upper surface, which is the 0 cam surface, is formed in an uneven shape. The lower end of the elevating shaft portion 65 is in contact with the upper surface of the cam plate 70, and the elevating shaft portion 65 is rotated by one rotation of the cam plate 70.
Go back and forth.

As shown in FIG. 4, the elevating shaft 65 is provided with a bearing cylinder 64a integrally projecting from the upper surface of the case 64.
And an umbrella-shaped portion 65a is integrally formed at the protruding end. The umbrella-shaped portion 65a is located inside the inner cylindrical portion 32a (hole portion 34) of the cylindrical body 32, and is in contact with the lower valve rod 43 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 via a seal member 36. A bank wall 64b is formed on the upper surface of the case 64 so as to surround the lower end portion of the inner cylindrical portion 32a of the cylindrical body 32 from three outer sides.
Are formed integrally, and a portion surrounded by the bank wall 64b is a drainage channel 71. One end of the drainage channel 71 is projected outside the case 64 to form the concave portion 62.
, That is, to the bottom surface 23 a of the refrigerator compartment 23. A water-blocking wall 23b surrounding the recess 62 is projected from the bottom surface 23a of the refrigerator compartment 23 so that water does not enter the recess 62 from the bottom surface 23a side.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 72 denotes a water storage tank 5
A switch for detecting, via the lever 73, that the ice tray 4 has been mounted on the mounting table 24; an ice storage case 74 for storing ice falling from the ice tray 22 when the ice tray 22 is twisted; This is a lever for detecting the ice storage amount of the case 74. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 76 denotes a heater for heating the bottom of the water receiver 25, and reference numeral 77 denotes a heater for heating the outlet 26.

Now, the elevating shaft 65 is always in the position shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), it is stopped at the lowest position of the vertical movement range. At this time, the upper and lower valve rods 42, 43 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39
Is also at a position where it is pushed down to the lower limit position by the elastic force of the first compression coil spring 45. In such a state, the valve body 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 is separated from the annular packing 50 to open the water outlet 38, and the valve body 59 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 has the elastic force of the compression coil spring 60. And the water supply port 56 is closed. Since the upper valve stem 42 and the lower valve stem 43 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 perform the same up-and-down operation, the valve stem 40 will be described below unless otherwise required.

Water is supplied to the ice tray 22 by one rotation of the cam plate 70 (cam shaft 69) shown in FIG. One reciprocation opens and closes the water discharge valve mechanism 39 and the water supply valve mechanism 57. In this case, as described above, the lifting shaft 6
5 is always stopped at the lower limit position, so that the elevating shaft 65 first rises from the lower limit position shown in FIG. 8A to the upper limit position shown in FIG. After continuing the state of ascending to the upper limit position for a while, it descends from the upper limit position to the lower limit position and stops there. In order to detect one rotation of the cam plate 70, a magnet 78 is attached to the cam plate 70 and the case 64
A Hall IC 79 is provided on the side, and a control device (not shown) is configured to detect that the cam plate 70 has made one rotation by the magnetic detection operation of the Hall IC 79, and to turn off the motor 66.

Here, the vertical movement of the elevating shaft part 65 when the cam plate 67 makes one rotation will be described in relation to the opening and closing of the water discharge valve mechanism 38 and the water supply valve mechanism 57. First, the lifting shaft 6
When 5 is at the lower limit position, as shown in FIG. 1, the valve body 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 opens the water outlet 38 of the fixed amount water reservoir 37, and the valve body 56 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 closes the water supply port 56. It is closed. When the elevating shaft portion 65 starts to move up from the lower limit position to the upper limit position, the valve stem 40 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 rises while compressing the first compression coil spring 45. At this time, the valve stem 40 rises while pushing up the valve element 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 via the second compression coil spring 48,
During the ascent of the valve stem 40, the valve body 41 has its tapered peripheral surface 4.
1d is brought into contact with the annular fin 50c of the annular packing 50 to close the water outlet 38.

Thereafter, the valve element 41 is moved to the tapered peripheral surface 41d.
To stop at the position where it contacts the annular packing 50,
The valve stem 40 rises while sliding with respect to the valve body 41 in the stopped state. For this reason, in particular, the valve body 41 is gradually pressed strongly against the annular packing 50 by gradually compressing and compressing the second compression coil spring 48 with the rise of the valve rod 40, and the seal against the water outlet 38 is further improved. Be certain. When the valve rod 40 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 is pushed up to a predetermined height position, the valve rod 40 comes into contact with the valve rod 58 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 as shown in FIG. To push up against the power,
The valve body 59 opens the water supply port 56.

When the lowering operation is started after the elevating shaft 65 reaches the upper limit position, the water discharge valve mechanism 39 and the water supply valve mechanism 57
The valve rods 40 and 55 are pushed down by the elastic force of the compression coil springs 45, 48 and 60, and the valve body 59 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 closes the water supply port 56 as shown in FIG. At this time, the valve body 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 is urged upward by the second compression coil spring 48 and pressed against the annular packing 50 despite the downward movement of the valve rod 40. It is kept closed.

When the raising and lowering shaft portion 65 subsequently descends, the valve stem 40 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 separates from the valve stem 58 of the water supply valve mechanism 57, and when the valve stem 40 further descends, the stop ring 47 of the lower valve stem 42 is stopped. Comes into contact with the mounting member 36, so that the elastic force of the second compression coil spring 48 is received by the stop ring 47. Then, since the valve rod 40 moves downward integrally with the valve element 41 by the urging force of the first compression coil spring 45, the valve element 41 moves downward by the urging force of the first compression coil spring 45. It is moved downward and away from the annular fin 50c of the annular packing 50, and starts to open the water outlet 38. Then, when the elevating shaft portion 65 is lowered to the lower limit position, the valve body 41 is further lowered to bring the water outlet 38 into a fully open state as shown in FIG. In this state, the elevating shaft part 65 stops.

Next, the operation of the automatic water supply device configured as described above will be described. When the ice making in the ice tray 22 is completed, the ice tray 22 is turned upside down and the ice is dropped and stored in the ice storage case 74, and then returned to the original state, the motor 66 for supplying water to the ice tray 22 is energized. Is done. Then, first, the elevating shaft part 6
5 rises from the lower limit position to the upper limit position, and as shown in FIG. 2, the valve body 41 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 is closed with the valve body 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 closing the water outlet 38 of the constant volume reservoir 37. 59 opens the water supply port 56 of the water storage tank 54. Thereby, the water in the water storage tank 54 flows out into the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 through the water supply port 56, and the water is stored in the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37.

At this time, since the water supply port 56 is formed on the inclined surface 55a and the height of the opening peripheral edge is different, water generated by surface tension between the valve body 59 and the peripheral edge of the water supply port 56 is formed. The curtain is cut off early (with a small rising amount of the valve element 59), so that the outflow of water from the water supply tank 54 is performed early. For this reason, the rising stroke of the valve body 59 and, consequently, the rising stroke of the lifting shaft 65 can be shortened.

Then, with the outflow of water from the water supply port 56, the water level in the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 rises, and as shown in FIG. When the lower end opening of 55b is closed, the outflow of water from the water supply port 56 stops. At this time, since the large-diameter ring portion 55b is always supported at a fixed height position, the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 always stores a fixed water level, in other words, a fixed amount of water.

When a certain amount of water is stored in the fixed amount water reservoir 37 as described above, the elevating shaft 65 then descends from the upper limit position to the lower limit position. Accordingly, first, the valve element 59 of the water supply valve mechanism 57 closes the water supply port 56 of the water storage tank 54 (see FIG. 3), and then the valve element 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 separates from the annular packing 50 of the fixed quantity water reservoir 37 and exits. The water port 38 is opened. Then, the water stored in the fixed amount water reservoir 37 flows out of the water outlet 38 into the water receiver 25, and the outlet 26
Is supplied into the ice tray 22 through the tube 28.
When the elevating shaft part 65 descends to the lower limit position, it stops there and the valve body 41 of the water discharge valve mechanism 39 keeps the water outlet 38 open (see FIG. 1).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, only a certain amount of water stored in the fixed amount water reservoir 37 including the water in the large-diameter ring portion 52a is supplied to the ice tray 22. At this time, unlike the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 10, that is, the configuration in which the water in the constant volume chamber 12 connected to the water receiving chamber 11 through the water hole 9 is supplied to the ice tray 5 by the water supply pump 3. ,
When water is supplied to the ice tray 22, there is no possibility that water will flow into the fixed quantity water reservoir 37 from other sources.
2 can be supplied, and a precise quantitative water supply can be performed.

Further, the water discharge valve mechanism 39 always has the water discharge port 3
8 is in an open state, there is no danger that scale or the like will adhere to the inner surface of the fixed amount water reservoir 37 or the surface of the valve element 41. That is, in a state in which the water outlet 38 is closed after the valve body 41 supplies water to the ice tray 22, water droplets remaining on the inner surface of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37 remain at the lowermost bottom of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 37. It flows down and accumulates around a certain annular packing 50, and the annular fin 50 c of the annular packing 50 and the tapered peripheral surface 4 of the valve body 41 are formed.
The scale may adhere to the surface of 1d or cause slimming.

However, in the present embodiment, the water outlet 38 is kept open from the end of the water supply to the ice tray 22 until the next water supply is performed, so that the constant-rate water reservoir is provided. The water droplets remaining on the inner surface of the water 37 are dropped from the water outlet 38 and do not accumulate in the water outlet 38 part. There is no risk of causing this.

In addition, since the water outlet 38 is open, the cool air supplied into the refrigerator compartment 23 is supplied to the fixed amount water reservoir 37.
Since the water flows inside, the water drops are exposed to the cool air, and the water droplets evaporate, which is more effective in preventing adhesion of scale and occurrence of slimming. And, even if a mineral component may precipitate due to the evaporation of the water droplet, the deposition location is rarely the annular fin portion 50c of the annular packing 50, and in many cases, a portion different from the annular fin portion 50c. Therefore, the sealing effect is not impaired.

Further, since the peripheral surface 41d of the valve body 41 is formed in a tapered shape, water droplets adhering to the surface of the valve body 41 also naturally fall along the slope of the tapered peripheral surface 41d. Water drops can be prevented from remaining on the valve body 41, and the annular fin 5
This is more effective in preventing adhesion of water scale and minerals to the peripheral surface 41d in contact with 0c, occurrence of slimming, and the like.
In addition, in order for water droplets to flow down from the tapered peripheral surface 41d of the valve element 41, the inclination angle θ (see FIG. 4) of the tapered peripheral surface 41d is preferably 60 ° or more.

On the other hand, when the water outlet 38 is closed, the annular packing 50 is configured to seal the space between the water outlet 38 and the valve 41 by bringing the annular fin 50c into contact with the valve 41. The sealing performance is improved. That is, in a structure in which the annular packing 50 does not have the annular fin portion 50c and the valve body 41 is in contact with the ring portion 50a to secure the sealing property, the ring portion 50a is thick and lacks elastic deformability. The compatibility with 41 is impaired. Then, a small gap may be locally generated between the annular packing 50 and the valve body 41, which causes water leakage. However, since the annular fin portion 50c is in the shape of a protruding piece and has a relatively small thickness and is rich in elastic deformation, the annular fin portion 50c is adapted to the tapered peripheral surface 41d of the valve body 41, and no gap is formed. There is no fear.

Further, after the water is supplied to the ice tray 22, the valve body 41 keeps the water outlet 38 closed until the next water supply is started.
From the pressing force for a long time,
The elastic force of the annular fin 50c of the annular packing 50 is not lost. For this reason, the annular fin portion 50c elastically contacts the tapered peripheral surface 41d of the valve body 41 satisfactorily for a long period of time to maintain the sealing property.

The annular packing 50 is attached to the peripheral wall of the water outlet 38 by the fastening member 51. At this time, if the sealing between the annular packing 50 and the fastening member 51 is not performed well. Water may leak from the gap between the two. In this embodiment, in order to perform this sealing,
An annular projection 5 is provided on the lower surface of the ring portion 50a of the annular packing 50.
0b is protruded, and the annular projection 50b is crushed by the fastening force of the fastening member 51 so that the annular projection 50b is
, So that no excessive tightening force acts on the ring portion 50a and the ring portion 50a is not crushed. Therefore, there is no annular projection 50b, and the fastening member 5
1 is directly pressed into contact with the ring portion 50a to secure the sealing property between the two.
Is excessively crushed, and as a result, the ring portion 50a is deformed, the circularity of the annular fin portion 50c is impaired, and the sealing property between the annular fin portion 50c and the valve body 41 is impaired. In the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent such a problem from occurring.

Further, in this embodiment, the annular packing 50 is used.
A spacer 52 is provided between the annular projection 50b and the fastening member 51.
The annular packing 50 is not twisted when tightening by the rotation of the tightening member 51, so that wrinkling does not occur, and the circularity of the ring portion 50a and thus the annular fin portion 50c can be maintained. That is, when the spacer 52 is not provided, since the annular packing 50 is made of urethane rubber and has a large coefficient of friction, when the tightening member 51 is rotated and tightened, the ring portion 50a is twisted and wrinkled, The roundness is lost. However, in this embodiment, since the spacer 52 is made of polyethylene terephthalate and has high stiffness and a small friction coefficient, the fastening member 51 slides on the spacer 52, and as a result, the ring portion 50a is twisted. The wrinkles do not occur, so that the annular fin 50c maintains good circularity and comes into contact with the tapered peripheral surface 41d of the valve body 41 without any gap, thereby ensuring good sealing performance. can do.

A packing 49 for closing the upper opening 41b of the valve body 41 is provided inside the valve body 41 with the mounting member 4.
Since it is configured to be fixed by 6, the portion where water is likely to adhere when the packing 49 is attached to the valve body 41 is only one portion of the sakai portion between the valve body 41 and the packing 49. On the other hand, in the structure in which the packing 49 is fastened and fixed to the outside of the valve body 41 using a nut or the like, the number of locations where water droplets accumulate increases and the amount of adhered water increases, so that the amount of adhered scale increases, Is more likely to occur,
In this embodiment, since the number of places where water droplets adhere is reduced, even if scale is attached, the amount thereof is small, and slimming hardly occurs.

Furthermore, since the mounting member 46 is formed with the water drain hole 46a, even if the packing 46 is broken and water enters the valve body 41 from there, the water is drained.
a to the outside. Therefore, the valve element 4
In the case where water accumulates in the refrigerator 1 and the water breaks down the heaters 76 and 77, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of such a problem that the water is cooled by the cool air supplied into the refrigerator compartment 23 and freezes.

When the sealing member 36 in the hole 34 of the cylindrical body 32, which is the opening at the bottom of the water supply passage 29, breaks, water intrudes from there and falls on the case 64 of the valve operating device 63. The water is received by the drainage channel 71 of the case 64 and discharged to the inner bottom surface 23a of the refrigerator compartment 23. For this reason, water does not accumulate in the concave portion 62 in which the case 64 is disposed, and the problem that water adheres to the electric components such as the motor 66 in the case 64 and the insulation property is reduced is prevented beforehand. can do.

Further, since the gap between the umbrella-shaped portion 65a of the elevating shaft portion 65 and the inner peripheral surface of the hole 34 is set to a predetermined area or less, the seal member 36 is broken and water is discharged from the hole 34. In the case of leakage, a large amount of water does not leak at one time, but is limited so as to leak little by little. For this reason, there is no possibility that a large amount of water exceeding the drainage capacity of the drainage channel 71 leaks out of the hole 34, overflows from the bank wall 64b, and accumulates in the recess 62.

[0061]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the first aspect , the opening of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism is closed.
The packing to be sealed is fixed by the mounting member inside the valve body.
The location where water drops accumulate and wins
Since only the boundary between the packing and the valve body,
The degree of slimming can be reduced. Claim 2
The water supply device of the automatic ice making device described above has a structure in which the water outlet of the fixed amount water reservoir is always kept open, so that water remaining as water droplets on the inner surface of the fixed amount water reservoir when water is supplied to the ice making container. After that, the water naturally escapes from the water outlet, so that it is possible to prevent as much as possible the adhesion of water scale or the occurrence of slimming to the inner surface of the fixed-quantity water reservoir or the valve element that opens and closes the water outlet.

In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the third aspect, since the peripheral surface of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism is formed in a tapered shape, water droplets adhered to the valve body when water is supplied to the ice making container are removed. Since the fluid flows down along the tapered peripheral surface, it is possible to further prevent the scale from adhering to the peripheral surface of the valve body and the occurrence of slime.

In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the fourth aspect , since the annular fin of the annular packing is formed in a projecting cross section, the annular fin is easily bent and deformed, and the outer surface of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism. Therefore, the space between the water outlet and the valve body can be sealed well when the water outlet is closed.

In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the fifth aspect , the annular packing is provided with the annular projection so that when the annular packing is tightened by the fastening member, the annular projection is crushed and the annular packing is tightened. Since the seal between the annular packing and the member is sealed, the deformation of the annular packing is stopped at the annular projection, so that there is no possibility that the entire annular packing is deformed and the roundness is impaired, and the sealing performance with the valve body is impaired. Nothing.

[0065]

In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the sixth aspect, the drainage hole is formed in the mounting member of the packing for sealing the upper opening of the valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism. Even if the water enters the body, the water can be discharged from the drain hole.

In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the seventh aspect, a drainage channel is formed on the upper surface of the case of the valve operating device, so that water is supplied from the water supply channel side to the upper surface of the case through a hole through which the elevating shaft portion passes. Even if the water leaks, the water is received by the drainage channel and discharged to the outside of the concave portion in which the case is arranged, so that the electrical components in the case are not immersed in the water.

In the water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to the present invention, the clearance between the hole and the elevating shaft is set to be equal to or less than a predetermined area, so that a large amount exceeding the drainage capacity of the drainage channel of the case is provided. The water can be restricted so as not to leak from the hole to the case side at one time, so that there is no possibility that the water overflows from the drainage channel and enters the recess.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the present invention in a normal state.

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a state in which water is supplied from a water storage tank to a fixed-quantity water storage device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a state in which water supply to a fixed amount water reservoir is completed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a fixed amount water reservoir.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of an annular packing.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism.

8A and 8B show a valve operating device, in which FIG. 8A is a schematic configuration diagram showing a lower limit position of an elevating shaft portion, and FIG. 8B is a schematic configuration diagram showing an upper limit position of an elevating shaft portion.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an ice making device of a refrigerator.

FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 9 showing an example of a conventional water supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

22 is an ice tray (ice making container), 25 is a water receiver, 26 is an outlet, 29 is a water supply channel, 34 is a hole, 37 is a constant volume reservoir,
38 is a water outlet, 39 is a water discharge valve mechanism, 40 is a valve rod, 41 is a valve body, 41d is a tapered peripheral surface, 42 is an upper valve rod, 43 is a lower valve rod, and 45 and 48 are first and second. Compression coil spring, 4
6 is a mounting member, 46a is a drain hole, 49 is packing, 5
0 is an annular packing, 50b is an annular protrusion, 50c is an annular fin, 52 is a spacer, 53 is a fastening member, 54 is a water storage tank, 55 is a cap, 56 is a water supply port, 57 is a water supply valve mechanism, and 58 is a valve stem. , 59 is a valve body, 60 is a compression coil spring,
62 is a concave portion, 64 is a case, 65 is an elevating shaft portion, 71 is a drainage channel, and 74 is an ice storage case.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-273019 (JP, A) JP-A-3-221769 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25C 1/22 F25C 1/10 F25C 1/24

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A fixed-quantity water reservoir which is located higher than an ice making container and has a water outlet at a bottom, a valve body for opening and closing the water outlet of the fixed-quantity water reservoir, and
A water discharge valve mechanism provided with a valve rod that can move up and down with respect to the valve element; and a water storage tank that is disposed on the fixed-quantity water reservoir and supplies a fixed amount of water to the fixed-quantity water reservoir from a bottom water supply port. A water supply valve mechanism for opening and closing the water supply port of the water storage tank; and, when supplying water to the ice making container, closing the water supply port by raising a valve rod of the water supply valve mechanism and a valve rod of the water discharge valve mechanism. After opening the water supply port and supplying a fixed amount of water from the water storage tank to the fixed quantity water reservoir, the water supply port is closed by lowering the valve rod of the water supply valve mechanism and the valve rod of the water discharge valve mechanism. And a valve operating device for opening the water outlet and supplying a fixed amount of water stored in the fixed-quantity water reservoir to the ice making container via a water supply path , wherein the valve rod of the water discharge valve mechanism is an upper valve rod. And lower valve stem
The lower valve stem is moved up and down through the opening formed in the valve body.
The opening of this valve element has a peripheral part that is
Tighten between the mounting member mounted inside this valve body
The upper and lower valves are closed by the fixed packing.
A water supply device for an automatic ice making device, wherein a rod abuts via said packing . 2. The water discharge valve according to claim 2 , wherein
Lower the valve stem of the mechanism to keep the outlet open
The water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to claim 1, wherein the water supply device is configured to perform the following . 3. A valve body of the water discharge valve mechanism is connected to a water outlet side.
Tapered shape with the diameter of the surrounding surface increasing downward
It has a water supply device of the automatic ice making apparatus of claim 1, wherein the. 4. An annular fin having a projecting cross section on the water outlet side.
Attach an annular packing with a protruding part.
Contact the annular fin portion of the water discharge valve mechanism with the valve body
By this, it is possible to seal between the valve body and the water outlet.
Claims 1, characterized in that it is constituted 3 Neu
A water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to any of the above . 5. The water outlet and the water valve on the water outlet side.
Place an annular packing to seal between the valve body and the
The ring packing is attached to the water outlet side by rotation.
It is configured to be fastened and fixed by an annular fastening member.
And the part of the annular packing that the fastening
An annular projection is projected around the entire circumference, and the tightening member pushes this annular projection.
Claims 1, characterized by being configured to press
4. The water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to any one of 4 . 6. A water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to claim 5, wherein a drain hole is formed in said mounting member. 7. Before Kiben the case of the operating device as well as arranged in a recess provided in a position below the water supply passage, the valve stem and the water supply valve of the water outlet valve mechanism protrudes from the upper surface of the case A lifting shaft portion for vertically moving a valve stem of a mechanism is configured to pass through a hole formed at the bottom of the water supply passage, and the concave portion protrudes outside the case from a portion corresponding to the hole on the upper surface of the case. The water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a drainage channel extending to the outside of the ice making device is formed. 8. A water supply device for an automatic ice making device according to claim 7, wherein a gap between said elevating shaft portion and a hole through which said elevating shaft portion passes is set to a predetermined area or less.