JP2000205710A - Ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of a refrigerating device by a method wherein non-frozen up water is used for cooling of a condenser. SOLUTION: A cooler 21 is provided on an upper surface to form a refrigerating cycle in coordination with a condenser 5 and a compressor 6. An ice making machine SIM comprises an ice making part 3 to form a number of ice making small chambers having an under surface being opened; an inclinable water tray 18 to close the ice making small chamber of the ice making part 3; a water tank 19 to store water for making ice and jetting water against the ice making small chambers from the water tray 18; and a drain tray 14 arranged below the water tank 19 and receiving unfrozen water during inclination of the water tray 18. The ice making machine comprises a cooling water tray 26 arranged below the condenser 5; an introduction pump 16 arranged at the drain tray 14 and introducing unfrozen water to the cooling water tray 26; and a circulating pump 28 to feed water, stored at the cooling water tray 26, to a sprinkling apparatus 25 arranged above the condenser 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making machine for improving the condensation ability by spraying water on a condenser.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art prior to the present invention, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-167539 (F25C1 / 0) has been proposed.
4) discloses an inverted cell type ice making machine.
-269168 (F25C 1/14) discloses an auger ice maker.

[0003] The inverted cell type ice making machine has an ice making process of making ice by fountain into a large number of ice making compartments having an open bottom surface, and an ice removing process of making ice produced in the ice making compartments flow hot gas through a cooler to release the ice. This is done repeatedly.

[0004] Then, in this ice-removing step, un-ice-free water that has not been iced is drained.

In the auger type ice making machine, an auger is inserted in a cooling cylinder, and the ice generated in the cooling cylinder is scraped by the auger to make ice.

[0006] This auger-type ice maker also performs periodic drainage at predetermined time intervals.

[0007]

In the prior art as described above, in the case of an inverted cell type ice maker or an auger type ice maker, uniced water is only drained, and water is wasted. Had become.

[0008] The ice making capacity of an ice maker is easily affected by the outside air temperature.
Even so, it must be possible to make ice, and there is a problem that the size of the refrigerating device is inevitably increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides an ice making machine which aims to reduce the size of a refrigeration system by using unfreezed water for cooling a condenser. .

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling unit which forms a refrigeration cycle together with a condenser and a compressor, and has a plurality of openings having a lower surface. An ice making section forming an ice making compartment of
A tiltable water dish that closes the ice making compartment of the ice making section,
An ice making machine comprising: a water tank for storing ice making water that fountains from the water tray into the ice making chamber; and a drainage receiver provided below the water tank and receiving non-icing water when the water tray is tilted. A cooling water receiver provided below, an introduction pump provided in the drainage receiver, for introducing non-freezing water into the cooling water receiver, and water stored in the cooling water receiver, provided above the condenser. An ice machine provided with a circulation pump for supplying the sprinkler.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a cylindrical ice making section provided with a condenser and a cooler which constitutes a refrigerating cycle together with a compressor, and a concentrically inserted cylinder inside the ice making section. An auger, and a drainage receiver for receiving a regular drainage of non-freezing water that is not frozen in the ice making unit. Ice generated on the inner wall of the ice making unit is scraped by the auger, transferred upward, and compressed. Thus, in an ice making machine that continuously generates ice chips, a cooling water receiver provided below the condenser, an introduction pump provided in the drainage receiver, and introducing non-freezing water into the cooling water receiver. And an circulating pump for supplying water stored in the cooling water receiver to a sprinkler provided above the condenser.

As described above, the uniced water (low temperature close to about 0 ° C.) discharged into the drain receiver is introduced into the cooling water receiver, and the uniced water introduced into the cooling water receiver is sprinkled from the water sprayer to the condenser. I do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temperature sensor for detecting an outside air temperature, and when the temperature sensor is lower than a predetermined temperature, watering from the water sprayer is stopped. Provide ice machines.

As described above, when the outside air temperature is a low outside temperature equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, watering from the water sprayer is stopped.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of an inverted cell type ice maker, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the inverted cell type ice maker of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the auger ice maker, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the auger ice maker of the present invention.

SIM in FIG. 1 indicates an inverted cell type ice maker, and OIM in FIG. 3 indicates an auger type ice maker, each of which is constituted by stacking units called a stack-on type.

This stack-on type ice machine is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a lower ice storage unit 1 which is open at the front and located at the lowermost position, a middle ice storage unit 2 placed on the lower ice storage unit 1, and provided on the middle ice storage unit 2. A machine room provided with an ice making unit 4 provided with the ice making unit 3, a condenser 5 provided above the ice making unit 4 and constituting a refrigeration cycle together with the ice making unit 3, and a compressor (hereinafter referred to as a compressor) 6. And a unit 7.

The lower ice storage unit 1 is closed by a heat insulating door 8 whose front opening can be freely opened and closed. The lower ice storage unit 1 is rotatable forward with its lower side as an axis. Is provided.

