U.S. patent application number 11/954978 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-18 for power control structure for ice makers.
Invention is credited to Chia-Hsin HSU, Hong-Yi LEE.
Application Number | 20090151373 11/954978 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40751456 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090151373 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LEE; Hong-Yi ; et
al. |
June 18, 2009 |
POWER CONTROL STRUCTURE FOR ICE MAKERS
Abstract
A power control structure for ice makers includes a control box
to control an ice making process and a transmission means located
in the control box. The transmission means has a movement range
within which an ON/OFF switch is located. A retrievable ice
collection tray is provided which has an actuation wall. The
transmission means is coupled with an actuation arm extended to a
loading/unloading displacement of the actuation wall. When the ice
collection tray is unloaded the actuation wall pushes the actuation
arm to drive the transmission means to trigger the ON/OFF switch to
suspend the ice making process. When the ice collection tray is
reloaded the actuation wall pushes the actuation arm again to drive
the transmission means to trigger the ON/OFF switch a second time
to trigger the ON/OFF switch to start the ice making process of the
ice maker.
Inventors: |
LEE; Hong-Yi; (Taipei Hsien,
TW) ; HSU; Chia-Hsin; (Taipei Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Joe McKinney Muncy
PO Box 1364
Fairfax
VA
22038-1364
US
|
Family ID: |
40751456 |
Appl. No.: |
11/954978 |
Filed: |
December 12, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/137 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25C 5/18 20130101; F25B
2500/06 20130101; F25C 2600/04 20130101; F25C 2400/10 20130101;
F25D 29/005 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/137 |
International
Class: |
F25C 1/00 20060101
F25C001/00 |
Claims
1. A power control structure for ice makers, comprising: an ice
maker which has an ice making tray and a control box to provide an
ice making process for the ice making tray, the control box having
a transmission means located inside that has a movement range which
has an ON/OFF switch located therein; and a retrievable ice
collection tray located below the ice making tray to store ice
cubes produced by the ice making tray after the ice making process
is finished; wherein the ice collection tray has an actuation wall,
the transmission means being coupled with an actuation arm extended
to a loading/unloading displacement of the actuation wall to drive
the transmission means to trigger the ON/OFF switch to suspend the
ice making process while the ice collection tray is in an unloading
condition; the ice collection tray being reloadable to allow the
actuation wall to push the actuation arm to drive the transmission
means so that the ON/OFF switch is triggered again to start the ice
making process.
2. The power control structure of claim 1, wherein the transmission
means includes a transmission member, a crank element driven by the
transmission member and a driven member coupled on the crank
element; the crank element having an axis portion, a first lever
coupled with the transmission member and a second lever coupled
with the driven member, the first lever being driven by the
transmission member to turn about the axis portion so that the
second lever generates an eccentric displacement to drive the
driven member.
3. The power control structure of claim 2, wherein the actuation
arm is coupled on the driven member through a transmission shaft,
the driven member having an axis to couple with the transmission
shaft, the driven member and the second lever having respectively a
moving slot and a stub located in the moving slot, the transmission
shaft having another end fastened to an ice level detection
arm.
4. The power control structure of claim 2, wherein the transmission
member is coupled on a motor which has a first gear to output
driving power, the transmission member having a second gear
engaging with the first gear and an eccentric boss to drive the
first lever while the second gear is turning.
5. The power control structure of claim 4, wherein the second gear
has a hub to couple with an axle which is extended in the ice
making tray and coupled with an ice sweeping blade, the ice
sweeping blade being driven by the second gear to generate an ice
sweeping displacement.
6. The power control structure of claim 2, wherein the crank
element further has a third lever turnable about the axis portion
to generate a second eccentric displacement while the first lever
is moving to trigger the ON/OFF switch.
7. The power control structure of claim 6, wherein the third lever
has a pressing portion and an elastic ON/OFF reed corresponding to
the ON/OFF switch at a proximate location thereof, the third lever
further having a positioning boss at one end and coupling with a
retaining element, the control box having a detent lug
corresponding to the positioning boss, the retaining element
forcing the positioning boss returning to a regular position on the
detent lug.
8. The power control structure of claim 2, wherein the axis portion
is coupled with a return element to force the crank element to
return to a regular position.
9. The power control structure of claim 8, wherein the return
element is a spring to store and release an elastic force.
10. A power control structure for ice makers, comprising: an ice
maker which has an ice making tray and a control box to provide an
ice making process for the ice making tray, the control box having
a transmission means located inside that has a movement range which
has an ON/OFF switch located therein; and a retrievable ice
collection tray located below the ice making tray to store ice
cubes produced by the ice making tray after the ice making process
is finished; wherein the ice collection tray has an actuation wall,
the transmission means being coupled with an actuation arm extended
to a loading/unloading displacement of the actuation wall, the
actuation arm having a first contact portion and a second contact
portion, the actuation wall pushing the second contact portion
while the ice collection tray is in an unloading condition to drive
the transmission means to trigger the ON/OFF switch to suspend the
ice making process; the ice collection tray being reloadable to
allow the actuation wall to push the first contact to drive the
transmission means so that the ON/OFF switch is triggered again to
start the ice making process.
