Patent Publication Number: US-7910844-B2

Title: Leaf switch and ice making device using leaf switch

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Application No. 2006-236882 filed Aug. 31, 2006, Japanese Application No. 2006-236888 filed Aug. 31, 2006, Japanese Application No. 2006-236901 filed Aug. 31, 2006, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the present invention may relate to a leaf switch in which a leaf contact piece is extended toward a cam body. Further, an embodiment of the present invention may relate to an ice making device which includes a water-supply switch for controlling water supply from a water-supply part to an ice tray. Further, an embodiment of the present invention may relate to an ice making device which includes an ice detecting lever for detecting ice amount in an ice storage part. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In a leaf switch, a leaf contact piece which is extended toward a cam body is displaced by a cam part of the cam body to perform “ON” and “OFF” operation. In order to perform various switching operations by using the leaf switch, it is conceivable that a plurality of cam parts are formed in one piece of cam body in a multistage shape in a height direction which is perpendicular to its moving direction, and tip end sides of a plurality of leaf contact pieces which are linearly extended toward respective cam parts are abutted with the respective cam parts. 
     Further, an ice making device has adopted a structure in which a raking member is rotationally driven by a drive unit to discharge ice pieces from an ice tray. In this case, when an ice adhering force between the ice tray and ice pieces is large, ice pieces cannot be discharged. Therefore, an ice making unit provided with a heater at the vicinity of the ice tray has been adopted (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-143808). 
     Further, a detecting method for detecting ice amount in an ice storage part structured in an ice making device has been commonly known in which an ice detecting lever is driven in an approaching direction to the ice storage part to detect whether the ice detecting lever is disturbed by ice pieces in the ice storage part or not by using a lever position detecting mechanism. In order to structure the lever position detecting mechanism as described above, an operation of the ice detecting lever is required to be transmitted to a switch through a cam mechanism to detect a position of the ice detecting lever on the basis of “ON” and “OFF” operation of the switch. In this case, a cam face of the cam mechanism at a position corresponding to a timing when the switch performs the “ON” and “OFF” operation is formed in a slant face and thus a contact of the switch is gradually moved closer and moved away. 
     When a plurality of leaf contact pieces is linearly extended toward a plurality of cam parts formed in a multistage, height positions of the leaf contact pieces are different form each other and thus a structure of a contact piece holding part for holding the base end side of the leaf contact pieces becomes complicated. For example, in a case that a structure is to be adopted in which the contact piece holding part is formed with contact piece holding grooves and the leaf contact pieces are held in a state that the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces are inserted into the contact piece holding grooves, a plurality of contact piece holding grooves whose bottom parts are formed at different height positions is required. Further, when the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces which are inserted into the contact piece holding grooves are pressed in a height direction to be held, a pressure member in a complicated shape is required. Therefore, a lot of labor is required in assembling work of the leaf switch and a high degree of positional accuracy is difficult to be obtained for the leaf contact pieces. 
     In the above-mentioned ice making device, when a water-supply part is structured to the ice tray and a micro switch for controlling a water-supply time period from the water-supply part to the ice tray is provided, water supply can be also performed automatically. In addition, if a water-supply time period can be adjusted, amount of water supplied to the ice tray is adjusted. Therefore, size of ice can be changed arbitrarily. However, in order to adjust a timing of a micro switch which is turned on and off, mounting position of the micro switch is required to be changed and thus adjustment of water supply time period (amount of water supply) is not performed easily. 
     On the other hand, when a leaf switch is turned on and off by a cam face, a contact of the leaf switch gradually comes close or moves apart. Therefore, an unstable region is occurred which is not clearly distinguished between a state that contacts have come into contact with each other and a state that the contacts have moved apart from each other and thus various electric malfunctions may occur. Accordingly, when a leaf switch is used as a switch which is operated by a cam mechanism, electric malfunctions may be easily occurred. On the contrary, a micro switch is capable of turning immediate “ON” and “OFF”. However, a micro switch is expensive and largely affected by mounting error and operational position error and thus ice amount cannot be detected with a high degree of accuracy. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the problems as described above, the present invention may provide a leaf switch which is capable of functioning and being mounted with a high degree of positional accuracy and that is easier to assemble. 
     Further, the present invention may provide an ice making device which is capable of easily adjusting a water-supply amount from a water-supply part to an ice tray. 
     Further, the present invention may provide an ice making device which is capable of preventing an unstable region from occurring which is not clearly distinguished between a state that contacts are contacted with each other and a state that the contacts are apart from each other even when a leaf switch is used for positional detection of an ice detecting lever. 
     Thus, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, there may be provided a leaf switch including a cam body which is formed with a plurality of cam parts in a multistage shape in a height direction perpendicular to a moving direction of the cam body, and a plurality of leaf contact pieces which are extended toward the cam body and whose tip end sides of the plurality of leaf contact pieces are respectively abutted with the plurality of cam parts. In the leaf switch, base end sides of the plurality of leaf contact pieces are held at the same height position. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of leaf contact pieces are extended toward the plurality of cam parts in a multistage shape of the cam body and are abutted with the plurality of cam parts. In addition, base end sides of the plurality of leaf contact pieces are held at the same height position. Therefore, the structure of a contact piece holding part for holding the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces can be simplified. Further, when a structure is to be adopted in which contact piece holding grooves are formed in a contact piece holding part and the leaf contact pieces are held in a state that their base end sides are inserted into the contact piece holding grooves, the contact piece holding grooves may be formed to have the same depth. Further, when the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces which are inserted into the contact piece holding grooves are to be held by being pressed in a height direction, the leaf contact pieces can be pressed with a flat plate and a pressure member in a complicated shape is not required. Therefore, assembling work of the leaf switch can be effectively performed and the leaf contact pieces can be disposed with a high degree of positional accuracy. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of leaf contact pieces include a leaf contact piece whose extending direction is bent at a middle position from its base end side to its tip end side. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the base end sides of the plurality of leaf contact pieces are formed in a strip shape and edges of the base end sides in a height direction facing each other are extended in parallel to each other. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of leaf contact pieces are held in a state that respective base end sides are respectively inserted into a plurality of contact piece holding grooves having a same depth. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the cam body and the plurality of leaf contact pieces are accommodated within a case body which is structured of a plurality of members superposed on each other in a height direction, and the base end sides of the plurality of leaf contact pieces are pressed in the height direction when the plurality of members of the case body is superposed on each other in the height direction. 
     In this case, it is preferable that a rigid circuit board, with which each of the plurality of the leaf contact pieces is electrically connected, is disposed to superpose on the base end sides of the plurality of the leaf contact pieces, and the base end sides of the plurality of leaf contact pieces are pressed in the height direction through the circuit board when the plurality of members of the case body is superposed on each other in the height direction. According to the structure as described above, the circuit board may directly contact with the leaf contact pieces and the circuit board is originally provided with a sufficient withstand voltage. Therefore, a separate pressure member having a high withstand voltage is not required. 
     Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there may be provided an ice making device including an ice tray, a water-supply part for supplying water to the ice tray, a water supply switch for controlling water supply from the water-supply part to the ice tray which is a leaf switch comprising a pair of leaf contact pieces and at least one of the pair of leaf contact pieces is driven by a cam member; and a water supply amount adjust mechanism which includes an operation member that causes at least one of the pair of leaf contact pieces to deform to adjust a timing when the water supply switch is turned on or off. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a leaf switch is used as a water supply switch. Therefore, even when the position of the entire leaf contact pieces is not changed, timings of turning on and off can be adjusted only by deforming the leaf contact piece. Accordingly, supply amount of water from the water-supply part to the ice tray can be adjusted easily. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, one of the pair of leaf contact pieces is capable of being deformed by the water supply amount adjust mechanism and the other of the pair of leaf contact pieces is driven by the cam member, and a spaced distance of the pair of leaf contact pieces is adjusted by deforming the one of the pair of leaf contact pieces by the water supply amount adjust mechanism. According to the structure as described above, even when water-supply amount from the water-supply part to the ice tray is adjusted, a timing of the other of the leaf contact pieces which is driven by the cam member does not change and thus the water supply switch is surely operated. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a tip end side of the one of the pair of leaf contact pieces is deformed by the water supply amount adjust mechanism under a state that a base end side of the one of the pair of leaf contact pieces is fixed. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the water supply switch is disposed within an inside of the case body, and the operation part of the operation member is disposed at an outside of the case body. According to the structure as described above, water-supply amount can be adjusted from outside even when the case body is not disassembled. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a click mechanism for holding the operation member at an operated position is provided. According to the structure as described above, the operation member can be held at an operated position by the click mechanism and operating feeling can be enhanced. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the operation member includes a pinion member which is turnable around an axial line by an external operation, and a transmitting member having a teeth part which is capable of engaging with the pinion member. The transmitting member transmits the external operation for the pinion member to the leaf contact piece to deform the leaf contact piece. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a lock mechanism is provided for preventing the operation member from displacing during a period except when the external operation is performed. According to the structure as described above, the operation member is not mistakenly operated. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the lock mechanism permits turning of the pinion member when an external force is applied to displace the pinion member to one side in an axial line direction, and the lock mechanism prevents turning of the pinion member when the external force is released to displace the pinion member to the other side in the axial line direction. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the pinion member to which the external force is applied is structured as a movable part which is capable of being displaced to the one side in the axial line direction, and when the movable part is displaced to the one side in the axial line direction by an external pressing operation, engagement of the pinion member is released and, in this state, when an external turning operation is applied to the movable part, the entire pinion member is turned around the axial line and, when application of the external force to the movable part is released and the movable part is displaced to the other side in the axial line direction, the pinion member is locked. According to the structure as described above, the lock mechanism can be structured with a reduced number of parts. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the water supply switch and the operation member are disposed in an inside of the case body. According to the structure as described above, since the operation member is not protruded outside from the case body, the size of the ice making device can be reduced. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a contact piece holding part is formed in a member structuring the case body and the pair of leaf contact pieces are held by the contact piece holding part. 
     Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there may be provided an ice making device including an ice storage part, an ice detecting lever which is driven in directions moving close to and moving apart from the ice storage part, and a lever position detecting mechanism which detects ice amount in the ice storage part by detecting a position of the ice detecting lever. The lever position detecting mechanism includes a driving member which is connected with the ice detecting lever, a driven member which is driven by the driving member with a play, a transmitting member whose positions are changed by a cam face of the driven member, and a leaf switch including a leaf contact piece which is pressed by the transmitting member to be elastically deformed. When the driving member is moved in one direction, an abutting portion of the transmitting member to the driven member is changed from a low portion to a high portion through a slant face portion of the cam face to cause the transmitting member to elastically deform the leaf contact piece and, in a case that the driving member is moved to the other direction, when the transmitting member is urged by the leaf contact piece to be displaced, the transmitting member presses the slant face portion to cause the leaf switch to perform a switching operation at a timing earlier than that of the driven member which is driven by the driving member. 
     In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the driven member is driven with a play by the driving member. Therefore, after the driving member has moved in one direction, when the driving member is moved in the other direction, the driven member is not immediately driven. Instead, the leaf contact piece applies an urging force which is going to restore from an elastically deformed state to the transmitting member. Therefore, even before the driven member is driven by the driving member, the transmitting member presses the slant face portion formed on the driven member to displace the driven member. Accordingly, even before the driven member is driven by the driving member, the leaf contact piece can be restored from the elastically deformed state and thus a switching operation of the leaf switch is immediately performed. As a result, even when an operation is transmitted to the leaf switch through the cam mechanism, an unstable region does not occur which is not clearly distinguished between a state that contacts of the leaf switch are contacted with each other and a state that the contacts are apart from each other and thus electric malfunctions do not occur. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a position of the ice detecting lever where the transmitting member is abutted with the slant face portion of the cam face is set in a position for determining whether or not ice amount in the ice storage part is in a full state or in a shortage state. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the driving member is driven and turned by a drive source, and a transmission part for transmitting movement of the driving member to the driven member is formed between the driving member and the driven member with a prescribed space therebetween so as to have a play in a circumferential direction. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the driving member is provided with a rotation shaft, and the driven member is a driven ring which surrounds around the rotation shaft of the driving member, and the transmission part is structured of a projection, which is formed on an outer peripheral face of the rotation shaft, and a recessed part in the driven ring which is formed on an inner circumferential edge of a hole of the driven ring into which the rotation shaft is inserted, and the projection is located on an inner side of the recessed part of the driven ring. 
     Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate, by way of example, various features of embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary, not limiting, and wherein like elements are numbered alike in several Figures, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an ice making device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2(A)  is a perspective view showing a raking member,  FIG. 2(B)  is a perspective view showing an ice tray, and  FIG. 2(C)  is a perspective view showing a guide member, which are used in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3(A)  is a front view showing the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3(B)  is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the raking member in the ice making device is located at a home position, and  FIG. 3(C)  is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the raking member has turned from the home position. 
         FIGS. 4(A) through 4(D)  are explanatory circuit diagrams showing a schematic electrical structure of a drive unit of the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 5(A) through 5(D)  are explanatory circuit diagrams showing the schematic electrical structure of the drive unit of the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a timing chart showing an operation of the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is an explanatory view showing an inner case which is used in the drive unit and structural members disposed within the inner case in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8(A)  is a side view showing a rotary cam body which is used in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 8(B)  is an explanatory perspective view showing three leaf contact pieces which structure a main switch. 
         FIG. 9(A)  is a plan view showing a torque limiter which is provided in the ice making device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and  FIG. 9(B)  is its exploded perspective view. 
         FIG. 10  is an explanatory view showing a base plate used in the drive unit and structural members which are disposed on an outer case side of the base plate in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 11(A) through 11(F)  are explanatory views showing operations of the drive unit structured in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 12  is an explanatory view showing an outer case used in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1  which is viewed from an outer side. 
         FIG. 13(A)  is an explanatory view showing an ice making device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention which is viewed from a case body side and  FIG. 13(B)  is an explanatory view showing the ice making device in which an outer case is detached. 
         FIG. 14(A)  is an explanatory view showing a water supply amount adjust mechanism which is structured in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 13(B)  in a state that an external operation is not performed.  FIG. 14(B)  is an explanatory view showing the water supply amount adjust mechanism when an external operation is performed. 
         FIG. 15(A)  is an explanatory perspective view showing a support structure of a pinion member of an operation; member which is used in the water supply amount adjust mechanism structured in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 13(B) .  FIG. 15(B)  is a perspective view showing the pinion member which is viewed from an obliquely lower side. 
         FIG. 16(A)  is a plan view showing a pinion member of an operation member used in a water supply amount adjust mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 16(B)  is its side view and  FIG. 16(C)  is its cross-sectional view. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     An ice making device to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an ice making device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2(A)  is a perspective view showing a raking member,  FIG. 2(B)  is a perspective view showing an ice tray, and  FIG. 2(C)  is a perspective view showing a guide member, which are used in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3(A)  is a front view showing the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3(B)  is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the raking member in the ice making device is located at a home position, and  FIG. 3(C)  is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the raking member has turned from the home position. 
     In  FIG. 1 ,  FIGS. 2(A) through 2(C)  and  FIGS. 3(A) through 3(C) , an ice making device  1  in accordance with an embodiment is a device in which ice pieces are successively manufactured within a refrigerator or a freezer and manufactured ice pieces are automatically discharged to an ice storage part  1   a  which is disposed on a lower side. The ice making device  1  includes an ice making unit  2  for manufacturing ice pieces and a drive unit  3  (drive control part) for controlling a raking operation and the like of the ice pieces. An ice detecting lever  60  formed in a roughly L-shape is extended toward the lower ice storage part  1   a  from the drive unit  3 . The ice making unit  2  includes an ice tray  21 , a water-supply part  22  disposed on a side (rear side) of the ice tray  21  for supplying the ice tray  21  with water, a raking member  23  for raking out the ice pieces manufactured in the ice tray  21 , a guide member  24  for guiding the ice pieces which has been raked out by the raking member  23  to the ice storage part  1   a  located downward of the ice tray  21 , and an end plate  25  structuring a right side face of the ice tray  21 . 
     The ice tray  21  is made of aluminum on which surface treatment such as coating or alumite treatment is performed. A plurality of ice making grooves  215  (recessed part for ice making) is dividedly formed on an upper face of the ice tray  21  by partition plates  218 . Water supplied from the water-supply part  22  is respectively stored in the plurality of ice making grooves  215  to be frozen. A heater  26  for heating a bottom face of the ice tray  21  when the ice pieces are to be discharged from the ice tray  21  is disposed on a bottom face of the ice tray  21 . The heater  26  is integrated with the ice tray  21  by caulking or the like. Two terminal parts  262  made of rubber for the heater  26  are protruded from a left side face part of the ice tray  21  and a terminal  261  is protruded from a tip end face of the respective two terminal parts  262 . A temperature detecting part  219  is formed in an area between the two terminal parts  262  of the ice tray  21  and a thermostat is abutted with the temperature detecting part  219  to monitor temperature of the ice tray  21 . 
     The water-supply part  22  is disposed on an opposite side (rear side) to the side where the ice pieces are discharged (front side) with respect to the ice tray  21  and is provided with a water-supply port  221  which opens in a rear wall of the ice tray  21 . Water is supplied from a hose  228  to the water-supply part  22  and a water-supply valve  220  is provided at a midway position of the hose as schematically shown in  FIG. 3(B) . 
     The raking member  23  is provided with a rotation shaft  231  which is laterally extended at an upper position of the ice tray  21  and a plurality of raking parts  232  which are protruded from the rotation shaft  231  in a claw-like shape in the same direction. The respective raking parts  232  are provided so as to correspond to the respective ice making grooves  215 . A right side end part of the rotation shaft  231  is rotatably supported by a cutout part  211  which is formed at an edge part of a right side face part  217  of the ice tray  21  and is rotatably supported by a shaft hole  251  formed in the end plate  25 . Further, a flange part  239  formed at the right side end part of the rotation shaft  231  is abutted with an inner side face of the end plate  25  and thus movement of the rotation shaft  231  toward the right side is restricted. On the other hand, the other end of the rotation shaft  231  is formed in a D-cut (D-shaped) portion  230  and, as shown in  FIG. 3(A) , the D-cut portion  230  is connected with a rotary cam body  55  (cam body) disposed within the drive unit  3 . 
     In accordance with an embodiment, a position of the raking part  232  shown in  FIG. 3(B)  is set to be a home position. In the home position, the raking parts  232  are set in a state that the raking parts  232  are inclined on an opposite side to the water-supply port  221  with respect to the rotation shaft  231 . From this state, the rotation shaft  231  is turned in a direction shown by the arrow “A” to reach to a position shown in  FIG. 3(C) . During this movement, the raking parts  232  cause ice pieces in the ice making grooves  215  to move up from the ice tray  21 . The ice pieces moved up from the ice tray  21  by the raking parts  232  slide on the raking parts  232  and an upper face of the guide member  24  to fall to the ice storage part  1   a  from a front side of the ice tray  21 . In this case, the ice pieces moved up from the ice tray  21  may not fall to the ice storage part  1   a  by only the raking parts  232  which have reached to the state shown in  FIG. 3(C)  from the state shown in  FIG. 3(B) . However, the ice pieces in the ice tray  21  has completely fallen to the ice storage part  1   a  before the raking parts  232  are returned to the home position shown in  FIG. 3(B) . 
       FIGS. 4(A) through 4(D)  and  FIGS. 5(A) through 5(D)  are explanatory circuit diagrams showing a schematic electrical structure of a drive unit of the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 6  is a timing chart showing an operation of the ice making device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     A mechanical structure of a drive unit  3  of the ice making device  1  in accordance with an embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to  FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 8(A)  and the like. The drive unit  3  of the ice making device  1  in this embodiment includes, as shown in  FIG. 4(A) , a thermostat  91  for monitoring temperature of the ice tray  21 , a motor  5  for driving the rotation shaft  231 , a main switch  72  for performing open/close operation in conjunction with rotational operation of a rotary cam body  55  shown in  FIG. 3(A) , a water-supply switch  73  for controlling the water-supply valve  220  in conjunction with the rotational operation of the rotary cam body  55 , an ice detecting switch  71  for monitoring whether the ice storage part  1   a  is in a shortage state or in a full state of ice pieces, and a fuse  1   g . Further, the ice making device  1  is provided with a transmission mechanism for transmitting a rotary output of the motor  5  to the rotary cam body  55 , a torque limiter disposed at a midway position of the transmission mechanism and the like as described below. 
     Next, a basic operation of the ice making device  1  will be described below based on the chart shown in  FIG. 6 . First, after water has been supplied to the ice tray  21  from the water-supply port  221 , an ice making operation is started in the ice tray  21 . During this time, power supply to the motor  5  and the heater  26  is stopped and the raking parts  232  are stopped at the home position where the raking parts  232  are inclined on an opposite side to the water-supply port  221  as shown in  FIG. 3(B) . In this state, as shown in  FIG. 4(A) , the main switch  72  is in a first state where the thermostat  91  and the water-supply switch  73  are in an “OFF” state. In addition, the ice detecting switch  71  is located at a position showing an ice shortage state (first state). 
     After that, at the time of “T 0 ”, when a monitoring result of the thermostat  91  for the ice tray  21  indicates that a temperature of the ice tray  21  has become equal to a predetermined temperature or lower, as shown in  FIG. 4(B) , the thermostat  91  is turned to be in an “ON” state and energization to the motor  5  and the heater  26  is started. As a result, the rotary cam body  55  is turned and thus the raking member  23  is started to turn in a direction shown by the arrow “A” in  FIG. 3(B)  and the heater  26  starts to warm the ice tray  21 . 
     Next, at the time of “T 1 ”, the main switch  72  is switched to a second state as shown in  FIG. 4(C) . However, even when the main switch  72  is switched to the second state, the energization to the motor  5  and the heater  26  is continued. Therefore, the raking member  23  is driven by the motor  5  and tip end portions of the raking parts  232  are abutted with upper faces of ice pieces manufactured in the ice tray  21 . However, at this time, the temperature of the ice tray  21  may be low and thus an ice adhering force of the ice piece in the ice tray  21  is large. Therefore, turning of the raking member  23  is prevented by the ice pieces in the ice tray  21  and the tip end portions of the raking parts  232  are stopped in a state where that the tip end portions of the raking parts  232  are abutted with the upper faces of the ice pieces in the ice tray  21 . In accordance with an embodiment, a torque limiter is disposed at a midway position of a power transmission route from the motor  5  to the raking member  23 . Therefore, the motor  5  is capable of continuing to rotate while turning of the raking member  23  is stopped, and thus a torque limited by the torque limiter  8  continues to act on the ice pieces. 
     When the ice pieces have been separated from the ice tray  21  by applying heat with the heater  26 , the raking member  23  connected with the rotary cam body  55  starts to turn in a direction where the ice pieces are raked out and then an ice detecting operation is performed. At the time of “T 2 ”, a tip end portion of the ice detecting lever  60  firstly moves upward from the ice storage part  1   a . As a result, as shown in  FIG. 4(D) , the ice detecting switch  71  is temporarily switched from the first state to the second state. At approximately same time, discharge of the ice pieces is started and, after all of the ice pieces have fallen into the ice storage part  1   a , at a time of “T 3 ”, the tip end portion of the ice detecting lever  60  moves down toward the ice storage part  1   a  again. At this time, when the ice storage part  1   a  is in an ice shortage state, the tip end portion of the ice detecting lever  60  is capable of being moved downward and thus, as shown in  FIG. 4(C) , the ice detecting switch  71  is returned to the first state from the second state. 
     Next, at the time of “T 4 ”, when a temperature of the ice tray  21  exceeds a predetermined temperature, a monitoring result of the thermostat  91  for the ice tray  21  is, as shown in  FIG. 5(A) , changed to an “OFF” state and energization to the heater  26  is stopped. However, energization to the motor  5  is continued. 
     Next, at the time of “T 5 ”, as shown in  FIG. 5(B) , when the water-supply switch  73  is changed to an “ON” state, the water-supply valve  220  is changed to an open state to supply water to the ice tray  21  through the water-supply port  221 . In this case, since a resistance value of the heater  26  is small, the heater  26  is utilized as a part of electric wiring when the water-supply valve  220  is energized. At this time, the raking parts  232  have already passed near and an upper side of the water-supply port  221  and are located on a side in an inclined state which is opposite to the side where the water-supply port  221  is disposed. 
     Next, at the time of “T 6 ”, as shown in  FIG. 5(C) , since the water-supply switch  73  is changed to an “OFF” state; the water-supply valve  220  is changed to a closed state and water-supply to the ice tray  21  through the water-supply port  221  is stopped. Next, at the time of “T 7 ”, power supply to the motor  5  is stopped and the raking parts  232  are stopped at the home position where the raking parts  232  are inclined on the opposite side to the water-supply port  221 . In the meantime, the main switch  72  is returned to the first state as shown in  FIG. 4(A) . After that, manufacturing of ice pieces is performed in the ice tray  21  again and then the above-mentioned operation is repeated. 
     In the embodiment described above, after the tip end portion of the ice detecting lever  60  has been moved upward from the ice storage part  1   a  at the time of “T 2 ” and then, its tip end portion is going to move downward to the ice storage part  1   a  again at the time of “T 3 ”. In this case, when the ice storage part  1   a  is in an ice full state, the tip end portion of the ice detecting lever  60  cannot move downward and thus the ice detecting switch  71  remains to be in the second state as shown in  FIG. 4(D) . However, also in this state, energization to the heater  26  and the motor  5  is continued and thus operation for returning to the home position is performed. In subsequent operations, when the ice storage part  1   a  is in the ice full state, as shown in  FIG. 5(D) , the ice detecting switch  71  remains to be in the second state. Therefore, even when a temperature of the ice tray  21  becomes equal to a predetermined temperature or lower to cause the thermostat  91  to be changed to an “ON” state, energization to the heater  26  and the motor  6  is not performed. Accordingly, after quantity of ice pieces in the ice storage part  1   a  has been reduced and the ice detecting switch  71  is changed to the first state from the second state, energization to the heater  26  and the motor  6  is started. 
     As described above, in the ice making device  1  in accordance with this embodiment, ice pieces can be successively manufactured and the ice pieces manufactured can be automatically discharged to the ice storage part  1   a  which is disposed downward. Further, ice quantity is detected in the ice storage part  1   a  and, when the ice storage part  1   a  is in an ice full state, discharging of ice pieces to the ice storage part  1   a  is not performed and thus the ice pieces do not overflow from the ice storage part  1   a.    
     Further, in this embodiment, when the raking parts  232  are passed through near the water-supply port  221  and, in addition, passed through above the rotation shaft  31  and then reached to a position where the raking parts  232  are inclined on an opposite side to the water-supply port  221 , the drive unit  3  starts to supply water from the water-supply port  221  to the ice tray  21 . Therefore, a state is avoided where water is splashed on the raking parts  232  at the time of water-supply to cause the water to be frozen and, as a result, the ice tray  21  and the raking parts  232  are prevented to be frozen with each other. 
     Further, since the initial position, i.e., the home position of the raking parts  232  is set on an opposite side to the side where the water-supply port  221  is arranged with respect to the rotation shaft  231 , the water-supply part  22  is not disposed near the raking parts  232  which are stopped at the home position. Therefore, when confirmation of an operation of the raking member  23  is performed by manually pressing the raking parts  232  from an upper side to turn it in the direction shown by the arrow “A”, the operation is not disturbed by the water-supply part  22  and thus the operation can be easily confirmed. 
     Further, since the home position of the raking parts  232  is set on the opposite side to the side where the water-supply port  221  is arranged with respect to the rotation shaft  231 , when the raking parts  232  are depressed, the raking member  23  is turned so as to rake out in the direction shown by the arrow “A” and thus the operation can be easily confirmed. In other words, as a comparison example, when the home position of the raking parts  232  are set, for example, at a position shown in  FIG. 3(C) , in order to turn the raking member  23  in the direction as shown by the arrow “A”, it is required that a finger is inserted between the raking parts  232  to turn it up. However, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the troublesome operation as described above is not required. 
       FIG. 7  is an explanatory view showing the inner case which is used in the drive unit and structural members disposed in the inner case in the ice making device in accordance with the embodiment.  FIG. 8(A)  is a side view showing a rotary cam body which is shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3(A) , the drive unit  3  is provided with a case body  4 . The motor  5 , the main switch  72  structured of leaf switches, the water-supply switch  73  structured of leaf switches, the ice detecting switch  71  structured of leaf switches and the like which are described with reference to  FIG. 4(A)  are disposed in the inside of the case body  4 . In this embodiment, the case body  4  includes an inner case  41  formed in a rectangular measure shape, a base plate  42  (first partition wall) and an outer case  43  formed in a rectangular measure shape. The case body  4  is formed by superposing edge parts of the inner case  41  and the outer case  43  on each other from both the right and left sides so as to sandwich the base plate  42 . In this state, a first space  46  is partitioned and formed between the inner case  41  and the base plate  42  and a second space  47  is partitioned and formed between the outer case  43  and the base plate  42 . The first space  46  and the second space  47  are respectively used for disposing following mechanisms and the like. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the thermostat  91  is fixed at a bottom part of the inner case  41  in the first space  46  between the inner case  41  and the base plate  42 . Further, in the ice making device  1  in this embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2(B) , terminal parts  262  (engagement part for connection), which are made of an electrically insulator such as rubber, of the heater  26  are protruded from the ice tray  21  toward the drive unit  3 . Further, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the case body  4  of the drive unit  3  is formed with recessed parts  411  (engaged portion for connection) which open toward an outer side of the inner case  41  at the bottom part of the inner case  41  on both side positions of the thermostat  91 . A through hole  412  is formed in the back of the recessed part  411 . Further, a connection terminal  92  is disposed at the bottom part of the inner case  41  so as to expose in the through hole  412 . Therefore, after the drive unit  3  and the ice making unit  2  have been respectively assembled, the terminal parts  262  protruding from the ice tray  21  are fitted to the recessed parts  411  of the inner case  41  and, as a result, the ice making unit  2  and the drive unit  3  are connected with each other and the terminals  261  of the heater  26  are electrically connected with the connection terminals  92  at the fitting portions of the terminal parts  262  to the recessed parts  411 . Further, an earth (ground) member  45  is disposed on an outer side of the bottom part of the inner case  41  at a position which is capable of abutting with the ice tray  21 . When a portion where the earth member  45  is disposed is fixed to the ice tray  21  with a metal screw for earth (ground) connection in the inner case  41 , ground connection to the ice tray  21  can be performed. In this state, since the thermostat  91  is abutted with a temperature detecting part  219  of the ice tray  21 , the temperature of the ice tray  21  can be monitored. In addition, when the ice making unit  2  is connected with the drive unit  3 , the “D”-shaped portion  230  of the rotation shaft  231  is fitted into a hole formed in “D”-shape of the rotary cam body  55  which is disposed in the inside of the case body  4 . Therefore, the drive unit  3  and the ice making unit  2  are mechanically connected with each other. 
     As described above, in the ice making device  1  in accordance with this embodiment, when the ice making unit  2  is to be connected with the drive unit  3 , members required to be electrically connected are only the terminals  261  of the heater  26  and the connection terminals  92 . Therefore, the drive unit  3  and the ice making unit  2  are connected with each other only by fitting the terminal parts  262  (engagement part for connection) protruding from ice tray  21  to the recessed parts  411  (portion to be engaged for connection) of the inner case  41 , and the terminals  261  of the heater  26  and the connection terminals  92  are automatically connected with each other. Further, when the ice making unit  2  is to be connected with the drive unit  3 , members required to be mechanically connected are only the rotation shaft  231  and the rotary cam body  55  and, when the ice making unit  2  is connected with the drive unit  3 , the “D”-shaped portion  230  of the rotation shaft  231  is automatically fitted into the connection hole  557  of the rotary cam body  55  whose inlet portion is formed in a “D”-shape in cross-section. 
     Therefore, after the ice making unit  2  and the drive unit  3  have been separately assembled, the ice making device  1  can be assembled only by connecting the ice making unit  2  with the drive unit  3 . Accordingly, assembling steps can be simplified in comparison with a case that members for structuring the drive unit are successively and separately assembled to the ice making unit  2 . 
     Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the ice making unit  2  and the drive unit  3  are connected with each other after the ice making unit  2  and the drive unit  3  have been separately manufactured. Therefore, different from a comparison method in which, after respective members are successively mounted on the ice tray  21  to complete the drive unit, a heater is mounted on the ice tray, in the embodiment of the present invention, fragments and dirt sticking to the ice tray  21  which structures the ice making unit  2  can be reduced and thus sanitary quality in the ice making device  1  is improved. 
     In addition, after the drive unit  3  and the ice tray  21  have been connected, it is difficult that the ice tray  21  is integrated with the heater  26  by caulking or insert-molding. However, according to this embodiment, after the ice tray  21  and the heater  26  have been integrated with each other by caulking or insert-molding, the ice making unit  2  is assembled and, after that, the ice making unit  2  can be connected with the drive unit  3 . 
     Further, in the ice making device  1  in accordance with this embodiment, the earth (ground) member  45  is disposed on the outer side of the inner case  41  at the position where the earth member  45  is capable of abutting with the ice tray  21 . Therefore, when the portion of the inner case  41  where the earth member  45  is disposed is fixed to the ice tray  21  with a metal screw having electroconductivity, grounding treatment of the ice making device  1  can be performed easily. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3(A) , one side portion of the rotary cam body  55  is disposed at the bottom part of the inner case  41  in the first space  46  formed between the inner case  41  and the base plate  42 . An upper end side, i.e., the other side of the rotary cam body  55  is protruded into the second space  47  formed between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  through the through hole  421  formed in the base plate  42 . 
     In the first space  46  formed between the inner case  41  and the base plate  42 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , the motor  5  is disposed at the bottom part of the inner case  41  on a side of the rotary cam body  55 . An AC synchronous motor is, for example, used as the motor  5 . A transmission mechanism  50  for transmitting rotation of the motor  5  to the rotation shaft  231  of the ice making unit  2  is formed in the first space  46 . The transmission mechanism  50  includes a rotor pinion  51  which is rotatably supported by a fixed shaft of the motor  5 , a torque limiter  8  provided with an outer teeth gear  502  (input part) having a large diameter which is engaged with the rotor pinion  51 , a chipped tooth gear  503  structuring an output part of the torque limiter  8 , a gear body  52  provided with an outer teeth gear  504  having a large diameter which is driven by the chipped tooth gear  503 , a gear body  53  provided with an outer teeth gear  506  having a large diameter which engages with an outer teeth gear (not shown) having a small diameter of the gear body  52 , and the rotary cam body  55  provided with an outer teeth gear  54  having a large diameter which is engaged with an outer teeth gear  507  having a small diameter of the gear body  53 . The tip end portion of the fixed shaft of the motor  5  is supported by the base plate  42 . Support shafts which rotatably support the torque limiter  8 , the gear body  52  and the gear body  53  are supported by an end plate  5   a  of the motor  5  and the base plate  42 . The rotary cam body  55  is rotatably supported by the bottom part of the inner case  41  and the base plate  42 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 8(A) , the rotary cam body  55  is provided with a cylindrical part  551  extending downward, i.e., the ice making unit  2  side from the outer teeth gear  54 . The cylindrical part  551  is formed with a coupling hole  557  in a “D”-shape in cross section at its inlet portion. The “D”-shaped portion  230  of the rotation shaft  231  is fitted into the coupling hole  557  to transmit rotation of the rotary cam body  55  to the rotation shaft  231 . 
       FIG. 9(A)  is a plan view showing the torque limiter which is provided in the ice making device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and  FIG. 9(B)  is its exploded perspective view. 
     In the ice making device  1  in this embodiment, when the raking parts  232  formed on the rotation shaft  231  of the ice making unit  2  is going to move to rake ice pieces formed in the ice tray  21  out, the ice pieces may not be separated from the ice tray  21  immediately after heating is started by the heater  26 . In this state, when the rotation shaft  231  is turned to going to rake the ice pieces in the ice tray  21  out by the raking parts  232 , a large load is applied to the raking parts  232  by unmoved ice pieces. Therefore, an excessive load is applied to the transmission mechanism  50  for transmitting a rotary force of the motor  5  to the rotation shaft  231  and thus a gear structuring the transmission mechanism  50  may be damaged. In order to prevent the problem described above, in this embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the torque limiter  8  which will be described below is structured on a motor side of the transmission mechanism  50 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7  and  FIGS. 9(A) and 9(B) , the torque limiter  8  includes a gear body  80  (first member) made of resin, a cup-shaped sliding member  84  (second member) made of resin, and a coil spring  85  (ring-shaped urging member). The gear body  80  is provided with a large diameter circular plate part  81  formed with the outer teeth gear  502 . A small diameter cylindrical part  82  is formed upright at a center portion of an upper face of the large diameter circular plate part  81  and a large diameter cylindrical part  83  is formed so as to surround the small diameter cylindrical part  82 . The gear body  80  is formed with a shaft hole  811  so as to penetrate through the large diameter circular plate part  81  and the small diameter cylindrical part  82 . A support shaft (not shown) whose both ends are supported by the end plate  5   a  of the motor  5  and the base plate  42  is fitted to the shaft hole  811 . Therefore, the gear body  80  is capable of being driven by the rotor pinion  51  to be rotated around the support shaft. 
     The sliding member  84  is formed in a cup shape which opens toward the gear body  80 . The sliding member  84  includes an upper base part  847  (bottom plate part) and a cylindrical drum part  845  extending perpendicularly downward from an outer peripheral edge of the upper base part  847 . Therefore, in a state where the sliding member  84  is assembled on the gear body  80 , the cylindrical drum part  845  of the sliding member  84  is fitted so as to surround a circumferential face of the large diameter cylindrical part  83  of the gear body  80 . The upper base part  847  of the sliding member  84  is formed in a multi-stage shape including a large diameter part  841 , a middle diameter part  842  and a small diameter part  843  which are formed in this order. A chipped tooth gear  503  is formed on a side face of the small diameter part  843 . A hole into which the small diameter cylindrical part  82  of the gear body  80  is fitted is formed in the inside of the large diameter part  841  and the middle diameter part  842 . The small diameter part  843  is formed with a shaft hole  840  into which a support shaft penetrating through the small diameter cylindrical part  82  is fitted. Therefore, the sliding member  84  is also rotatable around the support shaft. In this case, the sliding member  84  is supported by the small diameter cylindrical part  82 . 
     An inner diameter dimension of the cylindrical drum part  845  of the sliding member  84  is set to be a little larger than the outer diameter dimension of the large diameter cylindrical part  83  of the gear body  80  to have a specified clearance between them. The cylindrical drum part  845  of the sliding member  84  is formed with three cutout parts  84   a  which are extended in an axial direction from its tip end portion with an equal angular interval. Therefore, the cylindrical drum part  845  is divided into three elastic plate parts  846  in a tongue shape which are separated in a circumferential direction by the cutout parts  84   a . Accordingly, in a state that the sliding member  84  is assembled on the gear body  80  such that the cylindrical drum part  845  surrounds around the large diameter cylindrical part  83  of the gear body  80 , when the coil spring  85  is mounted around the cylindrical drum part  845  (elastic plate parts  846 ), the elastic plate parts  846  are elastically deformed to an inner side or a center side to abut with the outer circumferential face of the large diameter cylindrical part  83 . As a result, when the gear body  80  is rotated and a large load is not applied to the sliding member  84 , the sliding member  84  is rotated together with the gear body  80 . On the contrary, when the gear body  80  is rotated but a large load is applied to the sliding member  84 , slip occurs between the elastic plate parts  846  and the large diameter cylindrical part  83  and thus rotation of the gear body  80  is not transmitted to the sliding member  84 . 
     The coil spring  85  is mounted only at a lower end portion of the cylindrical drum part  845  (tip end portions of the elastic plate parts  846 ). The cutout part  84   a  is extended to a root portion of the large diameter part  841  in the upper base part  847  of the sliding member  84 , and the upper base part  847  is also divided into three portions by the cutout parts  84   a  to form base parts of the elastic plate part  846 . Therefore, the elastic plate part  846  of the sliding member  84  is formed in a perpendicularly bent shape from the upper base part  847  and, in addition, an axial dimension of the cylindrical drum part  845  is set to be longer than a dimension in a radial direction of the upper base part  847 . Accordingly, the elastic plate part  846  has a high rigidity in the circumferential direction but its rigidity in the radial direction is low and thus the elastic plate part  846  can be elastically deformed easily toward a center side. Further, in order to make the elastic plate parts  846  easily and elastically deformed on a center side, the cutout part  84   a  which is formed from the tip end of the cylindrical drum part  845  to a middle portion of the upper base part  847  is formed such that a length of the cutout part formed in the cylindrical drum part  845  is longer than a length of the cutout part formed in the upper base part  847 . 
     As described above, in the ice making device  1  in this embodiment, the torque limiter  8  is structured at a first stage of the transmission mechanism  50  (on the side nearer to a drive source in the transmission mechanism  50 ) and thus a torque applied to the torque limiter  8  is small. 
     In the sliding member  84  of the torque limiter  8 , the cutout part  84   a  is formed from the cylindrical drum part  845  to the upper base part  847 . Therefore, since the length of the elastic plate part  846  is long, the elastic plate part  846  has a high rigidity in the circumferential direction but has a low rigidity in the radial direction. Accordingly, the elastic plate parts  846  are easily bent resiliently when the coil spring  85  is mounted around the cylindrical drum part  845 . As a result, rigidity of the elastic plate part  846  does not exert large influence on the friction torque and the friction torque is roughly determined only by an urging force of the coil spring  85 . Therefore, when dimension of the gear body  80  made of resin and dimension of the cup-shaped sliding member  84  made of resin are varied, or even when rigidity of the elastic plate part  846  is varied with an elapse of time or due to ambient temperature, the variation of the friction torque is reduced. Especially, the ice making device  1  in this embodiment is used in a refrigerator or in a freezer and, on the other hand, the ice making device  1  is often warmed by the heater  26 . Therefore, the rigidity of the elastic plate part  846  made of resin is easily varied but, even in this case, the torque limiter  8  is operated surely. 
     In this embodiment, only the tip end portions of the elastic plate parts  846  are pressed by the coil spring  85  toward the outer circumferential face of the large diameter cylindrical part  83  and thus the elastic plate parts  846  are easily deformed. Moreover, the torque limiter  8  is simply structured and thus effect of accuracy of its structural parts is small. Further, when a spring having a small spring constant can be used as the coil spring  85  so as to be elastically deformed largely, the torque limiter  8  is surely operated even though part accuracy of the sliding member  84  is low. In addition, since the coil spring  85  can provide a stable urging force, a stable friction torque is obtained. 
     In this embodiment, it is structured that the large diameter part  841 , the middle diameter part  842  and the small diameter part  843  are superposed in this order on the upper base part  847  of the sliding member  84 . A hole into which the small diameter cylindrical part  82  of the gear body  80  is fitted is formed on an inner side of the large diameter part  841  and the middle diameter part  842 . Further, the small diameter part  843  is formed with a shaft hole  840  into which the support shaft penetrating through the small diameter cylindrical part  82  is fitted. Therefore, the sliding member  84  and the gear body  80  are supported by the common support shaft and the sliding member  84  is rotated in a state that the sliding member  84  is supported by the small diameter cylindrical part  82  of the gear body  80 . Accordingly, the sliding member  84  and the gear body  80  are rotated with surely maintaining a coaxial state. 
       FIG. 10  is an explanatory view showing the base plate used in the drive unit and structural members which are disposed on the outer case side of the base plate in the ice making device in the embodiment. 
     In this embodiment, an ice detecting mechanism  6  for detecting ice quantity in the ice storage part  1   a  through the ice detecting lever  60  shown in  FIG. 1  is structured by utilizing the first space  46  between the inner case  41  and the base plate  42  and the second space  47  between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43 , which are shown in  FIG. 3(A) . 
     In this embodiment, the ice detecting mechanism  6  includes generally, an ice detecting lever drive mechanism  65  as shown in  FIG. 7  which is structured by utilizing the first space  46  between the inner case  41  and the base plate  42 , and an ice detecting lever position detecting mechanism  75  which is structured by utilizing the second space  47  between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43 , and an ice detecting switch  71  which is structured by utilizing the second space between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43 , which are shown in  FIG. 10 . “ON” and “OFF” operations of the ice detecting switch  71  are performed by the ice detecting lever position detecting mechanism  75 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8(A) , the lever drive mechanism  65  includes a cam part  552  formed around a cylindrical part  551  which is formed on a lower end side of the rotary cam body  55 , a first drive lever  61  which is driven by a cam face of the cam part  552  to move the ice detecting lever  60 , a coiled torsion spring  66  which urges the first drive lever  61 , and a second drive lever  62  which holds an end part of the ice detecting lever  60 . 
     The first drive lever  61  is provided with a pawl part  611  capable of abutting with the cam part  552 , a cylindrical support shaft  612  extending in an axial direction, and a transmitting part  614  which is located on an opposite side to the pawl part  611  with respect to the support shaft  612 . A “U”-shaped cutout part  613  is formed in the transmitting part  614 . Therefore, when the rotary cam body  55  is turned by rotation of the motor  5  to turn the cam part  552 , the pawl part  611  is pushed by the cam part  552  and the first drive lever  61  is turned around the support shaft  612  by a specified angle in a direction shown by the arrow “C 1 ” in  FIG. 7  against an urging force of the coiled torsion spring  66 . Further, when a small diameter portion of the cam face abuts with the pawl part  611 , the first drive lever  61  is turned around the support shaft  612  in a reverse direction shown by the arrow “C 2 ” by the urging force of the coiled torsion spring  66  to return to its original position. 
     The second drive lever  62  is provided with a cylindrical part  621  having a slit  621   a  for holding an end part of the ice detecting lever  60 , a transmitting projection  623  which is protruded from a side face of the cylindrical part  621 , and a small projection  622  which is protruded from the side face of the cylindrical part  621  on an opposite side to the transmitting projection  623 . A pin  623   a  which is protruded from an under face of the transmitting projection  623  is fitted into a “U”-shaped cut-out part  613  which is formed in the first drive lever  61 . Therefore, when the first drive lever  61  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “C 1 ”, the second drive lever  62  is turned around the cylindrical part  621  in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ”. On the other hand, when the first drive lever  61  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “C 2 ”, the second drive lever  62  is turned around the cylindrical part  621  in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ”. As a result, the ice detecting lever  60  is driven. In accordance with this embodiment, the base plate  42  is formed with a stopper  629   a , which prevents the transmitting projection  623  of the second drive lever  62  from turning more than a prescribed position in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ”, and a stopper  629   b  which prevents the transmitting projection  623  from turning more in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ”. 
     A flat spring  63  is disposed at a side position of the cylindrical part  621  and, when the ice detecting lever  60  is lifted upward with a manual operation, the small projection  622  of the second drive lever  62  goes over a projected part  63   a  of the flat spring  63  to maintain a lifted state of the ice detecting lever  60 . As a result, the ice making device  1  becomes to be a similar state to the ice full state and thus an operation of the ice making device  1  is stopped. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , an upper half portion of the cylindrical part  621  of the second drive lever  62  is penetrated through the base plate  42  and located at a second space  47  between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43 . The ice detecting lever position detecting mechanism  75  includes a projection  625  (engagement part) that is formed on the outer peripheral face of an upper end portion of the cylindrical part  621  (rotation shaft) in the second drive lever  62  (driving member), a driven ring  751  (driven member) which is put on around the upper end of the cylindrical part  621  on the base plate  42 , and a pressing lever  753  (transmitting member) whose positions are changed by a protruded part  752  which is protruded from an outer peripheral face (cam face) of the driven ring  751 . The pressing lever  753  is provided with a cylindrical part  753   a  which is fitted to a protruded part that is formed in the base plate  42 , a connection part  753   b  which is extended from the cylindrical part  753   a , a first protruded part  753   c  which protrudes to the driven ring  751  side from a tip end portion of the connection part  753   b , and a second protruded part  753   d  which protrudes to an opposite side to the first protruded part  753   c  from the tip end part of the connection part  753   b.    
     In the ice detecting lever position detecting mechanism  75 , a cut-out part  755  (recessed part) which is extended in a peripheral direction is formed on a rear face side of the protruded part  752  of the driven ring  751  and on an inner peripheral side of a hole through which the cylindrical part  621  is penetrated. The projection  625  that is formed on the cylindrical part  621  of the second drive lever  62  is located within the inside of the cut-out part  755  with a constant play to end parts  755   a  and  755   b  in the peripheral direction of the cut-out part  755 . Therefore, a transmission part through which movement of the second drive lever  62  is transmitted to the driven ring  751  is formed between the second drive lever  62  and the driven ring  751  so as to be apart from each other in the peripheral direction by a prescribed dimension. 
     In the ice detecting lever position detecting mechanism  75  structured as described above, when the second drive lever  62  is turned in the direction of the arrow “D 1 ” (when the ice detecting lever  60  is lifted), the movement of the second drive lever  62  is transmitted to the driven ring  751  by the projection  625  which abuts with the end part  755   b  located on the side shown by the arrow “D 1 ” in the peripheral direction of the cut-out part  755 . As a result, the driven ring  751  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ” in conjunction with the second drive lever  62 . Accordingly, the first protruded part  753   c  of the pressing lever  753  is moved from a state, that the first protruded part  753   c  abuts with a peripheral face (low portion of the driven member) of the driven ring  751  where the protruded part  752  is not formed, to a state that the first protruded part  753   c  abuts with a slant face  752   d  of the protruded part  752 , which is just before abutting with an outer peripheral face of the protruded part  752  (high portion of the driven member). As a result, the pressing lever  753  is turned around the cylindrical part  753   a  in a direction shown by the arrow “E 1 ” and the second protruded part  753   d  causes the ice detecting switch  71  to perform “ON” and “OFF” operation. 
     In this embodiment, the ice detecting switch  71  is a leaf switch which is comprised of three leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712  and  713 . The pressing lever  753  abuts with only the leaf contact piece  711  among three leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712  and  713  to cause it to move. More specifically, when the second protruded part  753   d  of the pressing lever  753  is in a non-abutting state, the leaf contact piece  711  is abutted with an end part  713   a  of the leaf contact piece  713  which is extended to an opposite side to the leaf contact piece  711  with respect to the leaf contact piece  712  so as to face the leaf contact piece  711  and thus the leaf contact piece  711  and the leaf contact piece  713  are in a contact state with each other. On the other hand, when the leaf contact piece  711  is pressed by the second protruded part  753   d  of the pressing lever  753 , the leaf contact piece  711  is deformed to a side of the leaf contact piece  712  and thus the leaf contact piece  711  is moved apart from the end part  713   a  of the leaf contact piece  713  to be in a contact state with the leaf contact piece  712 . 
     In the ice detecting mechanism  6  structured as described above, the leaf contact piece  711  is abutted with the end part  713   a  of the leaf contact piece  713  before the motor  5  is started and rotated. In order to detect an ice quantity in the ice storage part  1   a , when the rotary cam body  55  is turned by the motor  5  to turn the first drive lever  61  in the direction shown by the arrow “C 1 ”, the second drive lever  62  is turned around the cylindrical part  621  in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ”. As a result, the ice detecting lever  60  is turned as shown by the arrow “F 1 ” in  FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) , and its end part goes up. In this case, the second drive lever  62  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ” and the driven ring  751  is also turned in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ”. Therefore, the protruded part  752  of the driven ring  751  is abutted with the first protruded part  753   c  of the pressing lever  753  to cause the pressing lever  753  to turn in the direction shown by the arrow “E 1 ” and a state is obtained where the leaf contact piece  711  is contacted with the leaf contact piece  712 . Further, in a state that the pressing lever  753  is abutted with the protruded part  752  of the driven ring  751 , the leaf contact pieces  711  and  712  are stably contacted with each other. 
     When the rotary cam body  55  is further turned by the rotation of the motor  5 , the first drive lever  61  is turned in a reverse direction shown by the arrow “C 2 ” and the second drive lever  62  is going to turn around the cylindrical part  621  in a direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ”. As a result, the ice detecting lever  60  is going to turn and go down as shown by the arrow “F 2 ” in  FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) . 
     In this case, when ice pieces are insufficient, or in a shortage state in the ice storage part  1   a , moving of the ice detecting lever  60  downward is permitted and thus the second drive lever  62  is capable of turning in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ” to cause the protruded part  625  to press the end part  755   a  of the cutout part  755  and thus the driven ring  751  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ”. Accordingly, when a timing at which the first protruded part  753   c  of the pressing lever  753  starts to abut with the slant face  752   a  of the protruded part  752  of the driven ring  751  is set to be a boundary position between a shortage state and a full state of ice pieces in the ice storage part  1   a , ice quantity in the ice storage part  1   a  can be detected on the basis of an “ON” or “OFF” operation by using the ice detecting switch  71 . 
     In this embodiment, the driven ring  751  is moved with a play with respect to the second drive lever  62 . Therefore, even when the second drive lever  62  starts to turn in a reverse direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ” after the second drive lever  62  has been turned in the direction shown by the arrow “D 1 ”, the protruded part  625  moves only in the inside of the cutout part  755  and thus the driven ring  751  is not moved. However, since the leaf contact piece  711  applies an urging force, which is going to cause the leaf contact piece  711  to return from its elastically deformed state, to the pressing lever  753 , when the second drive lever  62  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ”, the pressing lever  753  presses the slant face  752   a  formed in the protruded part  752  of the driven ring  751  to move the driven ring  751  in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ”. Therefore, the driven ring  751  is moved before the driven ring  751  is driven by the second drive lever  62 . Accordingly, the leaf contact piece  711  can be quickly returned from the elastically deformed state even before the driven ring  751  is driven by the second drive lever  62 . As a result, in the ice detecting switch  71 , the leaf contact piece  711  quickly returns to a state where the leaf contact piece  711  contacts with the end part  713   a  of the leaf contact piece  713 . Therefore, even when an operation is transmitted to the ice detecting switch  71  through the cam mechanism, an unstable region is not occurred in the ice detecting switch  71  where a state that the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  713  are contacted is not clearly different from a state that they are separated. Accordingly, an electric obstacle does not occur. 
     When ice pieces are in a full state in the ice storage part  1   a , moving of the ice detecting lever  60  downward is prevented by the ice pieces. Therefore, turning of the second drive lever  62  in the direction shown by the arrow “D 2 ” is prevented and thus the leaf contact piece  711  maintains to have contacted with the leaf contact piece  712 . After the ice detecting lever  60  is prevented from moving down by the ice pieces, the first drive lever  61  is prevented from turning in the direction shown by the arrow “C 2 ”. Therefore, the pawl part  611  of the first drive lever  61  does not follow the cam part  552  of the rotary cam body  55  in the “C 2 ” direction and thus the ice detecting lever  60  does not go down from a position restricted by the ice pieces even when the rotary cam body  55  is turned. 
       FIG. 8(B)  is an explanatory perspective view showing three leaf contact pieces which structure the main switch  72  for the ice making device. In this embodiment, the main switch  72  is structured by utilizing the second space  47  formed between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  shown in  FIG. 3(A) . In order to structure the main switch  72 , an upper half portion of the rotary cam body  55  is utilized which protrudes from the first space  46  to the second space  47  through the through hole  421  of the base plate  42 . In other words, the rotary cam body  55  includes a large diameter part  553  formed in a cylindrical shape, a middle diameter part  554  having a smaller diameter than the large diameter part  553 , a first cam part  558  having a smaller diameter than the middle diameter part  554 , a second cam part  559  having a smaller diameter than the first cam part  558 , and a small diameter part  555  having a smaller diameter than the second cam part  559 , which are formed upward in this order to be in a multistage shape from the outer teeth gear  54 . This multistage portion is disposed in the second space  47 . Both of side faces of the first cam part  558  and the second cam part  559  are formed to be cam faces provided with stepped parts  558   b  and  559   b  whose diameters are sharply varied in their circumferential direction. The diameters of these cam faces increase in a direction shown by the arrow “B” from the stepped parts  558   b  and  559   b . Further, positions of the stepped parts  558   b  and  559   b  of the first cam part  558  and the second cam part  559  are shifted from each other in a circumferential direction and the stepped part  559   b  is located backward to the stepped part  558   b  in the direction shown by the arrow “B”. In this embodiment, the middle diameter part  554  is formed with a protruded part  556  for operating a leaf contact piece of a water-supply switch  73  described below. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) , three leaf contact pieces  721 ,  722  and  723  which structure the main switch  72  (leaf switch) for the ice making device are disposed on the base plate  42  so as to extend toward the rotary cam body  55 . The leaf contact piece  723  is disposed at a position nearest to a center axial line of the rotary cam body  55 , the leaf contact piece  722  is disposed on its outer side, and the leaf contact piece  721  is disposed on its further outer side. A tip end part  723   c  of the leaf contact piece  723  is elastically abutted with a side face of the second cam part  559 . Further, in an initial state, a tip end part  722   c  of the leaf contact piece  722  is dropped in a low portion of the stepped part  558   b  to elastically contact with the leaf contact piece  723 . On the other hand, a tip end part  721   c  of the leaf contact piece  721  is elastically abutted with a side face of the first cam part  558 . 
     The leaf contact piece  723  is straightly and horizontally extended from its base end side and then perpendicularly turned upward, i.e., its extending direction is bent and, after that, the leaf contact piece  723  is extended horizontally again. A lower edge of the tip end part  723   c  slides on an upper face of the first cam part  558 . 
     The leaf contact pieces  721  and  222  are formed in a shape such that their base end portions are straightly extended at the same height position as that of the base end portion of the leaf contact piece  723  and the widths of the tip end parts  721   c  and  722   c  are enlarged in an upward direction. Upper edge portions of the tip end parts  721   c  and  722   c  are set at the same height position as that of the upper edge portion of the tip end part  723   c  of the leaf contact piece  723 . Further, a front edge of the leaf contact piece  721  is slightly extended and protruded to a front end side from a front edge of the leaf contact piece  722 . When the rotary cam body  55  is turned in the direction as shown by the arrow “B”, the tip end parts  721   c  and  722   c  of the leaf contact pieces  721  and  222  structured as described above move along the side face of the first cam part  558  and the underside edges of the tip end parts  721   c  and  722   c  slide on the upper face of the middle diameter part  554 . 
     In an initial state, i.e., the home position of the main switch  72  structured as described above, the leaf contact piece  723  is located at a higher portion of the stepped part  559   b  and the leaf contact piece  722  is located at a lower portion of the stepped part  558   b  and thus the leaf contact piece  722  contacts with the leaf contact piece  723 . When the rotary cam body  55  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “B” from this state, the tip end part  723   c  of the leaf contact piece  723  drops on a lower portion of the stepped part  559   b  and thus the leaf contact piece  722  is separated from the leaf contact piece  723 . Further, immediately before the tip end part  723   c  of the leaf contact piece  723  drops on the lower portion of the stepped part  559   b , the tip end part  721   c  of the leaf contact piece  721  drops on a lower portion of the stepped part  558   b  and thus the leaf contact piece  721  is connected to the leaf contact piece  722 . When the rotary cam body  55  is further turned in the direction as shown by the arrow “B”, the leaf contact pieces  721 ,  722  and  723  will be shifted to a state that they are located at higher portions of the stepped parts  559   b  and  558   b  and then return to the initial state. 
     In this embodiment, a water supply switch  73  shown in  FIG. 10  (leaf switch) is structured by utilizing a second space  47  between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  shown in  FIG. 3(A) . Similarly to the main switch  72 , the water supply switch  73  is also structured by utilizing the upper half portion of the rotary cam body  55  which protrudes into the second space  47  from the first space  46  through the through hole  421  of the base plate  42 . In other words, a projection  556  is formed on a side face of the middle diameter part  554  and, on the other hand, two leaf contact pieces  731  and  732  are extended toward the middle diameter part  554  of the rotary cam body  55 . 
     In the water supply switch  73  structured as described above, the leaf contact piece  731  is separated from the leaf contact piece  732  in the initial state, which is in an “OFF” state. From this state, when the rotary cam body  55  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow B and the leaf contact piece  731  is pressed by the projection  556  toward the leaf contact piece  732 , the leaf contact piece  731  and the leaf contact piece  732  come into contact with each other to be in an “ON” state. When the rotary cam body  55  is further turned in the direction shown by the arrow “B” and the leaf contact piece  731  returns to its original position, the leaf contact piece  731  is separated from the leaf contact piece  732  to return to an “OFF” state. 
     In this embodiment, a water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  for adjusting “ON”/“OFF” timing with the water supply switch  73  is structured on the base plate  42 . The water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  is provided with an arch-shaped input lever  790  (operation member) for adjusting a position of the leaf contact piece  732 . The input lever  790  includes a cylindrical part  791  into which a support shaft protruding from the base plate  42  is fitted, a pawl part  792  abutting with the tip end part of the leaf contact piece  732  at its tip end side, and an operation part  793  protruding outside of the case body  4  on an opposite side to the pawl part  792  with respect to the cylindrical part  791 . When the operation part  793  is moved along an edge of the base plate  42 , as shown by the arrows “G 1 ” and “G 2 ”, the input lever  790  is turned around the cylindrical part  791  to change the position of the pawl part  792 . Therefore, when the input lever  790  is turned in the direction shown by the arrow “G 1 ”, the tip end side of the leaf contact piece  732  is resiliently bent in a direction which is separated from the leaf contact piece  731  and thus a timing when the water supply switch  73  is changed from an “OFF” state to an “ON” state becomes late and a timing changed from the “ON” state to the “OFF” state becomes early. Accordingly, a water supply time period from the water-supply part  22  to the ice tray  21  which is described with reference to  FIG. 1  is shortened and thus an amount of water supply to the ice tray  21  is decreased to be capable of making smaller ice pieces. On the other hand, when the input lever  790  is turned in a direction shown by the arrow “G 2 ”, the tip end side of the leaf contact piece  732  is resiliently bent in a direction coming close to the leaf contact piece  731  and thus a timing when the water supply switch  73  is changed from an “OFF” state to an “ON” state becomes early and a timing changed from the “ON” state to the “OFF” state becomes late. As a result, a water supply time period from the water-supply part  22  to the ice tray  21  becomes longer and thus an amount of water supply to the ice tray  21  is increased to be capable of making larger ice pieces. 
     An end portion of the input lever  790  near the operation part  793  is fitted into a “U”-shaped groove  795   a  of the support plate  795 . The support plate  795  is structured so as to slide along an edge portion of the base plate  42 . Further, the support plate  795  is formed with a protruded part  795   b  on its inner side face and, on the other hand, a plate part  420  which is formed along the edge portion of the base plate  42  is formed with a plurality of grooves  420   a  which is capable of engaging with the protruded part  795   b . A click mechanism  79   a  is structured by the protruded part  795   b  and the grooves  420   a . Therefore, when the input lever  790  is operated, the support plate  795  slides along the edge portion of the base plate  42  and the protruded part  795   b  of the support plate  795  is moved over a portion between the grooves  420   a  of the plate part  420  and thus a click feeling can be obtained. In addition, the input lever  790  is held at a prescribed position by the protruded part  795   b  engaging with the groove  420   a.    
     According to the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  as described above, a spaced distance between the leaf contact pieces  731  and  732  can be adjusted only by deforming the tip end side of the leaf contact piece  732  to change its position and thus timings when the water-supply switch  73  is turned “ON” or “OFF” can be adjusted. Therefore, when an amount of water (size of an ice piece) supplied to the ice tray  21  is to be adjusted, the amount of water can be easily adjusted from the outside, which is different from a case that a micro switch is used for the water-supply switch  73 . In addition, since both the water-supply switch  73  and the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  are mounted on the base plate  42 , assembling is easily performed with a high degree of positional accuracy. Further, as described below, both the leaf contact pieces  731  and  732  are held with the contact piece holding part  48  which is structured on the base plate  42  and thus assembling is easily performed. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, both of the leaf contact pieces  731  and  732  may be deformed as the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  and, alternatively, the leaf contact piece  731  which is driven by the rotary cam body  55  may be deformed as the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79 . However, in this embodiment, the leaf contact piece  732  which is not moved by the rotary cam body  55  is deformed by the input lever  790 . Therefore, a timing of the leaf contact piece  731  which is driven by the rotary cam body  55  is not varied and thus the water-supply switch  73  is surely operated. 
     Next, an operation of the drive unit will be briefly described below with reference to  FIGS. 11(A) through 11(F)  while related to a total operation described with reference to  FIG. 3(A)  through  FIG. 5(D) .  FIGS. 11(A) through 11(F)  are explanatory views showing operations of the drive unit. 
     In the initial state, positions of the rotary cam body  55 , the first drive lever  61 , the second drive lever  62 , the pressing lever  753 , the leaf contact piece  723 , and the leaf contact piece  731  are set as shown in  FIG. 11(A) . In this state, a position of the ice detecting lever  60  is located at the lowest position. Further, the raking parts  232  of the raking member  23  are located at an angle of about 20° with respect to a horizontal direction. 
     At the time point of “T 0 ” shown in  FIG. 6 , i.e., in the initial home position, when the thermostat  91  becomes to an “ON” state, energization to the motor  5  and the heater  26  is started and the rotary cam body  55  is turned. As a result, the raking member  23  starts to turn in the direction shown by the arrow “A” in  FIG. 11(A) . 
     Next, at the time point of “T 1 ” shown in  FIG. 6 , as shown in  FIG. 11(B) , the leaf contact piece  721  is dropped from the step  558   b  immediately after the raking parts  232  have been located at an angle of about 10° with respect to the horizontal direction and thus the main switch  72  is changed to the second state from the first state. 
     Next, at the time point of “T 2 ” shown in  FIG. 6 , the turning of the rotary cam body  55  is transmitted to the ice detecting lever  60  through the first drive lever  61  and the second drive lever  62  and, as shown by the arrow “F 1 ” in  FIG. 11(C) , the ice detecting lever  60  goes up. 
     Next, at the time period of “T 3 ” shown in  FIG. 6 , the turning of the rotary cam body  55  is transmitted to the ice detecting lever  60  through the first drive lever  61  and the second drive lever  62  and, when the ice storage part  1   a  is in a shortage state of ice pieces, the ice detecting lever  60  goes down as shown by the arrow “F 2 ” in  FIG. 11(D) . 
     Next, at the time point of “T 5 ” shown in  FIG. 6 , in other words, at a final stage of one turning of the rotary cam body  55 , the turning of the rotary cam body  55  is transmitted to the leaf contact piece  731  and water is supplied to the ice tray  21  during the time periods shown in  FIGS. 11(E) and 11(F) . Then, the rotary cam body  55 , the first drive lever  61 , the second drive lever  62 , the pressing lever  753 , the leaf contact piece  723 , the leaf contact piece  731  and the like return to their original positions. 
     As described above, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, ice pieces are raked out from the ice tray  21  by the raking parts  232  of the raking member  23  while the rotary cam body  55  is rotated by one turning. In addition, the projection  556  which serves as a cam face for water supply is formed on the rotary cam body  55  for operating the water-supply switch at a position just before the rotary cam body  55  has returned to the initial state shown in  FIG. 11(A) , in other words, at a final position where the rotary cam body  55  has been rotated by one turning. Therefore, a timing for supplying water to the ice tray  21  can be easily realized when the raking parts  23  have passed the water-supply port and reached to an opposite side to the water-supply port  221  with respect to the rotation shaft  231 . However, the projection  556  may be formed at an end position instead of forming at a final position so that the raking parts are located on an opposite side to the water-supply port with respect to the rotation shaft. 
       FIG. 12  is an explanatory view showing the outer case used in the ice making device in accordance with an embodiment which is viewed from an outer side. In this embodiment, the ice detecting switch  71 , the main switch  72  and the water-supply switch  73  is structured by using a strip-shaped leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  which are formed of a metal plate that is worked in a predetermined shape. The base end sides of the leaf contact pieces are formed, as shown by the leaf contact pieces  721 ,  722  and  723  in  FIG. 8(B) , in a strip shape such that their facing sides to each other are parallel to each other in a widthwise direction and their width dimensions of the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces are equal to each other. Therefore, in this embodiment, all of the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are held by utilizing the contact piece holding part  48  which is formed like a platform on the base plate  42  in a “V”-shape in plan view. More specifically, a plurality of holding grooves  48   a  is formed in the contact piece holding part  48  so as to have the same depth and the same shape and the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are fitted into and fixed to the holding grooves  48   a . In this embodiment, since all the depths of the plurality of holding grooves  48   a  are the same, the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are held on the base plate  42  at the same height positions. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the tip end parts  721   c  and  722   c  of the leaf contact pieces  721  and  722  and the tip end part  723   c  of the leaf contact piece  723  are abutted with the side faces, of the cam parts  558  and  559  of the rotary cam body  55  whose height positions from the base plate  42  are different from each other. Therefore, in this embodiment, as described with reference to  FIG. 8(B) , the leaf contact piece  723  is straightly and horizontally extended from its base end side and then its extending direction is perpendicularly bent upward and, after that, the leaf contact piece  723  is extended horizontally again. On the other hand, the leaf contact pieces  721  and  222  are formed in a shape such that their base end portions are straightly extended at the same height position as that of the base end portion of the leaf contact piece  723  and the widths of the tip end parts  721   c  and  722   c  are enlarged upward. Therefore, even when the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces  721 ,  722  and  723  are held at the same height positions on the base plate  42 , the tip end parts  721   c ,  722   c  and  723   c  of the leaf contact pieces  721 ,  722  and  723  can be preferably abutted with the side faces of the cam parts  558  and  559  of the rotary cam body  55  whose height positions from the base plate  42  are different from each other. 
     Further, in this embodiment, a circuit board  70  which is disposed to face the base plate  42  is superposed on the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732 . The circuit board  70  is a PWB (Printed Wiring Board) provided with lands to which terminal parts  711   e ,  712   e ,  721   e ,  722   e ,  723   e ,  731   e  and  732   e  formed upright on the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are soldered. The circuit board  70  is provided with a high rigidity. In addition, the base plate  42  is covered by the outer case  43  shown in  FIG. 12 . The inner bottom face of the outer case  43  is formed with a rib  432  corresponding to an outer shape of the contact piece holding part  48 . Therefore, in a state that the inner case  41 , the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  are superposed to structure the case body  4 , the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are pressed in the widthwise direction, i.e., toward the base plate  42  by the circuit board  70 . 
     In this embodiment as described above, when the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are to be mounted on the base plate  42 , the base end sides of the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are fitted into the holding grooves  48   a . As a result, the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are mounted on the base plate  42  with a high degree of positional accuracy so as to set in a prescribed direction at a predetermined height position and thus a superior workability can be obtained. Further, it is not required to perform positional adjustment after the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  have been mounted on the base plate  42 . 
     Further, the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are pressed by the rib  432  of the outer case  43  through the circuit board  70 . Therefore, positional displacement of the leaf contact piece from its initial position or disengagement of the leaf contact piece from the holding groove  48   a  does not occur. Further, the circuit board  70  is provided with a high rigidity, which is different from a case that a flexible circuit board is used. Therefore, the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are surely fixed by the circuit board  70 . 
     In addition, the circuit board  70  is a single-side circuit board and thus wiring patterns are not formed on its under face. Therefore, insulation to the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  can be surely secured. 
     In addition, in a case that the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are directly pressed by the outer case  43 , a metal outer case  43  cannot be used and, moreover, the outer case  43  is required to have a high degree of rigidity and a high degree of resistance against electricity. Therefore, material of the outer case  43  is restricted. However, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the leaf contact pieces  711 ,  712 ,  721 ,  722 ,  723 ,  731  and  732  are pressed through the circuit board  70  and thus restriction in material of the outer case  43  can be prevented. 
     In the ice making device  1  in accordance with the embodiment, cooling for making ice pieces in the ice tray  21  and heating for raking the ice pieces are performed. The cooling and heating cause the inside of the case body  4  to occur a rapid temperature change, which may cause dew formation. Further, in a refrigerator or a freezer which is provided with the ice making device  1 , when a door is opened and closed, a temperature change occurs to cause dew formation. Therefore, in the ice making device  1  in accordance with an embodiment, a following dew formation countermeasure is adopted. 
     In other words, in the ice making device  1  in accordance with the embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 3(A) , the motor  5 , the transmission mechanism  50 , the lever drive mechanism  65 , the thermostat  91  and the like are disposed in the first space  46  which is structured with the inner case  41  and the base plate  42 . On the other hand, the upper half portion of the rotary cam body  55  (cam face for the leaf switches), the ice detecting switch  71 , the main switch  72 , the water-supply switch  73 , the circuit board  70  and the like are disposed in the second space  47  which is structured with the outer case  43  and the base plate  42 . Further, the base plate  42  is formed with the through hole  421 . However, the large diameter part  553  formed in a cylindrical shape of the rotary cam body  55  is fitted to the through hole  421  and thus a space formed with the through hole  421  is substantially closed. The base plate  42  is formed with slits  425  but flat plate-shaped terminals  5   b  (power supply member) which are extended toward the outer case  43  from the upper face of the motor  5  are fitted in the slits  425 . Therefore, the first space  46  and the second space  47  are substantially separated form each other by the base plate  42 . Accordingly, even when the ice tray  21  (ice making unit  2 ) is abutted with a side face of the first space  46  (side face of the inner case  41 ), a rapid temperature variation is not occurred in the second space  47  and thus dew formation does not occur. 
     A bottom plate part of the outer case  43  shown in  FIG. 12  is formed with a rib  431  (second partition wall) whose height is slightly lower than that of the outer wall  435 . Therefore, when the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  are superposed on each other, the inside of the second space  47  is further partitioned into two spaces (first inner side small space  471  and second outer side small space  472 ) and the first inner side small space  471  is separated from a surrounding portion by the rib  431  and the outer wall  435 . Further, the rib  431  includes a facing portion  431   a  which faces the outer wall  435  of the outer case  43  to doubly surround the first inner side small space  471 . 
     In accordance with this embodiment, the upper half portion of the rotary cam body  55 , the ice detecting switch  71 , the main switch  72 , the water-supply switch  73 , the circuit board  70  and the like are disposed in the first inner side small space  471  and, on the contrary, the input lever  790  whose operation part  793  is required to be extended outside and the like are disposed in the second outer side small space  472 . In addition, when the ice tray  21  is abutted with the side face of the inner case  41 , the ice tray  21  is located at a position corresponding to the side of the second outer side small space  472  and the first inner side small space  471  is located at a position corresponding to a portion apart from the ice tray  21  (heater  26 ) than the second outer side small space  472 . Accordingly, dew formation in the first inner side small space  471  in the inside of the second space  47 , where the ice detecting switch  71 , the main switch  72 , the water-supply switch  73 , the circuit board  70  and the like are disposed, can be surely prevented. 
     In accordance with the embodiment as described above, above-mentioned double dew formation countermeasures are provided in the first inner small space  471  where the ice detecting switch  71 , the main switch  72 , the water-supply switch  73  and the circuit board  70  are disposed. Therefore, even when variation of temperature occurs outside, dew is not formed in the first inner side small space  471  and thus malfunction due to freezing does not occur even when an inexpensive leaf switch is used for the ice detecting switch  71 , the main switch  72  and the water-supply switch  73 . 
     A water supply amount adjust mechanism for adjusting “ON” and “OFF” timing of the water supply switch  73  may be structured as described below with reference to  FIG. 13(A)  through  FIG. 16(C) . A basic structure of this embodiment is similar to the ice making device which is described with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 12 . Therefore, the same notational symbols are used in common portions and their descriptions are omitted. 
       FIG. 13(A)  is an explanatory view showing an ice making device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention which is viewed from a case body side.  FIG. 13(B)  is an explanatory view showing the ice making device in which an outer case is detached.  FIG. 14(A)  is an explanatory view showing a water supply amount adjust mechanism which is structured in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 13(B)  in a state that an external operation is not performed, and  FIG. 14(B)  is an explanatory view showing the water supply amount adjust mechanism when an external operation is performed.  FIG. 15(A)  is an explanatory perspective view showing a support structure of a pinion member of an operation member which is used in the water supply amount adjust mechanism structured in the ice making device shown in  FIG. 13(B) , and  FIG. 15(B)  is a perspective view showing the pinion member which is viewed from an obliquely lower side.  FIG. 16(A)  is a plan view showing a pinion member of an operation member used in a water supply amount adjust mechanism in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 16(B)  is its side view and  FIG. 16(C)  is its cross-sectional view. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 13(A) ,  13 (B),  14 (A) and  15  (A), in an ice making device in this embodiment, a water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  for adjusting “ON” and “OFF” timing of the water supply switch  73  is structured in the inside of the case body  4  by utilizing a space between the outer case  43  and the base plate  42 . In the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  in this embodiment, an operation member  78  for adjusting a position of the leaf contact piece  732  includes a pinion member  76 , which is rotatably supported by a support shaft  426  stood up from the base plate  42 , and a lever-shaped transmitting member  77  which is provided with a rack-shaped teeth part  770  engaging with outer teeth  760  of the pinion member  76 . The transmitting member  77  transmits an external operation applied to the pinion member  76  to the leaf contact piece  732 . 
     The water supply switch  73  and the operation member  78  (pinion member  76  and transmitting member  77 ) are disposed in the case body  4 . The outer case  43  is formed with a circular aperture  430  at a position overlapping with an upper end face  765  of a head part  764  of the pinion member  76 . Therefore, the upper end face  765  of the head part  764  of the pinion member  76  is exposed outside through the circular aperture  430 . A groove  766  is formed on the upper end face  765  of the head part  764 . The transmitting member  77  is provided with a cylindrical part  791  into which a support shaft protruded from the base plate  42  is fitted and a pawl part  792  abutting with the tip end part of the leaf contact piece  732 . 
     Therefore, in the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79 , when a minus screwdriver (not shown) or the like is inserted from outside of the outer case  43  into the groove  766  formed on the head part  764  of the pinion member  76  and turned, the pinion member  76  is also turned. As a result, the transmitting member  77  is, as shown by the arrows “G 1 ” or “G 2 ”, turned around the cylindrical part  791  to cause a position of the pawl part  792  to change. Therefore, when the transmitting member  77  is turned in a direction as shown by the arrow “G 1 ”, the tip end side of the leaf contact piece  732  is resiliently bent in a direction which is separated from the leaf contact piece  731  and thus a timing when the water supply switch  73  is changed to “ON” from “OFF” becomes late and a timing changed from “ON” to “OFF” becomes early. Accordingly, a water supply time period from the water-supply part  22  to the ice tray  21  which is described with reference to  FIG. 1  is shortened and thus an amount of water supply to the ice tray  21  is decreased to make smaller ice pieces. On the other hand, when the transmitting member  77  is turned in a direction shown by the arrow “G 2 ”, the tip end side of the leaf contact piece  732  is resiliently bent in a direction coming close to the leaf contact piece  731  and thus a timing when the water supply switch  73  is changed to “ON” from “OFF” becomes early and a timing changed from “ON” to “OFF” becomes late. As a result, a water supply time period from the water-supply part  22  to the ice tray  21  becomes longer and thus an amount of water supply to the ice tray  21  is increased to make larger ice pieces. 
     In order to structure the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  as described above, the base plate  42  is formed with a ring-shaped projection  427  circumferentially formed around the support shaft  426  and a circular arc-shaped projection  428  between the support shaft  426  and the ring-shaped annular projection  427 . The ring-shaped projection  427  and the circular arc-shaped projection  428  are concentrically formed with the support shaft  426 . The circular arc-shaped projection  428  is formed in an angular range of about 90 degrees around the support shaft  426 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 14(A) through 16(C) , the pinion member  76  includes a circular plate part  761  having a large diameter, a middle diameter part  762  having a smaller diameter than the circular plate part  761 , a small diameter part  763  having a smaller diameter than the middle diameter part  762 , and the head part  764  having smaller diameter than the small diameter part  763  in this order upward from a lower end side. The pinion member  76  is formed with a bottomed shaft hole  76   a  into which the support shaft  426  of the base plate  42  is fitted and which is extended in an axial line direction “L”. Outer teeth  760  are formed on an outer peripheral face of the middle diameter part  762 . A plurality of triangular teeth  767  is formed on an upper face of the small diameter part  763  so as to extend in a radial direction as an engagement portion for structuring a lock mechanism  78   a  described below. 
     The circular plate part  761  is formed with two circular arc-shaped opening parts  761   a  across the shaft hole  76   a  so that arm parts  761   b  are formed left. The arc-shaped opening part  761   a  is penetrated through the circular plate part  761 . Therefore, the middle diameter part  762 , the small diameter part  763  and the head part  764  of the pinion member  76 , which are located on an inner side of the circular arc-shaped opening parts  761   a , are structured as a movable part  76   c  which is capable of being displaced to one side “L 1 ” in the axial line direction “L” with respect to a circular ring frame portion  76   d  which is located on an outer side of the circular arc-shaped opening parts  761   a  of the circular plate part  761  when the head part  764  is pressed to the one side “L 1 ” in the axial line direction “L”. 
     A lower end face of the circular ring frame portion  76   d  of the circular plate part  761  is formed with two support projection  769  across the shaft holes  76   a . A circular arc-shaped projection  768  is formed on an inner side of the circular arc-shaped opening parts  761   a  in an angular range of about 90° around the shaft hole  76   a . The support projections  769  are formed at an angular position of 90° shifted in a circumferential direction from the arm parts  761   b.    
     A cylindrical part  436  protruding toward the pinion member  76  is formed at a portion of the circular aperture  430  of the outer case  43 . A plurality of triangular teeth  437  extending in a radial direction is formed on an end face of the cylindrical part  436  as an engagement portion for structuring a lock mechanism  78   a  described below. A pitch of the teeth  437  in the circumferential direction is equal to that of the triangular teeth  767  which are formed on the pinion member  76 . Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 14(   a ), the triangular teeth  437  of the outer case  43  and the triangular teeth  767  of the pinion member  76  are engaged with each other to structure a lock mechanism  78   a  for preventing the pinion member  76  from turning. In accordance with an embodiment, the pinion member  76  is assembled under a state that the movable part  76 C has been resiliently bent. Therefore, a return force is generated in the “L 2 ” direction and thus the lock mechanism is structured such that the pinion member  76  is surely engaged with the engagement portion of the outer case  43 . As described above, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the pinion member  76  is disposed between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  in a state that the movable part  76   c  is displaced on the downward side and the movable part  76   c  is urged upward by the shape return force of the pinion member  76 . Therefore, the upper face of the small diameter part  763  of the pinion member  76  on which the teeth  767  are formed is urged to the end face of the cylindrical part  436  of the outer case  43  on which the teeth  437  are formed. Accordingly, even when vibration or the like is applied, unless the head part  764  is pressed by an external force, the teeth  437  of the outer case  43  and the teeth  767  of the pinion member  76  are maintained to be engaged with each other and thus the turning of the pinion member  76  is prevented. 
     In order to assemble the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  by utilizing the operation member  78  which is structured as described above, the transmitting member  77  is mounted on the base plate  42  and the support shaft  426  of the base plate  42  is fitted into the shaft hole  76   a  of the pinion member  76 . As a result, the outer teeth  760  of the pinion member  76  and the teeth part  770  of the transmitting member  77  are engaged with each other. The support projections  769  of the pinion member  76  are abutted with the upper face of the ring-shaped projection  427  of the base plate  42  and the circular arc-shaped projection  768  of the pinion member  76  is disposed at a position shifted from the circular arc-shaped projection  428  of the base plate  42 . In this state, when the outer case  43  is attached so as to cover the base plate  42 , the end face of the cylindrical part  436  of the outer case  43  presses the upper face of the small diameter part  763  of the pinion member  76 . As a result, the pinion member  76  is disposed between the base plate  42  and the outer case  43  in a state that the movable part  76   c  is displaced downward. Therefore, the upper face of the small diameter part  763  of the pinion member  76  on which the teeth  767  are formed is urged to the end face of the cylindrical part  436  of the outer case  43  on which the teeth  437  is formed by the shape return force of the pinion member  76 . Accordingly, the triangular teeth  437  of the outer case  43  and the triangular teeth  767  of the pinion member  76  are engaged with each other and the lock mechanism  78   a  prevents the pinion member  76  from turning. 
     In order to adjust amount of water supply in this state, a minus screwdriver is inserted to the groove  766  of the pinion member  76  from outside of the outer case  43  and presses the head part  764  of the pinion member  76 . As a result, as shown in  FIG. 14(B) , the pinion member  76  is displaced to the one side “L 1 ” in the axial line direction “L” and the lock mechanism  78   a  is disengaged. In other words, when the head part  764  of the pinion member  76  is pressed, the arm parts  761   d  are resiliently bent to displace the movable part  76   c  to the one side “L 1 ” in the axial line direction “L”. Therefore, in the lock mechanism  78   a , engagement of the triangular teeth  437  of the outer case  43  with the triangular teeth  767  of the pinion member  76  is released. In this state, since turning of the pinion member  76  is permitted, the pinion member  76  is turned by a minus screwdriver and turning of the pinion member  76  is transmitted to the leaf contact piece  732  through the transmitting member  77 . In this case, turning range of the pinion member  76  is limited to 90° because the circular arc-shaped projection  768  of the pinion member  76  is abutted with the circular arc-shaped projection  428  of the base plate  42 . Therefore, the leaf contact piece  732  is not excessively deformed. 
     After amount of water supply has been adjusted as described above, the minus screwdriver is disengaged. As a result, the movable part  76   c  of the pinion member  76  is displaced to the other side “L 2 ” in the axial line direction “L” by shape return forces of the arm parts  761   d . Therefore, the triangular teeth  437  of the outer case  43  and the triangular teeth  767  of the pinion member  76  are engaged with each other and turning of the pinion member  76  is prevented. 
     According to the water supply amount adjust mechanism  79  as described above, a spaced distance between the leaf contact pieces  731  and  732  can be adjusted only by deforming the tip end side of the leaf contact piece  732  to change its position and thus timings when the water-supply switch  73  is turned “ON” or “OFF” can be adjusted. Therefore, amount of water (size of an ice piece) supplied to the ice tray  21  can be easily adjusted from the outside. 
     Further, the water supply switch  73  and the entire operation member  78  are accommodated within the inside of the case body  4  and the operation member  78  is not protruded outside from the case body  4 . Therefore, the size of the ice making device  1  can be reduced. 
     Further, the lock mechanism  78   a  is structured to prevent the operation member  78  from displacing during a period except when an external operation is performed. Therefore, the operation member  78  is not mistakenly operated. In addition, in order to structure the lock mechanism  78   a , a part of the pinion member  76  is structured as the movable part  76   c  which is capable of being displaced. Therefore, the lock mechanism  78   a  is structured with a reduced number of parts. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the lock mechanism  78   a  to the operation member  78  may be structured such that the entire pinion member  76  is moved in the axial line direction “L” to prevent the operation member  78  from turning and to permit the operation member  78  to turn. Further, the lock mechanism  78   a  to the operation member  78  may be structured such that displacement of the transmitting member  77  is permitted and prevented. 
     While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. 
     The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.