JPH0131899Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a water circulation type ice maker having a function of preventing the generation of so-called cotton ice or muddy ice.

b. Prior Art Conventionally, for example, the structure of the ice making plate 1 and water sprinkler 2 in a top-flow type water circulation type ice making machine is as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as shown in FIGS. An evaporator 1a consisting of a passage is provided, and a large number of water sprinkling holes 2a are formed in a straight line at approximately the same intervals around the lower part of the water sprinkler 2. Care has been taken to ensure that water for ice making is supplied in a uniform state.

However, in the above-mentioned technique, the ice-making water sprinkled from each water sprinkling hole 2a of the water sprinkler 2 is distributed over the ice-making surface 1.
Since it is uniformly supplied over the entire area of b,
There is very little unevenness in the temperature distribution on the ice making surface 1b of the ice making plate 1, resulting in a substantially uniform temperature distribution. Therefore, since the circulating ice-making water does not easily freeze even when the temperature drops below 0° C., the circulating ice-making water sometimes becomes supercooled, resulting in the formation of so-called mud ice or cotton ice.

When mud ice or cotton ice occurs, for example, the water sprinkling holes 2a of the water sprinkler 2 become clogged with the cotton ice or mud ice, and sheet ice of a uniform thickness is not formed on the ice making surface 1b. The ice pieces obtained by cutting the ice sheets also have a poor shape and are of inferior quality.

As an effective means to eliminate such drawbacks, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 15706/1983 discloses that ice-making water is reduced to zero using a thermostat, timer, etc.
The company discloses a technology that detects when the temperature has dropped to near ℃, then controls the amount of circulating water to create ice nuclei on the ice-making surface, and then uses these nuclei as a base to grow ice over the entire ice-making surface.

c Problems to be solved by the invention However, this conventional technology requires control means such as a thermostat and timer, which increases the cost of the product, so it is not suitable for implementation in high-end ice making machines. However, cost issues remain for widespread use.

Therefore, there is a need for an ice making device that achieves a high performance prevention function of muddy ice or cotton ice at a lower cost, and it is an object of the present invention to provide such an ice making device.

d Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an ice making plate having an ice making surface and an evaporator attachment surface, and an ice making plate that is attached to the evaporator attachment surface of the ice making plate in a serpentine shape. an evaporator consisting of a plurality of refrigerant passages attached to the ice-making plate, and a plurality of water sprinkling holes, which are disposed near the top of the ice-making plate and spraying a stream of ice-making water onto the ice-making surface from the water sprinkling holes. In the water circulating ice maker, a part of the water sprinkling holes may jump over an area on the ice making surface corresponding to at least the uppermost refrigerant passage of the evaporator, and the water sprinkling holes may be formed in a region below the area on the ice making surface corresponding to at least the uppermost refrigerant passage of the evaporator. The water sprinkling holes other than the part of the water sprinkling holes are provided so as to direct the ice-making water flow from a part of the water sprinkling holes, and the water sprinkling holes other than the part of the water sprinkling holes direct the ice-making water flow above the uppermost refrigerant passage part of the evaporator. It is characterized in that it is provided so as to cause

e Effect: Supply refrigerant to the evaporator of the ice-making plate to cool the ice-making surface of the ice-making plate, and at the same time operate the circulation pump to supply ice-making water onto the ice-making surface from each water sprinkling hole of the sprinkler. A portion of the colliding ice-making water rises slightly along the ice-making surface due to surface tension. Since water is not sprinkled on the non-sprinkling area formed at least in the area corresponding to the uppermost refrigerant passage, heat exchange with ice-making water is not performed in this non-sprinkling area, and the area where water is being sprinkled is not applied. The temperature will be several degrees lower. Therefore, when the temperature of the ice-making water decreases to near the freezing point as the ice-making water circulates, the ice that collides with the boundary of the non-sprinkling area or on the ice-making surface, at least in the area corresponding to the uppermost refrigerant passage. Hard core ice, which should become a core that is not cotton ice, grows in a portion of the water that has risen, and furthermore,
As the ice-making process continues, ice is spread over the entire ice-making surface using this core ice as a base, and after a predetermined period of time, sheet ice with good quality is formed.

f. Example Hereinafter, a preferred example of the water circulation ice maker having a function of preventing cotton ice generation according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, and the same reference numerals will be used for structures that are the same as or correspond to the conventional example. .

In FIGS. 3 to 5, the evaporator 1a is attached to its back side, that is, the evaporator mounting surface.
It is a top-flowing type ice-making plate having an ice-making surface 1b on its surface, and is arranged at an angle so that ice-making water can flow down. A water sprinkler 2 is disposed near the top of the ice-making plate 1, and has a longitudinal shape as a whole and a large number of water sprinkling holes 2a to 2b along the longitudinal direction. It is connected via a pipe 3 to a circulation pump 5 disposed inside.

One end 1c of an evaporator 1a formed by connecting a plurality of refrigerant passage sections 1a', 1a'', 1a, etc. in a meandering manner.
is connected to the inlet side of the compressor 7 via the accumulator 6 and the pipe 6a, and the other end 1d of the evaporator 1a is connected to the outlet side of the compressor 7 via the capillary 8 and the condenser 9. It is also connected to a hot gas pipe 11 equipped with a hot gas valve 10.

Furthermore, among the sprinkler holes 2a to 2b in the sprinkler 2, some of the sprinkler holes 2b formed at the ends and the other sprinkler holes 2a are arranged at different positions on the circumferential surface of the sprinkler 2. It is arranged in an angular position. That is, in a preferred embodiment,
As shown in detail in FIG.
b and the other water sprinkling holes 2a are arranged so as to be different from each other by a predetermined circumferential angle θ from the center point O of the water sprinkler 2, and the ice-making water 12 sprayed from some of the water sprinkling holes 2b is As shown by the solid line, on the ice-making surface 1b of the ice-making plate 1, the first or uppermost refrigerant passage part 1a' corresponding to the refrigerant inlet part of the evaporator 1a and the next refrigerant passage part 1a'' Jumping over the corresponding areas, it is placed on the ice making surface 1b corresponding to the third refrigerant passage section 1a and on the ice making surface 1b corresponding to the non-refrigerant passage section between the second and third refrigerant passage sections 1a'', 1a. Water is sprinkled on the first refrigerant passage section 1
Water is not sprinkled on the ice-making surface 1b corresponding to a', and the fourth
As shown in the plan view of the figure, the non-sprinkling portion 13 where the ice-making water 12 is not sprinkled is located at the upper end of the ice-making surface 1b,
That is, it is formed at a portion corresponding to the above-mentioned refrigerant inlet.

Furthermore, the ice-making water 14 sprinkled from each of the other water sprinkling holes 2a of the water sprinkler 2 is applied to the ice-making surface 1b as in the conventional case.
Water is sprinkled on the region corresponding to the refrigerant passage section 1a', excluding the non-sprinkling section 13 (see Fig. 5). Therefore, as shown in the plan view of Fig. 4, the non-sprinkling section 13 is Except for this, water is sprinkled on the entire ice making surface 1b in the same manner as in the conventional case.

In the above-described configuration, when the water circulation type ice maker according to the present invention is operated to make ice, first, the compressor 7 is operated to supply refrigerant to the evaporator 1a of the ice making plate 1. ice making surface 1
At the same time as cooling the ice-making surface 1b, the circulation pump 5 is operated to supply ice-making water onto the ice-making surface 1b from each of the water-sprinkling holes 2a to 2b of the water sprinkler 2. When the ice-making water 14, 12 collides with the ice-making surface 1b, As shown by dotted lines and solid lines in FIG. 5, a portion of the ice-making surface 1b rises slightly due to the action of surface tension. Since water is not sprinkled on the non-sprinkling area 13 formed in the area corresponding to the refrigerant inlet, heat exchange with the ice-making water is not performed in this non-sprinkling area 13, and the water is lower than the area where water is being sprinkled. The temperature will also drop several degrees. Therefore, when the temperature of ice-making water drops to near the freezing point as the ice-making water circulates, the boundary between the non-sprinkling section 13 in the area corresponding to the first refrigerant passage section 1a' and the second refrigerant passage section 1a'' Or, in the rising part of the ice-making water 12 that collided with the ice-making surface 1b,
Hard core ice 13a that should become a core other than cotton ice grows, and as the ice-making process continues, ice spreads over the entire ice-making surface 1b using this core ice 13a as a base, and after a predetermined period of time, a plate with good ice quality is formed. Ice forms. By detecting this ice-making completion state using a known device and opening the hot gas valve 10 based on the detection signal, the ice-making surface 1b is heated and the ice is removed.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a case where it is applied to a top flow type ice maker, it is of course applicable to various types of ice makers, such as a bottom flow type, a vertical plate type, and the like. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the spraying hole for forming the non-sprinkling area was formed at a different position from the other spraying holes, thereby changing the direction of spraying water and making the route of watering different. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.
That is, according to the present invention, for example, a water sprinkling hole for forming a non-water sprinkling area may be provided in a separate water sprinkling pipe, or a branch pipe may be led out from the same water sprinkling hole to sprinkle water on an area beyond the non-water sprinkling area. Alternatively, a water sprinkling receiver may be arranged below the water sprinkling hole and the water from the water sprinkling hole may be guided to an area beyond the non-sprinkling portion.

g. Effects of the invention The water circulation type ice maker of the invention, which has the function of preventing the generation of cotton ice, has the above-mentioned structure and function, so that there is a non-sprinkling section where ice-making water is not sprinkled on the ice-making surface of the ice-making plate. The entire ice is formed based on the core ice formed at the boundary of the non-sprayed area, and the generation of cotton ice, muddy ice, etc. can be completely prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are a plan view and a side sectional view showing an ice making plate used in a conventional ice making machine, and FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a water circulation type ice making machine implementing the present invention. 4 is a plan view showing the ice-making plate shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of FIG. 4. 1...Ice plate, 1a...Evaporator, 1a', 1a'',
1a... Refrigerant passage section, 1b... Ice making surface, 2...
Sprinkler, 2a, 2b...Water hole, 3...Pipe,
4...Water tank for ice making, 5...Circulation pump, 6...
...Accumulation pump, 7...Compressor, 8...Capillary, 9...Condenser, 10...Hot gas valve, 11...Hot gas pipe, 12...Ice making water,
13... Non-water sprinkling section, 13a... Core ice, 14... Water for ice making.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] an ice-making plate 1 having an ice-making surface and an evaporator attachment surface;
an evaporator 1a comprising a plurality of refrigerant passages attached in a meandering manner on the evaporator attachment surface of the ice-making plate 1;
In the water circulation type ice maker, the water circulation type ice maker is provided with a water sprinkler 2 having a plurality of water sprinkling holes drilled therein and disposed near the top of the ice making plate 1 to sprinkle a stream of ice making water from the water sprinkling holes onto the ice making surface. A part of the water sprinkling hole is located at least in the uppermost refrigerant passage section 1 of the evaporator 1a.
It is provided so as to direct the ice-making water flow from a part of the water sprinkling hole to a region below the ice-making surface by jumping over the region on the ice-making surface corresponding to a′, and directing the ice-making water flow from a part of the water sprinkling hole A water circulating ice maker, characterized in that the water sprinkling holes are provided so as to direct a stream of ice making water above the uppermost refrigerant passage section of the evaporator.