JPH02306073A - Automatic ice making machinery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry out water supply without piping such as hoses, etc., even in a place where faucets of waterworks, etc., are not equipped and set freely a proposed device in the condition that a set place for the mainbody of the device is not restricted by water supply by installing removably a water supply tank storing water for ice making on an insulating box body in an ice making machinery equipped with an evaporator. CONSTITUTION:First, a water supply tank 5 is removed from a mainbody 1 and a cap 5a is removed and into an opening part water is poured and then the tank is set on the upper part of the mainbody 1 with the condition that the cap 5a is attached to the tank. Thereby, the cap 5a of the tank 5 comes in contact with a projecting part 6a of a water supply saucer 6 and water is supplied to a room A and then supplied to a room B and stored in accompanying a time delay corresponding to the weir effect of a partition plate 6b. When ice making operation is started, an electromagnetic valve 10 is opened by a microcomputer and water is supplied to a distributor 7 through a water supply pipe 9 and cooling operation is started. Otherwise, it is also desirable that the tank 5 is, for instance, attached on the side part of the mainbody 1 and water is supplied by a pump, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker in which an evaporator for directly making ice by a flowing water method is disposed inside a heat insulating box.

(Prior art) This type of automatic ice maker has an evaporator disposed inside an insulated box that serves as the main body, and water for ice making is supplied to the evaporator from a tap etc. to directly make ice using a flowing water method. After the produced ice is removed by supplying hot gas to the evaporator, it is stored in a water storage section provided at the bottom of the insulated box.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, with the conventional configuration as described above, in order to supply water for ice making to the evaporator, the device itself must be installed near a faucet, etc., or the water can be supplied through a hose, etc. It was necessary to install piping so that the installation location could be restricted.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an automatic ice maker that can supply water without using a hose or the like even in places where there is no faucet, so that the installation location can be freely selected. is to provide.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is directed to an automatic ice making machine in which an evaporator for making ice directly by a flowing water method is disposed inside an insulated box.
The feature is that a water supply tank for storing water for ice making is removably provided in the heat insulating box.

(Function) According to the automatic ice maker of the present invention, if the water supply tank is removed and water for ice making is stored in it beforehand and then attached, water is supplied from the water tank to the evaporator during ice making, and ice is made. It will be done. Therefore, there is no need to install the device itself near a faucet or the like or to install piping for water supply using a hose or the like, and there are no restrictions on the installation location for water supply.

(Example) Hereinafter, a first example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

First, in FIG. 1, which shows a cross section of the general overall configuration,
Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body, which is a rectangular heat-insulating box with a heat-insulating member disposed inside the outer circumferential wall.
The lower part is the water storage chamber 3, and the front of the water storage chamber 3 has a door 4.
is provided. Reference numeral 5 denotes a flat rectangular water supply tank that is removably installed on the upper surface of the main body 1, and has an opening for water injection. In this case, the lid 5a has a well-known constant water level water supply mechanism including a valve device.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a water supply tray in the form of a shallow container with an open top, and is positioned below the lid 5a of the water tank 5 in the installed state. At this time, when the water supply tank 5 is attached, the valve device of the M 5 a is operated by the protrusion 6a provided on the bottom of the water supply tray 6, so that the water supply tank 5 The water inside is supplied into the water supply tray 6 up to a constant water level. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the water supply tray 6 is divided into a chamber A and a chamber B by a partition plate 6b formed inside the container, and a notch 6C is formed in the partition plate 6b. Water from the water supply tank 5 is first stored in the chamber A and introduced into the chamber B through the notch 6C of the rear partition plate 6b. 7 is a water sprinkler, which sprays water from the water supply tray 6 to the ice-making evaporator 8 as described later, and is connected to the chamber B of the water supply tray 6 by a water supply pipe 9; The amount of water supplied is controlled by a solenoid valve 10 disposed in the flow path. Furthermore, even if there are variations in the opening time of the solenoid valve 10, a substantially constant amount of water can be supplied because the water supply tray 6 is divided into chamber A and chamber B by the partition plate 6b which acts as a dam as described above. It is.

