JP2001178372A - Apparatus for producing ices - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for producing ices, capable of regulating the ices so as to have a appropriate hardness. SOLUTION: This apparatus for producing ices has a hopper 2 for storing and cooling a mix, a cooling cylinder 8 for cooling the mix properly fed from the hopper 2, a cooling device for cooling the hopper 2 and the cooling cylinder 8, a beater 10 for stirring the mix in the cooling cylinder 8, a beater motor 12 for driving the beater 10, an electric current sensor for detecting the electric current energizing the beater motor 12, and a controlling means. The controlling means stops the cooling of the cooling cylinder based on the output of the electric current sensor according to the prescribed increasing rate of the electric current value of the beater heater.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing frozen desserts such as soft ice cream.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a hopper that stores and cools a mix, a cooling cylinder that cools a mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, a refrigerating device that cools the cooling cylinder, and a temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder are detected. There is known a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus including a sensor for performing the operation and a control unit for starting and stopping the operation of the refrigeration apparatus.

[0003] In this frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, when the mix is cooled in a cooling cylinder and pushed out of the cooling cylinder as a frozen dessert (soft cream or the like), the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder is adjusted so as to have an appropriate hardness. Has control.

In this temperature control, the temperature of the mix (set temperature) is set by a temperature setting device capable of setting the temperature intermittently by means of knobs with evenly spaced temperature scales, and a predetermined temperature difference (hereinafter referred to as differential (hereinafter referred to as differential)). For example, ± 0.
5 ° C)), and after a certain period of time, the temperature of the cooling cylinder mix is detected by a sensor in the cooling cylinder, and the operation of the refrigeration apparatus is started at a temperature obtained by adding 0.5 ° C of differential to the set temperature. The operation of the refrigeration system is stopped at a temperature obtained by subtracting 0.5 ° C. of differential from the set temperature.

[0005] However, the conventional configuration has a problem that it is difficult to control a frozen dessert such as a soft ice cream to an appropriate hardness because the refrigerating apparatus is controlled by a change in the temperature of the mix that changes every moment. Conventionally, the refrigerating apparatus was controlled by a drive current of a beater (stirring blade) provided in the cooling cylinder. However, the refrigerating apparatus was stopped when the current reached a certain value. ,
There was a problem that control became difficult.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional technical problem and to provide a frozen dessert producing apparatus capable of controlling the frozen dessert to an appropriate hardness.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, wherein the hopper stores and cools the mix, a cooling cylinder that cools the mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, and cools the hopper and the cooling cylinder. A cooling device, a beater for agitating the mix in the cooling cylinder, a beater motor for driving the beater, a current sensor for detecting a current supplied to the beater motor, and control means. , The cooling of the cooling cylinder is stopped based on a predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the hardness of the mix approaches the solidification point temperature specific to the mix by cooling the mix, and as the temperature approaches the solidification point temperature, the hardening rate of the mix in a predetermined time, that is, Paying attention to the fact that the value obtained by subtracting the energizing current value before a predetermined time from the energizing current value of the beater motor decreases, the cooling of the cooling cylinder is stopped based on the predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor.

[0009] This makes it possible to produce frozen desserts having optimum hardness.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a frozen dessert producing apparatus for storing and keeping a mix, a cooling cylinder for cooling a mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, a cooling device for cooling the hopper and the cooling cylinder, A beater for stirring the mix in the cylinder, a beater motor for driving the beater, a current sensor for detecting a current flowing through the beater motor, and control means; and the control means controls the beater motor based on an output of the current sensor. And stopping means for stopping the cooling of the cooling cylinder based on the current value increasing speed, and adjusting means for adjusting the current value increasing speed within a predetermined time of the beater motor.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the hopper for storing and keeping the mix cool, the cooling cylinder for cooling the mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, the cooling device for cooling the hopper and the cooling cylinder, and the cooling cylinder A beater that stirs the mix of the beater, a beater motor that drives the beater, a current sensor that detects a current supplied to the beater motor, and a control unit. The control unit determines a predetermined current of the beater motor based on an output of the current sensor. In addition to stopping the cooling of the cooling cylinder based on the value rising speed, and having an adjusting means for adjusting the current value rising speed within a predetermined time of the beater motor, in addition to the above effects,
Adjustment means can be adjusted to obtain the optimum hardness to take advantage of the unique flavor of each mix, just by adjusting the adjustment means, to provide a variety of mixes with the optimal hardness Will be able to

A frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention further comprises a cylinder sensor for detecting the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder in addition to the above inventions, and the control means controls the cooling cylinder based on the output of the cylinder sensor. When the temperature of the mix in the inside rises to a predetermined temperature, the cooling of the cooling cylinder is restarted.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned inventions, a cylinder sensor for detecting the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder is provided, and the control means detects the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder based on the output of the cylinder sensor. Since the cooling of the cooling cylinder is restarted when the temperature of the mix rises to the predetermined temperature, even if the cooling of the cooling cylinder is temporarily stopped based on a predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor, the cooling cylinder is cooled to the predetermined temperature or more. When the mix temperature rises, cooling is restarted, so that frozen dessert can be continuously produced without any trouble.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a soft ice cream manufacturing apparatus SM as an embodiment of a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the soft cream manufacturing apparatus SM, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a control device C of the manufacturing apparatus SM. The soft ice cream manufacturing apparatus SM of the embodiment is a tabletop apparatus that manufactures and sells, for example, one kind of soft ice cream, such as vanilla soft ice cream or chocolate soft ice cream.

In each of the figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body, and 2 denotes a hopper for storing a raw material of frozen dessert (soft cream), a so-called mix. The hopper has a hopper cover 3 which is removed when replenishing the mix. The mix is kept cool by a hopper cooling coil (hopper cooler) 4. Further, the hopper stirrer 5 provided on the inner bottom portion is also used when the mix is put into the hopper 2 in a predetermined amount or more and the hopper cooling coil 4 is heated and sterilized by the refrigerant gas flowing in the opposite direction to the cooling, that is, the hot gas. Motor 6
Is driven to rotate.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a mix detecting device for detecting whether or not the hopper 2 contains a predetermined amount or more of mix. The mix detecting device 7 includes a pair of conductive electrodes. The configuration is such that the flow of hot gas is stopped and the hopper stirrer 5 is not rotated so that the heat sterilization process described later is not performed when detected.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a cooling cylinder for producing a frozen dessert by rotating and stirring a mix appropriately supplied from the hopper 2 by a mix supply unit 9 with a beater 10, and a cylinder cooler 11 is disposed around the cooling cylinder. The beater 10 is rotated via a beater motor 12, a drive transmission belt, a speed reducer 13, and a rotating shaft. The manufactured frozen dessert (soft cream)
When the take-out lever 15 arranged on the freezer door 14 is operated, the plunger 16 moves up and down, and the take-out path (not shown) is opened to take out.

Next, a cooling device for cooling the hopper 2 and the cooling cylinder 8 will be described. Reference numeral 18 denotes a compressor, 19 denotes a four-way valve for switching the flow direction of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 18 between a cooling cycle (solid line state in FIG. 2) and a heating cycle (dotted line state in FIG. 2).
Is a condenser that is air-cooled by the condensing fan 17 and condenses and liquefies the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas flowing through the check valve 21 into a liquefied refrigerant.

The liquefied refrigerant includes a dryer 23 and a check valve 22.
And one of them flows into the cylinder cooler 11 through the cylinder cooling valve 24 and the cooling cylinder capillary tube 25, where it is vaporized and vaporized to form the cooling cylinder 8.
To cool. The other flows into the hopper cooling coil 4 through the hopper cooling valve 26 and the hopper capillary tube 27 in the preceding stage, and similarly evaporates and cools the hopper 2, and then exits through the latter capillary tube 28. Go.

Then, the refrigerant gas after cooling the cooling cylinder 8 and the hopper 2 joins in the accumulator 30 and then forms a cooling cycle in which the refrigerant returns to the compressor 18 through the four-way valve 19 and the accumulator 39. A cooling operation flowing in the direction is performed.

In this cooling operation, it is necessary to keep the mix in the cooling cylinder 8 cooled to a predetermined hardness in order to obtain good quality dessert. Therefore, a beater motor current sensor 48 for detecting the current value of the beater motor 12
And a cylinder sensor 3 for detecting the temperature of the cooling cylinder 8
1 (FIG. 3), the beater motor current sensor 48 and the cylinder sensor 31 turn on (open) the cylinder cooling valve 24 and turn on the compressor 18 to perform cooling by turning on the compressor 18 by balanced current control as described in detail later. Valve 2
When the switch 4 is OFF (closed), the hopper cooling valve 26 is opened / closed and the compressor 18 is turned ON / OFF. That is, the control is such that the cooling of the cooling cylinder 8 has priority, and under the condition that the cylinder cooling valve 24 is OFF,
The hopper cooling valve 26 turns ON.

After the sale is performed under the above-mentioned cooling operation, when the store is closed, the mix is sterilized by the heating method. In this case, the cooling device is switched from the cooling cycle to the operation of the heating cycle. That is, the four-way valve 19 is operated to flow the refrigerant as indicated by the dotted arrow. Then
The high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas, ie, hot gas, from the compressor 18 is split into two parts via a four-way valve 19 and an accumulator 30, one of which is directly connected to the cylinder cooler 11, and the other of which is connected to the hopper cooling coil 4 via a check valve 33. The cooling cylinder 8 and the hopper 2 are heated at a specified sterilization temperature for a predetermined time.

The liquefied refrigerant after the heat release merges through the cylinder hot gas valve 34 and the hopper hot gas valve 35, respectively, and is separated into gas and liquid by the condenser 20 through the check valve 40.
The refrigerant gas passes through a reverse solenoid valve 36 and a reverse capillary tube 37 provided in parallel, forms a heating cycle returning to the compressor 18 via the four-way valve 19 and the accumulator 39. Numeral 38 denotes a sterilization / cooling sensor for detecting the heating temperature of the cooling cylinder 8. The cylinder hot gas valve 34 has an upper limit and a lower limit of a predetermined range so as to maintain a specified sterilization temperature for the mix. And ON / OFF control of the compressor 18.

Although the sterilization / cooling sensor 38 measures the heating temperature of the cooling cylinder 8, it can be determined that the measured temperature is substantially close to the heating temperature of the mix.
This sterilization / cooling sensor 38 can also be used as a mix temperature detection sensor. It is also possible to control the opening and closing of the reverse solenoid valve 36 using the mix temperature information detected by the sterilization / cooling sensor 38.

The heating of the hopper 2 is controlled by the hopper 2.
The hopper sensor 32 for detecting the temperature of the cooling cylinder 8 is also used, and the ON / OFF control of the hopper hot gas valve 35 and the compressor 18 is performed at the same set temperature value set in the cooling cylinder 8. In addition, sterilization
The cool keeping sensor 38 shifts to cooling after heat sterilization and keeps a certain low temperature state until the point of sale the next day, that is, the cool keeping temperature (+
(Approximately 8 ° C to + 10 ° C).
ON / OFF control and ON / OFF control of the cylinder cooling valve 24 and the hopper cooling valve 26 are performed.

In this case, a bypass circuit 42 is connected to the capacitor 20 in parallel.
Is connected to a check valve 41. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the bypass circuit 42 is mounted vertically on the side surface of the condenser 20 over the inlet / outlet piping, and the check valve 41 is directed upward in the forward direction (FIG. Side view).