The outer box 10 of the lower ice storage unit 1 is formed of stainless steel, and an inner box (not shown) formed of a material having low thermal conductivity such as vinyl chloride is provided on the inner side. Is provided via Then, the ice made by the ice making unit 3 is stored in the inner box.

Further, on the bottom surface of the lower ice storage unit 1, pedestals 11 are attached at four corners.

Next, the middle ice storage unit 2 is formed in a frame shape, and is provided with an outer frame 12 made of stainless steel and provided in the outer frame 12 with a heat insulating material interposed therebetween. And an inner frame (not shown) formed of a low material.

An opening is formed in the front surface of the middle-stage ice storage unit 2, and a slide-type transparent door 13 is provided.

Next, the ice making unit 4 is provided with the ice making unit 3 as described above, and below the ice making unit 3,
A drain receiver 14 that receives uncondensed water from the ice making unit 3 is provided. The drainage receiver 14 is provided with an introduction pipe 15, and the introduction pipe 15 is provided with an introduction pump 16.

The ice making section 3 shown in FIG. 1 includes an ice tray 17 forming a plurality of ice making compartments having a lower surface opening, and a water tray 18 for closing the lower opening of the ice tray 17 so as to be tiltable.
A water tank 19 that is provided below the water tray 18 and stores ice-making water; and water for making ice from the water tank 19 is sprayed from the water tray 18 into the ice-making compartment of the ice tray 17.
An ice making pump 20 is provided below the water tank 19.

Further, a cooler 21 for cooling the ice tray 17 is provided on the upper surface of the ice tray 17, and the ice tray 17 and the cooler 21 are formed by applying tin plating to a copper material. Things. Incidentally, reference numeral 22 denotes an expansion valve. Further, the ice making unit 4 stores a water supply sprinkler 23 for sprinkling water on the water tray 18, ice making water to be supplied to the water supply sprinkler 23, and supplies water from an external water supply system. A receiving water storage tank 24 is provided.

The machine room unit 7 is provided with the condenser 5 and the compressor 6 as described above. A cooling water sprinkler 25 is provided above the condenser 5 and a cooling sprinkler 25 is provided below. A cooling water receiver 26 for receiving water from the water sprayer 25 is provided. The condenser 5 is called a plate fin type, and is formed by penetrating a plurality of thin aluminum plates through a refrigerant pipe.

Further, an outlet of the introduction pipe 15 faces the cooling water receiver 26, and non-icing water is introduced by the introduction pump 16. The cooling water receiver 26
A circulating water pipe 27 connected to the cooling water sprinkler 25 and a cooling water receiver 2 provided in the circulating water pipe 27.
And a circulation pump 28 for sending the water of No. 6 to the cooling water sprinkler 25.

A wind direction plate 29 is provided above the cooling water sprinkler 25, and above the condenser 5
(Hereinafter, referred to as a condenser fan) 30 for cooling the air conditioner is provided.

Further, a condenser temperature sensor (hereinafter referred to as a CT sensor) 31 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant discharged from the condenser 5 is attached to the refrigerant pipe on the discharge side of the condenser 5.

With the above configuration, the control of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, it is determined whether or not the ice removing step is performed (step S).
1) If it is a de-icing process (Y), wait until the de-icing process is completed (step S2). In the ice releasing step, the refrigerant (hot gas) discharged from the compressor 6 flows directly into the cooler 21, heats the ice tray 17, melts the periphery of the ice generated in the ice tray, and removes the ice as described above. The ice is dropped onto the ice storage unit 1 or the middle ice storage unit 2.

If the ice-removing step has been completed in step S2 (Y), since the uniced water has been drained to the drain receiver 14, the introduction pump 16 is turned on (step S3).
The non-freezing water in the reverse cell type ice making machine SIM is defined as
At the end of the ice making, the water remaining in the water tank 19 and the drainage receiver 14 contains the uniced water near 0 ° C. and the water flowing from the water supply sprinkler 23 to the surface of the water tray 18 at the time of ice removal. Drained.

In this way, the non-freezing water near the temperature of approximately 0 ° C. accumulated in the drain receiver 14 is introduced into the cooling water receiver 26 of the machine room unit 7. The cooling water receiver 26 is provided with an overflow pipe (not shown), and can be drained when a predetermined amount or more of water is introduced.

If it is determined in step S1 that the process is not the ice removing process (N), it is determined whether or not the process is the ice making process (step S4). If the process is not the ice making process but the ice storage process (N), the process waits until the ice making process is started.

If it is an ice making process in step S4 (Y),
It is determined whether or not the detected temperature of the CT sensor 31 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature (40 ° C. in the present embodiment) (step S5). If it is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature (Y), the circulating pump 28 and the condenser fan 30 are driven (step S5). S6).

