Patent Publication Number: US-8528357-B2

Title: Ice-making machine with ice storage bin

Description:
This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/JP2009/055441, filed 19 Mar. 2009, which designated the U.S. and claims priority to Japanese Application No. 2008-092329, filed 31 Mar. 2008, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an ice-making machine equipped with an ice storage bin. 
     RELATED ART 
     In patent documents listed below, there has been disclosed an ice-making machine wherein an ice storage bin is provided for storing a large amount of ice cubes supplied from an ice-making mechanism and wherein a freezing unit is installed in a machine compartment formed under the front bottom portion of the storage bin to supply liquid refrigerant into the ice-making mechanism for freezing ice-making water supplied thereto. The ice-making machine is installed in an appropriate place in such a manner that the back portion of the machine is positioned along a side wall of the installation place and that an opening for scooping ice cubes out of the storage bin is formed at the front of the machine housing.
     Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Hei 11(1999)-148753   Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Hei 11(1999)-173718   

     In the ice-making machine of the type described above, the cooling air for the freezing unit is introduced from one side of the front of the machine housing and exhausted from the other side of the front of the machine housing after having cooled the freezing unit. Due to such arrangement of the cooling air passage, the space of the machine compartment would be limited if the capacity of the ice storage bin was formed as large as possible. This causes difficulty in installation of the component parts of the freezing unit such as a compressor, a condenser, a cooling fan, etc. and is troublesome in assembly of the freezing unit in the machine compartment and inspection of the freezing unit for maintenance. 
     In use of the ice-making machine, a user will suffer from unpleasant noises caused by operation of the compressor and cooling fan in the freezing unit installed at the front of the machine housing when approaching to scoop ice cubes out of the storage bin. As the machine compartment for installation of the freezing unit is formed under the front bottom of the ice storage bin, it is difficult to scoop ice cubes out of a deep portion of the storage bin. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     To solve such problems, the present exemplary embodiment is directed to provide an ice-making machine which comprises a box-shaped lower housing provided therein with an ice storage bin, a box-shaped upper housing mounted on a rear portion of the lower housing, an ice-making mechanism assembled within the front portion of a machine compartment formed in the upper housing, and a freezing unit installed behind the ice-making mechanism for supplying liquid refrigerant to the ice-making mechanism, wherein an open-and-close lid is mounted on an opening formed between the lower end of the front face of the upper housing and the upper end of the front face of the lower housing, and wherein an air-intake passage is formed to cause outside air introduced from the front face of the lower housing to flow as cooling air into the machine compartment along inner surfaces of one side wall and the rear wall of the lower housing, and an air discharge passage is formed to cause the air after cooling to flow outward along inner surfaces of the rear wall and the other side wall of the lower housing and discharge to the exterior from the front face of the lower housing. 
     In a practical embodiment of the present invention, the open-and-close lid may be in the form of a lid pivotally mounted at its rear end on the front lower end of the upper housing to be moved up and down for opening and closing the ice storage bin. Alternatively, the open-and-close lid may be in the form of a slide lid mounted at the front lower end of the upper housing for slide movement in a lateral direction to open and close the ice storage bin. In necessity, an air inlet may be formed in a side wall of the lower housing for communication with the air-intake passage. Additionally, an air outlet may be formed in the rear wall of the lower housing for communication with the air discharge passage. 
     When the cooling fan of the freezing unit is driven in activation of the ice-making machine, the outside air introduced into the air intake passage from the front of the lower housing flows into one side of the machine compartment along an outer surface of the side wall of the ice storage bin for cooling the component parts of the freezing unit. The air after cooling the component parts of the freezing unit is discharged from the other side of the machine compartment into the air discharge passage and flows outward along the other side wall of the ice storage bin. Finally, the air is exhausted to the exterior from the outlet of the air discharge passage located at the front of the lower housing. With such introduction and discharge of the cooling air, the component parts of the freezing unit in the machine compartment are efficiently cooled. 
     As the air-intake passage and discharge passage are opened at the front of the lower housing, the ice-making machine can be installed closely along a side wall behind thereof or can be installed in a deep space under a service counter. In a condition where the ice-making machine has been installed at a desired place, the freezing unit is located behind the ice-making mechanism and apart from a user approaching the ice storage bin to take out ice cubes. Accordingly, the noises affecting the user are decreased by a noise-block effect of the ice-making mechanism. As the ice-making mechanism and the freezing unit are installed in the machine compartment completely separated from the ice storage bin in the lower housing, the assembly and inspection for maintenance of the component parts can be easily carried out. 
     It is also advantageous that the ice storage bin can be formed in a desired capacity without any restriction in relation to the arrangement of the ice-making mechanism and the freezing unit. For example, the ice storage bin may be formed at its bottom with a recessed portion in a front-to-rear direction to facilitate takeout of a small amount of ice cubes remaining in the bottom. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an ice-making machine looking from the right-hand front in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the ice-making machine in a condition where a top plate was removed; 
         FIG. 3  is a right-hand view of the ice-making machine in a condition where a right-hand panel was removed; 
         FIG. 4  is a left-hand view of the ice-making machine in a condition where a left-hand panel was removed; and 
         FIG. 5  is a rear view of the ice-making machine in a condition where a back panel was removed. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an ice-making machine according to the present invention will be described with the drawings. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a housing body  10  of the ice-making machine is composed of a lower housing  10   a  in the form of a square box opened upward and an upper housing  10   b  in the form of a box mounted on an upper periphery of the lower housing and opened downward. As shown in  FIG. 3 , an ice storage bin  10   d  is provided within the interior of lower housing  10   a , and a machine compartment  10   e  is formed in the interior of upper housing  10   b . The front panel  12   a  of upper housing  10   b  is spaced backward from the front panel  11   a  of lower housing  10   a . A rectangular opening  10   c  of the ice storage bin is laterally formed between the lower end of front panel  12   a  and the upper end of front panel  11   a.    
     The rectangular opening  10   c  is located above the front portion of ice storage bin  10   d  for takeout of ice cubes stored in the storage bin, and a rectangular lid  13  is pivoted at its rear end to the lower end of front panel  12   a  of upper housing  10   b  to be moved up and down for opening and closing the ice storage bin. 
     In the housing body  10  shown in  FIG. 1 , left-hand and right-hand panels  11   b  of lower housing  10   a  are assembled with left-hand and right-hand panels  12   b  of upper housing  10   b  in a common surface. Similarly, the back panel  11   c  of lower housing  10   a  is assembled with the back panel  12   c  of upper housing  10   b  in a common surface. A first louver  11   e  is detachably fitted to a lateral opening between the front panel  11   a  of lower housing  10   a  and the front end of a bottom plate  11   d . A second louver  12   e  is detachably fitted to an opening between the right-hand panel  12   b  of upper housing  10   b  and a top plate  12   d , and a third louver  11   f  is detachably fitted to the back panel  11   c  of lower housing  10   a . (see  FIG. 5 ) 
     The ice storage bin  10   d  provided within the lower housing  10   a  is in the form of a square box opened upward and formed at its bottom with a recessed portion  10   d   1  in a front-to-rear direction. As shown in  FIG. 3 , an air intake passage P 1  is formed at the right-hand of ice storage bin  10   d  by means of a space between the right-hand wall of ice storage bin and an inner surface of the right-hand panel  11   b  of lower housing  10   a  and a space between the rear wall of ice storage bin  10   d  and an inner surface of the back panel  11   c  of lower housing  10   a . The air intake passage P 1  opens toward the right-hand of first louver  11   e  at its front end and opens toward the right-hand bottom  14   a  of the machine compartment  10   e  at its upper end. The air intake passage P 1  may be opened toward the second louver  12   e  at its intermediate portion. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , an air discharge passage P 2  is formed at the left-hand of ice storage bin  10   d  by means of a space between the left-hand wall of ice storage bin  10   d  and an inner surface of the left-hand panel  11   b  of lower housing  10   a  and a space between the back wall of ice storage bin  10   d  and an inner surface of the back panel  11   c  of lower housing  10   a . The air discharge passage P 2  opens toward the left-hand of first louver  11   e  at its front end and opens toward the left-hand bottom  14   b  of the machine compartment  10   e  at its upper end. The air discharge passage P 2  may be opened toward the third louver  11   f  at its intermediate portion. 
     In the machine compartment  10   e  formed in the upper housing  10   b , an ice-making mechanism  20  is installed at the front of machine compartment  10   e  in a condition housed in a casing, and a freezing unit  30  is installed behind the ice-making mechanism  20 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the freezing unit  30  includes a compressor  31 , a condenser  32  and a cooling fan  33  as main component parts thereof. The compressor  31 , condenser  32  and cooling fan  33  are arranged in sequence from the right-hand between the opening  14   a  of air intake passage P 1  and the opening  14   b  of air discharge passage P 2  located at the bottom of machine compartment  10   e . In such arrangement of the component parts of freezing unit  30 , the compressor  31  is positioned at one side of the opening  14   a  of air intake passage P 1 , and the cooling fan  33  is positioned at one side of the opening  14   b  of air discharge passage P 2 . In  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the reference numeral  21  designates a water pump for supplying water to an ice-making plate of ice-making mechanism  20 . 
     When the ice-making machine is started by activation of the ice-making mechanism  20  and freezing unit  30 , ice cubes produced at the ice-making mechanism  20  are stored in the ice storage bin  10   d , while the cooling fan  33  is operated to introduce the outside air into the air intake passage P 1 . The outside air is supplied as cooling air into the interior of machine compartment  10   e  and exhausted to the exterior through the air discharge passage P 2 . In such an instance, the outside air is also introduced into the intermediate portion of air intake passage P 1  through the second louver  12   e  fitted to the right-hand panel  12   b  of upper housing  10   b , and the air flowing through the discharge passage P 2  after cooled the machine compartment  10   e  is exhausted through the third louver  11   f  fitted to the back panel  11   c  of lower housing  10   a . Thus, the freezing unit  30  is efficiently cooled by the air flowing around the ice storage bin  10   d , and ice cubes stored in the ice storage bin  10   d  can be scooped out when the lid is opened by a user. 
     As the freezing unit  30  in the ice-making machine is installed behind the ice-making mechanism  20  and apart from the front of the housing body  10 , its use will not cause suffering from unpleasant noises caused by operation of the freezing unit when the lid is opened to scoop ice cubes out of the ice storage bin. The ice-making mechanism  20  and freezing unit  30  installed in the machine compartment  10   e  can be easily inspected for maintenance. As the ice storage bin  10   d  can be enlarged in a flat condition without being formed downwardly deep at its bottom, a small amount of ice cubes remaining in the bottom of storage bin  10   d  can be easily scooped out. In the ice-making machine, it is also advantageous that the recessed portion  10   d   1  formed at the center of the flat bottom of ice storage bin  10   d  is useful to facilitate takeout of a small amount of remaining ice cubes. As the upper housing  10   b  is mounted on the rear portion of lower housing  10   a  for installation of the ice-making mechanism  20  and freezing unit  30  therein, the opening  10   c  of ice storage bin  10   d  can be enlarged to facilitate takeout of ice cubes. 
     As the air intake passage P 1  and air discharge passage P 2  are opened at the front of lower housing  10   a , the ice-making machine can be positioned closely along a side wall behind a desired installation place or installed in a deep space under an appropriate service counter. 
     REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     
         
         
           
               10  . . . Housing body,  10   a  . . . Lower housing,  10   b  . . . Upper housing,  10   c  . . . Ice takeout opening,  10   d  . . . Ice storage bin,  10   d   1  . . . Recessed portion,  10   e  . . . Machine compartment,  11   a  . . . Front panel of lower housing,  11   b  . . . Left-hand and right-hand panels of lower housing,  11   c  . . . Back panel of lower housing,  11   d  . . . Bottom plate of lower housing,  11   e  . . . Front louver of lower housing,  11   f  . . . Back louver of lower housing,  12   a  . . . Front panel of upper housing,  12   b  . . . Left-hand and right-hand panels of upper housing,  12   c  . . . Back panel of upper housing,  12   d  . . . Top plate of upper housing,  12   e  . . . Side louver of top housing,  13  . . . Open-and-close lid,  20  . . . Ice-making mechanism,  21  . . . Water pump,  30  . . . Freezing unit,  31  . . . Compressor,  32  . . . Condenser,  33  . . . Cooling fan, P 1  . . . Air intake passage, P 2  . . . Air discharge passage.