PUMP MOTOR MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR ICE MAKING MACHINE

Abstract

The object is to prevent decrease in efficiency in making ice, penetration of dust into an ice making chamber, and the like and also simplify operation of taking in and out an ice making water tank. A tank housing area 30 is provided from an ice making chamber across a machine chamber 12, and an ice making water tank T is housed, allowing it to be drawn out, in the tank housing area 30. A motor mounting member 36 sectioning the machine chamber 12 and the tank housing area 30 is detachably placed on an upper end placement portion 32B of a partition wall 32 sectioning the machine chamber 12 and the tank housing area 30. A pump motor PM is mounted on a side of the motor mounting member 36 facing the machine chamber 12, and a pump WP is mounted on a side of the motor mounting member 36 facing the tank housing area 30. The motor mounting member 36 is supported from below by motor support pieces 74 provided in the ice making water tank T.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine, and more particularly to a pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine provided with an ice making water tank housed in a tank housing area, allowing it to be drawn out of the machine, and a pump motor actuating a pump that supplies ice making water in the ice making water tank to an ice making unit.

BACKGROUND ART

Ice making machines have an ice making machine main body sectionally formed of an ice making chamber and a machine chamber therein, and an evaporator configuring a freezing mechanism and an ice making mechanism composed of an ice making unit and the like are disposed in the ice making chamber, while a compressor, a condenser, and the like configuring the freezing mechanism are disposed in the machine chamber. A tank housing area is provided in a lower portion of the ice making chamber or from the lower portion of the ice making chamber across a lower portion of the machine chamber and is configured to house an ice making water tank, allowing it to be drawn out, in the tank housing area. Further, a pump motor that actuates a pump supplying ice making water in the ice making water tank to the ice making unit disposed in the ice making chamber is disposed at a required position above the ice making water tank. The ice making water in the ice making water tank is supplied to the ice making unit by the pump actuated by the pump motor and is made into ice in the ice making unit, and the ice making water failed to be frozen in the ice making unit falls down into the ice making water tank to be collected temporarily, before supplied again to the ice making unit. Pump motor mounting structures for such an ice making machine are disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2.

• Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent [Kohyo] Publication No. 2006-519974
• Patent Document 2: WO 00/70278

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

The ice making machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a storage tank (ice making water tank) being attached detachably at a lower portion of an ice making chamber, and a pump supplying ice making water in the storage tank to an ice making unit and a pump motor being mounted on a wall in the back in the ice making chamber. Such a pump motor mounting structure requires removing the pump and the pump motor from the wall and also lifting them up for drawing the storage tank out of the machine, and the problem of difficulty in the operation of detaching the storage tank is inherent. Further, since it requires securing a space above the pump motor enabling the pump and the pump motor to be moved upward, the ice making mechanism is limited in the layout and there is also a problem of causing an obstacle to downsizing of the ice making machine. Further, since moisture, chlorine, and the like generated during the evaporation of the ice making water adhere to the pump motor, the pump motor easily corrodes or fails, which is also a disadvantage.

Further, the flow-down type ice making machine disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a water storage tank (ice making water tank) drawably housed in a tank housing area provided from a lower portion of an ice making chamber across a lower portion of a machine chamber, and has a structure of disposing a pump, a pump motor, a float switch, and the like in a region of the water storage tank facing the machine chamber. In such a pump motor mounting structure, the pump, the pump motor, the float switch, and the like are drawn out integrally with the water storage tank when drawing the water storage tank out of the machine. Further, since the pump motor is positioned on the side of the machine chamber, it has an advantage of hardly generating corrosion of the pump motor. However, since it has a structure of applying the weight of the pump, the pump motor, the float switch, and the like to the water storage tank all the time, there is a fear of deforming the water storage tank during a period of use. Further, since it has a structure of sectioning the ice making chamber and the machine chamber by a close contact between the water storage tank and a partition wall, a gap is created between the water storage tank and the partition wall, if the water storage tank is deformed as described above, causing inconveniences, such as decrease of efficiency in making ice due to cold air leakage and penetration of dust into the ice making chamber.

Thus, in view of the aforementioned problems inherent in the conventional technique, the present invention is proposed to solve them suitably, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine that prevents the decrease of the efficiency in making ice, the penetration of dust into the ice making chamber, and the like and also is improved in the maintenance property by simplifying operation of taking the ice making water tank in and out.

Means for Solving the Problem

In order to solve the above problems and to achieve the given objects, the invention according to claim 1 is summarized in that a pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine, includes: an ice making water tank housed in a tank housing area provided, allowing it to be drawn out of the machine, across an ice making chamber and a machine chamber defined by sandwiching a wall; and a pump motor coupled to a pump supplying ice making water in the ice making water tank to an ice making unit in the ice making chamber,

wherein a motor mounting member sectioning the machine chamber and the tank housing area is detachably placed on an upper end placement portion of a partition wall provided in the machine chamber and sectioning the tank housing area, and

the pump motor is mounted on a side of the motor mounting member facing the machine chamber and also the pump is mounted on a side of the motor mounting member facing the tank housing area to face the inside of the ice making water tank housed in the tank housing area.

Effect of the Invention

According to the pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the decrease of the efficiency in making ice, the penetration of dust into the ice making chamber, and the like and also improve the maintenance property by simplifying the operation of taking the ice making water tank in and out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a state of an ice making water tank drawn out of a tank housing area provided in lower portions of an ice making chamber and a machine chamber.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a state of the ice making water tank housed in the tank housing area.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a motor mounting member with a pump motor mounted therein and pump support pieces provided in the ice making water tank.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along the line IV-IV thereof.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating a state of the motor mounting member placed on the ice making water tank drawn out of the tank housing area by sectioning along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the motor mounting member formed integrally with a door member.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating another example of a motor mounting member formed integrally with a door member.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating another example of a door member formed integrally with a motor mounting member.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of an upper end placement portion on which the motor mounting member is placed.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, a description is given below to a pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine according to the present invention by way of preferred embodiments referring to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is intended to be applied to all such ice making machines that have an ice making machine main body sectionally formed therein of an ice making chamber and a machine chamber adjacent to the ice making chamber, and are provided with an ice making water tank housed in a tank housing area provided from a lower portion of the ice making chamber across a lower portion of the machine chamber, allowing it to be drawn out of the machine, and a pump motor coupled to a pump that supplies ice making water in the ice making water tank to an ice making unit. Thus, in the embodiments, a description is given only to the regions relating to the pump motor mounting structure and, since frames and each panel of an ice making machine main body, a freezing mechanism, an ice making unit, and the like are differently configured for each ice making machine, descriptions and illustrations for them are omitted. In the embodiments, the direction in which the ice making water tank is drawn out (lower portion of FIG. 1) is defined as a foreside of the ice making machine, the left front seen from the foreside as a left of the ice making machine, and the right front as a right of the ice making machine.

Embodiments

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an ice making chamber 10 and a machine chamber 12 defined by sandwiching a right wall (wall) 16 described later in an ice making machine main body of an ice making machine by omitting the ice making machine main body, a freezing mechanism, and the like. In the ice making chamber 10, an evaporator configuring the freezing mechanism and an ice making mechanism composed of an ice making unit and the like, for example, are disposed, and in the machine chamber 12, a compressor, a condenser, and the like configuring the freezing mechanism are disposed. The ice making chamber 10 and the machine chamber 12 are sectioned, by a section bottom plate 14 configuring bottom portions of both chambers 10, 12, from an ice storage (not shown) sectioned below.

