JPS647308B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention makes ice by sprinkling ice-making water stored in a water tank onto an ice-making plate and flowing a low-temperature liquid refrigerant through cooling pipes of the ice-making plate. The present invention relates to a water cutoff detection device that detects a water cutoff state in which water is not supplied to the water tank in an ice making machine that generates ice on plates.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, this type of ice making machine has been equipped with an ice making plate for producing ice and a liquid refrigerant in the cooling pipe of the ice making plate, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 79782/1983. a water tank for storing ice-making water; a watering tank disposed above the ice-making plate for sprinkling ice-making water onto the ice-making plate; and a watering tank for distributing ice-making water from the water tank to a watering tank A pump for pumping up water, a water sprinkling control means for driving the water pump to sprinkle water on the ice-making plate during ice-making, and a water supply circuit for supplying water for ice-making to the water tank, and a water supply circuit for supplying ice-making water to the water tank during ice-making operation. The ice making water is pumped up into a water sprinkling tank, and this ice making water is sprayed down from the water spray tank onto the ice making plate, and at the same time, low temperature liquid refrigerant is passed through the cooling pipe of the ice making plate, so that the ice making water flowing down to the ice making plate is converted into low temperature liquid refrigerant. It is known that ice is produced on the ice-making plate by cooling and freezing using the endothermic action of the ice-making plate. In this system, the water supply circuit is activated during the primary water supply time at the end of the ice-making operation to provide primary water supply to the water tank, and at the start of the next ice-making operation, water is pumped into the watering tank. In order to compensate for the drop in the water level in the water tank, the water supply circuit is restarted during the secondary water supply time to perform a secondary supply of ice-making water.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the ice making machine as described above, in order to ensure the reliability and safety of the equipment, it is necessary to check whether water is being supplied to the water tank normally, that is, when the water is cut off. It is preferable to detect.

Therefore, for example, when the water level in the water tank is thought to have reached a predetermined high water level due to the primary water supply, that water level is detected, and if this water level is not at the predetermined high water level, the ice making process is carried out in advance during the next ice making operation. Water will run out. In other words, it may be assumed that there is a "water outage".

However, with the above idea, if the water level is detected when the next ice-making operation starts early and water has already been pumped into the watering tank, this drop in water level will be mistaken as a "water outage". This will result in detection. In addition, even in normal conditions when a predetermined high water level is detected, if the water level in the water tank drops significantly as water is pumped into the watering tank at the start of the next ice-making operation, this can be considered as a drop in water level due to ice-making operation. Problems may occur, such as misunderstanding that ice making has finished.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to detect a water outage in the water tank in the ice making machine as described above, and to detect the secondary supply of ice making water when water is pumped into the watering tank. By performing this at the end of the operation, it is possible to accurately detect a water outage by preventing a drop in the water level caused by pumping water into the watering tank from being mistakenly detected as a water outage, or from being mistaken as the end of the ice making operation. In addition, the objective is to prevent omissions in ice making operation.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the solving means of the present invention, as shown in FIG. An ice-making refrigerant circuit 11 for circulating liquid refrigerant, a water tank 2 for storing ice-making water, and a water sprinkling tank 3 disposed above the ice-making plate 1 for sprinkling ice-making water on the ice-making plate 1;
A water pump 5 that pumps ice-making water from the water tank 2 into the water sprinkling tank 3, and a water sprinkling control means 45 that drives the water pump 5 to sprinkle water on the ice-making plate 1 during ice-making.
, a water supply circuit 8 that supplies water for ice making to the water tank 2, and a first circuit that is sufficient to bring the water level of the water tank 2 to a predetermined high water level when ice making is completed.
Primary water supply control means 4 operated for a set time
6, and a secondary water supply control means 47 for operating the water supply circuit 8 for a second set time sufficient to compensate for a drop in the water level of the water tank 2 corresponding to the capacity of the watering tank 3 at the start of ice making. water level detection means 48 for detecting the water level of the water tank 2 when the operation of the secondary water supply control means 47 is completed;
and a water cutoff signal output means 49 which receives the output of the water level detection means 48 and outputs a water cutoff signal when the water level of the water tank 2 is not at a predetermined high water level.

(Function) As described above, in the present invention, a water outage is anticipated and detected by determining whether or not the water level in the water tank 2 is at a predetermined high water level at the end of the secondary supply of ice-making water. A drop in the water level caused by pumping water into the watering tank 3 before the next water supply is no longer mistakenly detected as a water outage, and water outage in the water tank 2 is accurately detected. Moreover, in normal conditions without a water outage, continuation of the ice-making operation is allowed after determining whether the water level is at the high water level, and it is determined whether or not the ice-making operation needs to be terminated. Even if there is a large drop in water level due to water pumping, this will not be mistaken as the end of ice making.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings from FIG. 2 onwards.

FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the ice making machine, in which 1 is an ice making plate for producing ice, 2 is a water tank for storing ice making water, and the water tank 2 is set at a predetermined high water level H
Ice-making water corresponding to the amount of ice made in one ice-making operation is stored between and a low water level L, and a water tray 2a is provided below the ice-making plate 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a watering tank disposed above the ice-making plate 1 and having a large number of watering holes 3a at the bottom.The watering tank 3 and the water tank 2 are connected via a water pipe 4, and the water A water pump 5 is disposed in the tank 2 to pump up and supply the water for ice making from the water tank 2 to the water sprinkling tank 3 via the water pipe 4. After being supplied, this ice-making water is sprayed down from the water sprinkling hole 3a onto the ice-making plate 1 for ice-making, and the water falling from the ice-making plate 1 is returned to the water tank 2 from the water tray 2a. In addition, the water tray 2 of the water tank 2
The other end opening of the water supply pipe 7 with a water supply electromagnetic valve 6 interposed therein faces the other end of the water supply pipe 7 in order to restore the water level of the water tank 2, which has fallen due to ice making, to a predetermined high water level H. A water supply circuit 8 is configured to supply water for ice making to the water tank 2. still,
9 is an overflow pipe for discharging excess water from the water tank 4.

Furthermore, 10, 10 is the ice making plate main body 1 of the ice making plate 1.
a, the cooling pipe provided in 1a, 11 is the cooling pipe 10,
an ice-making refrigerant circuit that circulates liquid refrigerant to 10;
is an ice-removing refrigerant circuit that circulates hot gas through the cooling pipes 10, 10 of the ice-making plate 1; the ice-making refrigerant circuit 11 includes a compressor 13, an air-cooled condenser 15 equipped with a fan 14; , an expansion valve 16 and cooling pipes 10, 10 serving as an evaporator are successively connected by a refrigerant pipe 17. Note that 18 is an accumulator.

On the other hand, the deicing refrigerant circuit 12 is connected to the compressor 13.
The ice-removing electromagnetic valve 20, which opens when ice is removed, and the cooling pipes 10, 10 are sequentially connected by a refrigerant pipe 17.

When making ice, the refrigerant is circulated in the compressor 13 as shown by the solid arrow in the figure by closing the ice-removing solenoid valve 20 and opening the expansion valve 16.
After the heat of the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the cooling pipes 10 and 1 is radiated to the outside air in the condenser 15,
0 (evaporator) repeatedly absorbs heat from the ice-making water flowing down the ice-making plate 1, and the ice-making plate 1 cools and freezes the water to generate ice. 20 opening operation and expansion valve 16
By the closing operation of the cooling pipe 1, the refrigerant (hot gas) is circulated as shown by the broken line arrow in the figure, and the amount of heat contained in the refrigerant (hot gas) from the compressor 13 is transferred to the cooling pipe 1.
It is configured so that the ice produced on the ice making plate 1 is released by repeating heat dissipation at 0 and 10. The water supply pipe 7 is arranged around the ice-making plate main body 1a of the ice-making plate 1, and when replenishing water to the water tank 4 during ice removal, the calorific value of this replenishing water is is applied to the ice on the ice making plate 1 in order to improve the ice removal efficiency.

In addition, 21 is a float switch that detects a predetermined high water level H and low water level L of the water tank 2;
is a water supply pipe thermistor that detects the water temperature of the water supply pipe 7;
23 is the suction side refrigerant pipe (suction pipe) to the compressor 13
17 is a suction pipe thermistor that detects the refrigerant temperature, and the detection signals of each of the devices 21 to 23 are input to the controller 24, which controls the water pump 5, the compressor 13, the condenser fan 14, and the water supply. The operation of the solenoid valve 6 for ice removal and the solenoid valve 20 for ice removal is controlled.

Inside the controller 24, as shown in FIG. 3, there are provided a water cutoff check device 30 and a break-off control device 31. The water cutoff check device 30 receives a water level signal from the float switch 21 or a timer time signal from the ice making end timer 32, and operates the water supply solenoid valve 6 during the timer time (t ₁ ) of the primary water supply timer 33 at the end of the ice making operation. On the other hand, the secondary water supply timer 34 is activated at the start of ice making operation.
A secondary water supply command signal is output during the timer time (t ₂ ), and at the end of the ice-making operation, the condenser fan 14, the ice-removing solenoid valve 20, and the water pump 5 are operated and controlled to start the ice-removing operation. When the water in the water tank 2 is cut off, these devices and the compressor 13 are stopped. Further, the ice removal end control device 31 is
Upon receiving the secondary water supply command signal from the water cutoff check device 30, the water supply solenoid valve 6 is opened, and upon receiving the suction pipe temperature signal from the suction pipe thermistor 23, the ice making operation is started at the end of the ice removal operation. The condenser fan 14, ice removal solenoid valve 20, and water pump 5 are operated and controlled accordingly.

The timer time (t ₁ ) of the primary water supply timer 33 is a first set time sufficient for the water level in the water tank 2 to rise from a predetermined low water level L to a high water level H by water supply from the water supply circuit 8. (for example, 2 minutes), and the timer time (t ₂ ) of the secondary water supply timer 34 is set such that the water level in the water tank 2 corresponding to the capacity of the water tank 3 decreases by supplying water from the water supply circuit 8. A second set time sufficient to compensate (e.g. 40
seconds). In the figure, 35 to 39 are electromagnetic contactors, 40 is a compressor electromagnetic contactor, and 41 is an operation indicator light.

Next, the operation of the controller 24 will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. First, when the run/stop switch (not shown) is operated to the operating side in step _S1 , the operating indicator light 41 is turned on in step _S2 , and then the detection signal from the suction pipe thermistor 23 is turned on in step _S3 . Based on this, it is determined whether the suction pipe temperature T _F is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature (for example, 15°C), and if T _F ≧15°C (YES), it is determined that it is time to start ice making, and the process proceeds to step S ₄ onwards. ,
If NO is T _F <15°C, it is determined that it is time to start the ice removal operation, and the process immediately proceeds to step _S14 and subsequent steps.

Then, in step _S4 , the water pump 5, the compressor 13, and the condenser fan 14 are rotated to start the ice-making operation, and the ice-removal solenoid valve 20 is closed, and the cooling pipe 10 is sprayed with water from the water spray tank 3. ，
Ice making on the ice making plate 1 is started by flowing the low temperature refrigerant to the ice making plate 10.

After that, in step _S5 , in order to know the state of water replenishment to the water tank 2, it is determined whether the water supply end flag F is "1" or not, and if F≠1 and the water supply is in the middle of replenishment (NO), step S5 is performed. Primary water supply timer 2 at ₆
After waiting for the water supply to end after the timer time (t ₁ ) (e.g. 2 minutes) has elapsed, in step S ₈ the water supply solenoid valve 6 is turned on after the timer time (t ₂ ) (e.g. 2 minutes) of the secondary water supply timer 34 has elapsed. 40 seconds) to compensate for the drop in water level in water tank 2 caused by pumping water into water tank 3, and raise the water level to a high level again.
In the case of YES in the water supply completion state of =1, the water supply completion flag F is reset to "0" in step _S7 , and then the process proceeds to step _S8 , where the water level in the water tank 4 is raised to a high water level.

Thereafter, in step _S9 , it is determined whether or not there is a high water level detection signal from the float switch 21, and if the high water level detection signal is NO and there is no high water level detection signal, it is determined that there is a water outage, and in step _S10 , the water pump 5 and the compressor are switched on. After stopping the driving of the condenser fan 13 and the condenser fan 14, the process waits for receiving the ice making period elapsed signal from the ice making end timer 32 in step _S11 , and then returns to step _S4 to replenish the water tank 2 with water. On the other hand, if the high water level detection signal from the float switch 21 is YES in step _S9 , it is determined that there is no water outage, and the process proceeds to step _S12 to continue the ice making operation _. At step _S13 , it is determined whether there is a low water level detection signal from the ice making end timer 32, and if the ice making period elapsed signal from the ice making end timer 32 is not received, the ice making process continues. While driving, one of the signals is received.
If YES, it is determined that it is time to finish making ice, and the process proceeds to step _S14 .

Next, in step _S14 , the water pump 5 and the condenser fan 14 are stopped to start the ice removal operation, and the ice removal solenoid valve 20 is opened.
The refrigerant (hot gas) from the compressor 13 is transferred to the cooling pipe 1
0 and 10 to start ice removal, and the water level that has dropped due to ice making operation in water tank 2 is raised to high water level H.
The water supply solenoid valve 6 is opened in order to return the water supply to the previous state, and the opening operation time is measured by the primary water supply timer 33 in step _S15 .

Then, in step _S16 , it is determined whether or not the primary water supply to the water tank 2 has ended based on the elapse of the timer time (t ₁ ) (for example, 2 minutes) of the primary water supply timer 33, and if YES, the primary water supply has ended. In step _S17 , the water supply solenoid valve 6 is closed, and in step _S18 , the water supply end flag F is set to "1".
Primary water supply has not been completed in step _S16 above.
In the case of NO, it is determined in step _S19 whether the suction pipe temperature T _F from the suction pipe thermistor 23 is 16°C or higher, and in the case of NO during de-icing operation where T _F <16°C, step _S16 is performed. On the other hand, in the case of YES indicating that the ice removal operation with T _F ≧16°C has been completed, the process returns to step _S4 to start the next ice making operation.

Therefore, in the operation flow of the controller 24 shown in FIG. 4, step _S4 constitutes a water sprinkling control means 45 which drives the water pump 5 to sprinkle water on the ice making plate 1 during ice making. , Steps S ₁₄ to _{S 17} open the water supply solenoid valve 6 for the timer time (t ₁ ) (for example, 2 minutes) of the primary water supply timer 23 at the end of ice making, operate the water supply circuit 8 for that period, and open the water tank. This constitutes a primary water supply control means 46 configured to supply primary water to 2. In addition, in step _S8 , at the start of ice making, the water supply solenoid valve 6 is opened for the timer time (t ₂ ) (for example, 40 seconds) of the secondary water supply timer 34, the water supply circuit 8 is operated for that period, and the water tank 2 is opened. A secondary water supply control means 47 is configured to perform secondary water supply to. Further, in step _S9 , the float switch 2 is turned off when the operation of the secondary water supply control means 47 is completed.
Water level detection means 4 detects the water level of the water tank 2 by determining the presence or absence of a high water level detection signal from 1.
8, and the water level detection means 48
When the high water level detection signal is NO, that is, when the water level in the water tank 2 is not at the predetermined high water level, the process proceeds to step _S10 and the compressor 13, condenser fan 14, and water pump 5 are stopped. A water cutoff signal output means 49 is configured to output a water cutoff signal.

Therefore, in the above embodiment, during ice-making operation, after the ice-making water in the water tank 2 is pumped up to the water sprinkling tank 3 by the water pump 5, this ice-making water is pumped from the water sprinkling hole 3a to the ice-making plate 1. At the same time, the low-temperature liquid refrigerant from the ice-making refrigerant circuit 11 flows through the cooling pipes 10, 10 of the ice-making plate 1, so that the ice-making water cooled and frozen to form ice on the ice-making plate 1. is generated.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 5A, the water level in the water tank 2 decreases as the ice making operation progresses, and when it reaches a predetermined low water level L and shifts to the ice removal operation, the water supply circuit 8 The water is raised by the primary water supply operated by the control means 46 for a predetermined time (t ₁ ) (for example, 2 minutes) and returns to the predetermined high water level H. Then, at the start of the next ice-making operation, the water supply circuit 8 suddenly decreases due to water being pumped into the water spray tank 3, but the water supply circuit 8 is turned off for a predetermined time ( _t2 ) (for example, 40 seconds) by the secondary water supply control means 47. The water level rises due to the activated secondary water supply, returns to the predetermined high water level H, and then gradually decreases as the ice-making operation progresses.

However, at the end of the secondary water supply, it is determined whether there is a water outage in the water tank 2, and in the event of a water outage where the water level is not at the predetermined high water level H, this ice making operation is immediately stopped and the process returns to the secondary water supply process. , the water tank 2 is replenished with ice-making water. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ice making operation when the water tank 2 is cut off, thereby improving the reliability and safety of the device. Moreover, as shown in Figure C, even if the next ice-making operation is started early within the primary water supply time (t ₁ ) (for example, 2 minutes) due to the short-time completion of the ice-removal operation, this Water outage detection can be performed accurately without falsely detecting water outage.

In addition, as shown in Figure B, at the start of ice-making operation,
Even if the water level decreases significantly below the predetermined low water level L due to water pumping into the watering tank 3,
Since the decision to end the ice-making operation is made after the above-mentioned determination of whether there is a water outage (at the end of the secondary water supply), this is not mistaken as the end of the ice-making operation, thus preventing the ice-making operation from being interrupted. As a result, ice making performance can be improved.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, water is supplied to the water tank twice: primary water supply and secondary water supply accompanying water pumping to the watering tank at the start of ice-making operation. In the ice maker, the water in the water tank is cut off by determining whether or not the water level in the water tank is at a high level when the secondary water supply ends. By preventing the accompanying drop in water level from being mistakenly detected as a water outage, it is possible to maintain high reliability of water outage detection and improve the reliability and safety of equipment. Furthermore, it is possible to improve ice-making performance by preventing omissions in ice-making operation due to misinterpretation of a drop in water level as water is pumped into the water tank as the completion of ice-making.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. 2 to 5 show embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the controller, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram showing the operation of the controller. Figure 5 I
C is an explanatory diagram of the operation. 1...Ice making plate, 2...Water tank, 3...Water tank, 5...Water pump, 8...Water supply circuit, 10...
...Cooling pipe, 11...Ice making refrigerant circuit, 21...Float switch, 24...Controller, 46...
... Primary water supply control means, 47 ... Secondary water supply control means, 48 ... Water level detection means, 49 ... Water cutoff signal output means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Ice-making plate 1 for producing ice, and the ice-making plate 1
Ice-making refrigerant circuit 1 that circulates liquid refrigerant through the cooling pipes of
1, a water tank 2 for storing ice-making water, a watering tank 3 disposed above the ice-making plate 1 for sprinkling ice-making water onto the ice-making plate 1, and a water sprinkling tank 3 distributing the ice-making water from the water tank 2 to the watering tank 3. pumping water pump 5
a water sprinkling control means 45 that drives the water pump 5 to sprinkle water on the ice making plate 1 during ice making; a water supply circuit 8 that supplies water for ice making to the water tank 2; a primary water supply control means 46 that operates for a first set time sufficient for the water level of the water tank 2 to reach a predetermined high water level; and a water tank 2 corresponding to the capacity of the watering tank 3 at the time of starting ice making.
In the ice making machine, the ice making machine is equipped with a secondary water supply control means 47 that operates the water supply circuit 8 for a second set time sufficient to compensate for a drop in the water level of the water tank, when the operation of the secondary water supply control means 47 is completed. water level detection means 48 for detecting the water level of water tank 2, and water cutoff signal output means 49 for receiving the output of the water level detection means 48 and outputting a water cutoff signal when the water level of the water tank 2 is not at a predetermined high water level. An ice maker water outage detection device featuring: