JPH0362992B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] a. Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an automatic ice maker, and more particularly to an automatic ice maker that keeps the temperature of deicing water within a certain range throughout the year.

b. Prior Art Figure 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional automatic downflow ice maker, which has already been filed by the same applicant (Utility Application No. 134071/1982). It is provided with an ice-making water circulation pipe 1 serving as an ice-making water circuit and a de-icing water pipe 2 serving as a de-icing water circuit, and water flowing through both circuits intersects at a vertical, flowing-down type ice making section 3. This water is guided into the ice-making tank 5 via a drain plate 4 provided below the ice-making section 3, and excess ice-making water 5a in the ice-making water tank 5 is discharged to the outside from an overflow pipe 6. An ice-making water circulation pump 7 is attached to the ice-making water circulation pipe 1, and the ice-making water circulation pump 7 supplies the ice-making water 5a in the ice-making water tank 5 from the ice-making water sprinkler 8 to each ice-making plate 3a of the ice-making section 3 via the water sprinkling guide 8a. It is supplied onto the surface and flowed down.

A serpentine cooling pipe 3b is inserted between the ice-making plates 3a. A water sprinkler 10, in which a deicing water sprinkler 9 and an ice making water sprinkling section 8 are integrated, is provided above the ice making plate 3a. The deicing water sprinkler 9 is connected to the deicing water tank 11 via the deicing water pipe 2. An outlet side 3ba of the cooling pipe 3b is connected to a compressor 13 via a suction pipe 12.

The discharge pipe 14 of the compressor 13 is connected to an electromagnetic bypass valve 15
It is connected to the inlet side of a condenser 18 having a fan motor 17 via a bypass pipe 16 attached thereto. The outlet side of the condenser 18 is connected to the cooling pipe 3b via an expansion valve 19.

A hot gas valve 2 is connected to the connection part 14a of the discharge pipe 14.
0 is connected, and the tip of this hot gas pipe 21 is connected to the inlet side 3bb of the cooling pipe 3b.

On both sides of the electromagnetic bypass valve 15 are inlet pipes 23 of a heat exchanger 22 provided in the deicing water tank 11.
and an outlet pipe 24 are connected to each other. On the side of the deicing water tank 11, there is a detection unit 2 of a deicing water temperature detector 25 for detecting the temperature of the deicing water 11a.
6 is provided. Inside the deicing water tank 11,
Deicing water is supplied by a water supply valve 27 connected to an external water supply, and excess deicing water is drained to the outside from an overflow pipe 28.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of the water sprinkler 10, in which the ice-making water sprinkler 8 is formed with water holes 8a, and the de-icing water sprinkler 9 is formed with water holes 9a.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the ice-making plates 3a of the ice-making section 3. The pair of ice-making plates 3a are made of a thin plate made of stainless steel or the like with high thermal conductivity, and each has a plurality of chevron-shaped parts at regular intervals. 3c is formed, and an ice making surface 3d is formed on the front side between the chevron portions 3c.

Next, the operation of the automatic downflow ice maker having the above configuration will be explained. When a power source (not shown) is turned on, the compressor 13 and fan motor 17 operate, and the refrigerant is sent to the cooling pipe 3b via the discharge pipe 14, condenser 18, and expansion valve 19, and cools the ice-making plate 3a. At the same time, the ice-making water 5a is sprinkled from the ice-making water sprinkler 8 by the operation of the ice-making water circulation pump 7.
The water flows down to the ice making surface 3d of the ice making plate 3a via the water spray guide 8a, thereby starting the ice making cycle.

On the other hand, the deicing water tank 11 is filled with deicing water 11a due to water being supplied from the water supply valve 27. In this case, when the deicing water temperature detector 25 detects that the temperature of the deicing water 11a is below a predetermined value, the detection section 26 is turned off, and the electromagnetic bypass valve 15 is closed by the control circuit section (not shown). become a state. By closing the electromagnetic bypass valve 15, the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant in the discharge pipe 14 is transferred to the inlet pipe 2.
3. It is sent to the outlet pipe 24 via the heat exchanger 22.
Then, when the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant passes through the heat exchanger 22, heat exchange is performed between the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant and the deicing water 11a, and the deicing water is heated.

As the ice making cycle progresses, the temperature of the deicing water 11a rises and when it reaches a predetermined value, the detection part 26 of the deicing water temperature detector 25 is turned on, the electromagnetic bypass valve 15 is opened, and the Most of the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant is supplied to the cooling pipe 3b via the electromagnetic bypass valve 15, and almost none is supplied to the heat exchanger 22. This is because the length of the bypass pipe 16 is extremely short compared to the heat exchanger 22, so the line resistance of the bypass pipe 16 is smaller than that of the heat exchanger 22.

If the temperature of the deicing water 11a in the deicing water tank 11 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the electromagnetic bypass valve 15 continues to be opened until the ice making cycle is completed. Thereafter, when the ice making cycle progresses and an ice making completion signal is output from an ice making completion detection device (not shown), the fan motor 17 and the ice making water circulation pump 7 are stopped, the hot gas valve 20 is opened, and the high pressure and high temperature refrigerant is directly supplied to the ice making section 3. Supplied. Also, the deicing water pump 29 starts operating, and the deicing water 11 in the deicing water tank 11
A is sprinkled from the deicing water sprinkler 9 onto the back surfaces of both ice making plates 3a, and the deicing cycle is started.

Both ice-making plates 3a contain high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant and deicing water 11.
When heated by a, the ice making surface 3 of the ice making plate 3a
The ice 30 that came into contact with d melts, and this ice 30 separates from the ice making plate 3a, slides down on the draining plate 4, and is stored in a water storage (not shown). In addition, the deicing water 11a supplied from the deicing water sprinkler 9 flows down the back side of the chevron-shaped portion 3c of the ice making plate 3a, enters the ice making water tank 5 through the hole 4a of the draining plate 4, and is used for the next ice making cycle. The amount of ice-making water 5a is ensured and the overflow water flows through the overflow pipe 6.
is discharged to the outside.

As the deicing cycle progresses, when a deicing completion detection device (not shown) detects that all the ice 30 has left each ice making plate 3a, the hot gas valve 20 is closed by a control circuit (not shown) based on a signal from the deicing completion detection device. At the same time, the operation of the deicing water pump 29 is stopped. Also, the water supply valve 27 is opened, and the deicing water tank 11 contains the deicing water 1 necessary for the next deicing cycle.
1a is secured. At the same time, the operation of the fan motor 17 and the ice-making water circulation pump 7 is restarted, and the ice-making cycle described above is restarted.

c Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional automatic ice-making machine as described above, when the temperature of the deicing water 11a is below a predetermined value, the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant flows into the heat exchanger 22, and the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant Heat exchange is performed between the deicing water 11a and the deicing water 11a to heat the deicing water, while when the temperature of the deicing water 11a is higher than a predetermined value, the electromagnetic bypass valve 15 is activated.
is opened, and the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant from the compressor 13 is
Almost no heat is supplied to the heat exchanger 22. In this way, the waste heat of the high-pressure, high-temperature refrigerant is effectively used to prevent the temperature of the de-icing water 11a from falling below a certain value, but in summer when the outside air temperature is high, the electromagnetic bypass valve 15 is activated from the start of the ice-making cycle. Even though the valve is open, heat exchanger 2
2, the temperature of the deicing water 11a becomes higher than the predetermined water temperature at the start of the ice making cycle by more than 10 degrees, and this high temperature deicing water 11a is used as the ice making water 5a in the next ice making cycle. Since the ice 30 is used as an ice cream, it takes a long time to grow, which leads to problems such as a decrease in ice making ability.

In addition, the materials of the deicing water pipe 2 through which the deicing water 11a passes, the deicing water sprinkler 9, etc. must be made of materials that can withstand high temperatures, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ice maker that can control the temperature of deicing water within a predetermined range throughout the year with a simple configuration.

d. Means for Solving the Problems The automatic ice making machine according to the present invention includes an ice making section that generates ice using latent heat of evaporation of a refrigerant during an ice making cycle;
A deicing water tank that stores deicing water that is supplied to the ice making section during the deicing cycle to remove ice from the ice making section 3, and a high pressure high temperature refrigerant from a compressor that is installed in this deicing water tank and constitutes a part of the refrigeration circuit. a heat exchanger that heats the deicing water, a condenser that is connected to the compressor and condenses the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant, and a condenser that is connected to both refrigerant outlet sides of the condenser and the heat exchanger and also connected to the expansion valve 19. The refrigerant is equipped with a condensing pressure regulating valve that allows high-pressure, high-temperature refrigerant from the compressor to selectively flow through either the heat exchanger or the condenser.

e Function In this invention, the condensing pressure regulating valve responds to changes in refrigerant pressure due to changes in outside air temperature, and when the outside air temperature is low, refrigerant gas mainly flows through the heat exchanger, and the refrigerant flows into the deicing water tank. The deicing water is heated by exchanging heat with the deicing water. On the other hand, when the outside air temperature is high, the refrigerant passes through the condenser and does not pass through the heat exchanger, so the deicing water does not reach an extremely high temperature even in the hot summer season.

f Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and the same or corresponding parts as in FIGS. 2 to 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. In the figure, the discharge pipe 14, which serves as a passage for high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant from the compressor 13 and is connected to the condenser 18, includes:
An inlet pipe 23 of the heat exchanger 22 is branched from the middle. The outlet pipe 24 of the heat exchanger 22 is connected to the condenser 1
It is connected to a condensing pressure regulating valve 31 which is also connected to the outlet side of the refrigerant No. 8. This condensing pressure regulating valve 31
responds to changes in refrigerant pressure due to changes in outside air temperature, and when the outside air temperature is high, in order to maintain the set pressure, the condenser side inlet portion 31a opens to allow refrigerant to flow through the condenser 18. However, it is designed so that it does not flow through the heat exchanger 22. When the outside air temperature is low, in order to maintain the set pressure, the heat exchanger side inlet portion 31b is mainly opened to allow the refrigerant to flow through the heat exchanger 22. An outlet portion 31c of the condensation pressure regulating valve 31 is connected to the expansion valve 19 via a condensate flow pipe 32.

In the automatic ice-making machine configured as described above, during the ice-making cycle, the ice-making water flowing down the ice-making plate 3b is cooled by the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant passing through the cooling pipe 3b, and the ice-making water flowing down the ice-making plate 3b is 30
is gradually generated. At this time, when the outside air temperature is low, the heat exchanger side inlet 31b of the condensing pressure regulating valve 31 is open, and the refrigerant passes through the compressor 13, the heat exchanger 22, the condensing pressure regulating valve 31, and the expansion valve 19. and flows into the cooling pipe 3b. This refrigerant exchanges heat with the deicing water 11a in the heat exchanger 22, and the deicing water 11a is heated. Since the refrigerant flowing into the heat exchanger 22 flows at a refrigerant condensation temperature corresponding to the set pressure of the condensation pressure regulating valve 31, the deicing water 11
The temperature of a can be easily adjusted by changing the set pressure value of the condensing pressure regulating valve 31. In addition, during the heating of the deicing water 11a, the condenser 18
The pressure of the condensed refrigerant that remains inside increases,
The condenser side inlet portion 31a of the condensing pressure regulating valve 31 is temporarily opened, and the refrigerant passes through the condenser 18 and flows into the expansion valve 19.

When the outside air temperature is high, the condenser side inlet 31a of the condensing pressure regulating valve 31 opens, and the refrigerant passes through the compressor 13, condenser 18, condensing pressure regulating valve 31, and expansion valve 19, and flows into the cooling pipe 3b. So,
Deicing water 11a is not heated.

In the above embodiments, a falling type automatic ice maker has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to an ice maker of a type in which ice is removed from the ice maker by soaking the ice maker in deicing water.

g. Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, the temperature of the deicing water in the deicing water tank is kept within a predetermined range throughout the year by the function of the condensing pressure regulating valve with a simple structure that operates according to the outside air temperature. Since the temperature of the deicing water used as ice making water during the ice making cycle can be prevented from becoming high, the ice making ability can be improved. Furthermore, it is no longer necessary to use high-temperature resistant parts for each part used in the deicing water passage, and there is also the effect that the automatic ice maker can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional automatic ice maker, and Fig. 3 is a partial cutaway of the water sprinkler shown in Fig. 2. The side view and FIG. 4 are perspective views of the ice making section of FIG. 2. 3...Ice making section, 11...Deicing water tank, 13...
... Compressor, 19 ... Expansion valve, 22 ... Heat exchanger,
30...Ice, 31...Condensation pressure regulating valve. Note that the same reference numerals in each figure indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 During the ice making cycle, ice 3
a deicing water tank 11 that stores deicing water that is supplied to the ice making unit 3 during the deicing cycle to remove the ice 30 from the ice making unit 3;
A heat exchanger 22 is provided in the deicing water tank 11 and heats the deicing water tank 11a with high pressure and high temperature refrigerant from the compressor 13 which constitutes a part of the refrigeration circuit.
a condenser 18 connected to the compressor 13 and condensing high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant; connected to both outlet sides of the refrigerant of the condenser 18 and the heat exchanger 22 and connected to an expansion valve 19; A condensing pressure regulating valve 31 that allows the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant from the compressor 13 to selectively flow through either the heat exchanger 22 or the condenser 18, the condensing pressure regulating valve 31 responds to changes in the pressure of the refrigerant due to changes in outside air temperature, allowing the refrigerant to flow through the condenser 18 without passing through the heat exchanger 22 when the outside air temperature is high, and allows the refrigerant to flow through the condenser 18 when the outside air temperature is low. is mainly the heat exchanger 22
An automatic ice maker characterized in that the refrigerant flows at a condensing temperature corresponding to the set pressure of the refrigerant.