JP7630659B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator equipped with an ice making compartment for producing and storing ice.

In automatic ice-making systems used in conventional refrigerators, the water tank that supplies water to the ice maker is often placed in the refrigerator compartment set to a refrigeration temperature range (0-6°C) to ensure both long-term water storage and freezing prevention. In this case, a product has been proposed in which the water tank is embedded in the floor of the refrigerator compartment to ensure sufficient storage capacity (for example, Patent Document 1).

To make the water tank easier to remove, it is placed in front of the refrigerator compartment. The ice maker and water tank are placed close to each other to keep the water supply path as short as possible. Furthermore, if the water tank and ice maker are placed side by side in the width direction, the width of the ice making compartment will increase, reducing the storage volume of the adjacent storage compartment. For this reason, a configuration has been proposed in which the ice maker is placed behind the water tank.

Patent No. 3102841

However, with the ice maker located behind the water tank, there is an issue that the ice maker inside the ice making compartment cannot be removed forward, making it difficult for general users to clean.

The present disclosure is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems and aims to provide a refrigerator in which the ice maker can be easily removed while ensuring sufficient storage volume in the storage compartment.

The refrigerator of the present disclosure includes an insulated box body, a refrigerator compartment formed within the insulated box body, an ice-making compartment formed within the insulated box body and disposed below the refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment formed within the insulated box body and disposed adjacent to the ice-making compartment, a first insulated partition separating the refrigerator compartment from the ice-making compartment, forming at least a portion of the floor surface of the refrigerator compartment and having a storage section recessed below the floor surface, a second insulated partition separating the ice-making compartment from the freezer compartment, a third insulated partition separating the refrigerator compartment from the freezer compartment and forming at least a portion of the floor surface of the refrigerator compartment, and a storage section. the ice making chamber and an ice maker that produces ice from the water supplied from the water supply tank; the water supply tank and the ice maker are positioned so that they do not overlap when viewed from the front, and the water supply tank and the ice maker are positioned so that they overlap at least partially when viewed from above; the first insulating partition, the second insulating partition, and the third insulating partition are each filled with a different insulating material; and the ice maker can be taken in and out by moving it back and forth.

In the refrigerator disclosed herein, the first insulating partition has a storage section for storing the water tank, and the water tank and the ice maker are arranged so that they do not overlap when viewed from the front, but partially overlap when viewed from above, making it possible to easily remove the ice maker while ensuring the storage volume of the storage compartment.

A front view of a refrigerator according to embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 with the door omitted. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the area around the ice-making compartment in the refrigerator according to embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a handle and an ice tray of the ice maker according to the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the ice maker, gear box, and frame of the first embodiment, and is a perspective view showing the ice maker attached to the gear box and mounted within the frame, as viewed from below. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the ice maker, gear box, and frame of the first embodiment, and is a perspective view showing the ice maker removed from the gear box as viewed from below. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ice maker, a water supply tank, and a water supply pipe according to a first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the water supply pump according to the first embodiment. 2 is a schematic diagram of the ice maker, the water supply tank, and the water supply pipe of the first embodiment when viewed from above. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the ice maker and a first insulating partition according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a water supply tank and an ice maker according to the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refrigeration compartment according to the first embodiment. A schematic cross-sectional view of the area around the ice-making compartment in a refrigerator according to embodiment 2.

Below, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are used to denote the same or equivalent parts, and this is the same throughout the entire specification. Furthermore, the forms of the components shown in the entire specification are merely examples and are not limited to these descriptions. Furthermore, the size relationships between the components in the drawings may differ from the actual ones.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a front view of the refrigerator 1 according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the door of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1 is omitted. In principle, the positional relationship between the components in the specification (e.g., the vertical relationship, etc.) is when the refrigerator 1 is installed in a usable state. In order to clarify the correspondence between the following drawings including FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the coordinate system is defined as follows. The left-right direction of the refrigerator 1 when viewed from the front is the X-axis, the up-down direction of the refrigerator 1 is the Y-axis, and the front-rear direction of the refrigerator 1 is the Z-axis. Usually, the XY plane and the ZY plane are vertical planes, and the XZ plane is a horizontal plane. In the following description, the X-axis direction is referred to as the "left-right direction" or "width direction", the Y-axis direction is referred to as the "up-down direction" or "height direction", and the Z-axis direction is referred to as the "front-rear direction" or "depth direction".

(Configuration of refrigerator 1)
1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment includes a heat-insulating box 2 having an open front and a storage space 3 formed therein. The heat-insulating box 2 includes an outer box 2a made of a steel plate forming an outer shell, an inner box 2b made of a thin hard resin such as ABS resin and disposed inside the outer box 2a, and a heat insulating material 2c such as hard urethane foam (urethane foam) filled between the outer box 2a and the inner box 2b.

The storage space 3 formed inside the insulated box 2 is divided into a plurality of storage compartments for storing food by a plurality of partition members. The refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment has a refrigerator compartment 100, a first freezer compartment 200, an ice-making compartment 300, a vegetable compartment 400, and a second freezer compartment 500 as a plurality of storage compartments. The refrigerator compartment 100 is arranged at the top, and the first freezer compartment 200 and the ice-making compartment 300 are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction below the refrigerator compartment 100. The vegetable compartment 400 is arranged below the first freezer compartment 200 and the ice-making compartment 300, and the second freezer compartment 500 is arranged at the bottom below the vegetable compartment 400. The first freezer compartment 200 may be a temperature-switching compartment.

The opening formed on the front of the refrigerator compartment 100 is provided with left and right doors 11a and 11b that open and close the opening. The openings formed on the front of the first freezer compartment 200, ice-making compartment 300, vegetable compartment 400, and second freezer compartment 500 are provided with second freezer compartment door 12, ice-making compartment door 13, vegetable compartment door 14, and first freezer compartment door 15 that open and close the opening. The left door 11a of the refrigerator compartment 100 is provided with an operating unit 10 that allows the user to operate the temperature setting of each storage compartment, etc.

The refrigerator compartment 100 is set to a refrigeration temperature zone (e.g., about 3°C). The first freezer compartment 200 is set to a first freezing temperature zone (e.g., about -18°C) or a soft freezing temperature zone (e.g., about -7°C). The ice-making compartment 300 is set to a second freezing temperature zone (e.g., about -18°C). The vegetable compartment 400 is set to a refrigeration temperature zone (e.g., about 6°C). The second freezer compartment 500 is set to a third freezing temperature zone (e.g., about -18°C).

A first insulating partition 30 is installed between the refrigerator compartment 100 and the ice making compartment 300 and the first freezing compartment 200. A first insulating partition 30 and a second insulating partition 31 provided below the first insulating partition 30 are installed between the ice making compartment 300 and the first freezing compartment 200. A fourth insulating partition 32a is installed between the ice making compartment 300 and the first freezing compartment 200 and the vegetable compartment 400. A fifth insulating partition 32b is installed between the vegetable compartment 400 and the second freezing compartment 500.

The first insulating partition 30 separates the refrigerator compartment 100 and the ice-making compartment 300, and forms the floor surface 100a of the refrigerator compartment 100. The first insulating partition 30 also has a water supply tank storage section 30a, which is a concave storage space that is concave below the floor surface 100a of the refrigerator compartment 100. The water supply tank storage section 30a is covered by the first insulating partition 30 and faces the refrigerator compartment 100. The temperature of the water supply tank storage section 30a is maintained, for example, in the refrigerator compartment temperature zone.

In addition, a cooling mechanism 81 that supplies cold air to each storage compartment and a control device 82 that controls each part of the refrigerator 1 are provided on the rear side of each storage compartment. Each storage compartment is also provided with an internal temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the temperature inside the storage compartment. Each internal temperature sensor is, for example, a thermistor, and the measured temperature is transmitted to the control device 82.

The cooling mechanism 81 includes a refrigerant circuit having a compressor and a cooler, an air passage that propagates the cold air supplied from the refrigerant circuit to each storage compartment, and a damper provided in the air passage. The control device 82 includes a processor such as a CPU, and a memory such as a RAM, a ROM, or a flash memory. The control device 82 controls the cooling mechanism 81 based on detection signals from each sensor of the refrigerator 1 and setting information input via the operation unit 10 to cool each storage compartment.

(Configuration of ice making chamber 300)
Next, the configuration of the periphery of ice-making chamber 300 of the present embodiment will be described in detail. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the periphery of ice-making chamber 300 in refrigerator 1 according to embodiment 1. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the periphery of ice-making chamber 300 cut along the XY plane and viewed from the front. As shown in Fig. 3, ice-making chamber 300 contains ice maker 20 that makes ice and ice storage case 21 that stores the ice made by ice maker 20. Ice storage case 21 is located below ice maker 20.

To the right of the ice maker 20, above the ice storage case 21, is disposed a water supply tank storage section 30a formed by a first insulating partition 30. A water supply tank 22 is housed in the water supply tank storage section 30a. The water supply tank 22 is a tank that stores water to be sent to the ice maker 20. A water supply pipe 61 is connected to the water supply tank 22. The water supply pipe 61 is disposed so as to pass through the water supply tank storage section 30a, and supplies water from the water supply tank 22 to the ice maker 20.

As described above, in this embodiment, the water supply tank 22 is stored in the first heat-insulating partition 30, so that the storage volume of the refrigerator compartment 100 can be increased. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the refrigerator compartment case 23 is provided on the floor surface 100a of the refrigerator compartment 100. In this case, if the water supply tank 22 is placed on the upper surface of the first heat-insulating partition 30, i.e., on the floor surface 100a of the refrigerator compartment 100, next to the refrigerator compartment case 23, it is necessary to reduce the width dimension of the refrigerator compartment case 23. In contrast, in this embodiment, the storage volume of the refrigerator compartment 100 and the dimensions of the refrigerator compartment case 23 are not affected by the water supply tank 22.

The ice maker 20 is also positioned so that its front projection does not overlap with the water supply tank 22 and the first insulating partition 30 that forms the water supply tank storage section 30a. That is, the ice maker 20 is positioned so that it does not overlap with the water supply tank 22 and the first insulating partition 30 when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the front. This positioning allows the user to move the ice maker 20 back and forth to take it in and out without it coming into contact with the water supply tank 22 or the first insulating partition 30. This allows the user to easily remove the ice maker 20 from the ice making chamber 300 and wash it, keeping the ice maker 20 clean.

In addition, the ice maker 20 and the water tank 22 are arranged in a position where they partially overlap when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from above. This allows the upper space of the ice maker 20 to be used as a space for arranging the water tank 22, and makes it possible to increase the water storage volume of the water tank 22. In addition, since the water storage volume of the water tank 22 can be secured without increasing the width dimension of the ice making chamber 300, the storage volume of the adjacent first freezer chamber 200 can also be secured. In other words, by arranging the ice maker 20 and the water tank 22 as in this embodiment, the storage volume of the refrigerator chamber 100 and the first freezer chamber 200 can be secured, and the ice maker 20 can be easily attached and detached.

The insulating box 2 is also provided with an injection port 33 for injecting the insulating material 2c. The first insulating partition 30 has an outer shell 30b that forms the surface of the first insulating partition 30, and the inside of the outer shell 30b is filled with the insulating material 2c. The insulating material 2c injected from the injection port 33 of the insulating box 2 is filled between the outer box 2a and the inner box 2b, and flows into the outer shell 30b from the injection opening 9a of the inner box 2b and the injection opening 9b of the outer shell 30b provided at the joint 8a between the first insulating partition 30 and the inner box 2b. As a result, the insulating material 2c is filled into the outer shell 30b of the first insulating partition 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the injection opening 9a of the inner box 2b and the injection opening 9b of the outer shell 30b are provided at the same position.

When rigid urethane foam is used as the insulating material 2c, for example, it takes time for the rigid urethane foam to fill areas far from the injection port 33, during which time the hardness of the rigid urethane foam increases, making it difficult for the rigid urethane foam to flow. Furthermore, rigid urethane foam is difficult to flow in areas where the flow path is narrow or where there are bends. For this reason, it is desirable for the bends of the first insulating partition 30 to be located close to the injection port 33. For example, it is desirable for the injection port 33 and the bends 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d of the water supply tank storage section 30a to be located close to each other.

In the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, the injection port 33 and the first insulating partition 30 are provided at positions where they overlap in the height direction when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the side. Also, the injection port 33 and the water supply tank storage section 30a are provided at positions where they overlap in the depth direction when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the side. By arranging the injection port 33 in this way, it is possible to improve the filling of the insulating material 2c into the water supply tank storage section 30a, which has a complex shape, improve the insulating properties of the first insulating partition 30, and increase the strength and productivity of the refrigerator 1.

In addition, the injection port 33 is provided at a position overlapping the injection opening 9a of the inner box 2b and the injection opening 9b of the outer shell 30b of the first insulating partition 30 when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the side. However, the arrangement of the injection port 33 is not limited to the left side of the outer box 2a as shown in FIG. 3, and the injection port 33 can be provided on the front or rear side of the back, left side or right side of the outer box 2a at a position where the injection port 33 and the first insulating partition 30 overlap in the height direction. For example, the injection port 33 may be provided at a position overlapping the injection opening 9c on the right side of the inner box 2b and the injection opening 9d on the right side of the outer shell 30b of the first insulating partition 30 shown in FIG. 3 when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the side. Alternatively, the injection port 33 may be provided at two or more of the above-mentioned multiple positions.

In addition, a heater 34 is installed in the first insulating partition 30 forming the water supply tank storage section 30a. The heater 34 is installed in the bottom 30c of the first insulating partition 30 forming the bottom surface of the water supply tank storage section 30a. The water supply tank 22 is placed on the heater 34. The heater 34 is attached to the bottom 30c with aluminum tape or the like. The heater 34 generates heat when the control device 82 energizes the heater 34. This heats the water supply tank 22, and the heat transfer from the water supply tank 22 to the ice making chamber 300 or the first freezer chamber 200 can be compensated for by the heat of the heater 34, thereby suppressing freezing of the water in the water supply tank 22. As a result, the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment can reduce the insulation thickness of the first insulating partition 30 compared to a case in which the heater 34 is not provided, and it is possible to expand the storage volume of the ice making chamber 300 or the first freezer chamber 200.

The control device 82 may change the power supply rate of the heater 34 according to the temperature setting of any one of the refrigerator compartment 100, the first freezer compartment 200, and the ice-making compartment 300. For example, the control device 82 sets the power supply rate of the heater 34 higher as the set temperature of each storage compartment is lower. This makes it possible to adjust the amount of heat input to the water supply tank 22 according to the surrounding temperature environment.

The second insulating partition 31 is provided so as to contact the lower surface 30d of the bottom 30c of the first insulating partition 30 and the upper surface 32a1 of the fourth insulating partition 32a. The second insulating partition 31 is filled with insulating material 2d made of a material different from the insulating material 2c. In this way, the ice making chamber 300 and the first freezer chamber 200 are separated by the side portion 30e of the first insulating partition 30 and the second insulating partition 31 arranged thereunder. The side portion 30e of the first insulating partition 30 constitutes the right side of the water supply tank storage section 30a in FIG. 3 and is the portion provided between the water supply tank storage section 30a and the first freezer chamber 200.

The items stored in the ice-making chamber 300 are assumed to be ice particles, and the items stored in the first freezer chamber 200 are assumed to be fresh or frozen foods. Therefore, the ice-making chamber 300 generally may have a smaller storage volume than the first freezer chamber 200, and it is desirable that the widthwise dimension is also narrow. The widthwise dimension of the ice-making chamber 300 is determined by the position of the second insulating partition 31. For example, if the second insulating partition 31 is installed at a distance from the water supply tank storage section 30a to separate the ice-making chamber 300 from the first freezer chamber 200, the width dimension of the ice-making chamber 300 will be larger than necessary.

In this embodiment, the water supply tank storage section 30a of the first insulating partition 30 and the second insulating partition 31 are arranged so as to overlap vertically. In other words, the water supply tank storage section 30a and the second insulating partition 31 are arranged in a position where they overlap when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from above. By arranging the second insulating partition 31 in this manner, the width dimension of the ice making chamber 300 can be reduced, and the storage area of the first freezer chamber 200 can be expanded.

(Configuration of ice maker 20)
Next, the configuration of ice maker 20 will be described. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of handle 51 and ice tray 50 of ice maker 20 according to embodiment 1. Ice maker 20 automatically performs the ice making operation, which consists of the steps of water supply, ice making, and ice release, after water is poured into water supply tank 22, until water in water supply tank 22 cannot be discharged or until ice storage case 21 of ice making chamber 300 is detected as being full of ice.

As shown in Figure 4, ice maker 20 has a handle 51 that a user grips when removing ice maker 20 from ice making chamber 300, and an ice tray 50 that separates and stores water supplied from water supply tank 22. Ice tray 50 has multiple recesses 50a for separating the water. Ice tray 50 has a shape in which the depth is greater than the width when ice maker 20 is installed in ice making chamber 300.

The ice tray 50 is larger in depth than in width, which increases the amount of water that can be stored at one time while keeping the width of the ice maker 20 small. This makes it possible to make a lot of ice at once without making the width of the ice making chamber 300 larger than necessary.

Figure 5 shows the ice maker 20, frame 53 and gear box 54 according to embodiment 1, and is a perspective view of the ice maker 20 attached to the gear box 54 and mounted within the frame 53, as viewed from below. Figure 6 shows the ice maker 20, frame 53 and gear box 54 according to embodiment 1, and is a perspective view of the ice maker 20 removed from the gear box 54, as viewed from below. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the ice maker 20 has an ice tray 50, a handle 51, a frame 53, a gear box 54 and an ice storage detection lever 56.

The frame 53 forms the outer shell of the ice maker 20, and is L-shaped in side view and rectangular in top view as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The frame 53 holds the ice tray 50 and the handle 51, and the top is attached to the ceiling of the ice making chamber 300. A gear box 54 is disposed on the rear side of the frame 53. The gear box 54 is a device for rotating the ice tray 50 to cause the ice produced in the ice tray 50 to fall into the ice storage case 21.

The inside of the ice tray 50 is divided into two rows, left and right, in the depth direction of the refrigerator 1 so that multiple pieces of ice can be made at once, with each piece made from about 10 cc of water. In this embodiment, the ice tray 50 has 12 recesses 50a in two rows, left and right, and six rows, front and back, so that 12 pieces of ice can be made at once.

One end of the ice tray 50 is provided with a protrusion that is inserted into a through hole formed in the side of the handle 51. The other end of the ice tray 50 is provided with a recess into which the rotation shaft 54a of the gear box 54 is fitted. The ice tray 50 is provided inside the area surrounded by the handle 51, frame 53, and gear box 54, and both ends are supported by the handle 51 and gear box 54. This allows the ice tray 50 to rotate around the rotation shaft 54a.

The ice produced in the ice tray 50 is released by the gear box 54 rotating the ice tray 50, and is dropped into the ice storage case 21. Specifically, when the gear box 54 rotates the ice tray 50, a stopper receiving portion provided on the ice tray 50 gets caught on a stopper portion of the frame 53. The gear box 54 then tries to rotate the ice tray 50 further, which causes the ice tray 50 to twist and release the ice.

The ice storage detection lever 56 is provided to detect whether the ice storage case 21 is full of ice and to determine whether ice can be made continuously. The ice storage detection lever 56 is attached to the side of the gear box 54 as shown in Figures 5 and 6. When the ice storage detection lever 56 is in the lowered position and comes into contact with ice in the ice storage case 21, it detects that the ice storage case 21 is full of ice and determines that ice cannot be made.

The ice maker 20 may further include an ice tray temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the ice in the ice tray 50. The ice tray temperature sensor is composed of, for example, a thermistor, is covered with a temperature sensor cover, and is attached in close contact with the underside of the ice tray 50. The temperature measured by the ice tray temperature sensor is transmitted to the control device 82. The control device 82 controls the gear box 54 according to the temperature measured by the ice tray temperature sensor.

(Configuration of water supply tank 22)
Next, the configuration of water supply tank 22 will be described. Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of ice maker 20, water supply tank 22, and water supply pipe 61 according to embodiment 1. Fig. 7 is an exploded view showing ice maker 20, water supply tank 22, and water supply pipe 61.

As shown in FIG. 7, the water supply tank 22 has a box-shaped water storage container 58 with an opening on the top surface, a water supply pump 59 arranged inside the water storage container 58, a filter 60 attached in front of the water supply pump 59, and a water supply tank lid 24.

As shown in Figure 7, the water storage container 58 has four corners when viewed from above. A drain outlet 62 to which a water supply pipe 61 is connected is formed near one of the four corners of the water storage container 58. The remaining three corners are formed with rounded inner circumferences, or so-called R shapes.

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the water supply pump 59 according to the first embodiment. The water supply pump 59 is provided to send water from the water storage container 58 to the ice tray 50. As shown in Figure 8, the water supply pump 59 has a pump cover 59a provided with a water supply port 63, a propeller 59b having a magnet inside, and a pump case 59c, which are combined together to form the water supply pump 59. The propeller 59b of the water supply pump 59 rotates when a magnet attached to an external pump motor (not shown) rotates.

The pump case 59c is provided with a drainage pipe 65 extending upward. The drainage pipe 65 is provided so as to extend from near the left and right ends of the pump case 59c in a tangential direction to the rotation direction of the propeller 59b.

The drain pipe 65 extends upward and vertically from the pump case 59c, bends at the height of the full water line of the water supply tank 22, and is formed to extend along the wall surface of the water storage container 58. One end of the drain pipe 65 is connected to the drain outlet 62 of the water storage container 58. The drain pipe 65 allows the water in the water storage container 58 taken in from the water supply port 63 to flow to the drain outlet 62 when the propeller 59b rotates in the forward direction.

Returning to FIG. 7, the water supply pipe 61 is a water supply path for supplying water in the water storage container 58 to the ice tray 50. The water supply pipe 61 is configured independently of the water supply tank 22 and is detachably attached to the water supply tank 22. As shown in FIG. 7, the water supply pipe 61 has an inlet 61a through which water flows in from the water storage container 58, an outlet 61b through which water flows out into the ice tray 50, and a path portion 61c that connects the inlet 61a and the outlet 61b.

9 is a schematic diagram of the ice maker 20, water supply tank 22, and water supply pipe 61 according to the first embodiment when viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 9, the outlet 61b of the water supply pipe 61 is located rearward of the inlet 61a. In other words, the path portion 61c of the water supply pipe 61 is arranged to extend diagonally rearward from the inlet 61a. In addition, the outlet 61b of the water supply pipe 61 is arranged at a position overlapping with the ice tray 50 when viewed from above. As a result, the water that passes through the water supply pipe 61 is discharged from above the ice maker 20 with a velocity component in the longitudinal direction (depth direction of the refrigerator 1). By arranging the water supply pipe 61 and the ice tray 50 in this way, it is possible to prevent quality defects such as water splashing from the ice maker 20 and falling into the ice storage case 21, causing the stored ice to stick together.

Figure 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the ice maker 20 and the first insulating partition 30 in embodiment 1. Figure 10 shows the state in which the ice tray 50 is cut at the center in the width direction by the ZY plane. As shown in Figure 10, an air duct guide section 69 is provided behind the gear box 54 of the ice maker 20. The air duct guide section 69 is connected to the cooling mechanism 81 and is an air duct that sends the cold air generated by the cooling mechanism 81 to the ice tray 50 via the frame 53.

The ceiling surface of the frame 53 has a slope 74 that extends diagonally upward from the back to the front. A temperature sensor 73 is attached to the slope 74. The temperature sensor 73 is, for example, an infrared sensor. The temperature sensor 73 measures the temperature of the four front recesses 50a of the ice tray 50 and transmits the average value to the control device 82. The temperature sensor 73 detects whether water has been supplied to the four front recesses 50a of the ice tray 50, whether ice making has been completed, etc. The temperature sensor 73 is fixed to the frame 53 in an oblique direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the ice maker 20 so that the infrared detection range includes the four front recesses 50a. The temperature sensor 73 measures the temperature of the four front recesses 50a, which have a slower ice making speed than the rear recesses 50a. As an example, when the temperature of the four front recesses 50a detected by temperature sensor 73 remains below a predetermined temperature (-10°C) for a predetermined period of time (100 minutes) or more, control device 82 receiving the temperature transmitted from temperature sensor 73 determines that ice making in ice making tray 50 is complete and activates gear box 54. Gear box 54, when activated, rotates ice making tray 50 to release ice from ice making tray 50. The ice released from ice making tray 50 falls into ice storage case 21.

Although not shown in FIG. 10, a hook is provided on the ceiling surface of the ice-making chamber 300 formed by the first insulated partition 30, and the frame 53 is fixed to the ceiling surface of the ice-making chamber 300 by attaching a hook provided on the depth-wise side of the frame 53 to the hook.

Figure 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the water supply tank 22 and ice maker 20 according to embodiment 1. Figure 11 shows the water supply tank 22 and ice maker 20 cut in the XY plane at a position before the water supply pipe 61. More specifically, the position of the cross section in Figure 11 passes through the bottom surface of the recess 50a in the second row from the front of the ice tray 50.

The water supply pipe 61 passes through the first insulating partition 30 and is provided between the ice maker 20 and the water supply tank 22. When the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the front, the outlet 61b of the water supply pipe 61 is located diagonally below and to the left of the inlet 61a.

9 and 11, the water supply pipe 61 is arranged so that the water supplied from the outlet 61b hits the slope 50b provided on the center side of the ice tray 50 of the recess 50a arranged on the water supply pipe 61 side, which is the second row from the front among the multiple recesses 50a of the ice tray 50. The landing point of the water supplied from the outlet 61b into the tray is the recess 50a on the water supply pipe 61 side, and by leaving a distance of one recess from the right end of the ice tray 50, the water supplied from the outlet 61b is prevented from spilling out of the ice tray 50. In addition, in FIG. 11, the first heat-insulating partition 30 is formed by combining the upper surface portion 70 and the lower surface portion 71 to form an outer shell 72, and the internal space is filled with heat insulating material 2c.

11, the water storage container 58 has a step inside, which is a first step 58a that has a shallow water depth when water is stored, and a second step 58b that is adjacent to the first step 58a and has a deeper water depth than the first step 58a. The second step 58b is formed adjacent to the first step 58a in the left-right direction in the water storage container 58. As will be described in detail later, the water supply pump 59 is arranged in the second step 58b so as to contact the wall surface of the water storage container 58 in the front-rear direction. The first step 58a is formed so as to be higher than the water supply port 63 of the water supply pump 59 arranged in the second step 58b.

The first step 58a is formed so as to slope downward toward the second step 58b, so that the water on the first step 58a flows to the second step 58b. For example, the first step 58a is formed so as to slope downward by about 7° with respect to the horizontal direction.

The first step 58a is formed so that the bottom surface slopes downward from one wall surface of the water storage container 58 to the other opposing wall surface. In this case, the one wall surface of the water storage container 58 is the wall surface that contacts the water supply pump 59 arranged in the second step 58b.

The second step 58b is formed with its left-right width taken into consideration so that the water supply pump 59 can be placed therein. The second step 58b is formed so that a part of the bottom surface slopes upward from one wall surface of the water storage container 58 where the water supply pump 59 is placed to the opposing other wall surface. The remaining part of the bottom surface of the second step 58b is the part where the water supply pump 59 is placed. In other words, the second step 58b is formed so that the bottom surface excluding the part where the water supply pump 59 is placed slopes upward as it moves away from the water supply pump 59.

By forming the first step 58a and the second step 58b in this manner, a continuous surface is formed in the water storage container 58 between the lowest bottom surface of the first step 58a and the highest bottom surface of the second step 58b.

In the example shown in FIG. 11, a first step 58a is formed on the left side of the water storage container 58, and a second step 58b is formed to the right of the first step 58a. The first step 58a is formed sloping downward toward the second step 58b adjacent to the right side. The first step 58a is also formed sloping downward from the rear side toward the front side. The second step 58b is formed with a part of the bottom surface sloping upward from the wall surface on the rear side of the water storage container 58 toward the wall surface on the front side. A continuous surface is formed by the lowest bottom surface on the front side of the first step 58a and the highest bottom surface on the front side of the second step 58b.

Figure 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the refrigerator compartment 100 according to embodiment 1. Figure 12 is a top view of the refrigerator compartment 100 cut along the XZ plane. Figure 12 shows the floor surface 100a of the refrigerator compartment 100, the water supply tank lid 24 installed in the water supply tank storage section 30a provided on the floor surface 100a, and the refrigerator compartment case 23 provided on the floor surface 100a.

As shown in Fig. 12, when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the front, the water supply tank 22 is positioned so as to overlap the left door 11a of the refrigerator compartment 100 but not the right door 11b. The water supply tank 22 is positioned toward the center of the refrigerator compartment 100 in the width direction.

When the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the front, the water supply tank 22 overlaps the left door 11a but not the right door 11b, so that the user can remove the water supply tank 22 by opening only the left door 11a, facilitating the installation and removal operation for cleaning the water supply tank 22. In addition, the water supply tank 22 is located toward the center in the width direction of the refrigerator compartment 100, so that the rotation angle when the left door 11a is opened is suppressed, and the water supply tank 22 can be installed and removed by a user standing in front of the refrigerator 1, thereby improving operability.

In this embodiment, the water supply tank 22 overlaps with the left door 11a of the refrigeration compartment 100 but does not overlap with the right door 11b when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the front, but the position of the water supply tank 22 is not limited to this. For example, the water supply tank 22 may be positioned so that it overlaps with the right door 11b but does not overlap with the left door 11a when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the front. In this case, the ice making compartment 300 is provided on the right side adjacent to the first freezer compartment 200.

12, the injection port 33 for injecting the insulating material 2c is provided in the outer box 2a of the insulating box body 2 at a position overlapping the first insulating partition 30 and the water supply tank 22 when the refrigerator 1 is viewed from the side. This allows the insulating material 2c with a high flow rate to be injected into the water supply tank storage section 30a of the first insulating partition 30, compared to when the injection port 33 is provided at a position not overlapping the water supply tank 22 (for example, the back surface of the outer box 2a). This structure improves the filling property of the insulating material 2c in the water supply tank storage section 30a having a bent shape. In other words, by arranging the injection port 33 in this way, the insulating property of the first insulating partition 30 is improved, and the insulating performance of the refrigerator 1 can be improved.

Embodiment 2.
Fig. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the periphery of ice-making compartment 300 in refrigerator 1 according to embodiment 2. Fig. 13 is a front view of refrigerator 1 cut along the XY plane. Refrigerator 1 according to embodiment 2 differs from embodiment 1 in the structure of the heat-insulating partitions disposed between refrigerator compartment 100 and ice-making compartment 300, and between refrigerator compartment 100 and first freezer compartment 200. Other configurations of refrigerator 1 according to embodiment 2 are similar to those of embodiment 1.

The insulating partition formed between the refrigerator compartment 100 and the ice-making compartment 300 is formed by a first insulating partition 30 from one side of the inner box 2b (the left side in FIG. 13) to the water tank storage section 30a. Then, a third insulating partition 67 is formed from the side of the first insulating partition 30 to the other side of the inner box 2b (the right side in FIG. 13). In other words, the first insulating partition 30 and the third insulating partition 67 each constitute a part of the floor surface 100a of the refrigerator compartment 100.

As in the first embodiment, the refrigerator 1 according to the second embodiment has a second insulating partition 31 below the water supply tank storage section 30a, which separates the ice making compartment 300 from the first freezer compartment 200. The inside of the third insulating partition 67 is filled with a material similar to the insulating material 2c used in the insulated box body 2. Meanwhile, the inside of the first insulating partition 30 is filled with insulating material 2e made of a material different from the insulating material 2c and the insulating material 2d of the second insulating partition 31.

In the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment, the third insulating partition 67 and the insulating box 2 are made of a material 2c, which has a certain insulating thickness and is often linear, and is made of urethane foam (rigid urethane foam), which has high insulating performance but is difficult to fill. On the other hand, the insulating material 2e of the first insulating partition 30, which needs to follow the shape of the water tank 22 and has bends 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d, is made of polystyrene foam, which has high moldability but is slightly inferior in insulating performance to rigid urethane foam. In addition, since the temperature difference between the ice making compartment 300 and the first freezer compartment 200 is small, polypropylene, which has a low specific gravity and high strength among resins, is used as the insulating material 2d of the second insulating partition 31. In this way, by making the insulating materials of the first to third insulating partitions out of different materials, it is possible to achieve both the insulating performance and productivity of the refrigerator 1. In addition, without being limited to this, urethane foam may be used as the insulating material of the first to third insulating partitions, with priority given to insulating properties.

The above is an explanation of the embodiment, but the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications or combinations are possible within the scope of the gist of the present disclosure. For example, the arrangement of each storage chamber is not limited to the arrangement of the above embodiment, and may be an arrangement other than that of the above embodiment. Furthermore, the number of storage chambers and the temperature of each storage chamber are not limited to the example of the above embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the water supply tank storage section 30a is covered by the first insulating partition 30, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the water supply tank storage section 30a may be configured to have an open top surface and communicate with the refrigerator compartment 100.

1 refrigerator, 2 insulated box, 2a outer box, 2b inner box, 2c, 2d, 2e insulation material, 3 storage space, 8a joint, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 10 operation unit, 11a left door, 11b right door, 12 second freezer door, 13 ice maker door, 14 vegetable door, 15 first freezer door, 20 ice maker, 21 ice storage case, 22 water supply tank, 23 refrigerator case, 24 water supply tank cover, 30 first insulation partition, 30a water supply tank storage section, 30b outer shell, 30c bottom, 30d lower surface, 30e side surface, 31 second insulation partition, 32a fourth insulation partition, 32a1 upper surface, 32b fifth insulation partition, 33 inlet, 34 Heater, 50 Ice tray, 50a Recess, 50b Slope, 51 Handle, 53 Frame, 54 Gearbox, 54a Rotating shaft, 56 Ice storage detection lever, 58 Water storage container, 58a First stage, 58b Second stage, 59 Water supply pump, 59a Pump cover, 59b Propeller, 59c Pump case, 60 Filter, 61 Water supply pipe, 61a Inlet, 61b Outlet, 61c Path, 62 Drain, 63 Water supply port, 65 Drain pipe, 66a, 66b, 66c, 66d Bend, 67 Third heat insulating partition, 69 Air passage guide, 70 Upper surface, 71 Lower surface, 72 Outer shell, 73 Temperature sensor, 74 Slope, 81 Cooling mechanism, 82 Control device, 100 Refrigerator compartment, 100a floor surface, 200 first freezer compartment, 300 ice maker compartment, 400 vegetable compartment, 500 second freezer compartment.

Claims (5)

A heat-insulating box;
A refrigeration chamber formed in the insulated box;
An ice making chamber formed in the insulated box and disposed under the refrigeration chamber;
A freezing chamber formed in the insulating box and disposed adjacent to the ice making chamber;
A first heat insulating partition that separates the refrigerator compartment from the ice making compartment, forms at least a part of the floor surface of the refrigerator compartment, and has a storage section that is recessed below the floor surface;
A second heat insulating partition that separates the ice making compartment and the freezing compartment;
A third insulating partition that separates the refrigeration chamber and the freezer chamber and forms at least a part of the floor surface of the refrigeration chamber;
a water supply tank that is accommodated in the accommodation section and that supplies water for making ice in the ice making chamber;
an ice maker disposed in the ice making chamber and for making ice from the water supplied from the water supply tank;
The water tank and the ice maker are disposed in such a manner that they do not overlap when viewed from the front,
The water tank and the ice maker are disposed in a position where they at least partially overlap when viewed from above,
The first insulating partition, the second insulating partition, and the third insulating partition are filled with different insulating materials,
The ice maker of the refrigerator can be taken in and out by moving it back and forth. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the second heat insulating partition is provided below the storage section and in contact with the storage section. a water supply pipe for supplying water from the water supply tank to the ice maker;
the water supply pipe has an inlet through which the water flows from the water supply tank, an outlet through which the water flows out to the ice maker, and a path portion connecting the inlet and the outlet,
The outlet of the water supply pipe is disposed at a position overlapping with the ice maker when viewed from above,
The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the path portion of the water supply pipe is disposed so as to extend obliquely rearward when viewed from above. The insulating box body includes an outer box, an inner box, and an insulating material filled between the outer box and the inner box,
The insulating box has an injection port for filling the insulating material,
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the injection port is arranged at a position overlapping with the first insulating partition in a height direction when viewed from the side. 5. The refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the injection port is disposed on a side surface of the insulating box on which the ice-making compartment is provided.

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