Patent ID: 6938428

Claim:
An ice tray driving device of an automatic ice-making machine comprising: first and second output gears for turning first and second ice trays to perform an ice separating operation, respectively: a driving gear for rotating the first and second output gears; and a mesh start section for starting meshing of the first output gear with the driving gear when the driving gear rotates from a reference position in one direction, and for starting meshing of the second output gear with the driving gear when the driving gear rotates from the reference position in the other direction, each of positions of the first and second output gears and the driving gear provided when the first and second ice trays lie in horizontal states being set as each reference position, wherein the mesh start section includes a first raised tooth formed by projecting at least one tooth of the first output gear in the tooth width direction, a second raised tooth formed by projecting at least one tooth of the second output gear in the tooth width direction, a column section axially adjacent to the driving gear, a recessed tooth disposed in the column section and formed so as to mesh with the first and second raised teeth, and a slide member that blocks the recessed tooth in the column section at a predetermined position, and, when the driving gear rotates, rotates together with the column section by a predetermined angle and then slide-contacts with the column section, wherein the slide member keeps blockage of the recessed tooth with respect to the second raised tooth when the driving gear rotates the first output gear, and keeps blockage of the recessed tooth with respect to the first raised tooth when the driving gear rotates the second output gear.