JPS645718Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] a. Industrial application field The present invention relates to an automatic ice making machine, and in particular, to a novel improvement for allowing ice formed in each ice making compartment of an ice making compartment to fall without being connected to each other. It is.

b. Prior Art There are various types of ice-making chambers in this type of automatic ice-making machine that have been used in the past, and the configuration shown in FIG. 6 has been used as a typical one. That is, as shown in A and B of FIG. 6, a large number of partition plates 11 made of copper are fixed to an ice making chamber 10 made of copper by welding to form each small ice making chamber 12, and the ice making compartments 12 are formed from below. Ice was formed in each ice making compartment 12 by spraying water.

Further, as another means, as shown in FIG. 7, a configuration has been proposed in which a cut frame 20 is disposed below the ice making chamber 10 with a constant distance from the lower end of the ice making chamber 10. However, the thickness of each cut partition plate 21 of this cut frame 20 was configured to be the same as that of each partition plate 11 of the ice making chamber 10.

c Problems to be Solved by the Present Invention The conventional configuration as described above includes various problems, and in the configuration of the first conventional example shown in FIGS. Since both the partition plates 11 and 11 are made of a material with good heat conductivity, each partition plate 1
The opening edge 11a of each partition plate 11 is cooled to a temperature at which ice grows, and it takes time for the returned water to turn into water droplets and fall in this area. Ice had grown thick on the opening edge 11a of each partition plate 11 due to reasons such as the return water that had fallen along the partition plates 11 converging at this part. Therefore, when the above-mentioned phenomenon occurs, the ice making compartment 10
When the ice cubes are taken out after switching to the deicing state, the ice cubes 12a are connected to each other by the connecting portions 12b, and the ice cubes 12a hang down in an icicle shape, forming a uniformly shaped ice cube 12a. It is extremely difficult to obtain ice cubes 12a, and the commercial value of the ice cubes 12a will drop significantly. Furthermore, if the ice cubes 12a that are connected to each other in this way fall into the ice storage, the impact of the fall alone will not separate them into individual pieces, which is a practical problem, and the ice cubes in the ice storage may not be supplied in a fixed quantity. This was a fatal flaw when incorporated into ice vending machines.

Furthermore, in the second conventional example shown in FIG. However, as shown in Figure 7, if the installation is carried out with the position shifted, ice cubes that fall during deicing may occur.
The ice cubes 2a are deformed, making it impossible to obtain ice cubes 12a with a constant shape quality, and furthermore, the deformed ice cubes have the disadvantage that their weight decreases, leading to a decrease in the amount of ice produced. Therefore, as mentioned above,
It is extremely difficult to attach the partition plate 11 and the cut partition plate 21 in accurate correspondence;
This has not only been a hindrance in manufacturing, but also caused a significant increase in assembly costs.

d Means for solving the problem The purpose of this invention is to provide an extremely effective means to quickly eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and its gist is to An ice-making compartment having a large number of ice-making compartments partitioned by plates, each of which is configured to open downward; an evaporation tube provided in the ice-making compartment and a lower end of the ice-making compartment are spaced apart from each other by a certain distance; a cutting frame having a cutting partition plate disposed in a manner substantially corresponding to each of the partition plates, a heating means provided in the cutting frame for heating the cutting frame itself, and cooling the ice making chamber. This is an automatic ice making machine equipped with an ice making mechanism for supplying water for ice making.

e Effect: Each of the ice-making compartments is cooled, ice grows in each of the ice-making compartments, and when completion of ice-making is detected, the cutting frame is heated and each ice-making compartment is also heated at the same time, causing the ice cubes to melt slightly. and begins to fall downward, but
In this case, since the opening area of the cut frame is larger than the lower opening area of the ice making compartment, ice removal is performed extremely smoothly.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the automatic ice maker according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 denotes an ice-making compartment that is generally box-shaped as a whole and has a large number of small ice-making compartments 12 separated by partition plates 11.
An evaporator 14 is mounted on the outer surface 13 of each ice-making thermostat 15, and a detection section 16 of an ice-making thermostat 15 is also provided. At a lower position of the ice making chamber 10, there is a cut frame 20 having flanges 18 fixed to the flanges 10a of the ice making chamber 10 with bolts 19 through insulation materials 17, respectively.
A large number of cut partition plates 21 formed on this cut frame 20 are arranged facing each other and at approximately the same position as the first partition plate 11 of the ice making chamber 10. More specifically, it is constructed as shown in FIG. The ice-making compartments 12 are disposed at positions facing each other. Further, since the cut frame 20 is attached to the ice making chamber 10 via the heat insulator 17, the lower end 11a of each partition plate 11 and the upper end 21a of each cut partition plate 21 are connected to the heat insulator 17. The inner surface 1 of each heat insulating material 17 is spaced apart by a distance D corresponding to the thickness of
7a is the inner surface 20c of the side frame 20b of the cutting frame 20;
It is constructed on the same plane as the Therefore, the inner surface 20c of the side frame 20b of the cut frame 20 and the inner surface 17a of the heat insulating material 17 form a step in the outer direction than the inner surface 10c of the side frame 10b of the ice making chamber 10, and the ice making The thickness T of the partition plate 11 of the chamber 10 is larger than the thickness E of the cut partition plate 21 of the cut frame 20. Therefore, the area of the bottom surface of the corner chamber 20a of the cut frame 20 is configured to be larger than the area of the bottom surface of the lower opening 50 of the ice making chamber 12.

Note that the inner surface 10 of the side frame 10b of the ice making chamber 10
c and the inner surface 20 of the side frame 20b of the cut frame 20
c and the inner surface 17a of the heat insulating material 17 are not limited to the configuration shown in FIG.
and the inner surface 10c are the same and the inner surface 20c is located outward, and each of the inner surfaces 10c, 1
7a and 20c are provided at different positions,
Similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the configuration in which the ice cubes 12a are provided in a step-like manner and spread outward is also configured to allow the ice cubes 12a to easily fall.

Next, a temperature sensing section 22a is provided on the side of the ice making chamber 10.
A water fountain pipe 24 having a large number of water fountain holes 23 is fixedly installed in the lower part of the ice making chamber 10, and each water jet hole 23 is directed toward the approximate center of the ice making chamber 12. It is configured to blow up. Ice-making water is supplied to a branch chamber 25 formed at one end of the fountain pipe 24 by an ice-making water pump 27 provided in an ice-making water tank 26 through a pipe (not shown), as indicated by a chain double-dashed arrow. The ice-making water that is supplied in this state and falls from the ice-making compartment 10 is returned to the ice-making water tank 26 via the ice guide plate 28. Furthermore, this ice-making water tank 26 is provided with a water supply pipe 30 controlled by a water supply valve 29 to supply water for ice-making, and the ice cubes 12a made in the ice-making chamber 10 are transferred to the ice storage section 32. This is a stored configuration.

Furthermore, what is shown in FIG. 3 is a refrigeration circuit, in which a discharge pipe 33a from a compressor 33 is connected to a condenser 35, and refrigerant gas from this condenser 35 is passed through a dryer 36 and a capillary tube 37.
The refrigerant gas that has passed through the evaporator 14 is returned to the compressor 33 via an accumulator 39 and a suction pipe 40. A hot gas valve 3 provided on a hot gas pipe 41 which is a heating means branched from the discharge pipe 33a.
The hot gas from 4 is sent to a hot gas pipe 41 attached to the peripheral side of the cutting frame 20, and this hot gas pipe 41 is connected to the evaporator 14. The compressor 33, condenser 35, evaporator 14, ice-making water tank 26, etc. constitute an ice-making mechanism section 60.

In the above configuration, when the automatic ice maker of this invention is operated to make ice, the refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor 33 is condensed in the condenser 35 via the discharge pipe 33a, and is then condensed in the capillary tube 37. The refrigerant gas is depressurized, enters the evaporator 14, absorbs heat from the ice-making compartment 10, is separated into gas and liquid by the accumulator 39, and is returned to the compressor 33 via the suction pipe 40. By repeating this operation, the ice-making compartment 10 is cooled. Further, the ice-making water is sprayed from the fountain hole 23 of the fountain pipe 24 into each ice-making chamber 12 by the ice-making water pump 27 of the ice-making water tank 26, and some of the ice-making water is frozen by heat exchange with the refrigerant, and other ice-making water is falls and is guided by the ice guide plate 28 and returns to the ice making water tank 26. In this way, ice begins to grow within the ice making compartment 12. Furthermore, as ice making progresses, ice grows on the lower end 11a of the partition plate 11, and the state progresses from A, where ice making is in progress, to B, immediately before ice making is completed, in FIG. ice 12a, 12
When the ice 12a is connected and the ice making is completed as shown by C, the connecting portion 12b of the ice 12a is connected to each partition plate 1.
It is in a state where it has grown to the distance D formed between 1 and 21. In this state, the ice making thermo 15 detects the completion of ice making, stops the ice making water pump, and opens the hot gas valve 34 to send high temperature gas to the evaporator 14 through the hot gas pipe 41 to enter the deicing cycle. At this time, the water supply valve 29 is also opened to supply ice-making water to the ice-making water tank 26. The cut frame 20 is made of a material with good thermal conductivity and is thermally insulated from the ice making chamber 10 by the distance D and the heat insulating material 17, so that it does not reach a low temperature unlike the ice making chamber 10, and the high temperature gas of the hot gas pipe 41 does not reach the temperature. is heated and the temperature rises in a short time.

When the deicing cycle begins, the ice making chamber 10 is also gradually heated by the high temperature gas and its temperature rises, so the ice 12a starts to melt and the ice 12a is placed in the cut frame 20.
While the connecting portion 12b is attached, the cutting frame 20
Although the temperature is low, when the connecting portion 12b melts, as shown in the state of A in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the ice 12a melts at all contact surfaces with the ice making chamber 10 and gradually begins to fall under its own weight.

Although the surface of the insulating material 17 is also frozen, the cut frame 2 heated by the hot gas pipe 41
Easily melts in a de-icing cycle with 0 heat.

When ice 12a (ice cube) begins to fall due to its own weight,
As shown in FIG. 5, the ice making compartment 10
and the connecting portion 12b formed between the cutting frame 20 and the cutting frame 20.
is located on the upper end portion 21a of the cut partition plate 21. In this state, since the cut partition plate 21 is at a high temperature, the connecting portion 12b immediately melts, and the fifth
As shown in D in the figure, it falls from the ice making compartment 12, and the fifth
As shown by E in the figure, ice cubes of approximately rectangular shape are obtained one after another. Ice making room 1
When the ice 12a finishes falling from zero, the temperature in the ice making chamber 10 rises rapidly, so the deicing thermometer 22 is activated to close the hot gas valve 34, and the ice making water pump 27 is operated to restart the ice making cycle.

In this embodiment, a case has been described in which hot gas is used as the heating means for the cut frame, but the same effect can be obtained when an electric heater is used. Furthermore, the ice making chamber is not limited to this embodiment, and is applicable to so-called open cell ice making machines in which each ice making chamber is formed into a cup shape by an individual member, and the ice making chamber is built into an ice tray with an open bottom. You can also get the same effect if you do.

g. Effects of the invention Since the automatic ice maker according to the invention has the above-mentioned configuration and function, the cutting time can be shortened by minimizing the cutting thickness by the connecting part that connects the ice cubes, that is, the cutting frame. In addition, by making the ice making compartment partition plate thicker than the cut partition plate of the cutting frame, the ice making compartment partition plate comes into contact with the inner surface of the outer surface of the ice making compartment. The area is larger, and the heat conductivity to the partition plate is improved.In the ice making cycle, the cooling capacity is improved and the ice making time is shortened.In the deicing cycle, the ice melting capacity is improved and the deicing time is shortened. Ice making capacity can be improved.

Also, since the opening area of the corner chamber of the cutting frame is large compared to the lower opening area of the ice-making compartment, when assembling the ice-making compartment, there may be slight misalignment between the ice-making compartment and the cutting frame, or the position of the insulation material. Even if misalignment occurs, the connecting parts of the ice cubes can be reliably cut when the ice cubes fall, making it easier to manufacture and process automatic ice makers, reducing time, and manufacturing at low cost. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 5 are for explaining the automatic ice maker according to the present invention. 2 is a perspective view showing the cutting frame, FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the refrigeration circuit of the ice maker shown in FIG. 1, and A, B, and C in FIG. 4 are ice making machines. In the cross-sectional views showing the process, A is during ice making, B is just before the ice making is completed, C is the completed ice making state, A, B, C in Figure 5,
D and E are cross-sectional views showing the deicing process, and A and B in Figure 6
7 is a side sectional view showing the ice making chamber and the ice made in the conventional device, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the ice making chamber and the cutting frame in the conventional device. 10 is an ice making room, 10a is a flange, 10b is a side frame,
10c is an inner surface, 11 is a partition plate, 12 is an ice making chamber, 12a is an ice cube, 14 is an evaporator, 15 is an ice making thermometer, 16 is a detection section, 17 is a heat insulator, 17a is an inner surface, 18 is a flange, 20 is a cut frame, 20a is a corner chamber, 20b is a side frame, 20c is an inner surface, 21 is a cut partition plate, 22 is a deicing thermostat, 23 is a water fountain hole, 2
4 is a fountain pipe, 25 is a branch chamber, 26 is an ice-making water tank, 27 is an ice-making water pump, 28 is an ice guide plate, 2
9 is a water supply valve, 30 is a water supply pipe, 32 is an ice storage section,
33 is a compressor, 35 is a condenser, 36 is a dryer, 37 is a capillary tube, 39 is an accumulator, 40 is a suction pipe, 41 is a hot gas pipe, 50 is a lower opening part, and 60 is an ice making mechanism part.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) An ice-making compartment 10 having a large number of ice-making compartments 12 divided by a number of partition plates 11, each of which is configured to open downward; The provided evaporator 14 and the opening edge 11a of the ice making chamber 10 are arranged with a certain distance D between them, and the cut frame has a cut partition plate 21 formed substantially corresponding to each of the partition plates 11. 2
0 and the cut frame 2 provided in the cut frame 20.
0 itself, and an ice-making mechanism section 60 for cooling the ice-making chamber 10 and supplying water for ice-making. The side frame 20 of the cut frame 20
The inner surface 20c of b is connected to the side frame 10 of the ice making chamber 10.
An automatic ice making machine characterized in that the cutting frame 20 is disposed outwardly from the inner surface 10c of the ice making chamber 10c, and the cutting frame 20 has a larger opening area than the lower opening area of the ice making chamber 12. (2) A heat insulating material 17 is interposed between the ice making chamber 10 and the cutting frame 20, and the heat insulating material 17
The inner surface 17a of the side frame 1 of the ice making compartment 10 is
The automatic ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the automatic ice making machine is configured to be provided at a position outward from the inner surface 10c of the ice maker 0b.