JPH045981Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to an ice making machine equipped with a plurality of vertical cell type ice making plates, and in particular, the arrangement structure of each ice making plate, a water tank and a water pump for these ice making plates. , relating to the arrangement structure of components such as float switches.

(Prior art) Conventionally, one of the ice-making plates of an ice-making machine has a large number of completely open ice-making chambers partitioned vertically and horizontally, and water sprinkled from above is supplied from the upper ice-making chamber. A vertical cell system is well known in which ice is made to flow down to the ice making compartments below in order to produce ice of a predetermined shape in each ice making compartment. In the case of this vertical cell system, the ice making water is gradually cooled down as it flows from the upper ice maker to the lower ice maker, so it is easier to make ice in the lower ice maker and the desired shape is achieved. of ice can be obtained, but the ice made in the upper ice-making compartment tends to be small. For this reason, there is a restriction that the number of vertical stages of the ice making compartment cannot be increased unnecessarily.

Therefore, when increasing the ice-making capacity of an ice-making machine equipped with such a vertical cell type ice-making plate, in other words, when increasing the number of ice cubes that can be made at one time, it is necessary to increase the ice-making chambers in the left and right direction as an ice-making plate. However, it is disadvantageous in terms of production cost, as a new mold is required to make ice from this ice-making plate. For this reason, a plurality of existing ice-making plates are used. In this case, it is unreasonable to connect a plurality of ice-making plates vertically due to the limitations of the vertical cell system, so it is preferable to arrange them horizontally as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,349 and the drawings. .

In the above conventional ice making plate, two vertical cell type ice making plates are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, and the ice making plate is placed above both ice making plates in common to both ice making plates. a water sprinkler that sprinkles water for ice making; a water tank that is placed below both ice-making plates to store water for ice-making and collects the water that flows down from each ice-making plate; Each water pump is provided with a water pump that pumps up water from the tank and supplies it to the water sprinkler.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in the above-mentioned conventional system, only one water tank and one water pump are commonly provided for each of the two ice-making plates. There is a problem that uneven flow of water occurs. Also, regarding the water tank, 1
Since ice-making operation continues until a volume of water equivalent to the total amount of ice is made from the two water tanks, if there is a drift on the refrigerant side, ice will be generated in the ice-making compartment of each ice-making plate. The size of the ice varies, which can lead to poor ice removal. Furthermore, depending on the overflow position in the water tank, there is a problem that the capacity of water that can be used for ice making is likely to change due to the inclination during installation. For example, as shown in Figure 4, if the water tank is 1
In the case of two partitions, the capacity is reduced by the shaded area in the figure for the same slope, compared to the case of partitioning into two.
This results in smaller ice being formed.

(Purpose of the invention) This invention was made in view of the above points,
The main purpose of this is that when multiple vertical cell type ice making plates are installed horizontally side by side, each ice making plate is individually provided with one water tank, one water pump, and one water sprinkler. The purpose is to solve the problem and generate ice of a desired constant size on each ice-making plate.

However, in this case, if a float switch that controls the ON/OFF operation of the water pump is also provided in each water tank in order to set the volume of water used for ice making, the following problems will occur. .

In other words, if the failure rate of a float switch is α, the normality rate for one float switch is (1-α), but for multiple float switches, for example, 2
Since ^the failure rate is α(2-α) in the case of
−α) Due to the relationship ² , the defective rate of float switches increases. In addition, the connection diagram when there are two float switches is shown in Figure 5, and each upper limit water level contact a is connected in series, while each lower limit water level contact b is connected in parallel. When the capacity of water used for ice making in each water tank is different, the end time of ice making is regulated by the side with the smaller water capacity, so the ice produced is always adjusted to the smaller one. Furthermore, if the time required for ice making is different due to the drift on the refrigerant side, smaller ice will be produced if the time required for ice making is longer. Moreover, of course, the cost will be high.

Therefore, a further object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems by providing only one float switch for multiple water tanks, and to enable sufficient control with just one float switch. .

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the solution taken by the present invention consists of a large number of ice cubes with open fronts partitioned vertically and horizontally, as shown in Fig. 1. room 18
The ice making machine is assumed to have a plurality of ice making plates 10, 10 arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction. A plurality of water sprinklers 24 are disposed above each of the ice-making plates 10 and sprinkle ice-making water onto each of the ice-making plates 10,
24, which are arranged below each of the ice-making plates 10, store water for ice-making, and connect each ice-making plate 1
Multiple water tanks 4 to collect water flowing down from 0
0, 40, and a plurality of water pumps 41, 41 disposed in each water tank 40 to pump up water in each water tank 40 and supply it to each water sprinkler 24.
and separately prepared. Further, the water pump 4 is disposed in one of the plurality of water tanks 40, 40, detects the water level in the water tank 40, and detects the water level in the water tank 40.
1 and 41 are commonly provided with one float switch 42 for controlling the operations of the two.

(Function) With the above configuration, in the present invention, when a plurality of ice-making plates are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction to increase the ice-making capacity while preventing the ice from becoming thinner in the upper ice-making compartment, each ice-making plate is Since we installed a separate water tank, water pump, and water sprinkler each, there were problems with uneven water distribution with the water pump, uneven ice size due to uneven flow on the refrigerant side, and problems with the water tank during installation. This eliminates the problem that the volume of ice-making water tends to change due to the slope of the ice-making plate, and ice of a predetermined size can be produced satisfactorily on each ice-making plate.

In addition, since the float switch that controls ON/OFF operation of the water pump is installed in one of the multiple water tanks, the failure rate of the float switch is lower than when each is installed individually. In addition to reducing the occurrence of ice-making water in each water tank, the end time of ice-making on each ice-making plate is controlled by the lower limit water level contact of a single float switch, even against differences in the capacity of ice-making water in each water tank and uneven flow on the refrigerant side. No small ice cubes are generated. Moreover, even if the ice making time becomes longer due to a failure in the refrigerant system of the ice making plate on the side where the float switch is installed,
If the lower limit of suction of the water pump is appropriately set on the ice-making plate on the side where the float switch is not installed, larger ice than necessary will not be generated. Furthermore, since only one float switch is required, the structure is simple and the cost is low.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of an ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows an example in which two ice making plates 10, 10 of a cylindrical vertical cell type are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. First, to explain the refrigerant circulation system for each ice-making plate 10, 1 is a compressor, 2 is an air-cooled condenser equipped with a fan 2a, and 3 is a temperature-sensitive expansion valve. Each ice-making plate 10 as an evaporator,
10 through a refrigerant pipe 4, and each expansion valve 3, 3 and each ice making plate 10, 10 are connected in parallel to the compressor 1 and condenser 2 through refrigerant branch pipes 4a, 4a. A parallel refrigeration circuit, that is, an ice-making circuit, is configured to circulate a refrigerant as shown by the solid line arrow during ice-making. Further, a hot gas pipe 5 branches from the discharge pipe 1a of the compressor 1, and the hot gas pipe 5 branches into two hot gas branch pipes 5a,
The refrigerant branch pipes 3a, 3a are connected to the ice making plates 10, 10 upstream of the refrigerant branch pipes 3a, 3a via the refrigerant branch pipes 5a, and ice-releasing electromagnetic valves 6, 6, which open when ice is removed, are interposed in each of the hot gas branch pipes 5a, 5a. An ice-removing circuit is configured to flow hot gas to each ice-making plate 10, 10 as shown by the broken line arrow during ice-off. In the above-mentioned refrigeration circuit, 7 is a dryer and 8 is an accumulator.

Next, the structure of each ice-making plate 10 and the parts provided around it will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. an ice-making plate main body 14 in which a plurality of vertical partition walls 12 are bored and a recess 13 for holding cooling pipes is provided on the back surface;
a spacer 17 protruding from the spacer 17 and a horizontal partition wall 16 provided between the adjacent vertical partition walls 15, 15.
The structure is such that the ice-making plate main body 14 is sandwiched between the ice-making plates 7 and 17, and the ice-making plate bodies 14 are stacked alternately.
A large number of ice making chambers 18 each having an open front surface (outer surface) are divided vertically and horizontally by sections 2, 15, and 16. Here, the ice making plate main body 14 is formed by cutting a drawn material made of a heat transfer material such as aluminum into a dimension corresponding to the vertical width of the ice cube to be manufactured, and each vertical partition wall 12 in the main body 14 A heat insulating member 19 is attached to each tip. Further, the spacer 17 is made of a heat insulating material such as synthetic resin, and the insides of the vertical and horizontal partition walls 15 and 16 in the spacer 17 are hollow and communicate with each other. An open cylindrical portion 15a communicating with the hollow interior is provided at the tip of the vertical partition wall 15, and a columnar body 15b is provided protruding from the tip of the other vertical partition wall 15. In addition, 20 is a water supply pipe connected to the cylindrical part 15a of a predetermined vertical partition wall 15 of the spacer 17 located at the uppermost stage, and 21 is a cylindrical pipe connected to the cylindrical part 15a of the predetermined vertical partition wall 15 of the spacer 17 located at the lowermost stage. A water injection pipe connected to the section (not shown), 22
is the corresponding cylindrical portion 15a, 1 in each spacer 17
5a, which form a series of water supply passages from the water supply pipe 20 that sequentially pass through the interior of each spacer 17 and reach the water injection pipe 21. The lower end faces each water tank 40, which will be described later, and constitutes a water supply means for supplying water to each water tank 40 as indicated by the dashed-dotted line arrow. Further, a water supply electromagnetic valve 9 that opens when water is supplied is interposed in the middle of the water supply pipe 20. Further, a meandering cooling pipe 23 is thermally fitted and held in the recess 13 provided on the back surface of the ice-making plate main body 14, and both ends 23a, 23a of the cooling pipe 23 are connected to the refrigerant branch pipe 4a of the refrigerant circulation system. are connected to each.

24 is a water sprinkler individually arranged above each ice-making plate 10, and the water sprinkler 24 has a large number of water spray holes 25a.
An annular bottom wall 25 having a hole therein and side walls 26 and 27 erected along the inner and outer peripheries of the bottom wall 25 form an annular tank-like tank with an open top surface corresponding to the planar shape of the ice making plate 10. This is a water sprinkler, and is configured to allow ice-making water to flow in from a water pump 41, which will be described later, and to sprinkle the ice-making water onto the ice-making plate 10 from the water sprinkling holes 25a. Also,
Reference numeral 28 denotes a water supply and drainage portion formed by extending the bottom wall 25 and the side wall 27 along the outer periphery of the water sprinkler 24 outward;
A water supply port 29 and a drain port 30 are provided on the lower surface of the tip of the water supply port 2, as shown in FIG.
A pumping pipe 31 of a water pump 41, which will be described later, is connected to 9, and a drain pipe 32, which communicates with a water tank 40, which will be described later, is connected to the drain port 30.

A semi-cylindrical projection 27a is provided at a predetermined position on the outer wall 27 of the water sprinkler 24.
The upper and lower ends of the coupling band 33 formed of a spring material are respectively locked to the columnar body 15b of the spacer 17 at the lowermost stage of the ice-making plate 10, so that a water sprinkler is attached to the ice-making plate 10. 24 are connected. In addition, each ice-making plate main body 14 and spacer 17 constituting the ice-making plate 10 are cylindrical portions 15a, 15 in the uppermost and lowermost spacers 17, 17.
A coupling band 34 made of a spring material in the same way as in a.
The upper and lower ends of the holder are respectively locked to be integrated. Furthermore, in Figure 2, 3
Reference numerals 5, 36, and 37 are members for fixing the unit of the ice-making plate 10 and the water sprinkler 24, which are combined as described above, in a hanging manner within the case (not shown) of the ice-making machine, and 35 is the member for fixing the ice-making plate 10 and the water sprinkler 24 in a hanging manner. A supporting member that supports the plate 10 from below, 36 a hanging member installed within the case, and 37 a connecting member between the two members 35 and 36.

Further, reference numeral 40 denotes a water tank individually arranged below each ice-making plate 10, which stores water for ice-making supplied from the water injection pipe 21 and also stores water flowing down from the ice-making plate 10 during ice-making. It is something to be collected. A water pump 41 is arranged in each water tank 40 as shown in FIG.
The water supply port 29 is connected to the water supply port 29, and the water in the water tank 40 is pumped up and supplied to the water sprinkler 24 during ice making.

In FIG. 1, in the water tank 40 on one side (the right side in the figure) is a float switch that detects the water level in the water tank 40 and controls the operation of both water pumps 41, 41 on and off. 42 is arranged, and as shown in FIG. 3, when the upper limit water level H is detected by the float switch 42 during ice making, the water pumps 41, 41 are operated to start ice making, and the lower limit water level L is detected. When this occurs, the operation of the water pumps 41, 41 is stopped and ice making is completed. In addition, each of the water pumps 41
The suction lower limit position L0 is set at a position slightly lower than the lower limit water level L of the float switch 42, and the capacity of the water tank 40 from the upper limit water level H of the float switch 42 to the suction lower limit position Lo of the water pump 41 is 1.1 to 1.1 for the capacity from the upper limit water level H to the lower limit water level L of the float switch 42
It is set to be 1.3 times. In FIG. 1, 43 is an overflow pipe provided in each water tank 40, and 44 is a drain plug.

Next, to explain the operation and effect of the above embodiment, when making ice cubes, first, each ice making plate 10
In this step, a refrigerant is passed through the cooling pipe 23 to cool the surface 11 and the vertical partition wall 12 of the ice-making plate body 14 that form the ice-making chamber 18 . On the other hand, when water is supplied to each water tank 40, the float switch 42 detects the upper limit water level H and each water pump 41 is activated, so that the water in each water tank 40 is supplied to each water sprinkler 24, and the water in each water tank 40 is supplied to each water sprinkler 24. Many watering holes 25a of the container 24
Water is uniformly sprinkled on the upper circumferential surface of the spacer 17 at the top end of each ice-making plate 10, and the water is sprayed along the surface from the upper surface, outer end surface, and lower surface of the spacer 17 to the surface 11 of the ice-making plate main body 14. By sequentially wetting and flowing down, ice gradually grows in each ice making compartment 18, and the ice grows in each water tank 40 accordingly.
When the amount of water in the ice plate 1 decreases and reaches the lower limit water level L, the float switch 42 detects this and stops the operation of each water pump 41.
Ice cubes having a desired shape are uniformly made in the ice making chamber 18 of No. 0. After making the ice cubes, hot gas is circulated through the cooling pipes 23 of each ice making plate 10 so that the ice making plate main body 14
By heating the surface 11 and the vertical partition wall 12, ice cubes are released from each ice making compartment 18 and naturally fall into the ice storage compartment at the bottom and are stored.

In that case, water tank 4 for each ice making plate 10
0. Since one water pump 41 and one water sprinkler 24 are provided individually, there is no problem such as uneven flow of water used for watering. Furthermore, even if the amount of water changes due to overflow from the overflow pipe 43 of the water tank 40 due to the inclination during installation, the amount will be smaller than in the case of one common water tank, and the amount will be equal in each case. As the ice cubes decrease in size, the size of the ice cubes produced is not so small, and moreover, they are produced in a uniform shape. In addition, even if there is a drift of the refrigerant, it is regulated by the lower limit water level L of the float switch 42, and each ice making plate 1
At 0, ice is made using almost the same amount of ice making water, so ice cubes of a constant size are produced.

Furthermore, since a common float switch 42 that controls both water pumps 41, 41 is provided in one of the water tanks 40, the failure rate is lower and the defective rate is lower than in the case where two float switches are provided, one in each water tank 40. In addition to being able to reduce generation, the structure is simple and inexpensive. Moreover, even if there is a difference in the capacity of ice-making water in each water tank 40 or a drift of refrigerant, the end time of ice-making on each ice-making plate 10 is controlled by the lower limit water level of one float switch 42, so that small ice cubes can be It is never generated. Also, in case the float switch 4
Even if the ice making time with the ice making plate 10 on the side where the float switch 42 is installed becomes longer due to a failure of the refrigerant system, the ice making water capacity of the ice making plate 10 on the other side without the float switch 42 will be maintained at the lower limit of suction of the water pump 41. Since the size of the ice cubes can be controlled, the ice cubes are not very large compared to the desired ice cubes, and in the above embodiment, they are about 1.1 to 1.3 times larger, and it is possible to make the ice cubes of different sizes on each ice making plate 10. can be effectively controlled and prevented.

Therefore, in increasing the ice-making capacity by arranging two ice-making plates 10, 10 in parallel, it is possible to simplify the structure and reduce costs as much as possible, while reducing the defect rate. It is possible to uniformly produce ice cubes having a desired substantially constant size.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, according to the ice maker of the invention, a water tank, a water pump, and a water sprinkler are individually installed for each of the plurality of vertical cell type ice makers installed in parallel in the horizontal direction. In addition, by installing a common float switch for each water pump in only one of the water tanks, we are able to simplify the structure to reduce costs and reduce the defect rate as much as possible, while ensuring that each ice making plate achieves the desired results. Ice of a certain size can be produced satisfactorily, and ice making capacity can be effectively increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 show embodiments of the present invention;
2 is an exploded perspective view showing an ice-making plate and surrounding parts, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic side view of a water tank. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing changes in water level when tilted when there is one water tank and when there are two water tanks, and FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram when there are two float switches. 10... Ice making plate, 18... Ice making room, 24... Water sprinkler, 40... Water tank, 41... Water pump, 4
2...Float switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A plurality of ice-making plates 10 each having a large number of open-front ice-making chambers 18 partitioned vertically and horizontally,
Reference numeral 10 denotes an ice making machine arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, and a plurality of water sprinklers 2 are arranged above each of the ice making plates 10 and sprinkle water for ice making onto each of the ice making plates 10.
4, 24, and a plurality of water tanks 40, 40 each disposed below each ice making plate 10 to store water for ice making and to collect water flowing down from each ice making plate 10, and each water tank. A plurality of water pumps 41 and 4 are disposed in each water tank 40 and pump up water in each water tank 40 and supply the water to each water sprinkler 24.
1, and one float switch 42 disposed in one of the plurality of water tanks 40, 40, which detects the water level in the water tank 40 and controls the operation of the plurality of water pumps 41, 41. An ice maker characterized by comprising: