JP2002364952A - Freezing refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an ice piece containing constituents effective for health and taste without mixing any solid matter such as scale or the like during ice making and without adhering any solid matter to an ice making pan, upon making ice by an ice making device incorporated into a freezing refrigerator. SOLUTION: A cartridge type acid supplying means 10 is attached detachably to a suction pipe 3a provided in a water feeding tank 3 for the ice making device, and is preferably arranged at a place where contact with water is not generated at all times. The acid supplying means 10 is constituted so that acid 10b is filled into the cartridge case 10a and the acid 10b is optimally resolved into water, pumped up by a pump 7, during the water is passed through the suction pipe 3a. The acid 10b approved by Food Additive Law is employed, and an acid soluble into water and containing constituents effective for health and taste such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid or the like, for example, is selected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an ice making device incorporated therein, and more particularly, to a method for making ice pieces containing no solids such as scale and containing components useful for health and taste. About what you did.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ice maker is installed in a refrigerator, so that ice is automatically made by water supply and can be easily taken out when required. An ice making device in this type of refrigerator has a water supply tank 3 provided in a refrigerator 2 of the refrigerator 1 as shown in FIG. 1 and an ice tray 5 provided in a refrigerator 4 below the refrigerator. A storage container 6 provided below the ice tray 5. A fixed amount of water is supplied from the water supply tank 3 to the ice tray 5, and the ice tray 5 is cooled by a cold air flow in the freezing room 4 to make ice.
After the ice making, the ice pieces are detached from the ice tray 5 and dropped into the storage container 6 to be stored therein (for example, JP-A-2001-41620).

FIG. 2 shows the details of the main part of the ice making apparatus. The water supply tank 3 has a pump 7, and this pump 7
The pump 7 draws up water in the water supply tank 3 and supplies a fixed amount of water to the ice tray 5 through the supply pipe 8. The ice tray 5 is divided into a plurality of ice making blocks 5a, each of the ice making blocks 5a is provided with a notch in a part thereof and communicates with each other, and water from the water supply tank 3 is supplied to each of the ice making blocks 5a.
Each is set to accumulate a certain amount. Thereafter, the supply of water from the water supply tank 3 is stopped, and the ice tray 5 is cooled by the cool airflow in the freezing room 4 to generate block-shaped ice in the ice making block 5a. In this case, the ice tray 5 is horizontally supported by the deicing device 9, and after making the ice, the ice tray 5 is inverted around the support shaft 9a, and a slight twist is applied to perform deicing.

[0004]

As described above, ice is automatically made by the ice making device. However, since tap water is usually used to supply water to the water supply tank 3, minerals and the like contained in the water are used. Impurities are hardened and mixed in a cloudy state like ice during ice making. Solid matter such as this scale not only deteriorates the appearance of the ice-making pieces, but also causes inconveniences such as detaching and floating and increasing the melting speed of the ice pieces when used for whiskey splitting.

[0005] In addition, impurities in tap water, especially scales of mineral components such as silica, calcium, and magnesium, are generated and adhere to the ice tray 5, and the adhesion to ice becomes stronger, so that ice chips are lost during deicing. Had occurred. Water supply to the ice making device is usually performed during a certain energizing time of the water supply motor.
If pieces of ice remain in the ice tray 5 after deicing, the water level of the ice tray 5 rises and ice is formed in a state where the ice trays 5 are connected to each other. Even if these pieces of ice are separated after deicing, the pieces of ice remain sharp at the separation points, resulting in bad looking ice pieces. Furthermore, conventional ice chips only serve to cool beverages and the like, and it is almost impossible to obtain nutrition and taste from themselves.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and problems of the related art, and does not include solids such as scales in ice making, and has a scale attached to an ice tray. The purpose is to make ice pieces that look good without putting them on.

[0007]

As a means for achieving this object, the present invention relates to a refrigerator having an ice making device therein, wherein the ice making device is provided with an acid supply means, and the acid supply means is provided with an ice making means. The gist of the invention is to supply and melt an acid in service water to make ice. In addition, the acid is recognized as a food such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid, etc., making clear ice using water in which the acid is dissolved, solidifying the acid, and an acid supply means. The acid supply means is arranged in a water supply tank of an ice making device or in a place where contact with water does not always occur, and the acid supply means is configured by enclosing the acid in an inclusion material. The elution of acid is carried out only when the acid supply means and the ice making water come into contact with each other.

The scale is composed of silica and cations (for example,
Calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, etc.)
Are produced by combining during ice making. Therefore, by preventing this coupling, the generation of scale can be suppressed. In the present invention, by dissolving the acid in water supplied to the ice making device, the solubility of cations is increased, and the binding to silica is suppressed. This allows
It is possible to prevent solids such as scales from being generated in the ice chips and to prevent scales from adhering to the ice tray. In addition, by using an acid recognized by a food additive method such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C), citric acid, malic acid or the like, it is possible to make ice chips containing components useful for health and taste. When transparent ice is made, no scale is generated due to the acidic water, and even if a slight scale is generated, the acid improves the re-solubility in water, so that separation and floating can be prevented. By solidifying the acid, the amount of dissolution in water can be easily regulated, and an increase in acidity in water can be suppressed. The acid elution rate can be controlled by microencapsulating the acid or encapsulating it in a porous material.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a refrigerator-freezer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same members as those of the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 3 denotes a water supply tank, which can supply a fixed amount of water sucked by a pump 7 to an ice tray 5 through a supply pipe 8. A cartridge type acid supply means 10 is detachably attached to the suction pipe 3 a provided in the water supply tank 3 so as to be positioned in the water supply tank 3. Preferably, it is arranged at a place where contact with water does not always occur. This acid supply means 1
0 may be provided in the supply pipe 8 between the water supply tank 3 and the pump 7 or between the pump 7 and the ice tray 5.

The acid supply means 10 includes the cartridge case 1
Acid 10b is filled in Oa, and when water sucked up by the pump 7 passes through the suction pipe 3a, an appropriate amount of acid 10b in the cartridge case 10a is dissolved in water. As the acid 10b, those recognized by the food additive method are used, and those containing a water-soluble component that is effective for health and taste are preferable. For example, ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid, and the like can be selected. .

The water in which the acid is dissolved (acidic water) is supplied to the ice tray 5 as described above, and is cooled by the cool airflow of the freezing chamber 4 to make ice. In this case, no solid matter such as scale is mixed in the ice making. A solid such as a scale is caused by a reaction between insoluble silica contained in water and ions such as magnesium and calcium to form a compound (solid). Acid increases the solubility of ions such as calcium and magnesium in water,
Scale is difficult to generate.

When ascorbic acid is used as the acid, since it is vitamin C, ice chips containing ingredients effective for health will be made. Therefore, the ice chips containing ascorbic acid are, as it were, “healthy ice” containing nutrients, and vitamin C can be taken by drinking this with a drink. Vitamin C is a protein that supports the structure of the body called collagen, works to make bones and teeth, and works to improve the absorption of iron in vegetables, preventing scurvy and preventing the production of the carcinogen nitrosamine. It has been known.

When citric acid is used as the acid, it has a characteristic acidity and is contained in a large amount in citrus juice such as lemon and mandarin orange. It is known that citric acid is added as a sour agent to various foods and beverages to give a refreshing acidity. Therefore, the ice chips containing citric acid are so-called “taste ice”, and if the ice chips are put into a beverage, a moderate acidity can be imparted. There is no need to add lemon juice or slices of lemon as before.

When malic acid is used as an acid, it is present in fruits such as apples, grapes, and ume and emits a pleasant aroma. It is easily soluble in water or alcohol, and is used in soft drinks and the like. Used for sour taste. Therefore, the ice chips containing malic acid are so-called “aromatic ice” and “taste ice”, and can give a refreshing flavor to the beverage containing the ice chips.

Further, the deodorizing effect can be exhibited by using acidic water. The odor peculiar to tap water is particularly due to trimethylamine, which is neutralized by acid. Accordingly, the ice pieces made from ice do not have a bad smell and can be used comfortably.

The ice chips thus produced do not contain solids such as scale, but usually become opaque ice. This opaque ice is known to be caused by bubbles in the water being trapped in the ice making. For this reason, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed a technique of shaking the ice tray 5 during ice making or defoaming by heating the ice tray 5 appropriately to make transparent ice (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-2000). No. 41622, JP-A-2001-41623). By appropriately using these techniques, the ice according to the present invention can be made into transparent ice.

After ice-making, the ice-making tray 5 is inverted by the de-ice device 9 and de-iced by slightly twisting it. However, in the present invention, since solid matter such as scale does not adhere to the ice-making tray 5, the conventional method is used. As described above, chipping does not occur in the ice pieces during deicing, and no pieces of ice remain in the ice tray 5 after deicing. For this reason, a clean and well-shaped ice piece is obtained, and an ice tray 5
When the water is supplied to the ice tray, there is no problem that the water level of the ice tray 5 rises and ice pieces are made in a state of being connected to each other as in the related art.

When the acid 10b filled in the cartridge case 10a of the acid supply means 10 is a powder or a liquid, the amount of the acid 10b dissolved in water is difficult to regulate. Therefore, acid 10
b is preferably solidified, for example, into granules or troches (tablets). Further, the acid 10b is sealed in a suitable clathrate material, and the elution of the acid 10b is performed only when the clathrate material and water come into contact. Examples of inclusion materials include microcapsules, sintered ceramics,
Porous members such as sintered metal, zeolite and activated carbon (adsorbent) can be used. This makes it easier to regulate the amount of the acid 10b dissolved in water, and also allows the elution rate to be controlled. In addition, acid 10
It is also possible to easily set a guideline for the replacement time of the cartridge case 10a due to the disappearance of b.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When making ice with an ice-making device built into a refrigerator, an appropriate amount of acid recognized as food is dissolved in the water supplied to the ice tray, so that solids such as scales are mixed in the ice pieces that have been made. The solids do not separate and float when placed in whiskey, cold barley tea, drinking water, or the like. Further, by using ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid, or the like as an acid, it is possible to make ice chips containing a component effective for health and taste. Furthermore, since the scale does not adhere to the ice tray,
An excellent effect is obtained such that a clean and well-shaped product is obtained without chipping of the ice pieces during deicing, and the mutual connection of the ice pieces can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of a refrigerator-freezer incorporating an ice making device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing details of a main part of the ice making device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a main part showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Freezer refrigerator 2 ... Refrigerator room 3 ... Water supply tank 4 ... Freezer room 5 ... Ice tray 6 ... Storage container 7 ... Pump 8 ... Supply pipe 9 ... De-icing device 10 ... Acid supply means 10a ... Cartridge case 10b ... Acid

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Hideaki Kamiya 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Junichi Kubota 2-5-1 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junichi Mogi 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Prefecture In-house Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaya Matsuoka 2 Keihan-hondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka 5-5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Naoki Otsuka 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3L045 AA04 BA03 CA04 DA02 EA01 KA07 LA01 PA04

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ice-making apparatus having an ice-making device therein, wherein the ice-making device is provided with an acid supply means, and the acid is supplied into the ice-making water from the acid supply means to dissolve and make ice. refrigerator. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the acid is recognized as a food such as ascorbic acid, citric acid and malic acid. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein transparent ice is made using water in which the acid is dissolved. 4. An acid supply means by solidifying the acid,
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said acid supply means is disposed in a water supply tank of the ice making device or in a place where contact with water does not always occur.
A refrigerator as described. 5. An acid supply means by enclosing said acid in an clathrate material, and elution of the acid is performed only when the acid supply means comes into contact with ice making water. Or the refrigerator-freezer according to 4.