JPS6262279B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker that automatically performs ice making, ice removal, water supply, etc. It relates to a mechanism that efficiently transmits information to gears.

The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, and the main body 1 has a freezer compartment 2 and a refrigerator compartment 3 inside. 4 and 5 are 4 at the door
5 is a freezer compartment, and 5 is a door that closes the front opening of the refrigerator compartment. Reference numeral 6 denotes an automatic ice making machine according to the present invention. This ice making machine 6 is equipped with an ice making detector, a water supply device, etc., which will be described later, and automatically performs a series of operations such as making ice, removing ice, and supplying water. 7 is a water supply port that supplies water from a cold water tank installed in the refrigerator room or the like to an ice tray (described later); 8 is an ice bank that stores ice made by the ice maker body 6; 9 is the ice cube tray mentioned above; It is an ice tray installed to be located on bank 8,
One side of the ice tray 9 is regulated to rotate at a constant angle by bent and raised portions 10a and 10b formed on the frame 10, and the other side is attached to be rotated by a drive motor to be described later. 11 is a drive motor, and 11a is its gear. 12 is the gear 1 above
This is a cam gear that meshes with 1a. This cam gear 1
2 and the drive motor 11 are both attached to a mounting plate 13. Also, the cam gear 12 is connected to the operating pin 1.
2a, and a concentric cam groove (not shown) on the reaction pin 12a side (the side facing the mounting plate).
I have multiple books.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a slider which is rotatably pivoted by a shaft pin 15. As shown in the figure, this slider 14 has a gear part 14a in the center that can rotate the gear 16 directly connected to the ice tray 9 in the forward and reverse directions, and also engages with the operating pin 12a of the cam gear 12, It has a guide groove 14b for rotating the slider 14 within the range of movement of the operating pin 12a.

Here, the movements of the ice tray 9, slider 14, cam gear 12, etc. will be explained in detail.
First, when the ice tray 9 is held in the horizontal position shown by the broken line in FIG. 4, the gear 1 directly connected to the ice tray 9
6, the slider 14, the operating pin 12a, etc. are also located at the positions indicated by solid lines. When the time comes to rotate the ice tray 9 in the direction of arrow P from this state, the operating pin 12a begins to descend along the straight portion 14b' of the guide groove 14b of the slider 14. When approximately half of the rotation angle of the slider 14 is reached, it hits the lowest end of the guide groove 14b. From there, the operating pin 12a begins to move up the straight portion 14b'. Then, the gear 16 and the gear portion 14a on the slider 14 side are rotated so that the ice tray 9 completes the predetermined rotation of 150 degrees when the operating pin reaches the A section of the guide groove 14b (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5). It is configured. This ice tray 9 is locked to a bent and raised portion 10a formed on the frame 10.

Next, when the operating pin continues to rotate, the slider further rotates due to the linear portion 14b' (solid line position in Figure 5), so the gear 16 also rotates, causing a twisting motion in the ice tray (Figure 6). It is something. When this twisting operation is finished, the operating pin 12a and the guide groove 14b
The locking relationship with the B part is temporarily released and the straight part 1
Operation pin 12a reaches 4b''. Operation pin 12a reaches 14b''
now acts in a direction to rotate the slider 14 in the opposite direction of arrow P. When the operation pin 12a reaches the C portion (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 7), the ice tray 9 returns to the horizontal position. At this time, the ice tray 9 is bent at a bent portion 10 formed on the frame 10.
It is locked at b. Further, as the operating pin continues to rotate, the slider is rotated by the linear portion 14b'', and the gear 16 is also rotated.By this operation, the ice tray 9 is twisted as shown in FIG.

Next, the operating pin 12a reaches the D section, releases its twisting motion, returns to the original straight section 14b', and stops (FIG. 4).

As described above, the guide groove 14b of the slider 14
accepts the rotation locus _P2 of the operating pin 12a together with its own rotation, rotates the ice tray in the forward and reverse directions, rotates the linear extension of the groove over a certain angle, and makes the rotational force from the motor effective by the slope effect. The ice tray is configured to transmit a twisting motion to the ice cube tray.

17 is a gear for a level sensor 18 that rotates in synchronization with the cam gear 12 mentioned above. This gear 17 is also provided with a guide groove 17a. The guide groove 17a is provided concentrically with the axis of the gear 17. 17a' is an eccentric groove provided in this guide groove 17a. This eccentric groove 17a is the guide groove 1
A part of 7a is formed by recessing it in the axial direction of the gear 17. The level sensor 18 is normally held in the state shown by the solid line in FIGS. 1 and 9 by the guide groove 17a. When the eccentric groove 17a' rotates due to the rotation of the gear 17, the level sensor 1
8 follows the shape of the eccentric groove 17a' and descends downward as shown by the chain line in FIG. Therefore, the movement of the level sensor 18 is restricted when inserted into the guide groove 17a, and is not restricted when inserted into the eccentric groove 17a. The time for lowering the level sensor is set to a fraction of the time it takes for the level sensor gear 17 to make one revolution. Also, the level sensor 18 is connected to the guide groove 1 when starting to descend and when ascending.
7a and 17a', but after the descent starts, the groove 17 is used to detect the amount of water stored in the ice bank 8.
The groove width _l1 is made as wide as _l2 so as not to be restricted by a.

19 is a board provided with an electronic section. The drive motor 11 starts and stops rotating by the functions of various electronic parts provided in this board.

Next, the circuit configuration inside this board 19 will be explained with reference to FIG. 10. Reference numeral 21 is a heater for preventing the water supply port 7 provided on the top of the ice tray 9 from freezing.
Reference numeral 22 indicates a power supply unit including a diode that converts AC power into DC power. This power supply unit 22, together with the anti-freeze heater 21, obtains the DC power necessary for circuit operation, for example, 24V DC or 12V DC, from a 100V AC commercial power source. 23 is a comparison section. This comparator section has a comparator circuit, a relay 23c, and a circuit for driving the relay, and turns on and off the relay contacts in response to a signal from the thermistor 24 and a signal from a timer section, which will be described later.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a timer section. This timer section 25 consists of a reference oscillation section, a frequency dividing section, and a circuit 25c for resetting the frequency dividing circuit, and outputs an output signal after a certain period of time after the contact piece of the relay 23 goes to the contact point xa side. , where the relay contact is forcibly returned to xb via the comparison section.

As described earlier, 24 is a place where the thermistor detects the temperature of the back surface of the ice tray and detects the completion of ice making.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a drive motor and pump control section, and this section consists of relay contacts controlled by the above-mentioned comparison section and four sets of blade switches mounted on the board. The blade switch is opened and closed by an operating pin moved through a cam gear driven by the motor mentioned above. The entire combination of electronic components operates as shown in FIG.

That is, when the thermistor 24 detects the completion of ice making, the relay 23c operates and the contact piece normally located on the XB side is activated.
Move it to the XA side. At this time, pause switch S ₃
is on, so the drive motor 10
Operated by XC-XA-S ₃ circuit. When the drive motor 10 moves, the cam gear 12 and slider 14 rotate, so the ice tray rotates forward to approximately 150 degrees and then reversely to its original position. (Of course, this process includes the twisting motion mentioned earlier,
Includes reverse twisting motion. ) During this reverse operation, the level sensor 18 detects the amount of ice in the ice bank 20 by the level sensor gear 17.

If the amount of ice has not reached the specified amount, the level sensor 18 is set and rotates to the lowest level. Operation pin 27b that moves in conjunction with this level sensor
The level sensor switch _S5 is turned on and off by the action of the ice bank 20, and it turns on when the ice bank 20 is not full and turns off when it is full. At the same time, the water supply switch _S4 is temporarily turned on by the action of a cam provided on the cam gear, and water is poured into the ice tray from the water supply port. Immediately after the water injection operation is completed, the temporary stop switch _S3 is turned off, and the drive motor stops operating.

Note that at the same time as the relay contact is switched to the XA side, the reset of the timer section 25 is canceled and the timer section operates. When this state continues, for example, for 1.5 hours, a control signal is output from the timer section 25 to the comparison section 23, and the relay 23c shifts the contact piece from XA to xb.

As a result, the drive motor 11 starts rotating again (of course, at this time, the stop switch _S2 is turned on as shown in the figure.The drive motor continues to rotate until the stop switch _S2 is turned off, and reaches the predetermined position ( position).

Ice making and ice removal operations are performed through a series of these operations.

In addition, the switches shown in S ₂ , S ₃ , and S ₄ are turned on by moving the contact plate by moving the operating pin, one end of which is in contact with the cam groove (not shown) of the cam gear 11, along the unevenness of the cam groove. It is used to turn off.

According to the present invention, in an automatic ice making machine that rotates an ice tray that has completed ice making to remove ice and supply water, the slider includes a gear directly connected to the ice tray, a gear portion connected to the gear, and a slider provided with a gear portion connected to the gear. It consists of a cam gear provided with an operating pin that engages with the guide groove of the slider, and a drive motor gear that drives the cam gear.The rotation of the drive motor gear rotates the cam gear, and the rotating operating pin of the cam gear rotates the slider. By doing so, the gear rotates and rotates the ice tray to release ice,
A guide groove provided in the level sensor gear that rotates in synchronization with the cam gear, an eccentric rod provided in a part of the groove and recessed in the axial direction of the level sensor gear, and an eccentric rod provided in the guide groove. an ice storage amount detection section inserted at one end; when the ice storage amount detection section is inserted into the guide groove, the movement of the ice storage amount detection section is restrained by the groove; When the ice storage amount detection section is inserted into the eccentric groove, the ice storage amount detection section is not restrained, so that when the ice storage amount detection section descends into the ice storage container, it will descend under its own weight, thereby preventing ice storage. This has the effect of preventing the amount detection unit from pressing ice and damaging the level sensor gear.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a refrigerator equipped with the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an ice maker according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of mechanical operation of the ice maker equipped with the present invention, and FIG. Figure 5 shows the relationship between the slider and the ice tray, Figure 5 shows the relative position of the slider and cam gear when giving a twisting motion to the ice tray, Figure 6 shows the mechanism when the mechanism is in the state shown in Figure 5. Figure 7 shows the position of the ice tray. Figure 7 shows the relative position of the slider and cam gear when returning the ice tray to its original position. Figure 8 shows the position of the ice tray when the mechanism is in the state shown in Figure 7. 9 is a diagram explaining the drive mechanism of the level sensor, and FIG.
1 is an electric circuit (block diagram) diagram of an ice maker equipped with the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a timing chart illustrating the operating sequence of the ice maker equipped with the present invention. 1... Refrigerator body, 2... Freezer compartment, 3... Refrigerator compartment, 4
… Freezer compartment door, 5… Refrigerator compartment door, 6… Automatic ice maker, 7
...Water supply port, 8...Ice bank, 9...Ice tray, 10
...Frame, 10a, 10b...Bending portion, 11
... Drive motor, 11a... Gear, 12... Cam gear,
12a... Operating pin, 12c... Guide groove, 13... Mounting plate, 14... Slider, 14a... Gear part, 14b
...Guide groove, 14b'...Straight section, 14b''...Straight section, 1
5... Axis pin, 16... Gear, 17... Gear for level sensor, 17a... Guide groove, 17a'... Portion outside the concentric circle, 18... Level sensor, 19... Board,
20... Ice bank, 21... Heater, 22... Power supply section, 23... Comparison section, 23c... Relay, 24... Thermistor, 25... Timer section, 25c... Resetting circuit, 26... Drive motor and pump control section, 2
7... Operation pin that moves in conjunction with the level sensor, S ₂
...stop switch, _S3 ...pause switch, _S4 ...water supply switch, _S5 ...level sensor switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic ice-making machine that rotates an ice-making tray that has completed ice-making to remove ice and supply water, a gear directly connected to the ice-making tray, a slider provided with a gear portion connected to the gear, and a guide groove of the slider are provided. It consists of a cam gear provided with an operating pin that engages, and a drive motor gear that drives the cam gear, and the rotation of the drive motor gear rotates the cam gear, and the operating pin of the rotating cam gear rotates the slider, thereby driving the gear. rotates to rotate the ice tray to release ice, and a level sensor gear rotates in synchronization with the cam gear, a guide groove provided in the level sensor gear, and a guide groove provided in a part of the groove. an eccentric groove recessed in the axial direction of the level sensor gear; and an ice storage amount detection section having one end inserted into the guide groove, the ice storage amount detection section being inserted into the guide groove. When the movement of the ice storage amount detection part is restricted by the groove,
An automatic ice maker characterized in that when the ice storage amount detection section is inserted into the eccentric groove, the ice storage amount detection section is not restrained.