In this figure, 20A is connected to the reverse solenoid valve 36 and the like (on the compressor 18 side), and 20B
Is a pipe connected to the check valve 40 and the like (on the cylinder cooler 11 side). The flow passage area in the check valve 41 is set smaller than the pipe of the condenser 20.

Here, during the heating cycle, the refrigerant radiated and radiated by the cylinder cooler 11 and the hopper cooling coil 4 flows into the condenser 20 as described above. The pipe 20A on the compressor 18 side is disposed above the condenser 20 in order to make the condenser 20 function as a gas-liquid separator and to prevent inconvenience in which the liquid refrigerant is sucked into the compressor 18.

However, in particular, since the condenser 20 is of the air-cooling type, a large amount of liquid refrigerant accumulated in the condenser 20 flows out of the pipe 20A together with the gas in the latter half of the heating cycle. Said bypass circuit 42 is provided for this purpose and serves to bypass the condenser 20 during the heating cycle and return the gas to the compressor 18 via the check valve 41 to prevent so-called liquid back.

On the other hand, if only the gas is returned in the bypass circuit 42, the discharge temperature of the compressor 18 rises abnormally and the load becomes overloaded, so that the flow passage area in the check valve 41 is reduced as described above. It is set to be narrower than the pipe of the condenser 20 so that the liquid refrigerant (mist form) in the condenser 20 is returned with a small amount due to the pressure difference.

As described above, the reverse solenoid valve 36 is controlled to open and close at the mixed detection temperature of the sterilization / cooling sensor 38 in order to suppress the high-load operation of the compressor 18.
44 is an electrical box, and 45 is a front drain receiver (shown in an exploded view). Reference numeral 55 denotes a water tap, which is used for supplying water to the hopper 2 and the cooling cylinder 8 during mixing washing. Further, reference numeral 43 denotes a bypass valve, which also has a role of preventing the compressor 18 from being overloaded.

Referring to FIG. 3, the control device C is
4 and is designed around a general-purpose microcomputer 46. The microcomputer 46 supplies power to the cylinder sensor 31, hopper sensor 32, sterilization / cooling sensor 38, and beater motor 12. Beater motor current sensor 4 for detecting current
8 (CT) is input and the microcomputer 4
6, the compressor motor 18M of the compressor 18, the beater motor 12, the stirrer motor 6, the cylinder cooling valve 24, the cylinder hot gas valve 34, the hopper cooling valve 26, the hopper hot gas valve 35, the four-way valve 19,
The reverse solenoid valve 36, the bypass valve 43, and the condensing fan 17 are connected.

In this figure, reference numeral 47 denotes a current sensor (CT) for detecting a current supplied to the compressor motor 18M.
This output is also input to the microcomputer 46. Reference numeral 51 denotes an extraction switch, which is opened and closed by operating the extraction lever 15, and its contact output is input to the microcomputer 46.

The reference numeral 49 designates the cooling setting of the frozen dessert at "1".
A cooling setting volume (adjusting means) for adjusting in three stages of (weak), “2” (medium), and “3” (strong), and 53 sets a threshold value (set value) of the temperature of the cooling cylinder 8, for example. -6 ° C
A threshold setting volume for arbitrarily setting a temperature in the range of --4 ° C.
6 has been entered. A key input circuit 52 includes various switches for instructing the microcomputer 46 to perform various operations.
The key input circuit 52 is disposed on an operation panel (not shown) of the soft serve manufacturing apparatus SM, and the threshold value setting volume 53 is mounted on a board of the control apparatus C.

Further, an LED display 54 for performing various display operations such as an alarm is connected to the output of the microcomputer 46.

The operation of the soft serve manufacturing apparatus SM having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. When the operation of the soft ice cream manufacturing apparatus SM of the embodiment is started, FIG.
As shown in the timing charts of FIGS. 8 and 8, each operation of a cooling operation (cooling step, defrosting step) and a sterilization / cooling operation (sterilization / heating step, sterilization holding step, cold holding pull-down step, cold holding step) is executed. The setting of the cooling setting volume 49 is such that the cooling setting of the frozen dessert is currently set to “1”.

First, the cooling operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the cooling operation switch provided in the key input circuit 52 is operated, after resetting all, the microcomputer 46 checks whether the cooling flag is set to "1" in step S1 of FIG.
It is determined whether the reset is "0".

If it is assumed that the cooling flag is reset at the start of operation (pull-down), it is determined in step S2 whether the current mix temperature in the cooling cylinder 8 is the cooling ON point temperature based on the output of the cylinder sensor 31. to decide. And if the mix temperature is high enough,
In step S3, the measurement timer (which the microcomputer 46 has as a function) is cleared, and in step S4, the current value of the beater motor current sensor 48 is set to t.
The current value is set to the current value before two seconds, and the cooling operation is set in step S5 to execute the cooling operation (step S6).

In this cooling operation, the microcomputer 4
6 executes the balanced current control described below. That is, the microcomputer 46 operates the compressor 18 (compressor motor 18M), and the four-way valve 19 performs the cooling cycle (non-energized). And the cylinder cooling valve 24
Is turned on (open), the hopper cooling valve 26 is turned off (closed), and the cylinder hot gas valve 34 and the hopper hot gas valve are turned off. Also, the beater 1 is controlled by the beater motor 12.
Rotate 0.

Thus, the mix in the cooling cylinder 8 is cooled by the cylinder cooler 11 and stirred by the beater 10 as described above. Here, as described above, even if the cooling setting of the cooling setting volume 49 is set to "1", the microcomputer 46 forcibly sets "3" during this pull-down. In the cooling setting “3”, t seconds is 40.
Seconds, TA (ampere; described later) is 0.1 A, t seconds is 20 seconds with cooling setting “2”, TA is 0.1 A, t seconds is 20 seconds with cooling setting “1”, and TA is 0.2 A. Shall be.

Next, the microcomputer 46 proceeds from step S1 to step S7, determines whether or not the measurement timer is measuring, and if not, starts measuring in step S8. Next, in step S9, it is determined whether or not the count of the measurement timer has elapsed t seconds, and if not, the process returns. T seconds (in this case, 4
0 seconds), the microcomputer 46 determines in step S10 that the difference between the current energizing current of the beater motor 12 and the energizing current t seconds ago is less than TA (0.1 A in this case) based on the output of the beater motor current sensor 48. If not, return to step S3, clear the measurement timer, and execute steps S4 to S6.
Execute

Thereafter, this is repeated to cool the mix in the cooling cylinder 8 while stirring. Here, the mix cooled while being stirred in the cooling cylinder 8 has a predetermined hardness when it comes to a frozen dessert for sale. And the load of the beater 10 which is stirring the frozen dessert (soft cream) increases due to its hardness. As the hardness approaches the unique hardness of the mix, the change in the current value of the beater motor 12 gradually becomes slow. When the change in the current value during 40 seconds (t seconds) (the difference between the current beater motor current value and the current value before t seconds) becomes 0.1 A (TA) or less,
The process proceeds from step S10 to step S11. Note that the beater motor current value at this time becomes the cooling end current value (OFF point current value).

In step S11, the current mix temperature is set to the cooling end temperature based on the output of the cylinder sensor 31, the cooling flag is reset in step S12, and the cooling is stopped in step S13.

That is, in this cooling stop, the microcomputer 46 turns off the cylinder cooling valve 24 and turns on the hopper cooling valve 26 instead. As a result, the cooling of the cooling cylinder 8 is stopped, and the hopper 2 is cooled by turning on the hopper cooling valve 26.
Since the pull-down is completed, the microcomputer 46 returns the cooling setting to "1" set by the volume 49.

Then, the microcomputer 46 returns to step S1. Since the cooling flag has been reset here, the microcomputer 46 proceeds to step S2, and based on the output of the cylinder sensor 31, the current mix temperature changes to the cooling end. Temperature + 0.5 ° C (cooling ON point temperature: predetermined temperature)
It is determined whether it has risen above. If not, the process proceeds to step S12, and thereafter, this is repeated. The microcomputer 46 turns off the hopper cooling valve 26 based on the output of the hopper sensor 32 when the temperature of the hopper 2 is also cooled below a predetermined temperature,
In this case, the compressor 18 is also stopped. In the embodiment, the hopper cooling valve 26 is turned on at 10 ° C. and turned off at 8 ° C.
Is done.

The temperature of the mix (chilled dessert) rises and
When the temperature becomes equal to or higher than the N-point temperature, the microcomputer 46 proceeds from step S2 to step S3, and thereafter similarly starts cooling the cooling cylinder 8.

As described above, the beater motor current sensor 48
, The cooling of the cooling cylinder 8 is stopped based on the predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor 12,
The hardness of the frozen dessert can be controlled according to the type of the mix.

Further, by adjusting the cooling setting of the cooling setting volume 49 to "1" to "3", the current value increasing speed of the beater motor 12 within a predetermined time can be adjusted, and the flavor unique to each mix can be adjusted. By selecting the optimal hardness for making the most of the above, various kinds of mixes can be provided with the optimal hardness.

Further, after the cooling of the cooling cylinder 8 is stopped at the current value increasing speed of the beater motor 12, if the temperature in the cooling cylinder 8 reaches the cooling ON point temperature based on the output of the cylinder sensor 31, Cooling cylinder 8
Since the cooling of the ice cream is restarted, it is possible to continuously manufacture the frozen dessert.

Next, the defrosting step in FIG. 7 will be described. When the defrost switch of the key input circuit 52 is operated during the cooling operation, the microcomputer 46 performs ON / OFF control of the cylinder hot gas valve 34, heats the cooling cylinder 8 with hot gas, and heats the mix to a predetermined temperature. (5 ° C.). Thereafter, the microcomputer 46 continuously performs the cooling operation, and performs the cooling step of the mix again.

Next, the sterilization / cooling operation (sterilization temperature raising step, sterilization holding step, cold holding pull-down step, cold holding step) of FIG. 8 will be described. When the sterilizing switch of the key input circuit 52 is operated, the microcomputer 46 starts the sterilizing / cooling operation under the condition that the mix is not exhausted.

The microcomputer 46 has a four-way valve 19.
Switches from the cooling cycle to the heating cycle. Thereby, the hot gas is supplied to the cooling cylinder 8 and the hopper 2 and is heated (sterilization temperature raising step). And
When the sterilization temperature raising step is completed, the microcomputer 46 turns on the compressor 18, the cylinder hot gas valve 34, and the hopper hot gas valve 35 based on the outputs of the sterilization / cooling sensor 38 and the hopper sensor 32,
FF control, +69 for both cooling cylinder 8 and hopper 2
The sterilization holding step is performed so as to satisfy a total heating time of about 40 minutes in a heating temperature range of 0 ° C to + 72 ° C.

This sterilization temperature raising and sterilization holding process is performed by LE
Displayed by the sterilization LED of the D display 54, and when the sterilization holding process is completed, the microcomputer 46 shifts to a cool-down pull-down process. This cooling transition is also performed by the LED display 54.
Is displayed in.

In the cold-holding pull-down step subsequent to the sterilization holding step, the temperature of the cooling cylinder 8 and the hopper 2 is increased from + 8 ° C. to +1
Cool to a temperature range of 0 ° C. After that, the microcomputer 46 shifts to a cooling process. In the cooling process, the microcomputer 46 controls the compressor motor 1 based on the outputs of the sterilization / cooling sensor 38 and the hopper sensor 32 so as to maintain this temperature.
8M, cylinder cooling valve 24 and hopper cooling valve 26
N, OFF control.

Next, control operations of the compressor 18 (compressor motor 18M), the cylinder cooling valve 24, and the hopper cooling valve 26, which are executed by the microcomputer 46 in the cool-down pull-down step, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Microcomputer 46
Determines whether the cooling ON flag is currently set ("1") in step S21 of FIG.

At the end of the sterilization holding step, if the compressor 18 is temporarily stopped and the cooling ON flag is also reset ("0"), the microcomputer 46 starts the compressor motor 18M and proceeds from step S21 to step S22. At the output of the current sensor 47 of the compressor motor 18M.
It is determined whether the current I of M is equal to or lower than a lower limit Iss such as 2.0 A, for example. Assuming that it is not rising now,
Proceeding to step S23, the cooling ON flag is set.

Next, the microcomputer 46 determines whether or not the cylinder flag has been set in step S25. Note that the cylinder flag is set at the start of the cool-down pull-down. Therefore, the microcomputer 4
In step S26, the cylinder cooling valve 24 is turned ON (the hopper cooling valve 26 is OFF, and the other valves 34 and 35 are also OFF). That is, the cool-down pull-down is first started from the cooling of the cooling cylinder 8.

Next, in step S261, based on the output of the sterilization / cooling sensor 38, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the cooling cylinder 8 has dropped by 10 ° C. from the time when the cylinder flag was set last time (in this case, at the start of cooling down). If not, the process proceeds to step S21. In step S21, since the cooling ON flag is set this time, the microcomputer 46 proceeds to step S31, and determines whether the energizing current I of the compressor motor 18M has increased to an upper limit value Ish such as 5 A or more. I do.
At this time, assuming that it has not yet risen, the microcomputer 46 proceeds from step S31 to step S25.
And repeats the above.

Here, the cool-down pull-down is 70 as described above.
In order to start cooling the cooling cylinder 8 from a high temperature of about ℃,
An excessive load is applied to the compressor 18. for that reason,
Compressor motor 18M from the start of cold insulation pull-down
Of the current I rapidly increases and eventually reaches the upper limit value Ish. When the energizing current I of the compressor motor 18M increases to the upper limit value Ish, the microcomputer 46 proceeds from step S31 to step S32 to reset the cooling ON flag. Then, in step S34, the cylinder cooling valve 24 and the hopper cooling valve 26 are turned off (other valves 3
4 and 35 are closed).

As a result, the refrigerant circuit of FIG. 2 becomes a closed circuit, and the load on the compressor 18 is reduced at a stroke. Then, in the same manner as described above, the process proceeds from step S21 to step S22, and it is determined again whether the energizing current I of the compressor motor 18M has decreased to the lower limit Iss or less.

As described above, when the valves 24 and 26 are closed, the current supplied to the compressor motor 18M rapidly decreases. When the current I falls below the lower limit Iss, the microcomputer 46 proceeds to step S.
The process proceeds from step 22 to step S23 to set the cooling ON flag again, and then proceeds to step S25 to repeat the same control thereafter.

If the temperature of the cooling cylinder 8 drops by 10 ° C. from the previous time when the cylinder flag was set while controlling the valves 24 and 26, the microcomputer 46 proceeds from step S261 to step S27 to reset the cylinder flag. Reset. Then, when the same control operation as described above is repeated and the process proceeds to step S25, the process proceeds from step S25 to step S28, where the hopper cooling valve 26 is turned on (the cylinder cooling valve 24 is turned off).

That is, instead of the cooling cylinder 8, the cooling of the hopper 2 is started. Then, in step S29, based on the output of the hopper sensor 32, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the hopper 2 has decreased by 10 ° C. since the last reset of the cylinder flag.
1, and the same control operation as described above is repeated.

If the temperature of the hopper 2 drops by 10 ° C. from the reset of the cylinder flag, the microcomputer 46 proceeds from step S29 to step S30 to set the cylinder flag. Thereby, cooling of the cooling cylinder 8 is started again (the compressor motor 18
Under the condition that the current supplied to M is equal to or less than the upper limit value), the cooling of the hopper 2 is stopped.

As described above, the cooling cylinder 8 and the hopper 2 are alternately cooled (pulled down) by 10 ° C. at the time of cooling preservation pull-down in which an excessive load is applied to the compressor 18. Can be achieved.

[0066]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the hardness of the mix is set such that the cooling temperature of the mix approaches the solidification point specific to the mix by cooling the mix. That is,
Paying attention to the fact that the value obtained by subtracting the current value of the current before the predetermined time from the current value of the current of the beater motor decreases, the cooling of the cooling cylinder is stopped based on the predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor. As a result, it is possible to produce frozen desserts having optimal hardness.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a hopper for storing and keeping the mix cool, a cooling cylinder for cooling the mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, a cooling device for cooling the hopper and the cooling cylinder, A beater for stirring the mix in the cylinder, a beater motor for driving the beater, a current sensor for detecting a current flowing through the beater motor, and control means; and the control means controls the beater motor based on an output of the current sensor. In addition to stopping the cooling of the cooling cylinder based on the current value rising speed and adjusting means for adjusting the current value rising speed within a predetermined time of the beater motor, in addition to the above-described effects, the unique flavor of each mix is provided. It can be adjusted by adjusting means so that it has the optimal hardness to take advantage of Only adjusting the stage, it is possible to provide with optimal hardness many types of mix.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned inventions, a cylinder sensor for detecting the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder is provided, and the control means detects the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder based on the output of the cylinder sensor. Since the cooling of the cooling cylinder is restarted when the temperature of the mix rises to the predetermined temperature, even if the cooling of the cooling cylinder is temporarily stopped based on a predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor, the cooling cylinder is cooled to the predetermined temperature or more. When the mix temperature rises, cooling is restarted, so that frozen dessert can be continuously produced without any trouble.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a soft serve manufacturing apparatus as an embodiment of a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the soft ice cream manufacturing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control device of the soft serve manufacturing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the condenser of the soft-serve ice cream manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a program of a microcomputer of the control device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a program of a microcomputer of the control device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating a cooling operation of the soft ice cream manufacturing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating a sterilizing / cooling operation of the soft ice cream manufacturing device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 SM soft cream production equipment (frozen dessert production equipment) 2 Hopper 8 Cooling cylinder 10 Beater 12 Beater motor 18 Compressor 18M Compressor motor 19 Four-way valve 20 Condenser 24 Cylinder cooling valve 26 Hopper cooling valve 31 Cylinder sensor 32 Hopper sensor 34 Cylinder hot gas valve 35 Hopper Hot gas valve 48 Beater motor current sensor 49 Cooling setting volume (adjustment means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Yoshikazu Takada 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Seiji Ishihama 2-chome Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koichiro Ikemoto 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 4B014 GB22 GE05 GP13 GT13 GT20

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A hopper that stores and cools a mix, a cooling cylinder that cools a mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, a cooling device that cools the hopper and the cooling cylinder, and a beater that stirs the mix in the cooling cylinder. A beater motor for driving the beater; a current sensor for detecting a current supplied to the beater motor; and control means. The control means determines a predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor based on an output of the current sensor. A frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, wherein cooling of the cooling cylinder is stopped based on the following. 2. A hopper for storing and keeping the mix cool, a cooling cylinder for cooling the mix appropriately supplied from the hopper, a cooling device for cooling the hopper and the cooling cylinder, and a beater for stirring the mix in the cooling cylinder. A beater motor for driving the beater; a current sensor for detecting a current supplied to the beater motor; and control means. The control means determines a predetermined current value increasing speed of the beater motor based on an output of the current sensor. And an adjusting means for stopping the cooling of the cooling cylinder based on the above condition and adjusting the current value increasing speed within a predetermined time of the beater motor. A cylinder sensor for detecting a temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder, wherein the control means, when the temperature of the mix in the cooling cylinder rises to a predetermined temperature based on an output of the cylinder sensor, 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling of the cooling cylinder is restarted.