JP2001153510A - Automatic ice machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic ice machine to perform efficiency drainage in the ice machine and prevent useless consumption of ice making water. SOLUTION: When at least one of a case of a count time of a periodic drainage timer reaching a specified time Ta (S3), a case of an ice storage sensor detecting full of ice (S4), and a case of a manual drainage switch being turned ON (S5) occurs, a drainage valve is opened to execute drainage processing (S6) and a count time of the periodic drainage timer is reset to 0 (S7).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ice making machine for performing continuous ice making, and more particularly to an automatic ice making machine capable of efficiently draining the inside of the ice making machine and preventing wasteful consumption of ice making water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a conventional auger type ice making machine. An auger 6 having a spiral blade is provided inside the freezing casing 1 formed of a cylindrical member, and is rotatably supported by an upper bearing 7 and a lower bearing 8. Also,
The auger 6 has a geared motor (G
M) 10. A cooling pipe 5 as an evaporator is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 1, and a condenser 4, a compressor (CM) 2 and the like are connected to the cooling pipe 5 to form a refrigeration circuit. Further, a fan motor 3 is provided opposite to the condenser 4 to cool the condenser 4 by air.

[0003] On the inner wall of the freezing casing 1, an ice making section 22 for supplying ice making water to produce ice is formed. One end of each of a water supply pipe 16 and a drain pipe 20 is connected to the ice making section 22 at a lower portion of the freezing casing 1. Drain pipe 2
At 0, a drain valve 21 is provided. Water supply pipe 16
Is open at the bottom of the ice making water tank 15. In the ice making water tank 15, a water level sensor 18 for detecting an upper limit water level H and a lower limit water level L of the ice making water tank 15 is provided. An external water supply pipe 17 for guiding ice making water to the ice making water tank 15 is provided above the ice making water tank 15. The external water supply pipe 17 is provided with a water supply valve 19. Further, a pressing head 1 is provided at an upper part of the freezing casing 1.
1 is formed, and the pressing head 11 is connected to an ice storage tank 13 via an ice conveying pipe 12. The ice storage tank 13 is provided with an ice storage sensor 14 for detecting that the ice storage tank 13 is full of ice, that is, detecting full ice.

When the water supply valve 19 is opened, water as ice making water is supplied from the external water supply pipe 17 to the ice making water tank 15. The ice making water stored in the ice making water tank 15 is supplied from the water supply pipe 16 to the freezing casing 1, ice is generated in the ice making section 22 of the freezing casing 1, and after the ice is scraped off by the auger 6, the pressing head 11 It is transferred to. Pressing head 1
In 1, the ice is compressed, and the compressed ice is sent to the ice storage tank 13 through the ice transport pipe 12. When the ice storage tank 13 is full and the ice storage sensor 14 is activated, the circulation of the refrigerant in the refrigeration circuit and the rotation of the auger 6 are stopped in order to temporarily suspend the ice making operation.

When such an auger ice maker is operated for a long time, the concentration of impurities such as magnesium contained in the ice making water of the ice making section 22 becomes high during ice making. As the concentration of impurities increases, the quality of the produced ice deteriorates,
Impurities tend to precipitate in the ice making part, and wear of the bearings 7 and 8 increases significantly due to the precipitated impurities. Furthermore, if ice making water stays in the freezing casing 1 or the ice making water tank 15 for a long time, the quality of the ice making water may be deteriorated. For this reason, conventionally, after turning on the power of the auger type ice making machine, the drain valve 21 is opened at regular intervals to open the ice making section 22.
The remaining ice making water was discharged.
Alternatively, when the ice storage sensor 14 detects that the ice is full, the drain valve 21 is opened to discharge the ice making water remaining in the freezing casing 1.

[0006]

However, if the drainage is performed at regular intervals, the ice making water is drained even during the ice making operation, and the ice making operation cannot be stopped during the drainage because the ice making operation is stopped. There is a problem. There is also a problem that frequent drainage leads to unnecessary consumption of water. . Furthermore, in the method of draining when the ice is full,
If the ice in the ice storage tank continues to be used in a state where the ice storage tank is not full, the water is not drained and the ice making water stays in the freezing casing 1 for a long time, thereby deteriorating the quality of the ice making water. There is a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and provides an automatic ice making machine capable of efficiently draining the inside of the ice making machine and preventing wasteful consumption of ice making water. The purpose is to:

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic ice making machine according to the present invention is an automatic ice making machine for continuously making ice in an ice making section from ice making water supplied from an ice making water tank and storing the ice in an ice storage tank. An ice storage sensor that is provided in the tank and detects the amount of ice stored in the ice storage tank, a drain valve that discharges ice making water remaining in the ice making section, a manual drain switch that instructs opening of the drain valve, a periodic drain timer, Periodic drainage condition when the periodic drainage timer has reached a certain time, full ice condition when the ice storage sensor detects that the ice is full, and manual operation when the manual drainage switch instructs the drain valve to open. A control circuit for opening a drain valve and resetting a count time of a periodic drain timer when at least one of the drain conditions is satisfied. Further, the automatic ice maker according to the present invention may be constituted by an auger ice maker.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an automatic ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention. An auger 6 having a spiral blade is provided inside the freezing casing 1 formed of a cylindrical member, and is rotatably supported by an upper bearing 7 and a lower bearing 8. The auger 6 has a speed reducer 9 at the lower end.
Through a geared motor (GM) 10.
A cooling pipe 5 as an evaporator is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 1, and a condenser 4 and a compressor (C
M) 2 etc. are connected to form a refrigeration circuit. Further, a fan motor 3 is provided opposite to the condenser 4 to cool the condenser 4 by air.

On the inner wall of the freezing casing 1, an ice making section 22 for supplying ice making water to produce ice is formed. One end of each of a water supply pipe 16 and a drain pipe 20 is connected to the ice making section 22 at a lower portion of the freezing casing 1. Drain pipe 2
0 is provided with a drain valve 21, and the control circuit 101 is connected to the drain valve 21. The other end of the water supply pipe 16
It is open at the bottom of the ice making water tank 15. In the ice making water tank 15, a water level sensor 18 for detecting an upper limit water level H and a lower limit water level L of the ice making water tank 15 is provided. The control circuit 101 is connected to the water level sensor 18. An external water supply pipe 17 for guiding ice making water to the ice making water tank 15 is provided above the ice making water tank 15.
A water supply valve 19 is provided in the external water supply pipe 17, and a control circuit 101 is connected to the water supply valve 19. Further, a pressing head 11 is formed at an upper portion of the freezing casing 1, and the pressing head 11 is connected to an ice storage tank 13 via an ice transport pipe 12. The ice storage tank 13 is provided with an ice storage sensor 14 for detecting that the ice storage tank is full of ice, that is, detecting full ice. The control circuit 101 is connected to the ice storage sensor 14.

The control circuit 101 is connected to a periodic drain timer 102 for counting time in order to drain the drain valve 21 periodically. Also, the control circuit 101
Further, a manual drain switch 103 that allows the user of the automatic ice maker to directly instruct opening of the drain valve 21 is connected.
Further, the compressor 2, the fan motor 3, and the geared motor 10 are connected to the control circuit 101.

The control circuit 101 determines the upper limit water level H and the lower limit water level L of the ice making water tank 15 detected by the water level sensor 18 at the start of ice making, and the ice making water tank 15 determines the upper limit water level H.
Open the water supply valve 19 until. When the ice making water tank 15 reaches the upper limit water level H, the control circuit 101 starts the ice making operation by activating the geared motor 10 after activating the compressor 2. During the ice making operation, when the ice making water in the ice making water tank 15 reaches the lower limit water level L, the control circuit 101 outputs the water level sensor 18.
, The water supply valve 19 is opened to replenish ice making water until the upper limit water level H is reached. The ice making water stored in the ice making water tank 15 is supplied from the water supply pipe 16 to the freezing casing 1, ice is generated in the ice making section 22 of the freezing casing 1, and after the ice is scraped off by the auger 6, the pressing head is pressed. It is transported toward 11. In the pressing head 11, the ice is compressed, and the compressed ice passes through the ice transport pipe 12 and is stored in the ice storage tank 1.
3 is sent.

Next, the operation of the automatic ice making machine according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step S1, the control circuit 101 checks the operation history of the drain valve 21 and the water supply valve 19, and determines whether the water supply valve 19 has been opened first after the drain valve 21 was opened last time. If the water supply valve 19 is first opened after the drain valve 21 is opened last time, the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102 is started to be counted from 0 in step S2. If the water supply valve 19 is not open, or if the water supply valve 19 is open, but the water supply valve 19 has not been opened for the first time since the previous drainage valve was opened, the determination in step S1 is repeated. Next, in step S3, the control circuit 101 determines whether or not the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102 has reached a predetermined time Ta. The control circuit 101 determines the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102.
Is determined to have reached a certain time Ta, ie,
If the periodic drainage condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S6, where the control circuit 101 stops the compressor 2 and the geared motor 10 to temporarily suspend the ice making operation,
Is opened for a certain period of time to perform a drainage treatment for discharging the ice making water remaining in the freezing casing 1. Thereby, the freezing casing 1 is periodically cleaned. Further, step S7
Then, the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102 is reset to 0, and a series of controls is ended.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102 has not reached the predetermined time Ta, in step S4, the control circuit 101
Confirms whether the ice storage sensor 14 has detected full ice. If the ice storage sensor 14 detects that the ice is full, the process proceeds to step S6, and the control circuit 101 temporarily suspends the ice making operation and opens the drain valve 21 for a certain period of time to open the refrigeration casing, as described above. A drainage treatment for discharging the ice making water remaining in 1 is performed. Further, the process proceeds to step S7, in which the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102 is reset to 0, and a series of controls is ended. If the ice storage sensor 14 does not detect full ice in step S4, it is determined that the ice storage tank 13 has not reached full ice.
Proceed to step S5. In step S5, the control circuit 10
Step 1 checks the on / off state of the manual discharge switch 103, and if the manual discharge switch 103 is on, determines that the manual drain condition instructed to open the drain valve 21 is satisfied, and proceeds to step S6. Then, the ice making operation is temporarily interrupted and drainage is performed in the same manner as described above. Further, the process proceeds to step S7, where the regular drainage timer 1
The count time TE of 02 is reset to 0, and a series of control is ended. On the other hand, if the manual discharge switch 103 is in the off state, the count time TE of the
The process returns to step S3 while continuing the counting of.

When the drainage treatment is performed under the conditions of the regular drainage or the manual drainage, the ice making operation is restarted immediately after the drainage treatment. If the full ice condition is satisfied and the wastewater treatment is performed, the ice making operation is restarted only after the full ice condition is released.

As described above, even when the ice storage sensor 14 detects full ice and when the manual discharge switch 103 is turned on, drainage processing is performed, and the count time TE of the periodic drainage timer 102 is reset to zero. As a result, the count time TE of the periodic drain timer 102 is counted from 0 again, so immediately after this drainage process is performed,
Drainage by the periodic drainage timer 102 is not performed again. Therefore, unnecessary drainage is not performed.

In step S1 of FIG. 2, the water level sensor 18 detects the upper limit water level H of the ice making water tank 15 instead of determining whether the water supply valve 19 has been opened first after the drain valve 21 was previously opened. It may be determined whether or not it has been performed. When the water level sensor 18 detects the upper limit water level H of the ice making water tank 15, the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 starts counting from 0 in step S2.
When the water level sensor 18 does not detect the upper limit water level H of the ice making water tank 15, the determination in step S1 is repeatedly performed. Further, in step S4 of FIG. 2, when the ice storage sensor 14 continues to detect the full ice for a certain period of time, the ice storage tank 13 may be determined to be full ice and drainage processing may be performed. Further, in step S7 of FIG.
The count time TE of 02 may not be reset to 0, but may be reset to a predetermined value other than 0.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the regular drainage condition when the regular drainage timer reaches a predetermined time, and the full ice condition when the ice storage sensor detects that the ice is full. When at least one of the manual drainage conditions is satisfied when the manual drain switch instructs the opening of the drain valve, the control circuit opens the drain valve and resets the count time of the periodic drain timer. Therefore, drainage can be performed efficiently, and wasteful consumption of ice making water can be prevented. Further, the frequency of the wastewater treatment based on the regular drainage conditions is reduced, and the temporary stop of the ice making operation is reduced. Furthermore, even when the ice in the ice storage tank continues to be used in a state where the ice storage tank does not become full ice, if the regular drainage condition or the manual drainage condition is satisfied, the drainage treatment is performed, so the inside of the freezing casing is The ice making water is kept for a long time, and the quality of the ice making water does not deteriorate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the automatic ice maker according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional automatic ice maker.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 ice storage tank, 14 ice storage sensor, 15 ice making water tank, 18 water level sensor, 19 water supply valve, 21 drain valve, 22 ice making section, 101 control circuit, 102
Periodical drain timer, 103 ... Manual drain switch.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic ice making machine for continuously making ice in an ice making section and making ice storage in an ice storage tank, wherein the ice making water supplied from the ice making water tank is provided in the ice storage tank and detects the amount of ice stored in the ice storage tank. An ice storage sensor, a drain valve for discharging the ice making water remaining in the ice making section, a manual drain switch for instructing the opening of the drain valve, a periodic drain timer, and a case where the periodic drain timer has reached a certain time. At least one of a periodic drain condition, a full ice condition when the ice storage sensor detects that the ice is full, and a manual drain condition when the manual drain switch instructs opening of a drain valve is satisfied. An automatic ice making machine comprising: a control circuit for opening the drain valve and resetting the count time of the periodic drain timer when the drain valve is opened. 2. The automatic ice maker according to claim 1, which is an auger ice maker.