Now, the ice-making evaporator 8 described above has the ice-making section 2 of the main body 1.
A compressor 11. Together with the condenser 12 and a hot gas supply section (not shown), it constitutes a cooling cycle 13 for ice making. The ice-making evaporator 8 is shown in Fig. 2 (
As shown in a), it consists of an ice-making plate 14 and a cooling coil 15 disposed inside the ice-making plate 14 at a predetermined interval, and the water from the water sprinkler 7 drips down the ice-making plate 14. It has become. Reference numeral 16 denotes a circulating water tray, which receives water dripping from the ice-making plate 14 and circulates it again to the water sprinkler 7. As shown in FIG. 4, it is located at the bottom of the ice-making evaporator 8. A slatted sorting mechanism 16 is installed in the
a is arranged, so that the water dripped from the ice-making evaporator 8 is guided to the lower water storage section 16b, and when the produced ice falls, it is guided to the water storage chamber 3. . Reference numeral 17 denotes a water circulation pump that pumps up water accumulated in the water storage portion 16b of the circulating water receiving tray 16 and supplies it to the water sprinkler 7.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a water storage amount detection mechanism provided in the water storage chamber 3, which consists of an ice storage detection lever 19 provided to rotate when pushed by the upper end of ice accumulated in the water storage chamber 3, and this ice storage detection mechanism. The microswitch 20 is turned on when the amount of rotation of the lever 19 reaches a predetermined value. still,
Control of each of the above parts is performed based on a program installed in advance by a microcomputer (not shown).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 5.

First, when making ice, water for ice making is stored in the water tank 5 in advance. In this case, the water supply link 5 is
After removing M5a and injecting water from the opening, attach it to the upper part of main body 1 with M5a attached.

As a result, the lid 5a of the water supply tank 5 comes into contact with the protrusion 6a of the water supply tray 6, and water is supplied to the chamber A, and from this chamber A to the chamber B, according to the increase in the partition plate 6b. Water is supplied to room B with a time delay. At this time, since the ice-making operation has not yet started, the solenoid valve 10 is closed and the water in chamber B is in a stored state.

When the ice-making operation is started in the above-mentioned state, the microcomputer first executes the ice-making mode program according to the program flowchart shown in FIG.
Step St). In this ice making mode, ice making operation is performed as follows.

That is, the solenoid valve 10 is opened and the water stored in the chamber B of the water supply tray 6 is supplied to the water sprinkler 7 via the water supply pipe 9. On the other hand, in the cooling cycle 13, the operation of the compressor 11 is started and the cooling operation of the evaporator 8 is started. As a result, the water sprayed from the water sprinkler 7 is transferred to the ice making plate 14.
As the ice flows through the cooling coil 15, a portion of it forms ice around the cooling coil 15 (see FIG. 2(a)).

In addition, water that drips from the ice-making plate 14 without forming ice on the cooling coil 15 is stored in the water storage section 16b via the sorting mechanism 16a of the circulating water saucer 16, and then pumped up by the water circulation pump 17 and returned to the water sprinkler. 7 to the ice making plate 14. In this way, ice grows around the cooling coil 15 and, for example, when it grows to a predetermined size, this is detected by a detection means (not shown), and the spraying of water from the sprinkler 7 is stopped and the cooling cycle 13 is stopped. Stop the cooling operation. After that, hot gas is supplied to the evaporator 8 to remove ice from the cooling coil 15 portion as shown in FIG. 3(b). At this time, although the ice falls onto the circulating water tray 16, it does not enter the tray and the sorting mechanism 1
6a and fall into the water storage chamber 3.

In this way, when one cycle of ice-making operation is completed,
Thereafter, the ice making operation is performed in the same manner as described above. The produced ice can be taken out through a door 4 at the bottom of the main body 1.

Now, when ice making is performed in this way, if the amount of stored ice becomes larger than the amount to be taken out and used, the ice storage detection lever 19 of the storage amount detection mechanism 18 will be activated by the ice as shown in FIG. It will now rotate clockwise. When the amount of rotation reaches a predetermined amount, that is, when the water storage chamber 3 is full of ice, the microswitch 2o is turned on. Based on this, the microcomputer determines rYEsJ in step S2, and when the current ice-making operation cycle is completed, it determines rYEsJ in the following step S.
Judging to be EsJ, the ice making mode operation is ended.

Next, after ending the ice making mode, the microcomputer switches to the water storage chamber cooling mode using the cooling cycle 13 (step S4). In this mode, the cooling cycle 13 is operated in the same manner as described above, but the water supply to the ice-making evaporator 8 is stopped. Therefore, the cold air from the evaporator 8 is exclusively used for cooling the water storage chamber 3, and the ice stored at full capacity will not melt. In this case, when cooling the water storage chamber 3, the operation of the cooling cycle 13 is controlled by a temperature sensor (not shown) so that the temperature is maintained at, for example, between -16°C and 3.5°C. The cooling operation in the water storage chamber 3 is controlled by the micro switch 2 of the water storage amount detection mechanism 18.
It continues while o is on, and microswitch 2
When o is turned off, that is, when the ice in the water storage chamber 3 is used and is no longer full, the microcomputer determines rNOJ at step S and returns to step S of the ice making mode described above. Thereafter, operations in the ice making mode and the water storage chamber cooling mode are repeated and continued in the same manner.

According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, since the water supply tank 5 is removably provided on the upper part of the main body 1 and water for ice making is supplied from this,
There is no need to install the device itself near a faucet, etc., and there is no need for equipment such as piping a hose to supply water, so it can be installed freely without being restricted by the installation location for water supply. Become.

Furthermore, when the water storage chamber 3 is full of produced ice, the ice making operation by the ice making evaporator 8 is stopped and the water storage chamber 3 is cooled, so that the produced ice can be stored for a long time. Since the water in the water supply tank 3 can be used without wasting water, the frequency of water supply can be reduced.In addition, in the first embodiment, the inside of the water storage chamber 3 is also cooled by the ice-making evaporator 8. However, such cooling may be performed as necessary.

6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the first embodiment in that a cold storage material 21 is provided on the inner wall surface of the water storage chamber 3. .

According to such a configuration, in the ice making mode, the water storage chamber 3
Since the cold storage material 21 is gradually cooled by the ice stored therein, when the mode is switched to the water storage chamber cooling mode, the rate of temperature rise in the water storage chamber 3 can be suppressed by the cooled cold storage material 21. Yes (see Figure 7(a)). This results in
As shown in FIG. 7(b), the operating time of the compressor 11 can be shortened compared to the case without the cold storage material 21, so it is possible to reduce noise generation at night, etc., and at the same time reduce power consumption. can do.

8 and 9 show a third embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the second embodiment in that a cold storage evaporator 22 is used to cool the cold storage material 21 shown in FIG. is arranged inside the bottom surface of the main body 1. That is, in FIG. 8 showing the configuration of the cooling cycle 23, the cold storage evaporator 22 and the ice making evaporator 8 are connected in parallel to the cooling cycle 23, and the switching solenoid valve 2
4 allows the refrigerant flow path to be switched to the ice-making evaporator 8 or the cool storage evaporator 22.

According to this configuration, as shown in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), the switching solenoid valve 24 causes the ice-making evaporator 8 to perform ice-making operation by switching the refrigerant flow path in the ice-making mode. In the water storage chamber cooling mode, the refrigerant flow path is switched to the cold storage evaporator 22 to cool the cold storage material 21, so that ice in the water storage chamber 3 can be efficiently stored for a long period of time. In other words, since the cold storage material 21 is directly cooled, the time for cold storage can be shortened as shown in FIG. 9(C), and after the temperature has dropped to a predetermined temperature, the inside of the water storage chamber 3 is maintained at 0° C. or lower for a long time. Therefore, when operating in the ice storage cooling mode at night, etc., the operation of the compressor 11 can be minimized, noise can be reduced, and the cooling storage efficiency of produced ice can be improved. Further, since the cold storage evaporator 22 is provided exclusively for cooling the water storage chamber 3, there is no need to perform a defrosting operation unlike when the ice-making evaporator 8 cools the water storage chamber 3.

In each of the above embodiments, the water supply tank 5 is attached to the top surface of the main body 1, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the water tank 5 may be attached to the side surface of the main body 1 and water may be supplied by a pump or the like. Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the automatic ice maker of the present invention, the water supply tank for storing water for ice making is removably provided in the insulated box, so it can be used even in places where there is no water faucet. Water can be supplied without the need for piping such as a hose, and therefore, the installation location of the device body is not restricted by water supply, and the excellent effect is that it can be installed freely.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing the overall structure, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the ice-making evaporator and an explanation of the ice-making operation. Figure, 3rd
4 is a perspective view of the water supply tray, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the circulating water tray, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart for controlling the operation of the cooling cycle. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the outline of the overall configuration, and FIG. 7 is an action explanatory diagram showing the temperature inside the ice storage chamber and the operating state of the compressor. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a cooling cycle, and FIG. 9 is a diagram equivalent to FIG. 7. In the drawing, 1 is the main body (insulated box body), 2 is the ice making section, 3 is the ice storage chamber, 5 is the water tank, 6 is the water tray, 7 is the water sprinkler, 8 is the ice making evaporator, 11 is the compressor, 13 and 2
3 is a cooling cycle, 14 is an ice-making plate, 15 is a cooling coil,
16 is a circulating water tray, 16a is a sorting mechanism, 18 is a water storage amount detection mechanism, 21 is a cold storage material, 22 is a cold storage evaporator,
24 is a switching solenoid valve. Applicant Toshiba Corporation Agent Patent Attorney Tsuyoshi Sato! , 1 Figure (a) (b) Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 'iP, Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic ice maker in which an evaporator for directly making ice by a flowing water method is disposed inside an insulated box, characterized in that a water supply tank for storing water for ice making is detachably provided in the insulated box. Automatic ice maker.