JPH038927Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] a. Industrial application field This invention relates to an auger ice maker, and in particular, detects changes in water quality within the ice making mechanism to automatically drain the water, and detects the wear limit of the bearing. This invention relates to an auger-type ice maker that automatically stops ice-making operation.

b. Prior Art There are various accident prevention mechanisms for the wear of the bearings of conventionally used auger ice makers, and one of the representative ones is the Utility Model developed in 1983.
There is one shown in No. 54067. This will be explained using FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a conventional auger-type ice maker disclosed in the above-mentioned Utility Model Publication, in which an auger 3 is provided inside a refrigeration casing 2 having a cylindrical overall shape. The auger 3 has a press head 4 fixed to the upper part of the refrigeration casing 2 at the upper shaft part 3a of the auger 3, and a housing which fixes the lower part of the refrigeration casing 2 to the machine base at the lower shaft part 3b. 5, they are rotatably supported via bearings 6a and 6b, respectively. A cooling pipe 2' is tightly wound around the outer wall surface of the freezing casing 2, and the outer periphery of the cooling pipe 2' is covered with a heat insulating material 2''.A flange portion 4' at the upper end of the freezing casing 2 There is a discharge part 4'' for guiding the ice sent out from the pressing head 4 to the outside of the machine.
is fixed.

An output shaft 8 of a drive device 7 for driving the auger 3 is provided opposite the lower end of the lower shaft portion 3b of the auger 3, and the lower shaft portion 3b of the auger 3 and the output shaft 8 are connected to each other by a slip joint 10. connected by. As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the slip joint 10 includes joint bodies 11 and 12, and rotates together with a disc 14 via a bolt 13. Friction plates 15 and 16 are fitted into the joint body 12, and the force of the disc spring 18 held down by the bolt 17 causes the disc 14 and the friction plate 1 to
5 and 16, the structure is such that a predetermined contact pressure is applied between them.

In the conventional structure shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the auger 3 whose bearings 6a and 6b are worn out comes into contact with the inner wall of the refrigeration casing 2 during ice-making operation, the rotation of the auger 3 Although a large resistance is applied, when such a condition occurs, the slip joint 10 slips and cuts off the transmission of rotation, thus preventing the drive device 7 from being overloaded.

As another prior art, patent application No. 111542 filed by the applicant on May 24, 1985
There are some listed in the issue. In the specification of this patent application, as shown in FIG.
9a and the upper shaft portion 3a of the auger 3, which is substantially at ground potential, the electric resistance depending on the quality of the ice-making water is monitored, and when the value of this electric resistance becomes below a certain value, the ice-making process is started. This document describes a system that allows users to know when the amount of impurities mixed in water has increased beyond the permissible range. This prevents abnormal wear of the bearings 6a and 6b.

Furthermore, as another prior art, there is a patent application filed by the applicant on February 13, 1986.
There is one described in No. 61-18239. In the specification of this application, as shown in FIG. 3, the ice-making operation is stopped by detecting that the electrode has fallen substantially to the ground potential when it comes into contact with the upper shaft portion 3a of No. 3. This protects the ice making mechanism.

c Problems to be solved by this invention The three conventional methods shown above protect the drive device 7, prevent abnormal wear of the bearings 6a and 6b,
and protects the ice making mechanism section 1 individually. However, it is possible to prevent abnormal wear of the bearing due to water quality, and also to prevent damage to the ice making mechanism in the event of abnormal wear, using a simple configuration within one device. It would be very preferable if this could be realized.

d.Means to solve the problem This idea was created in view of the above points.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an auger ice making machine that can prevent abnormal wear of a bearing part and damage to an ice making mechanism part due to wear of the bearing part, and also allows appropriate inspection and maintenance of the bearing part.

According to this invention to achieve this purpose,
The auger 3 is rotatably supported by upper and lower bearings 6 provided in the refrigeration casing 2.
In the auger-type ice maker, ice is made by transferring ice frozen on the inner wall surface of the refrigerating casing 2 upward while scraping it off, and compressing and dehydrating the scraped ice using a pressing head 4 including the upper bearing 6, wherein the auger an abrasion contact detection means 20 disposed on the pressing head 4 with a space therebetween and detecting the electrical resistance of the water present within the space; An operation control circuit 31 that replaces ice-making water when the resistance becomes less than a first reference resistance value and greater than a second reference resistance value, and stops the ice-making operation when the resistance becomes less than the second reference resistance value.
An auger-type ice maker is provided.

e Effect: As the ice-making water becomes concentrated and the quality of the water changes to such a level that scale that promotes abnormal wear on the bearing parts is deposited, the electrical resistance value of the ice-making water gradually decreases. Therefore, a wear contact detection means is provided to detect the resistance value due to the ice-making water interposed between the auger and the upper shaft,
The resistance value at the time when the water quality is such that scale that promotes abnormal wear is precipitated is set as the first reference resistance value, and when the resistance value of the ice making water reaches this first reference resistance value, the drainage device is activated to drain the highly concentrated water. In case the wear progresses further and reaches the wear tolerance limit, a second reference resistance value is set, and control is performed to stop the ice making operation when this second reference resistance value is reached. .

f Embodiment Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3a. FIG. 1 shows the structure of an auger-type ice maker, and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the bearing portion of FIG. 1 in detail. In the figure, an upper shaft part 3a is formed at the upper end of the auger 3, and a bearing 6 is press-fitted into a pressing head 4 provided at the upper part of the refrigeration casing 2, and the auger 3 is rotatably rotated by this bearing 6. Supported.

A wear detection means 20 is disposed at the upper end of the pressing head 4 and covered with an insulating material 21 . The electrode 22 of the wear detection means 20 is arranged along the radial direction with the electrode tip 22a facing the upper shaft 3a, and there is a gap between the upper shaft 3a and the electrode tip 22a. They are separated by a constant interval A. This interval A is set to the allowable wear amount of the bearing 6.

The lower part of the refrigeration casing 2 is attached to a drive device 7 via a housing 5 with bearings 6 . The output shaft 8 of the drive device 7 has a spline joint 9
The auger 3 is connected to the lower end of the auger 3 via the auger 3, and the auger 3 is rotated by the rotation of the output shaft 8 of the drive device 7.

An embodiment of the control device 31 for controlling automatic drainage and stopping of ice making operation by detecting changes in water quality in the ice making mechanism section and the wear limit of the bearing section in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 2. Shown in Figure 3a.
In the figure, the control device 31 is basically the high voltage side circuit 32.
A low voltage side circuit 34 is electrically connected to this high voltage side circuit 32 by a transformer 33, and a low voltage side circuit 34 is connected to the high voltage side circuit 32 via a normally open contact X1 _-a of a relay _X1 and a contact KX of a keep relay 40, which will be described later. and a control board 35, the details of which are shown in FIG. 3a, connected in series to the control board 35.

The drive motor 36 of the drive device 7 incorporated in the high voltage side circuit 32 is a normally open contact of a third relay X ₃ , which will be described later.
The compressor 37 is connected to the fourth relay (described later) via X _3-a.
Through the normally open contact X _4-a of X ₄ , the drain valve 38 is connected to the normally open contact X _5-a of the fifth relay X ₅ , which will be described later, and the normally closed contact X _{4 -b} of the fourth relay Each of them is connected to a power source, and a first relay X ₁ is connected in parallel to the series connection body of the drive motor 36 and the contact X _3-a .

In the low pressure side circuit 34, a float switch 42 provided in a water supply tank (not shown) is connected to the second relay _X2 , and a water supply valve 39 is connected to the second relay X2.
Normally closed contact of X ₂ X _2-b and normally closed contact of 5th relay X ₅
Keep relay 40 connects to the 6th relay via X _5-b
It is connected to the output side of the transformer 33 through the normally open contact X _6-a of X ₅ and the reset switch 41, respectively, and a warning lamp 45 is connected in parallel with the keep relay 40.

The control board 35, which is shown simply by the dashed line block in FIG. 3 and whose circuit configuration is shown in detail in FIG. 3a, includes a third relay X ₃ , a fourth relay X ₄ , A fifth relay X ₅ , a sixth relay X ₆ , a seventh relay X ₇ , a comparator circuit CC, a timer T ₁ , etc. are arranged as shown in the figure. Also, this control board 35
Elements external to this control board 35 are connected to the upper terminals 35a to 35i, and signals from these elements are received. That is, the normally open contact X _2-a and the normally closed contact X _7-b are connected to the terminals 35a and 35b, and the terminal 3
5c is connected to an electrode 22, and the electrode 22 is connected to the ground via a resistance value 22b that is determined by the quality of the ice-making water between the electrode 22 and the upper shaft portion 3a that is at ground potential. Terminal 35d, 3
A contact S1 of the ice storage switch 43 and a contact S of the cleaning switch 44 are connected between the terminal 5e and the terminal 35f, respectively.
2 are connected in parallel. Terminal 35g is connected to the ground terminal.

Next, the operation of the auger ice maker configured as described above will be explained. When the power is turned on, the water supply valve 39 opens and water starts to be supplied to the ice making water tank. When the ice making water tank is filled with water to a certain level,
Float switch 42 closes, and _second relay
is energized and closes its normally open contact X _2-a , and when this contact X _2-a is closed, the third and fourth relays on the control board 35 are energized and normally open contacts X _3-a and X _{4- a}
Close each of them. When the contacts X _3-a and X _4-a are closed, the drive motor 36 and compressor 37 are activated and ice-making operation is started. As the ice-making operation continues and impurities in the ice-making water inside the frozen casing 2 increase,
Since the electrical resistance of the ice-making water decreases, the voltage at the terminal 35c of the electrode 22 decreases. The potential of the terminal 35c is input to the comparison circuit CC in the control board 35, and the potential of the terminal 35c becomes lower than the first reference voltage set in the comparison circuit CC (the resistance value 22b at this time is set to the first reference voltage). ) and the line L _{1
The seventh relay ​ ​ ​} The circuit is opened, the drive motor 36 and the compressor 37 are stopped, and the ice making operation is completed. At the same time, the _normally open contact X _{7 -a of} the seventh relay ₅ is energized and its normally open contact X _5-a is closed. As a result, the drain valve 38 opens to begin draining the water inside the refrigeration casing 2 and the float tank (not shown), and at the same time, the normally closed contact X5 _-b opens, so the water supply valve 39 closes. Stop water supply. Note that when the ice-making water containing impurities is drained, the resistance value 22b becomes infinite, so the excitation of the seventh relay _X7 is not through the line _L1 , but through the fifth relay.
This is due to the normally open contact X _5-c of X ₅ .

When the set time of timer _T1 has elapsed, the timer contact
TM ₁ is opened and the 5th relay X ₅ is demagnetized, so
The drain valve 38 is closed when the normally open contact X _5-a is opened, and the water supply valve 3 is closed when the normally closed contact X _5-b is closed.
9 opens and begins to supply less impurity, and the opening of the normally open contact X _5-c demagnetizes the seventh relay X ₇ and closes the contact X _7-b , and the third relay X ₃ and the fourth Relay X ₄ is energized. As a result, ice-making operation is automatically started using the same sequence control as when the power is turned on as described above. In this way, during ice making operation, the impurity concentration of ice making water is monitored to ensure that it is always kept within a predetermined impurity concentration range.

Also, when the ice storage (not shown) is full of ice and the ice storage switch _S1 is closed and conduction occurs between the terminals 35d and 35f, the same control sequence as when the timer contact _TM1 is closed will be used to restart the ice making operation. The system is stopped and drained, and when the amount of stored ice decreases, it is automatically controlled to start ice-making operation again.

Furthermore, when water that has accumulated in the water system is forcibly drained when performing service or cleaning, turning on contact _S2 of the cleaning switch will prevent the timer contact _TM1 from closing. A similar control sequence can be performed.

During long ice-making operations, the bearing 6 gradually wears out, causing damage to the upper shaft 3a of the auger 3 and the tip 22 of the electrode 2.
The distance between the upper shaft portion 3a and the electrode tip portion 22a becomes narrower, and the upper shaft portion 3a and the electrode tip portion 22a come into contact with each other, and the terminal 35c passes through the electrode 22 and becomes grounded. (The resistance value 22b at this time is taken as the second reference resistance value.) The comparator circuit CC compares the potential of the terminal 35c with a second reference voltage value close to 0 volts, and
When it is detected that the voltage at 5c is lower than the second reference voltage value, the sixth relay _X6 is energized, the normally open contact X6 _-a is closed, and the keep relay 40 is activated.
As a result, the normally closed contact KX of the keep relay 40 opens, cutting off the power to the board 35 and stopping the control function.At the same time, the warning lamp 45 is turned on to notify that it is time to replace the bearing 6.

To restart, replace the bearing 6 with a new part and operate the reset switch 41, the keep relay 40 will return to the reset state and the contact KX will close, similar to what was explained when the power switch was turned on for the first time. Ice making operation is started by control.

As shown in FIG. 2, first the electrode tip 22a
If the dimensional spacing between the auger 3 and the upper shaft portion 3a is set to A, and the dimensional spacing between the auger 3 and the inner wall surface of the refrigeration casing 2 is set to A+α, the bearing 6 will wear out by the dimension A and the electrode Tip part 22a and upper shaft part 3a
Even when the
Serious accidents caused by contact between them can be prevented.

g. Effects of the invention As described above, according to this invention, an electrode is provided at the upper part of the pressing head, and changes in the resistance value based on the water quality between the electrode and the upper shaft of the auger are monitored, and when the resistance value changes, the first Since the drainage device is activated when the resistance value becomes lower than the reference resistance value and becomes larger than the second reference resistance value, the concentration of precipitated impurities contained in the water in the ice making mechanism can be constantly detected and drained. This has the effect of preventing scale from adhering to the inside of the ice-making mechanism, as well as reliably preventing a decrease in ice-making ability and abnormal wear of the bearings. Also,
When the bearing wears down and the resistance falls below the second reference value when the electrode and the auger upper shaft come into contact, the operation of the compressor auger drive device is stopped, so that the auger and the inner wall of the refrigeration casing are This has the effect of being able to prevent fatal accidents such as mutual contact and damage, and also allowing for timely inspection and replacement of the bearings. Furthermore, since the resistance value change due to water quality is compared with the first and second reference values using one electrode,
This has the advantage that both water quality and contact accidents can be monitored at all times using one circuit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing an auger-type ice maker according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an enlarged portion of the abrasion contact detection means in FIG. 1;
Figures 3 and 3a are control circuit diagrams for controlling the operation of the auger ice maker shown in Figures 1 and 2, and Figures 4 to 7 illustrate conventional auger ice makers. FIG. In the figure, 1 is an ice making mechanism, 2 is a freezing casing, 3 is an auger, 4 is a press head, 5 is a housing, 6 is a bearing, 7 is a drive device, 20 is a wear contact detection means, 22 is an electrode, and 31 is an operation control circuit,
CC is a comparison circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) An auger 3 rotatably supported by upper and lower bearings 6 provided in the frozen casing 2 is used to scrape off ice that has formed on the inner wall surface of the frozen casing 2 while moving it upward. In an auger-type ice maker that makes ice by compressing and dehydrating the transported and scraped ice using the pressing head 4 including the upper bearing,
abrasion contact detection means 20 disposed on the pressing head 4 with a gap between it and the auger 3 for detecting the electrical resistance of water existing within the gap; When the electric resistance of
An auger-type ice maker characterized by comprising an operation control circuit 31 that stops ice-making operation when the resistance value becomes equal to or less than a reference resistance value. (2) The wear contact detection means 20 is covered with an insulating material 21 and includes an electrode 22 whose tip 22a is disposed along the radial direction toward the upper shaft portion 3a of the auger 3. An auger-type ice maker according to claim 1 of the patent registration claim.