That is, when the temperature of the CT sensor is 40 ° C. or higher, the ambient temperature (outside air temperature) of the inverted cell type ice making machine SIM or the auger type ice making machine OIM is high. While cooling the air with the condenser fan 30, the circulation pump 28 is driven to
Water is sprayed from 5 toward the condenser 5 to cool the water.

If the CT sensor 31 detects that the temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature in step S5 (N), the circulation pump 28
The FF is not driven and the condenser fan 30 is turned on to perform only air cooling (step S7).

As described above, an optimum condensing ability can be obtained under any conditions of the low outside temperature and the high outside temperature.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, since the structure of the ice making unit 3 is different from that of the above-described embodiment, only the different configuration of the ice making unit 3 will be described. Other parts have the same configuration. The ice making section 3 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is called an auger type, and has a cooling cylinder 32 in which a cooler is wound around the outer surface of a cylinder, and is inserted into the cooling cylinder 32 and has a spiral blade (not shown). It consists of an auger.

The auger is provided below the cooling cylinder 32, and is rotated in a predetermined direction by a driving unit 33 incorporating a driving device such as a motor and a speed reduction mechanism.

In the auger type, a predetermined amount of ice-making water is stored in the cooling cylinder 32, cooled by the above-described cooler, and ice formed on the inner surface of the cooling cylinder 32 is scraped by the auger to make ice. Is what you do.

In the auger type ice making machine, since water stored in the cooling cylinder 32 is cooled and ice is made, it is necessary to regularly drain the ice making water every predetermined time.

With the above configuration, a flowchart of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Here, only differences from the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described.

First, since it is an auger type ice making machine, it is determined whether or not the periodic drainage has been performed (step S8). If it is the periodic drainage (Y), the process waits until the periodic drainage is completed (step S9).

After the regular drainage is completed (Y),
Since the non-freezing water has accumulated in the drain receiver 14, the introduction pump 16 is turned on (step S3), and the cooling water receiver 26 is turned on.
Non-freezing water is introduced into In addition, this auger type ice machine OIM
Is water of approximately 0 ° C. which is drained out of the ice making water stored in the cooling cylinder 32 when it becomes a regular drainage without being frozen.

If it is not the regular drainage in step S8 (N), the same control as in step S4 and subsequent steps in FIG. 2 is performed.

[0049]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Uncondensed water drained during the ice removal process or at the time of regular drainage is used as cooling water for cooling the condenser, so that sufficient condensation capacity can be obtained even at high outside temperatures, and the refrigeration system itself can be downsized. Can do things.

Further, at the time of low outside air temperature, the cooling water is adjusted so as not to be used, so that the overcooling can be prevented, and a desired condensation ability can be obtained regardless of the outside air temperature.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view of an inverted cell type ice making machine.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the inverted cell type ice making machine of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially broken front view of the auger type ice making machine.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the auger type ice making machine of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 SIM Reverse cell type ice maker OIM auger type ice maker 3 Ice making unit 5 Condenser 6 Compressor (compressor) 14 Drainage receiver 15 Inlet pipe 16 Inlet pump 18 Water tray 19 Water tank 21 Cooler 25 Cooling sprinkler 26 Cooling water receiver 28 Circulation pump 30 Blower (condenser fan) 31 Condenser temperature sensor (CT sensor) 32 Cooling cylinder 33 Drive unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ice making unit having a cooling unit that forms a refrigeration cycle together with a condenser and a compressor on an upper surface thereof, and an ice making unit that forms a number of ice making chambers that are open on the lower surface, and a tilting and reciprocating motion that closes the ice making room of the ice making unit. An ice maker comprising a free water tray, a water tank for storing ice making water that fountains from the water tray into the ice making chamber, and a drainage receiver provided below the water tank and receiving uniced water when the water tray is tilted. In the cooling water receiver provided below the condenser, provided in the drainage receiver, an introduction pump for introducing non-freezing water to the cooling water receiver, water stored in the cooling water receiver, An ice making machine comprising: a circulation pump that supplies a water sprinkler provided above a condenser. 2. A cylindrical ice making section having an outer wall provided with a condenser forming a refrigerating cycle together with a condenser and a compressor; an auger concentrically inserted into a cylinder of the ice making section; A drainage receiver that receives regular drainage of non-freezing water that does not freeze in is provided, and the ice generated on the inner wall of the ice making section is scraped by the auger, transferred upward and compressed,
An ice making machine that continuously generates ice chips, a cooling water receiver provided below the condenser, an introduction pump provided in the drainage receiver, and introducing uniced water into the cooling water receiver; An ice making machine comprising: a circulation pump that supplies water stored in a water receiver to a sprinkler provided above the condenser. A temperature sensor for detecting an outside air temperature;
3. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein when the temperature sensor is lower than a predetermined temperature, watering from the water sprayer is stopped.