JPH0419420Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] a. Industrial application field This invention relates to an automatic ice maker, and in particular, an ice maker having a plurality of ice maker compartments opening downward, the ice maker is provided so as to be tiltable toward the opening side, and the ice maker compartments This invention relates to an automatic ice maker equipped with a water tray that closes the water tray.

b. Prior Art Figures 4 to 6 show an example of a conventional automatic ice maker, in which an evaporator 3 is fixed to the top surface of an ice maker 2 which has a plurality of ice maker compartments 1 that open downward. ing. A water tray 4 is provided on the opening side of the ice-making chamber 2 and is tilted around a drive shaft 14 by an actuator motor (not shown) to fully open and close each ice-making chamber 1 . On the lower side of this water tray 4, ice-making water that changes phase to ice in the ice-making chamber 1 is stored.
An ice-making water tank 5 that tilts together with the water tray 4 is provided. A distribution pipe 6 for distributing ice-making water to each ice-making chamber 1 is attached to the lower surface of the water tray 4. A plurality of water fountains 7 corresponding to the distribution pipes 6 and an outlet 8 near the water fountains 7 are formed on the entire surface of the water tray 4. A water supply pipe 9 having a water supply valve 10 is provided above the ice-making water tank 5. When the water supply valve 10 is opened, the ice adhering to the surface of the water tray 4 is melted, and the amount of ice-making water necessary for ice making is melted. is supplied to the ice-making water tank 5.

A water pipe 11 connected to a distribution pipe 6 is led out from the bottom of the ice-making water tank 5. A pump 12 is installed in the middle of the water pipe 11 to spray ice-making water in an ice-making water tank 5 from a water fountain 7 toward each ice-making compartment 1 during an ice-making cycle.

Next, the operation of the conventional automatic ice maker having the above configuration will be explained. During the ice-making cycle, the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 5 is transferred from the water fountain 7 to the ice-making compartment 1 via the water pipe 11 and the distribution pipe 6 by the operation of the pump 12.
A portion of the ice-making water is frozen by the cold heat from the evaporator 3, and unfrozen ice-making water returns to the ice-making water tank 5 from the outlet 8. In this way, as the ice-making water circulates between the ice-making water tank 5 and the ice-making compartment 1, ice gradually grows in the ice-making compartment 1. When ice of a certain size grows in the ice-making compartment 1, an ice-making completion detection means (not shown) such as a thermostat detects this, and the ice-making cycle ends.
Move on to the de-icing cycle.

The deicing cycle is started when the operation of the pump 12 is stopped and the fountain of ice making water to the ice making compartment 1 is stopped. The actuator motor starts when the pump 12 stops operating, tilts the water tray 4 and the ice-making water tank 5, and stops when the water tray 4 and the ice-making water tank 5 are fully opened. When the water tray 4 is fully opened, the water supply valve 10 of the water supply pipe 9 is opened, and the ice-making water flows down while melting the ice adhering to the surface of the water tray 4.
The ice-making water is then passed from the outlet 8 to the ice-making water tank 5.
It mixes with the ice-making water left during the ice-making cycle and is stored up to the A-A water level in the ice-making water tank 5.
Any more ice-making water is drained from a drain pipe 15 into a drain tray 16.

Further, at the same time as the deicing cycle starts, hot gas is flowed into the evaporator 3 to melt the portion of ice stuck to the ice making chamber 1, and this ice is transferred to the water tray 4 which is fully opened after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the deicing cycle. and is guided down to the ice storage (not shown).

When the de-icing detection means (not shown) detects that all the ice in the ice-making compartment 1 has been stored in the ice storage, the actuator motor is activated and the water tray 4 and ice-making water tank 5 are tilted in the closing direction. . And water plate 4
The deicing cycle ends when the ice making chamber 1 is closed, and the ice making cycle described above is started again. The ice-making water from the water supply pipe 9 is stored up to the B-B water level in the ice-making water tank 5, and the ice-making water beyond that is drained from the drain pipe 15 to the drain tray 16 as surplus water.
is drained to.

By the way, during the deicing cycle, if ice adheres to the surface of the water tray 4, the ice that has fallen from the ice-making chamber 1 will be difficult to slide down the surface of the water tray 4, and the ice on the water tray 4 will become difficult to slide down. If the water tray 4 attempts to close off the ice making chamber 1 while remaining, an overload will be applied to the actuator motor, which may cause burnout of the actuator. Furthermore, if the water fountain 7 is clogged with ice, there is a risk that ice-making water will not be sprayed into the ice-making chamber 1 even when ice-making operation begins. In order to deal with these inconveniences, the ice-making water flows down onto the surface of the water tray 4 to melt the ice adhering to the water tray 4.

c Problems to be solved by the invention In the conventional automatic ice making machine as described above, after the water tray 4 is fully opened, the ice leaves the ice making chamber 1 and the water tray 4 closes the ice making chamber 1. Since the water supply valve 10 is opened for a long period of time from the start of the operation to eliminate the above-mentioned inconvenience, a considerable amount of ice-making water is drained to the outside from the drain pipe 15, and the ice-making water is not used effectively. There was a problem that I was told was not done.

This idea was made to solve this problem, and aims to provide an automatic ice maker that can save water by melting ice adhering to the surface of the water tray with hot water during the deicing cycle. purpose.

d Means for solving the problem The automatic ice maker according to this invention includes an ice-melting water tank that is integrated with the water tray and stores ice-melting water that flows down onto the surface of the water tray as the water tray tilts; The ice-melting water tank is equipped with a high-pressure refrigeration piping section that heats the ice-melting water in the ice-melting water tank.

e Effect In this device, during the deicing cycle in which the water tray is fully opened, melting water that has been heated in advance by the high pressure section of the refrigeration piping during the ice making cycle flows down onto the surface of the water tray as the water tray tilts, and flows into the water tray. Melt the ice that has adhered to it.

f. Example Hereinafter, an example of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show one embodiment of this invention, and the same or corresponding parts as in FIGS. 4 to 6 are given the same reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted.

In the figure, an ice-melting water tank 21 having a triangular cross section is provided integrally with the water tray 4 at its end. Inside the ice-melting water tank 21, there is provided a high-pressure refrigeration piping section 22 that is connected to the evaporator 3 and located in front of the condenser (not shown) of the refrigerator, and heats the ice-melting water in the ice-melting water tank 21. It's becoming like that.

In the automatic ice maker configured in this way,
During the ice-making cycle, the ice-making water that is cooled by heat exchange with the refrigerant in the evaporator 3 undergoes a phase change to ice in the ice-making chamber 1. During this time, high-pressure and high-temperature refrigerant flows in the high-pressure section 22 of the refrigeration pipe. The ice-melting water in the ice-melting water tank 21 is heated by exchanging heat with the high-pressure, high-temperature refrigerant. When the ice making completion detection means (not shown) such as a thermostat detects that the ice in the ice making chamber 1 has reached a certain size, the pump 1 is activated.
2 operation is stopped, the ice making cycle is completed,
Move on to the de-icing cycle.

At the start of the deicing cycle, the actuator motor is started, and the water tray 4 and the ice-making water tank 5 are tilted around the drive shaft (not shown), and when the water tray 4 and the ice-making water tank 5 are fully opened, the actuator motor is started. stops. While the water tray 4 is tilting, the heated ice melt water in the ice melting water tank 21 tilting together with the water tray 4 spills and flows down onto the surface of the water tray 4, removing the ice that has adhered to the surface of the water tray 4. melt. This ice-melting water falls into the ice-making water tank 5 from the outlet 8 while melting the ice, mixes with the ice-making water remaining from the previous ice-making cycle, and reaches the A-A water level in the ice-making water tank 5. The remaining water is drained from the drain pipe 15.

At the same time as the deicing cycle starts, hot gas is flowed into the evaporator 3 to melt the ice that has stuck to the ice making chamber 1. It falls onto the surface of the tray 4, slides down and is guided to an ice storage (not shown).

When the de-icing detection means (not shown) detects that all the ice in the ice-making compartment 1 has been stored in the ice storage, the actuator motor is activated and the water tray 4 and ice-making water tank 5 are tilted in the closing direction. . Further, the water supply valve 10 opens simultaneously with the operation of the actuator motor,
The ice-making water flows down the surface of the water tray 4 and is supplied into the ice-making water tank 5 from the outlet 8. The opening time of the water supply valve 10 is preset to a time during which the ice-making water from the water supply pipe 9 is stored up to the B-B water level in the ice-making water tank 5. The deicing cycle ends when the water tray 4 closes off the ice making chamber 1, and the ice making cycle described above is started again.

g. Effects of the invention As explained above, according to the automatic ice maker of this invention, the water tray is integrally provided with an ice-melting water tank that stores the ice-melting water that flows down onto the surface of the water tray as the water tray tilts, and The following effects can be achieved by providing a high-pressure part of the refrigeration piping that heats the ice-melting water in the ice-melting water tank in the ice-water tank.

1 The heated ice-melting water melts the ice adhering to the surface of the water tray in a short time, so the amount of ice-making water used is reduced compared to the conventional system, which uses a large amount of ice-making water to melt the ice. is significantly reduced. This effect is particularly noticeable when the outside air temperature is low and the ice making water supplied from the outside is low temperature.

2. Since the heated ice-melting water melts the ice adhering to the surface of the water tray in a short time, it is possible to shorten the de-icing cycle time and improve the ice-making capacity.

3. The high-pressure section of the refrigeration pipe heats the ice-melting water and also functions as a condenser for the refrigeration circuit. As a result, the condensation capacity of the refrigeration circuit is improved and the ice-making capacity is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing another usage mode of FIG. 1;
3 is a perspective view of the main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing an example of a conventional automatic ice maker, FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing another usage mode of FIG. 4, and FIG. The figure is a sectional view of the main part of FIG. 5. 1...Ice making compartment, 2...Ice making compartment, 4...Water tray,
5... Ice making water tank, 12... Pump, 21...
Ice-melting water tank, 22...refrigeration piping high pressure section. In addition,
The same reference numerals in each figure indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An ice-making compartment 2 having a plurality of ice-making compartments 1 that open downward, and a water tray 4 that is tiltably provided on the opening side of the ice-making compartment 2 and closes the ice-making compartment 1.
An ice-making water tank 5 is provided below the water tray 4 so as to be tiltable together with the water tray 4, and stores ice-making water that is phase-changed into ice in the ice-making chamber 1; A fountain 7 formed in the water tray 4 directs water toward each of the ice-making compartments 1, and the ice-making compartments 1
In an automatic ice making machine, the ice making machine is equipped with a pump 12 that circulates ice making water between the ice making water tank 5 and the ice making water tank 5. An automatic ice making machine characterized by having an ice melting water tank 21 for storing ice water, and a freezing piping high pressure section 22 provided in the ice melting water tank 21 and heating the ice melting water in the ice melting water tank 21.