11. The power control structure of claim 10, wherein the
transmission means includes a transmission member, a crank element
driven by the transmission member and a driven member coupled on
the crank element; the crank element having an axis portion, a
first lever coupled with the transmission member and a second lever
coupled with the driven member, the first lever being driven by the
transmission member to turn about the axis portion so that the
second lever generates an eccentric displacement to drive the
driven member.
12. The power control structure of claim 11, wherein the actuation
arm is coupled on the driven member through a transmission shaft,
the driven member having an axis to couple with the transmission
shaft, the driven member and the second lever having respectively a
moving slot and a stub located in the moving slot, the transmission
shaft having another end fastened to an ice level detection
arm.
13. The power control structure of claim 11, wherein the
transmission member is coupled on a motor which has a first gear to
output driving power, the transmission member having a second gear
engaging with the first gear and an eccentric boss to drive the
first lever while the second gear is turning, the second gear
having a hub to couple with an axle which is extended in the ice
making tray and coupled with an ice sweeping blade, the ice
sweeping blade being driven by the second gear to generate an ice
sweeping displacement.
14. The power control structure of claim 11, wherein the crank
element further has a third lever turnable about the axis portion
to generate a second eccentric displacement while the first lever
is moving to trigger the ON/OFF switch.
15. The power control structure of claim 14, wherein the third
lever has a pressing portion and an elastic ON/OFF reed
corresponding to the ON/OFF switch at a proximate location
thereof.
16. The power control structure of claim 14, wherein the third
lever has a positioning boss at one end, the control box having a
detent lug corresponding to the positioning boss.
17. The power control structure of claim 16, wherein the third
lever is coupled with a retaining element to force the positioning
boss returning to a regular position on the detent lug.
18. The power control structure of claim 11, wherein the axis
portion is coupled with a return element to force the crank element
to return to a regular position.
19. The power control structure of claim 18, wherein the return
element is a spring to store and release an elastic force.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a power control structure
for ice makers and particularly to a power control structure to
automatically suspend or restart ice making process while an ice
collection tray is being unloaded or loaded.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Many refrigerators have an automatic ice making system built
inside. Refer to FIG. 1 for the general structure of a conventional
ice maker. It includes a control box to provide an ice making
process, an ice making tray, an ice sweeping element and a
retrievable ice collection tray located at a lower side of the ice
maker. There is an ice level detection means located above the ice
collection tray. After ice cubes have been produced in the ice
making tray, the control box orders the ice sweeping element to
move the ice cubes from the ice making tray to an ice trough to be
accumulated there. During the ice sweeping process the control box
suspends ice making process in the ice making tray. If the ice
cubes accumulated in the ice trough are saturated and reached a
lower detection limit of a linear detection means, the linear
detection means is pushed by the accumulated ice cubes and the ice
sweeping element is hindered and unable to continue the ice moving
process. Namely the ice maker remains at the ice sweeping step and
suspends the ice making process. As the ice cubes thaw after a
period of time and bond together to become a big and hard ice
chunk, the ice sweeping element, ice making tray or control box
could be damaged. If damage occurs, or the stored ice cubes are
overdue and have to be discarded, or the ice collection tray, ice
making tray and ice maker and the like have to be cleaned and put
to maintenance after used for a period of time, the ice collection
tray has to be unloaded. Before the unloading is made the ice
making process must be stopped (otherwise the ice maker will
continuously produce ice and no ice collection tray is available to
hold the dropping ice cubes). The refrigerator does not have to be
power off while the ice making process is suspended. The control
box of the conventional ice maker has an external switch control
button. Users have to extend their hands deeply inside the ice
collection tray to depress the switch control button to turn off
the power of the ice maker and unload the ice collection tray. Such
a design causes a great trouble to the users. The conventional
design has the following drawbacks:
[0003] 1. In the event that the ice level of the accumulated ice
cubes in the ice collection tray has passed over the switch control
button (especially when the linear detection means is in a
malfunctioned condition), users cannot securely touch the switch
control button. Moreover, before the power is turned off the ice
maker still maintains continuous operation. If users put their
hands inside the ice maker, a risky condition could happen, such as
inflicting electric shock, hands hurt by operating machine elements
or the like.
[0004] 2. The commonly adopted design of the linear detection means
has the detection upper limit located below the switch control
button. To ensure that the ice level of the accumulated ice cubes
does not affect other elements most ice makers have the detection
upper limit set at the height of the ice collection tray. Namely,
when the users unload the ice collection tray, aside from turning
off the switch control button, the detection means has to be moved
upwards in advance so that the ice collection tray can bypass the
detection means and removed. A similar situation also takes places
during loading the ice collection tray. However, most users often
neglect such procedures. They tend to directly shut down electric
power, or often unload or load the ice collection tray forcefully
and inadvertently hit the detection means and cause damage of the
detection means.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The primary object of the present invention is to solve the
aforesaid disadvantages. The present invention provides a power
control structure that has an actuation arm coupling with
loading/unloading process of an ice collection tray to replace the
conventional external switch control button. An existing ON/OFF
switch is used to suspend or restart ice making process of an ice
maker while the ice collection tray is unloaded or loaded. Hence
users do not have to put their hands into the ice maker and safety
improves.
[0006] To achieve the foregoing object the ice maker according to
the invention includes an ice making tray and a control box to
provide an ice making process for the ice making tray. The control
box has a transmission means located inside and an ON/OFF switch
located within a movement range of the transmission means. The ice
collection tray is retrievable and has an actuation wall. The
transmission means has an actuation arm extended in a
loading/unloading displacement of the actuation wall. When the ice
collection tray is in an unloading condition the actuation wall
pushes the actuation arm to drive the transmission means to trigger
the ON/OFF switch to suspend the ice making process of the ice
maker. When the ice collection tray is reloaded, the actuation wall
pushes the actuation arm again to drive the transmission means to
trigger the ON/OFF switch the second time to start the ice making
process of the ice maker.
[0007] Another object of the invention is to extend the design and
application of the existing transmission means that drives an ice
moving blade and a detection means over the ice making tray. In
addition, by adopting a single ON/OFF switch electronic signal
errors can be prevented.
[0008] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and
advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the
following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional ice maker in an
ice making condition.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the invention.
[0012] FIGS. 4A through 4D are schematic views of an embodiment of
the invention showing loading and unloading conditions of an ice
collection tray.
[0013] FIGS. 5A through 5F are schematic views of another
embodiment of the invention showing loading and unloading
conditions of an ice collection tray.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0014] Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3 for the power control
structure for an ice maker of the invention. The ice maker has an
ice making tray 40 to freeze water to become ice cubes 70 and an
ice sweeping blade 41 above the ice making tray 40 to move the ice
cubes 70 out of the ice making tray 40. There is a control box 10
at one side of the ice making tray 40 to control transmission of
the elements of the ice maker. There is also a retrievable ice
collection tray 50 located below the ice making tray 40 to store
the ice cubes 70. The ice collection tray 50 and the ice making
tray 40 are interposed by an ice level detection arm 31. The
control box 10 has a transmission means 20 located inside. The
transmission means 20 has a movement range within which an ON/OFF
switch 60 is located. The ice collection tray 50 has an actuation
wall 51. The transmission means 20 has an actuation arm 30 extended
in a loading/unloading displacement of the actuation wall 51. When
the ice collection tray 50 is in an unloading condition the
actuation wall 51 pushes the actuation arm 30 to drive the
transmission means 20 to trigger the ON/OFF switch 60 to suspend an
ice making process. When the ice collection tray 50 is reloaded the
actuation wall 51 pushes the actuation arm 30 again to drive the
transmission means 20 to trigger the ON/OFF switch 60 the second
time to start the ice making process of the ice maker.
[0015] An embodiment of the invention adopts an extended design of
the existing transmission means 20 located in the control box 10
that transmits the ice sweeping blade 41 to generate an ice
sweeping displacement and the ice level detection arm 31 to
generate an ice level detection displacement and the ON/OFF switch
60. The transmission means 20 includes a transmission member 21
coupled to a motor 11, a crank element 22 driven by the
transmission member 21 and a driven member 23 coupled to the crank
element 22. The crank element 22 has an axis portion 224, a first
lever 221 coupling with the transmission member 21 and a second
lever 222 coupling with the driven member 23. The first lever 221
is driven by the transmission member 21 to turn about the axis
portion 224 so that the second lever 222 is moved along an
eccentric displacement to drive the driven member 23. The actuation
arm 30 is coupled on the driven member 23 through a transmission
shaft 32. The transmission shaft 32 has another end fastened to the
ice level detection arm 31. The driven member 23 has an axis 231
coupled with the transmission shaft 32. The driven member 23 and
the second lever 222 have respectively a moving slot 232 and a stub
2221 located in the moving slot 232. The stub 2221 is driven by the
aforesaid elements and moved in the moving slot 232 to drive the
transmission shaft 32 to make the ice level detection arm 31 to
generate a detection displacement. The motor 11 has a first gear
111 to output driving power. The transmission member 21 has a
second gear 211 to engage with the first gear 111 and an eccentric
boss 213 to drive the first lever 221 while the second gear 211 is
turning. The second gear 211 has a hub 212 to couple with an axle
42. The axle 42 is extended to the ice making tray 40 and fastened
to the ice sweeping blade 41. The second gear 211 drives the ice
moving blade 41 to generate an ice sweeping displacement. The crank
element 22 also has a third lever 223 turning about the axis
portion 224 to generate a second eccentric displacement while the
first lever 221 is moving to trigger the ON/OFF switch 60. The
third lever 223 further has a pressing portion 2231 corresponding
to the ON/OFF switch 60 at a proximate location thereof and an
elastic ON/OFF reed 61 (or a button of the ON/OFF switch 60). When
the ice moving displacement and detection displacement are started
the pressing portion 2231 of the third lever 223 is moved away from
the depressing condition of the elastic ON/OFF reed 61 so that the
ON/OFF switch 60 is triggered to suspend the ice making process of
the ice maker.
[0016] Refer to FIGS. 4A through 4D for operating conditions of
loading and unloading the ice collection tray 50. When the ice
collection tray 50 is unloaded, the actuation wall 51 (preferably a
rear wall of the ice collection tray 50) drives the actuation arm
30 located in the loading/unloading displacement. Meanwhile, aside
from triggering the ON/OFF switch 60 by the crank element 22 to
suspend the ice making process, the ice moving displacement may
also be actuated to remove the remained ice cubes 70 in the ice
making tray 40 to the ice collection tray 50. To simplify the
design of the ON/OFF switch 60, one that accepts a simple ON/OFF
command may be adopted. The third lever 223 also has a positioning
boss 2233 at one end and the control box 10 has a detent lug 12
corresponding to the positioning boss 2233. The detent lug 12 has a
slant guiding surface 121 at one end. When the actuation arm 30 is
pushed by the ice collection tray 50 to drive the third lever 223
of the crank element 22 to generate the second eccentric
displacement, the positioning boss 2233 is moved downwards along
the guiding surface 121 to escape the detent lug 12. The detent lug
12 has an elevation difference to latch the positioning boss 2233
to keep the third lever 223 and the ON/OFF switch 60 in a separated
condition. It is to be noted that in the invention the ice level
detection arm 31 and the actuation arm 30 are coupled on the same
transmission shaft 32. The bottom edge of the ice level detection
arm 31 may be set higher than the bottom edge of the actuation arm
30 so that when users unload the ice collection tray 50 and the
actuation wall 51 hits the actuation arm 30, the ice collection
tray 50 does not hit the ice level detection arm 31 during
unloading of the ice collection tray 50. Thus damage of the ice
level detection arm 31 caused by improper unloading of the ice
collection tray 50 can be reduced.
[0017] When the ice collection tray 50 is reloaded, the actuation
wall 51 first moves the actuation arm 30 which drives the third
lever 223 to move along the guiding surface 121 to release the
latch condition of the detent lug 12 and the positioning boss 2233.
The third lever 223 depresses the ON/OFF switch 60 to restart the
ice making process. The axis portion 224 or any lever (the axis
portion 224 is taken as an example in the embodiment) may also be
coupled with a return element 2241 (such as a spring to store and
release an elastic force) to force the crank element 22 to return
to a regular position. To ensure that the positioning boss 2233
returns to the position above the detent lug 12 any lever (the
third lever 223 is taken as an example) of the crank element 22 is
coupled with a retaining element 2232 (such as a spring to store
and release an elastic force) to force the third lever 223 to
return the a regular position. By means of the invention the ice
maker does not have to add an external switch control button. And
users do not have to put their hands into the ice maker to do
operation. Loading and unloading of the ice collection tray 50 also
are safer and more convenient.
[0018] Refer to FIGS. 5A through 5F for loading and unloading
conditions of the ice collection tray 50 of another embodiment. In
this embodiment the actuation arm 30 is divided into a first
contact portion 301 and a second contact portion 302 according to
different designed angles of various elements of the transmission
means 20. When the ice collection tray 50 is loaded, the bottom
edge of the second contact portion 302 is lower than the actuation
wall 51, and the bottom edge of the first contact portion 301 is
higher than the actuation wall 51. Hence, as shown in FIG. 51B,
when the ice collection tray 50 is unloaded the actuation wall 51
pushes the second contact portion 302 to drive the transmission
means 20 to trigger the ON/OFF switch 60 to suspend the ice making
process of the ice maker. Meanwhile, the first contact portion 301
is driven and moved to an elevation lower that the height of the
actuation wall 51 (referring to FIG. 5C). When the ice collection
tray 50 is reloaded, the actuation wall 51 pushes the first contact
portion 301 of the actuation arm 30 again to drive the transmission
means 20 to trigger the ON/OFF switch 60 the second time to start
the ice making process, and the second contact portion 302 returns
to its original position (referring to FIG. 5F).
[0019] While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been
set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the
disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments
thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the
appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *