IP Library Granted Patent US 11,378,320
Granted Patent B2
US 11,378,320 · App. 16/589,149 · Granted Jul 5, 2022

Ice maker

Inventors: Shunji Saito (Nagano, JP); Katsuhiko Hayashi (Nagano, JP)
Assignee: NIDEC SANKYO CORPORATION
F25C1/10F25C5/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,378,320
App. No.
16/589,149
Granted
Jul 5, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

To provide an ice maker capable of suppressing damage to a frame. In an ice maker, an ice making tray, and a driving unit structured to cause the ice making tray to perform a flip operation and a twist operation are supported by a frame. With the frame, in an inner wall of a first side plate unit, there are provided a first inner wall portion extending in a first direction along the driving unit, and a second inner wall portion extending in the first direction along the ice making tray on the other side in a second direction with respect to the first inner wall portion, and in a step unit connecting the first inner wall portion and the second inner wall portion, there is provided a cutout serving as a through unit for passing a wire connected to the driving unit.

Claims (24)

1. An ice maker comprising:

an ice making tray including a water storage concave unit arranged to face upward;

a driving unit arranged on one side of a first direction and the first direction being along a longitudinal axis of the ice making tray, and the driving unit being structured to cause the ice making tray to perform a flip operation and a twist operation around the longitudinal axis, wherein the driving unit comprises a casing;

a frame structured to support the ice making tray and the driving unit; and

a wire passing through a through unit of the frame from the driving unit and drawn out of the frame,

wherein the frame includes a first wall unit configured on the one side of the first direction, a second wall unit configured on an opposite side of the first direction and opposite to the first wall unit, a first side plate unit extending in the first direction on one side of a second direction and including an inner wall facing the ice making tray and the driving unit, wherein the second direction intersects the first direction and the first and second directions extend on a same plane, and an up-down direction intersects the plane, and a second side plate unit extending in the first direction is located on an opposite side of the second direction and opposite to the first side plate unit,

the inner wall includes a first inner wall portion extending in the first direction along the driving unit, a second inner wall portion extending in the first direction along the ice making tray and being located closer to the opposite side of the second direction with respect to the first inner wall portion, and a step unit extending in a direction intersecting the first direction to connect the first inner wall portion and the second inner wall portion, and

the through unit is provided in the step unit.

2. The ice maker according to claim 1 , wherein the step unit is located on the one side in the second direction at a coupling position where the driving unit and the ice making tray are coupled to each other.

3. The ice maker according to claim 1 , wherein

the first side plate unit includes an outer wall,

the outer wall includes a plurality of reinforcing ribs protruding toward the one side in the second direction,

the through unit is provided in a gap between the reinforcing ribs, and

tip end faces of the plurality of reinforcing ribs are located on a same plane, and the tip end faces are an attachment flat surface structured to abut against a support structured to support the ice maker.

4. The ice maker according to claim 1 , wherein

the driving unit flips the ice making tray from a water storage position where the water storage concave unit faces upward to an ice removal position where the water storage concave unit faces downward, and vice versa, and

the ice removal position is a position such that an opening direction of the water storage concave unit faces a side opposite to which the first side plate unit is located.

5. The ice maker according to claim 4 , wherein

the ice making tray is made of a flexible material, and

the frame includes an abutment unit structured to abut against the ice making tray from the side on which the first side plate unit is located when the ice making tray is flipped around the axis to reach the ice removal position from the water storage position and to prevent rotation of the ice making tray.

6. The ice maker according to claim 1 , wherein

an ice detecting lever supported to be movable in the up-down direction is arranged between the second side plate unit and the ice making tray.

7. The ice maker according to claim 1 , wherein

the through unit is a cutout provided at a lower end or an upper end of the first side plate unit.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 3, 2019
From: SAITO, SHUNJI; HAYASHI, KATSUHIKO
To: NIDEC SANKYO CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 050622/0744 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP JP2018-187428 · Oct 2, 2018 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200103156A1 · Apr 2, 2020