JPH01139976A - Ice machine for refrigerator, etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a transparent ice stably regardless of the temperature in a freezing room being set by a user by providing means for fixing temperature regulation of the freezing room regardless of a dial during the operating period of a heater. CONSTITUTION: When an ice making pan 15 is set in an ice making. room 8 and an ice making switch 12 is turned on, a heater 1 is conducted to start cooling from one direction of a cooling plate 13 on the lower surface. When a switch 24a is opened and a switch 24b is closed by means of an ice making switch 20, temperature of a freezing room 3 is controlled at a constant level regardless of setting of a dial 21a through a temperature unregulable thermostat 23 connected in series with the switch 24b. Since chill supply to the cooling plate 13 is invariant freezing operation progresses under constant conditions in the ice making pan 15 to make a transparent ice stably at all times. Upon ending ice making after a predetermined time later, the switch 20 closes to close the switch 24a and to open the switch 24b. In other words, temperature is controlled by a temperature regulable thermostat 21 and normal operation is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice-making device that is disposed in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator and is particularly capable of producing transparent ice.

Conventional technology Conventionally, in household refrigerators, etc., an ice making device that stores an ice tray is placed in one section of the freezer compartment, and the water in the ice tray is frozen by the cooling effect of the cold air flowing through the ice making device to make ice. It is common practice to generate .

However, with this ice generation method, when ice is generated, the water in the ice tray progresses from the contact surface between the ice tray and the water and the contact surface between the cold air and water to the center. As a result, gaseous components and impurities dissolved in the water are trapped in the center of the ice, resulting in opaque ice with a cloudy center, which is sensually suitable for beverages such as whisky. It wasn't something I was looking for.

Therefore, there has been a need for transparent ice for a long time, and the equipment for producing it is shown in Figures 4 to 8, for example.
The method shown in the figure is being considered. The contents will be explained below according to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, which is divided into a compartment 2 into a freezing compartment 3 in the upper part and a refrigerating compartment 4 in the lower part. Reference numeral 6 denotes a cooler for a refrigeration cycle, and 6 a blower for forced ventilation, both of which are arranged on the back side of the freezer compartment 3. Reference numeral 7 denotes an ice-making device placed at the bottom of the freezer compartment 3, which includes a first ice-making compartment 8 for producing transparent ice in the upper stage and a second ice-making compartment for producing regular ice in the lower stage. There are 9. The first ice making chamber 8 has an outer wall except for the bottom and front side surrounded by a heat insulating material 10, and a heating plate 12 made of Avmi with a heater 11 arranged on the back side on the top side and a heating plate 12 on the bottom side. A cooling plate 13 made of aluminum is placed in each of the cooling plates 13. 14 is a ventilation passage formed in the upper part of the second ice making compartment 9;
．． They are a first ice tray and a second ice tray that are housed in the second ice tray 9. Further, reference numeral 17 denotes a female discharge duct through which cold air cooled by the cooler 5 is forcedly ventilated to the ice making device 7 by the blower 6, and a discharge duct 18 formed at the lower end is used to connect the tail air passage 14 and the second air duct, respectively. It communicates with the ice making room e. Reference numeral 19 denotes a return duct for returning cold air discharged into the freezer compartment 3 to the cooler 6. Further, reference numeral 20 is a transparent ice-making switch, which is configured so that once the switch is turned on, the heater 11 is energized for a predetermined time (th). Further, 21 is a thermostat provided in the freezing chamber 3 to control operation and stop of the blower 6 and the compressor 22 of the refrigeration cycle, and the temperature can be adjusted with the dial /&21&.

Next, the electric circuit will be explained. After the blower 6 and the compressor 22 are connected in parallel, they are connected to a power source via the thermostat 21. After the heater 11 is connected in series with the ice making switch 2o,
Connected to power supply.

In this configuration, when the thermostat 21 is turned on, the compressor 22 and the blower 6 are operated, and the air cooled by the cooler 6 is supplied to the freezer compartment 3 and the refrigerator compartment 4 by the ventilation action of the blower 6, and at the same time, the air is supplied to the discharge duct 17. The ice is discharged into the second ice making chamber 9 and the ventilation passage 14 in the ice making apparatus T through the outlet 18 of the ice making apparatus T.

The cold air guided into the second ice-making compartment 9 directly cools the second ice-making tray 16, and the water inside is removed from the water surface and the surface of the remaining ice tray in contact with the second ice-making tray 1.6. Freeze sequentially to generate regular ice. However, as mentioned above, the ice produced in this way is cloudy and does not become transparent. On the other hand, the cold air guided into the ventilation passage 14 cools the cooling plate 13.

Therefore, when the user stores the tlrJl ice making tray 16 filled with water in the first ice making chamber 8 in order to make transparent ice and turns on the ice making switch 20, the heater 11 is heated from the top surface of the first ice making tray 16. A heating action is started via the heating plate 12, and a cooling or freezing action is started via the cooling plate 13 by cold air flowing through the ventilation passage 14 from the lower surface.

Further, since the outer wall of the first ice tray 16 except the lower surface is covered with the heat insulating material 1o, it is not affected by the cooling effect from the freezing chamber 3, and the freezing action progresses in one direction from the lower surface to the upper surface. This freezing effect is indirect cooling via the cooling plate 13, and in addition, a heating effect is added by the heater 11 whose capacity is set in advance, so ice grows due to the diffusion rate of gas components in the water. The freezing speed is slower and ice making progresses without air bubbles being incorporated into the ice. In this way, the freezing speed is approximately 3 t.
If the temperature is controlled to be below FL/h, the gaseous components in the water will be degassed from the surface of the ice that finally freezes, and if the generated ice contains air bubbles, nearly transparent ice will be obtained. Further, the heater 11 is set so that electricity is stopped at around 16°C when ice making is completely completed, and the transparent ice produced thereafter is cooled to about 120°C.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with such a configuration, the user can freely set the temperature control of the freezer compartment 3 using the dial/L/21a, so for example, as shown in FIG. Depending on the temperature setting, there is a temperature difference between the cooling plate 13 between weak cooling and strong cooling, which changes the ice making time. In other words, even though transparent ice can be produced with "weak cooling", "
The problem with "strong cooling" was that it took a long time to make ice and produced opaque ice.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ice making device such as a refrigerator that stably produces transparent ice no matter what temperature the user sets the freezer compartment.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the ice making device of the present invention, such as a refrigerator, adjusts the temperature of the freezer compartment at a constant level during the period from the start of operation of the heating device to the end of operation, regardless of the dial. It is equipped with means for fixing.

Function: With the above-described configuration, the temperature control is fixed to a constant dial during the period from the start of operation of the heating device to the end of operation, regardless of the temperature setting before ice making, and cooling to the cooling plate is maintained. The amount does not change.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus such as a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. It should be noted that the same components as those in the prior art are given the same numbers and their explanations will be omitted. 23 is a thermostat for the freezer compartment, which cannot adjust the temperature. 24a
, 24bij thermostat 21 or 23, and is interlocked with the ice making switch 20.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained.

During normal operation when the ice making switch 20 is not pressed, the switch 24a is closed and the switch 24b is open.

For this reason, the temperature of the freezer compartment 3 is maintained at a constant temperature using a thermostat 21 that can be adjusted by the user. Next, when the user puts the ice making tray 16 into the ice making chamber 8 to obtain transparent ice and turns on the ice making switch 2o, the heater 11 is energized and cooling starts from one direction from the cooling plate 13 on the bottom surface. . At the same time, the ice making switch 2o opens the switch 24a,
Close 24b. Then, the temperature of the freezer compartment 3 is controlled by the non-temperature-adjustable thermostat 23 connected in series with the switch 24b, and is controlled to a constant temperature regardless of the setting of the dial 21a.

Therefore, the amount of cold air supplied to cool the cooling plate 13 does not vary, and the first ice tray 15 is frozen under constant conditions, so that clear ice is always produced as expected.

Further, when the ice removal and making is completed for a certain period of time, the switch 20 is closed, and in conjunction with this, the switch 24a is closed and the switch 24b is opened, that is, the temperature can be controlled by the normal temperature-adjustable thermostat 21, and normal operation is started.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of cooling from the cooling plate is maintained at a constant temperature from the start of operation of the heating device to the end of operation, regardless of the temperature set by the user in the freezer compartment. Since the ice making time is also constant, clear ice is always produced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram of a refrigerator showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the ice maker installed in the refrigerator, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the same refrigerator, Figure 4 is a sectional view of a conventional refrigerator, and Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the ice maker installed in the refrigerator shown in Figure 4. Figure 6 is an enlarged front view of the ice-making device, Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the ice-making device shown in Figure 5, Figure 7 is the electric circuit diagram of the refrigerator shown in Figure 4, and Figure 8 is an illustration of when ice is made with the ice-making device of the refrigerator shown in Figure 4. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the temperature characteristics of the water temperature and the cooling plate. 7...Ice making device, 8...First ice making compartment (ice making compartment), 1o...Insulating material, 11...
・Heater (heating device), 12... Heating plate, 13
...Cooling plate, 16...First ice tray (
Ice tray), 23... Thermostat that cannot adjust temperature (means for forcibly fixing temperature adjustment). Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao #1 or 1 person U
---Heek (Nyoretsu 1) 23--The thermostat that does not come out of the Ikdaku V prize adjustment (mixed 3)
16 hours fixed in 1 phrase) 1 ko 7 - ice making cap 1 3 - 1st ice making room (ice making 10 - m heating material / l - heater (addition - momme 1) l,? ---73r1% Ishino 13-Reigunita tS-1 10th water making sm-(ice making tray) = 2 Figure 7-・Unit making device 8-- 1st ice making room (ice making room,) to -＠Rudder Fig. 4 Fig. 5 ＼ No. 6 = No. 70 ?? Fig. 8 1:

Claims (1)

[Claims] a freezing chamber; a cooling plate provided in the freezing chamber; an ice-making chamber partitioned with the cooling plate as a bottom and an open front; an ice-making tray housed in the ice-making chamber and placed on the cooling plate; A heating plate equipped with a heating device such as a heater installed on the top surface of the ice-making tray, a heat insulating material placed inside the outer wall of the ice-making chamber except for the bottom and front surface, and a heat-insulating material arranged in the outer wall of the ice-making chamber, from the start of operation to the end of operation of the heating device. An ice making device such as a refrigerator is provided with means for forcibly fixing the temperature control in the freezing chamber.