JPH083899Y2 - Structure of the discharge part of the vertical ice carrier - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice vertical transport device for transporting ice from a lower side to an upper discharge end and discharging the ice therefrom, and more particularly to a structure of a discharge part of the ice vertical transport device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional ice vertical carrier, a relatively large space is required to install the vertical carrier, because the ice is carried upward by a bucket or a rake protruding from an endless carrier, that is, a carrier chain. However, it is difficult to arrange such a vertical transfer device in a narrow space such as an ice storage of an ice making machine.

Therefore, in order to improve this, the applicant of the present invention has proposed that at least two endless belts driven by a driving means and a large number of them mounted between the endless belts at a distance wider than the longest side of the ice. Horizontal bars, and fixed guides arranged on a plane parallel to the plane including the horizontal bars at intervals of about 1/2 to 2/3 between the horizontal bars. In addition, the above-mentioned endless belt has already been filed as Japanese Patent Application No. 2-118037 for an ice vertical transporting device for sending ice from a lower horizontal ice transporting portion to a upper ice discharging portion via a vertical ice transporting portion.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a discharging part in the ice vertical transporting device of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2-118037.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an endless belt, 2 is a horizontal bar, 3 is a guide sprocket of the endless belt 1, 4 is a drive sprocket of the endless belt 1,
Reference numeral 5 is a front cover having a discharge end 5a of the ice cubes 7, and 6 is a fixed guide having an ice drop assisting plate 8 inclined downward at the tip.

In this ice vertical carrying device, when the drive sprocket 4 is rotated in the arrow direction by a drive motor (not shown) and the endless belt 1 is run in the arrow direction, the endless belt 1 is moved.
Holds the ice cube 7 between the adjacent horizontal bars 2 and carries it to the discharge end 5a of the front cover 5 in the horizontal discharge part C, and from there, the ice 7 is cupped via a funnel-shaped discharge spout (not shown). Drop into a container such as and release. In addition, the ice falling support plate 8 is conveyed over the horizontal bar 2 for melting and is discharged to the discharge end 5.
It is a plate for pushing the ice cubes that did not fall in a and forcibly dropping them.

[0006]

In the vertical ice transporting apparatus as described above, the horizontal bars 2 adjacent to the pair of endless belts 1 are provided.
The ice cube 7 is accommodated in the space portion defined between and and is released as described above. However, if the space portion has an area that can accommodate only one ice cube, Although such a phenomenon does not occur, for example, if the size between the adjacent horizontal bars 2 is a value capable of transporting two ice cubes, two ice cubes 7 adhere to each other from the discharge end 5a. It may drop while rotating in the connected state at the same time.

In such a case, if the above-mentioned funnel-shaped discharge spout (not shown) is arranged in the vicinity of the discharge end 5a of the horizontal discharge portion C, the ice cubes 7 in the connected state become the narrowed portion of the discharge spout. Since the discharge spout has a sufficient allowance for the ice cubes in the connected state to rotate, the discharge spout can easily become clogged in the discharge end 5.
It must be placed well below a, which requires that the entire discharge section C be designed to extend high, thus making the device less compact.

If the discharge portion C is substantially horizontal,
Since the front cover 5 is inevitably horizontal, water droplets are likely to accumulate on the horizontal portion 5b of the front cover 5, and the water droplets drop downward from the discharge end 5a through the discharge spout, and a cup mounting table (not shown). ) Is soiled, scattered in a cup, scattered in the hand holding the cup, and other phenomena that must be avoided as an ice carrier device occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a discharge part structure of an ice vertical transport device which can be made more compact and in which a water drop does not drop at an undesired place.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention comprises a vertical ice carrying section for carrying the ice in the ice storage room from the lower side to the upper side, and a discharging section extending from the vertical ice carrying section. and, in an ice vertical conveying apparatus the endless conveying member circulates travels the vertical搬氷portion and the discharge portion comprises a transverse bar which is attached spaced at predetermined intervals along the ice progression direction, the discharge portion , An ice support plate that is connected to the vertical ice carrying section while being inclined so that its discharge end communicating with the discharge spout is located above, and that supports ice from below in the discharge section.
The tip of the ice advancing direction defines the discharge end, and
It is characterized in that the ice support plate is arranged substantially along the inclination of the discharge part.

[0011]

When the endless conveying member is driven, the horizontal bar attached thereto pushes the ice and sends the ice to the discharging portion through the vertical ice-carrying portion. Depending on the size of the space portion defined by the adjacent horizontal bar and the endless conveying member, a plurality of ice pieces are accommodated in the space portion, and further, they are sent to the discharge end of the discharge portion in a state where they are attached and connected to each other. .

Since the discharging part is inclined, a large space is secured below the discharging end as compared with the case of the horizontal arrangement, so that the ice rolling in the connected state from the discharging end can rotate in this space. And, the discharge spout falls without being blocked.

Further, when the endless conveying member is stopped while the ice is located near the discharge end, if the support plate in the discharge part is horizontal, the water droplets generated from the ice will be collected in the support plate and will pass from the discharge end through the discharge spout. It scatters into the cup,
Since the support plate in the discharge part is also inclined, the water drops fall along the support plate and do not enter the discharge spout.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 shows an ice vertical transport device 10 according to the present invention.
1 is a side view showing a partial cross-section of an ice storage device 11 including an ice storage device 11, which has an ice storage 12, an opening / closing door 13 for the ice storage 12, a heat insulating box 14 defining the ice storage 12, and the like. Box 1
The top part or the ceiling part of 4 is a container mounting table 15 having a drainage function. It should be noted that the ice storage device 11 is not provided with an ice making unit, and the ice cubes are carried from a separate ice making machine and stored in the ice storage 12, but the ice storage provided integrally with the ice making machine. It goes without saying that the ice vertical transport device 10 according to the present invention can be arranged in the refrigerator.

The vertical ice transporting device 10 has a lower horizontal ice carrying part A located at the bottom of the ice storage 12, and an upward vertical extension (not necessarily right angle) from this horizontal ice carrying part A for heat insulation. It has a vertical ice-carrying part B which penetrates the box body 14 and is exposed to the outside, and a discharging part C which is continuous with the vertical ice-carrying part B. The discharging part C has its tip inclined upward according to the present invention. There is. Ice cubes are loaded in the horizontal ice carrying section A, carried upward in the vertical ice carrying section B, and released in the discharging section C.
Is released through.

Further, the ice vertical transporting device 10 has a pair of endless belts 1 (one side in FIG. 1) wound around a guide sprocket 3, a drive sprocket 4 and the like, as in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 2-118037. Endless belt 1
The (endless conveying member) runs in the direction of the arrow while being guided by the guide rails 17 and 18 by driving the drive sprocket 4 via a gear (not shown) or the like by a drive motor (not shown).

Further, the endless belt 1 is preferably made of stainless steel or synthetic resin endless chains, and a large number of horizontal bars 2, 2 ... Are provided at predetermined intervals between these endless chains schematically shown.・ (Fig. 2) is mounted. The above-mentioned predetermined interval of the horizontal bar 2 is the ice to be conveyed,
That is, it is determined in consideration of the size of ice made by an ice making machine (not shown), and is set to be slightly wider than at least the length of the longest side of the ice, or less than n times the longest side. Widely set to.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the above-described ice vertical transport device 10.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the ice discharging part C of FIG. 1 with its cover 19 and discharging spout 16 removed, and as best seen from this figure, the discharging part C is a horizontal imaginary line B perpendicular to the vertical ice carrying part B. It inclines upward at an angle θ with respect to ₁ . In addition, the ice vertical transport device 10 includes the vertical ice carrier B to the discharge unit C.
Front cover 5 (support plate) that extends while curving over
And a fixed guide base 6 facing the front cover 5 with the endless belt 1 interposed therebetween. The front cover 5 terminates at a portion indicated by reference numeral 5a, which serves as a discharge end of the discharge portion C, and the fixed guide base 6 extends toward the guide sprocket 3.

Since the discharge portion C is inclined upward at the angle θ as described above, the tip portion of the front cover 5 is also inclined, and the tip portion of the fixed guide base 6 is also inclined. Discharge part C
The inclination angle theta, was approximately 20 ° in the embodiment, but the invention is not limited to this value, it sufficient rotational space C ₁ is reserved for ice cubes which is articulated above the imaginary line B ₁ described above Good.

Next, the operation of the ice vertical transport device 10 described above will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, when the lever switch 20 is pushed and the drive motor (not shown) is operated to drive the endless belt 1, the ice cubes 7 are conveyed by the horizontal bar 2 in the direction of the arrow and to the discharge end 5a. It reaches there, falls there and is received by a cup (not shown) via a discharge spout 16 (FIG. 1). There is also a state in which a plurality of ice cubes are accommodated between the adjacent horizontal bars 2 and are attached to and connected to each other. When the ice cubes in the connected state fall from the discharge end 5a, they rotate in the rotation space C ₁ and pass through the discharge spout 16 without being clogged.

Even if the endless belt 1 is stopped in the state shown in FIG. 2, the water drop 9 generated from the ice cube 7 in the immediate vicinity of the discharge end 5a is inclined at the tip 5b of the front cover 5. Therefore, as shown by the arrow, it surely flows downward and does not drip from the discharge end 5a.

FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment of the front cover 5, in which the upwardly inclined tip portion 5b is separated from the main body portion 5c (may be a separate component), and the lower end of the front end portion 5b is the main body portion 5c. Is disposed below the upper end with a gap t between the upper end and the upper end. When arranged in this way, the water droplets 9 generated from the ice cubes drop downward through this gap. In addition, when it melts or pressure is applied and small ice chips are generated,
Even if it is conveyed to the position of the above-mentioned gap, it can be dropped downward from the gap so as not to be discharged from the discharge end 5a.

FIG. 4 shows an ice vertical conveying device in which the fixed guide base 6 is provided with an ice drop assisting plate 8 inclined downward toward the lower running path of the endless belt 1 in the ice discharging section C. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the discharging portion C is inclined upward by the angle θ, the ice cubes 7 conveyed over the horizontal bar 2 are in a more unstable state than in the case shown in FIG. Since the ice cube 7 is in a posture and the ice falling support plate 8 only slightly touches the ice cube 7, the ice cube 7 receives a rotational moment and falls down more easily.

Incidentally, this ice falling support plate 8 is also similar to the ice vertical conveying device of Japanese Patent Application No. 2-118037 mentioned at the beginning, and as shown in FIG. 5, the guide sprocket 3 is used.
Inclination starts at a portion of a horizontal distance H from the central axis 3a of the above, extends from the same portion to the left in the horizontal direction by a distance L, and extends downward in the vertical direction by a distance h to end. Ice Fall Grant Plate 8
Since the inclination start portion, that is, the horizontal distance H, is related to the position where ice is to be released (for example, the installation position of a container such as a cup (not shown)), it is set to an appropriate size corresponding to the same position and the horizontal direction is set. The limit of the distance L is chosen so that it does not touch the lateral bar 2 that flips along the guide sprocket 3, and the limit of the vertical distance h does not come into contact with the top of the lateral bar 2 running towards the guide sprocket 3. Choose to.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the discharging portion of the ice vertical transport device is inclined so that its tip is located above, and the corner of the connecting state is formed below the discharging end of the discharging portion. Since the space in which the ice can rotate is secured, the ice vertical transport device can be made compact, and the front cover that defines the discharge end is inclined so that the discharge end faces up.
It is possible to reliably prevent water droplets from accumulating near the discharge end of the front cover and dripping to an undesired place.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view of an ice storage device equipped with an ice vertical transport device according to the present invention.

2 is an enlarged schematic side view of a discharging unit in the ice vertical transport apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view showing a modified embodiment of the front cover in the discharging portion shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial side view showing another modified embodiment in which the ice drop assisting plate is provided in the discharging part shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a discharging part of an ice vertical transport device according to the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Endless Transport Member (Endless Band) 2 Horizontal Bar 5 Support Plate (Front Cover) 5a Discharge End 5b Tip 7 Ice (Square Ice) 8 Ice Drop Assist Plate 9 Water Drop 10 Ice Vertical Transport Device 12 Ice Storage 16 Release Spout A Horizontal Ice transport section B Vertical ice transport section C Discharge section

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A vertical ice carrying section for carrying ice in an ice storage container from a lower side to an upper side, and a discharging section extending from the vertical ice carrying section ,
In ice vertical conveying apparatus the endless conveying member circulates travels the vertical搬氷portion and the discharge portion comprises a transverse bar which is attached spaced at predetermined intervals along the ice progression Direction, the discharge portion is released The ice supporting plate, which is connected to the vertical ice-carrying portion inclining so that its discharge end communicating with the spout is located above, and which supports ice from below in the discharge part, is
The tip in the ice advancing direction defines the discharge end, and the ice
Release part structure of the ice vertical transport device, wherein a support plate is disposed substantially along the inclination of the release detection section.