The ice making chamber 10 is, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, surrounded, on the surrounding four sides, by a right wall 16 positioned at the border with the machine chamber 12, a left wall 18 positioned on the left of the ice making chamber 10 opposed to the right wall 16, a rear wall 20 joined respectively to a rear end of the right wall 16 and a rear end of the left wall 18, and a fore wall 22 joined respectively to a fore end of the right wall 16 and a fore end of the left wall 18. The right wall 16, the left wall 18, and the rear wall 20 have respective lower ends fixed to the section bottom plate 14. The fore wall 22 has a height dimension established smaller than those of the left wall 18 and the right wall 16 in order to form a tank insertion slot 24, described later, below. An upper opening 26 is covered with an upper panel (not shown) configuring the ice making machine main body. The right wall 16, the left wall 18, the rear wall 20, the fore wall 22, and the upper panel have respective thermal insulators packaged therein, thereby allowing the ice making chamber 10 to be configured as a thermally insulating box.

The machine chamber 12 is sectioned by the right wall 16 from the ice making chamber 10, and is defined by a right side panel, a rear panel, a front panel, an upper panel, and the like configuring the ice making machine main body. A base plate 28 on which the compressor, the condenser, and the like, having a heavy weight, of the freezing mechanism are mounted is disposed on an upper face of the section bottom plate 14 at the side of the machine chamber 12.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a tank housing area 30 that houses an ice making water tank T, allowing it to be drawn out of the machine, is formed from the lower portion of the ice making chamber 10 across the lower portion of the machine chamber 12 adjacent to the ice making chamber 10. That is, the tank housing area 30 is composed of a first housing region 30A defined in the lower portion of the ice making chamber 10 by a first notch 16A provided at a lower foreside of the right wall 16 and a second housing region 30B defined at a lower foreside of the machine chamber 12 in spatial communication with the first housing region 30A, and assumes approximately an L shape in a plan view. Further, a second notch 28A that fits the tank housing area 30 is formed at a left foreside of the base plate 28. Thereby, the tank housing area 30 is defined such that the upper face of the section bottom plate 14 is set as a tank placement plane and is set to be flat having a height H.

The second housing region 30B of the tank housing area 30 and the machine chamber 12 are designed to be completely sectioned, as illustrated in FIG. 1, by a longitudinal partition wall (partition wall) 32 provided upright along the border between the tank housing area 30 and the machine chamber 12 and a motor mounting member 36 described later. The longitudinal partition wall 32 is an integrally formed component made of, for example, a synthetic resin, and has a lower end mounting piece 32A extending horizontally along the lower end edge, an upper end placement piece (upper end placement portion) 32B extending horizontally along the upper end edge, and a fore end mounting piece 32C bending to the right along the fore end edge. The lower end mounting piece 32A is served for mounting the longitudinal partition wall 32 on the base plate 28. The upper end placement portion 32B is served for mounting the motor mounting member 36 being placed thereon. The fore end mounting piece 32C is served for mounting a door member 48 described later. Additionally, a thermally insulating member, not shown, is attached on the longitudinal partition wall 32 to thermally insulate the ice making chamber 10 and the tank housing area 30.

The motor mounting member 36 is, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, an integrally formed component made of, for example, a synthetic resin, and is formed in a rectangular plate shape to cover an opening 34 that is formed by the right wall 16 and the longitudinal partition wall 32 and is in communication with the tank insertion slot 24 in a state of being placed on the upper end placement portion 32B of the longitudinal partition wall 32. Upon placing the motor mounting member 36 on the upper end placement portion 32B, the motor mounting member 36 is configured to abut the right wall 16 at the left side face thereof, enabling to seal the machine chamber 12 and the tank housing area 30. Further, the motor mounting member 36 is provided with, not only a motor installation area 38 in a rectangular frame shape for mounting a pump motor PM, but also a switch installation area 40 for a float switch (not shown), a pipe coupling portion 42 to which a water feed tube is coupled, and the like. On the motor installation area 38, an opening 44 is formed that allows the insertion of a pump WP (FIG. 6) coupled to the pump motor PM. Additionally, a thermally insulating member 46 is mounted on the upper face of the motor mounting member 36 in the region excluding the motor installation area 38 to thermally insulate the ice making chamber 10 and the tank housing area 30.

