JPS6023267B2 - automatic ice maker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker that is used while being stored in a freezer, and particularly relates to an automatic ice maker that frequently deices an ice tray made of flexible material after ice making is completed. .

Conventionally, as an example of this type of automatic ice maker, in order to obtain fresh ice, the ice tray is twisted clockwise by 7 1/2 degrees to separate the ice cubes from the ice tray, and then the ice tray is rotated counterclockwise. There is one that rotates 140 degrees, drops the ice block, and then twists the ice tray 171'2 degrees in the same direction to compensate for the stress caused by adjacent ice, and then rotates the ice tray clockwise to return it to the ice-making position. . However, the mechanism of such a device is to move the rack bar back and forth once to make the ice, then take it off and turn it over, release the ice cubes, and return to the ice making position, so it takes a considerable amount of time before the next ice making starts. There is a drawback that it requires a lot of time. In order to improve this and make it possible to move on to the next ice making process in a short time, it would be possible to increase the rotation of the drive motor, but there is a limit to the rotation speed of the motor due to the torque required during the twisting operation.

In view of the above points, the present invention aims to increase the speed by about twice without increasing the rotation of the drive motor.
Furthermore, even if the rotational speed of the ice tray is increased, there is no shortage of torque when twisting is applied. The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings showing one embodiment thereof.

1 shows an automatic ice maker placed in the cold air inside the freezer.

2 is an ice tray made of sacrificial material, the front end of which is connected to the drive shaft 3.
The other end is rotatably supported by one side of a frame 4 surrounding the ice tray 2.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a drive device installed in the machine room 6, which rotates a gear 9 having an eccentric pin 8 in the direction of arrow M via a motor pinion 7 attached to the rotating shaft of the drive motor. .

10 is a Scotch yoke type rack gear, and an eccentric pin 8 is engaged in a yoke slot 11 of the rack gear.

A drive shaft gear 12 is attached to the drive shaft 3, and the drive shaft gear 12 and the rack gear 10 mesh with each other.

13 is a rack gear rest.

14 is a stopper device for temporarily restraining the rear end of the ice tray 2, and has a locking piece 18 rotatably supported by a pin 17 on a mounting portion 16 above the rear end support portion 15 of the ice tray 2. .

This locking piece 18 has a pair of locking portions 19 and a length 9', and extends from a gate 20 formed in the frame turtle to the two ice tray legs. 21G is a sloping surface formed on the locking portion 19 and the cupboard 9'.

22 and 22' are engaging portions provided at the rear end of the ice tray 2.
Also, in Figure 2, the position of the eccentric pin 8 is shown at 90.
Each 0 is defined as A, B, C, and D. Here, the eccentric pin 8 is at position A? At position C, the water supply is carried out with the approximate center of the rack gear 10 meshing with the drive koji gear 12 (not shown).
The water supplied to the ice tray 2 is cooled. When the ice-making detection device (not shown) detects the completion of ice-making, the motor shaft pinion 7 starts rotating, the eccentric pin 8 rotates from position A to another position, moves the rack gear IQ left and right, and the ice tray 2 starts reversing. Then, the engaging part 22' at the rear end of the ice tray 2 engages with the inclined surface 21 of the engaging part 19' of the engaging piece 18, and rotates the engaging part 19' in the direction opposite to the ice tray. On the other hand, the locking portion 19 is rotated toward the ice tray side. When the ice tray 2 continues to rotate further, the engaging portion 22' comes into contact with the locking portion 19, and the rotation of the rear end of the L ice tray 2 is restrained, causing a load on the ice tray 2. At this time, the eccentric The position of pin 8 is close to position B ~ This position B
The twist is completed at , and at approximately the same time, the ice block is dropped from the ice tray 2 into an ice storage container (not shown). and eccentric pin 8
When rotates from position B to position C, rack gear turtle 0 moves left and right, rotates ice tray 2 in the opposite direction, and returns ice tray 2 to its initial state at position C. Complete ice making cycle. At this time, there is no engagement between the engaging portion 22' and the locking portion 19'. Then, in the next cycle, as the eccentric pin 8 moves from position C to position D, the rack gear 10 first moves to the left, and the ice tray 2 is reversed and twisted in the opposite direction from the previous cycle, so that the eccentric pin 8 moves to position D. While moving from to position A, the rack gear 10 moves to the right, returning the ice tray 2 to the ice making position and completing the next cycle. At this time, the movement of the locking piece 18 is reversed from the previous cycle, and the locking portion 22 rotates the locking portion 9 toward the anti-ice tray side, and the locking portion 19' is rotated toward the ice tray side. When rotated, the locking part 19' and the engaging part 22 engage and twist.Therefore, one cycle is completed while the eccentric pin 8 makes half a rotation, so the operation is completed in a short time. In addition, in the next cycle, the direction of rotation is reversed, so that the residual stress in the ice tray 2 is released at the same time as dehydration.Furthermore, since the twisting action occurs from before the eccentric pin is in position B or position D, the rack gear 10
The force is the largest, it applies a large force to the ice tray, and there is no need to increase the output torque of the drive motor compared to the conventional one. In the above embodiment, the rotary motion is converted into reciprocating motion by the individual D pins 8, but the same effect can be obtained even if a cam groove is used instead of the body O pin.

Furthermore, by rotating the locking piece 18 using the rotation of the ice tray 2, the stopper device turtle 4 can be restrained under the same conditions according to left and right rotations. Because it can be made the same at
Variations in the residual stress of the ice tray 2 can be reduced, and furthermore, no other power is required to rotate the locking cupboard 8.
The structure is simple and costs are reduced. As is clear from the above embodiments, the automatic ice making machine of the present invention rotatably supports an ice tray made of a flexible material, and one end of the ice tray is rotated in one direction and reciprocated. The ice tray is connected to a drive device that converts the reciprocating motion into alternating left and right rotation, and a stopper device that restricts the rotation of the ice tray is disposed on the pond end side of the ice tray. The ice tray is rotated in the opposite direction and reversed, and the ice tray is then twisted to dehydrate the ice tray.The ice tray is then rotated in the opposite direction to return to the ice making position. , twisting, and returning can be approximately doubled, and since there is no need to increase the motor rotation speed, there is no decrease in torque.Furthermore, the twisting operation of the ice tray is performed at the point where the force is strongest. This ensures reliable ice removal and allows the use of small motors.

Furthermore, the automatic ice maker of the present invention is provided with a stopper device that dehydrates the ice tray by applying a twist in which the twisting direction is reversed in each ice making cycle, and restrains the non-driving side of the ice tray. , a locking piece having a pair of locking portions is movably supported from a first position to a second position, and when the ice tray is turned clockwise, the locking piece having a pair of locking portions is supported on one side of the non-driving side of the ice tray. The other locking portion is engaged with one locking portion to move the other locking portion from the first position to the second position, and the negative side of the ice tray is engaged with the other locking portion to substantially remove ice. When changing the tray and moving the ice tray counterclockwise, the other locking portion is engaged with the pond side on the non-drive side of the ice tray, and the one locking portion is moved to the first Since the ice tray is moved from the second position to the first position and the ice tray is substantially shaken by the engagement between the one locking part and the pond side of the ice tray, the ice tray is made uniform for each ice making cycle. In addition to providing ice-off performance, the durability of the ice tray is improved, and the structure is simple, resulting in cost reduction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a top view of an automatic ice maker showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line U-0' in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line mm' in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line W-W' in Fig. 3. . 1... automatic ice maker, 2... ice tray, 3... drive shaft, 5... drive device, 6... machine room, 7...
・...Motor shaft pinion, 8...Eccentric pin, 9・
... Gear, 10 ... Rack gear, 11 ... Yoke slot, 12 ... Drive shaft gear, 13 ...
... Rack gear rest, 14 ... Stopper device, 15 ... Rear end support section, 16 ... Mounting section, 17 ... Pin, 18 ... ... Locking piece, 19,
19'...Locking part, 22, 22'...
Engagement part. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ice tray formed of a flexible material that is rotatably attached to a frame by a drive shaft and a support part, a drive device attached to the frame on the drive shaft side, and a frame on the support part side. The driving device includes a gear that decelerates the rotation of the motor shaft pinion, and an eccentric pin provided on this gear that engages with the gear to convert it into a reciprocating motion, and the drive gear that reduces the rotation of the motor shaft pinion. The stopper device is configured with meshing rack gears, and the stopper device is attached to the frame on the side of the support portion, and rotates alternately with the ice tray whose rotation direction is reversed every ice making cycle by the rack gear of the drive device with the support portion as a boundary. An automatic ice maker equipped with a pair of locking parts that come into contact and give a twist.