Patent ID: 7010933

Claim:
An ice-making mechanism of an ice-making machine which is adapted so that ice-making water stored within an ice-making water tank disposed below an ice-making unit cooled by an evaporating pipe is supplied to said ice-making unit via a pump motor and so that the ice-making water not becoming iced in said ice-making unit is collected into said ice-making water tank and recirculated, wherein: said ice-making water tank comprises a circulating tank section to which said pump motor connects, and a retention tank section set to a capacity greater than that of said circulating tank section, wherein said circulating tank section and said retention tank section communicate with each other; and guide means is provided above said ice-making water tank, said guide means guiding only to said circulating tank section the ice-making water un-iced in said ice-making unit, said ice-making mechanism being characterized in that: a suction port of said pump motor is provided in a vicinity of a deepest bottom section of said circulating tank section, said suction port being connected to said pump motor; supply of ice-making water to said ice-making water tank is performed to said retention tank section when an amount of ice-making water inside said circulating tank section is reduced; and ice-making water supplied to said retention tank section is then supplied to said circulating tank section.