Further, the motor mounting member 36 is, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, provided with the door member 48 facing the tank insertion slot 24 that allows communication between the tank housing area 30 and the outside of the machine. The motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 are integrally formed in a state of bending approximately at a right angle. The door member 48 is positioned at the right of the tank insertion slot 24 when the ice making water tank T is housed in the tank housing area 30, and functions to thermally insulate the ice making chamber 10 and the tank housing area 30. Additionally, the door member 48 can also be formed in such a shape that can cover the entire opening region of the tank insertion slot 24.

The motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 are, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, separably fixed to the upper end placement portion 32B and the fore end mounting piece 32C of the longitudinal partition wall 32 by a first mounting screw (fixation means) S1 and a second mounting screw S2. That is, a first screw insertion hole 52 that fits a first threaded hole 50 formed at a corner of the upper end placement portion 32B is formed at the right rear corner of the motor mounting member 36. When the motor mounting member 36 is positioned appropriately, the first threaded hole 50 and the first screw insertion hole 52 fit each other, and by screwing the first mounting screw S1 into the first threaded hole 50 via the first screw insertion hole 52, the motor mounting member 36 is fixed in a state of being placed on the upper end placement portion 32B. Further, a second screw insertion hole 56 that fits a second threaded hole 54 formed at a lower end of the fore end mounting piece 32C is formed at the vertical center in the right end of the door member 48. As the door member 48 is positioned appropriately, the second threaded hole 54 and the second screw insertion hole 56 fit each other, and by screwing the second mounting screw S2 into the second threaded hole 54 via the second screw insertion hole 56, the door member 48 is fixed to the fore end mounting piece 32C of the longitudinal partition wall 32. Additionally, the motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 can be separated from the longitudinal partition wall 32 by respectively removing the first mounting screw S1 and the second mounting screw S2 screwed into the first screw insertion hole 52 and the second screw insertion hole 56 respectively.

In this embodiment, the pump motor PM coupled to the pump WP is configured to be mounted on the motor installation area 38 provided in the motor mounting member 36, as mentioned above and also illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5. That is, the pump motor PM is provided with a mounting plate 58 in a rectangular plate shape that fits the motor installation area 38 in a rectangular frame shape. At a fore end of the mounting plate 58, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, a third screw insertion hole 62 is formed that fits a third threaded hole 60 formed at a fore end of the motor installation area 38. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a latch claw 58A that is latched in a latch receiver 38A formed at a rear end of the motor installation area 38 is formed at a rear end of the mounting plate 58 in a state of projecting backward. Accordingly, under the condition where the pump WP is inserted from the upper face via the opening 44 and the latch claw 58A is latched in the latch receiver 38A while the mounting plate 58 is fitted to the motor installation area 38, a third mounting screw S3 is screwed into the third threaded hole 60 via the third screw insertion hole 62 fitted to the third threaded hole 60, thereby allowing the pump motor PM to be fixed to the motor mounting member 36 and also the opening 44 to be completely covered with the mounting plate 58.

Accordingly, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, when the motor mounting member 36 is fixed to the upper end placement portion 32B of the longitudinal partition wall 32, the pump motor PM is mounted on the upper face of the motor mounting member 36 facing a side of the machine chamber 12. Further, the pump WP is mounted on the lower face of the motor mounting member 36 facing a side of the tank housing area 30 so as to face the inside of the ice making water tank T housed in the tank housing area 30. That is, since the pump motor PM is positioned in the machine chamber 12 isolated from the ice making chamber 10 (tank housing area 30), the pump motor PM is configured not to be adhered by moisture, chlorine, and the like due to the evaporation of the ice making water in the ice making water tank T.

The ice making water tank T is, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, formed in a tray shape with a shape and a size capable of being fitted to and housed in the tank housing area 30 having the height H, and is composed of a first tank area T1 housed in the first housing region 30A and a second tank area T2 projecting to the right from the first tank area T1 and housed in the second housing region 30B. A bottom face of the ice making water tank T is inclined downwardly to the foreside and also downwardly to the right, and is deepest in a region at a right end of the second tank area T2. A horizontal rib 70 extending horizontally and outwardly is provided on the upper edge of the ice making water tank T extending across the entire circumference, and a vertical rib 72 projecting above is provided on the end edge of the horizontal rib 70 across the entire circumference along the horizontal rib 70 extendingly.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, motor support pieces 74 (motor support portions) that support the motor mounting member 36 from below when drawing out the ice making water tank T are provided in the second tank area T2, which is a region of the ice making water tank T facing the machine chamber 12. The motor support pieces 74 are ribs provided so as to project above from the upper face of the horizontal rib 70 spaced apart on the fore and rear sides, and in this embodiment, four of the motor support pieces 74 in total are disposed apart from each other in the direction of left and right and the direction of fore and rear. Each motor support piece 74 has, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a dimension of the projection height established in such a manner that the tip end thereof makes contact with the lower face of the motor mounting member 36 placed on the upper end placement portion 32B when the ice making water tank T is drawn out of the tank housing area 30. That is, the motor mounting member 36 having the pump motor PM mounted thereon is configured to be supported from below by each motor support piece 74 of the ice making water tank T housed in the tank housing area 30.

Operation of Embodiment

Next, a description is given to operation of an ice making machine according to this embodiment configured as described above.

When the ice making water tank T is housed in the tank housing area 30, the motor mounting member 36 with the pump WP and the pump motor PM mounted thereon is set from above to the second tank area T2 of the ice making water tank T. The pump WP and the pump motor PM are mounted on the motor mounting member 36 by the mounting plate 58 without backlash, and also the motor mounting member 36 is supported from below by each of the four motor support pieces 74 provided in the ice making water tank T and is stably placed on the ice making water tank T. Then, the pump WP coupled to the pump motor PM is in a state of being hung inside the ice making water tank T.

Then, the ice making water tank T having the motor mounting member 36 placed thereon on which the pump motor PM is mounted is pushed into the tank housing area 30 via the tank insertion slot 24 opened at the fore face of the ice making machine main body. Here, in the process of pushing the ice making water tank T into the tank housing area 30, the right end of the motor mounting member 36, which is placed on the ice making water tank T, slides while making contact with the upper face of the upper end placement portion 32B in the longitudinal partition wall 32. Then, as the ice making water tank T is housed completely in the tank housing area 30, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the rear end of the motor mounting member 36 overlaps the upper face of the upper end placement portion 32B in the longitudinal partition wall 32 and also the right end of the door member 48 abuts the fore face of the fore end mounting piece 32C in the longitudinal partition wall 32.

Then, the first threaded hole 50 and the first screw insertion hole 52 fit as the motor mounting member 36 is positioned relative to the longitudinal partition wall 32, and thus the motor mounting member 36 is fixed to the longitudinal partition wall 32 by screwing the first mounting screw S1 into the first threaded hole 50 via the first screw insertion hole 52. Further, the second threaded hole 54 and the second screw insertion hole 56 fit, and thus the door member 48 is fixed to the longitudinal partition wall 32 by screwing the second mounting screw S2 into the second threaded hole 54 via the second screw insertion hole 56. Thereby, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5, the motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 are mounted on the longitudinal partition wall 32 fixed to the base plate 28, and thus the tank housing area 30 and the machine chamber 12 are sectioned from each other appropriately, while the pump WP faces the inside of the ice making water tank T and also the pump motor PM faces the inside of the machine chamber 12. Additionally, as the motor mounting member 36 is placed on and fixed to the upper end placement portion 32B, the motor mounting member 36 abuts the right wall 16 at the left side face thereof, and thus the machine chamber 12 and the tank housing area 30 are sealed.

When the ice making water tank T is drawn out of the tank housing area 30, the first mounting screw S1 and the second mounting screw S2 are firstly removed, and subsequently the ice making water tank T is drawn out forwardly of the tank insertion slot 24. At this point, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, the motor mounting member 36 is supported by each motor support piece 74 of the ice making water tank T, and thus it moves horizontally and forwardly at the height where it is placed on the upper end placement portion 32B of the longitudinal partition wall 32 and transferred to the ice making water tank T. That is, the motor mounting member 36 with the pump motor PM mounted thereon is transferred to the ice making water tank T drawn out forwardly via the tank insertion slot 24, and thus the ice making water tank T can be drawn out without moving the pump WP and the pump motor PM upwardly.

In this way, the ice making machine according to this embodiment is sectioned into the tank housing area 30 (ice making chamber 10) and the machine chamber 12 by the motor mounting member 36 with the pump motor PM mounted thereon, which is coupled to the pump WP, and thus a wall sectioning the ice making chamber 10 and the machine chamber 12 can be partially omitted, so that it is possible to reduce the costs due to cutback in configuration members. Then, there is no gap defined between the machine chamber 12 and the tank housing area 30 because of the motor mounting member 36, and thus it is possible to prevent decrease in the efficiency in making ice and also possible to prevent penetration of dust into the tank housing area 30 and the ice making chamber 10. Further, the pump motor PM is mounted on the side of the machine chamber 12, and thus the moisture, chlorine, and the like due to the evaporation of the ice making water do not adhere to the pump motor PM, making it possible to suitably prevent generation of corrosion and failures of the pump motor PM caused by the adhesion.

Then, when the ice making water tank T is drawn out towards the foreside of the ice making machine, the motor mounting member 36 with the pump WP and the pump motor PM mounted thereon is moved in a state of being placed on the ice making water tank T together with the ice making water tank T, so that it is not required to lift the pump WP and the pump motor PM upward and the operation of drawing out the ice making water tank T can be carried out simply. Similarly, when the ice making water tank T is housed into the tank housing area 30, it is not required to lift the pump WP and the pump motor PM upward, and thus the operation of housing the ice making water tank T can also be carried out simply. Further, since it is not required to secure a space above the position of disposing the pump motor PM, the volume of the machine chamber 12 can be made smaller and also the degree of freedom in layout of accessory components disposed in the machine chamber 12 become greater.

Further, the motor mounting member 36 placed on the upper end placement portion 32B is fixed to the upper end placement portion 32B by the first mounting screw S1, and thus the motor mounting member 36 can be maintained in the appropriately mounted state even if vibrations are generated due to rotations of the pump motor PM and the pump WP. Further, since the motor mounting member 36 is provided with the door member 48 facing the tank insertion slot 24, the tank housing area 30 can be thermally insulated and also cost reduction can be expected due to the cutback in the item number of configuration components.

Additionally, the motor mounting member 36 with the pump WP and the pump motor PM mounted thereon is fixed in a state of being placed on the upper end placement portion 32B of the longitudinal partition wall 32, and thus the total weight of the pump WP, the pump motor PM, and the like is not applied to the ice making water tank T even though the motor support pieces 74 provided in the ice making water tank T support the motor mounting member 36 from below. Accordingly, deformation of the ice making water tank T due to application of the weight of the pump WP and the pump motor PM rarely occurs. Even in case that the ice making water tank T is deformed, the section between the tank housing area 30 and the machine chamber 12 by the motor mounting member 36 is maintained appropriately, so that decrease in the efficiency in making ice can be prevented and also penetration of dust into the tank housing area 30 and the ice making chamber 10 are prevented.

(Modifications)

Although, in the embodiment, a case is exemplified where the motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 are integrally formed in a position to be at a right angle to each other, the motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 may also be formed in a single plane shape, as illustrated in FIG. 7, by providing a self-hinge 80 at the border. In a case where the motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 are formed in a single plane shape in such a manner, the motor mounting member 36 and the door member 48 are formed integrally and subsequently the door member 48 is bent at 90 degrees to the motor mounting member 36 in the self-hinge 80, thereby enabling it to be formed in the shape identical to the attachment state illustrated in FIG. 6.

The door member 48 may also be formed in a shape matching the shape of the opening of the tank insertion slot 24, as mentioned above and also illustrated in FIG. 8. In this case, the door member 48 covering the tank insertion slot 24 is configured integrally with the motor mounting member 36 as a single member, and thus further cost reduction due to cutback in the item number of the configuration components can be expected. Further, since the tank insertion slot 24 is completely covered with the door member 48, improvement in thermal insulation effect of the tank housing area 30 and the ice making chamber 10 can be expected.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a region horizontally extending to the right along the right wall 16 may be added to the upper end placement portion 32B. In this case, the three sides, i.e., the left edge, the rear edge, and the right edge of the motor mounting member 36 can be supported by the upper end placement portion 32B, and thus the motor mounting member 36 is supported stably and also the weight of the pump WP, the pump motor PM, and the like can be received by the upper end placement portion 32B. Accordingly, when the motor mounting member 36 is placed on the upper end placement portion 32B, each motor support piece 74 can be configured to be spaced apart from the lower face of the motor mounting member 36, and also the weight of the pump WP, the pump motor PM, and the like can be prevented from being applied to the ice making water tank T.

Further, a region to fit each motor support piece 74 on the lower face of the motor mounting member 36 may be provided with a recess to which the tip end of each motor support piece 74 is fit, a projection which is latched in the motor support piece 74, or the like. In this case, each motor support piece 74 is engaged with the motor mounting member 36 when the motor mounting member 36 is placed on the ice making water tank T, so that the motor mounting member 36 can be placed stably on the ice making water tank T when the ice making water tank T is drawn out forwardly and is housed into the tank housing area 30.

The motor support portions 74 provided in the ice making water tank T are not limited to the rib shaped projections exemplified in the embodiment, but may also be in shapes other than that as long as they can support the motor mounting member 36 from below. For example, by forming the horizontal rib 70 itself into a shape bulged above, it is possible to allow the bulged portion to function as the motor support portion 74.

Claims

1. A pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine, comprising: an ice making water tank (T) housed in a tank housing area (30) provided, allowing it to be drawn out of the machine, across an ice making chamber (10) and a machine chamber (12) defined by sandwiching a wall (16); and a pump motor (PM) coupled to a pump (WP) supplying ice making water in the ice making water tank (T) to an ice making unit in the ice making chamber (10),

wherein a motor mounting member (36) sectioning the machine chamber (12) and the tank housing area (30) is detachably placed on an upper end placement portion (32B) of a partition wall (32) provided in the machine chamber (12) and sectioning the tank housing area (30), and

the pump motor (PM) is mounted on a side of the motor mounting member (36) facing the machine chamber (12) and also the pump (WP) is mounted on a side of the motor mounting member (36) facing the tank housing area (30) to face an inside of the ice making water tank (T) housed in the tank housing area (30).

2. The pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein a motor support portion (74) supporting the motor mounting member (36) from below when drawing out the ice making water tank (T) is provided in a region (T2) housed in the tank housing area (30) on a side of the machine chamber (12) in the ice making water tank (T).

3. The pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine according to claim 1 or 2, comprising fixation means (S1) separably fixing the motor mounting member (36) and the upper end placement portion (32B).

4. The pump motor mounting structure for an ice making machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the motor mounting member (36) is provided with a door member (48) facing a tank insertion slot (24) that allows communication between the tank housing area (30) and the outside of the machine.