JP2007218515A - Cell type ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent dropping ice cubes from being caught by a water supply tray. <P>SOLUTION: This cell type ice making machine comprises the water supply tray 8 disposed at a lower face side of an ice making case 6 and vertically tiltably supported, a water tank 9 and a pump 12 on the ice making case 6 comprising lattice-shaped cells 14 opened downward. A group of water supply and discharge grooves M are formed corresponding to each of the cells 14 on an upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8, and the water supply and discharge grooves M have nozzle holes 25 for jetting and supplying ice making water toward the cells 14 and water discharge recessed portions 27 and return holes 26 for returning the unfrozen water to the water tank 9. The water supply tray 8 is tilted and displaced between an ice making attitude closing a lower face of the ice making case 6 and an ice separating attitude positioned in a descending state. In the water supply and discharge groove M of each row along the inclining direction of the water supply tray 8, at least the adjacent water supply and discharge grooves M are not lined up. For example, the water supply and discharge groove M of each row is arranged in a broken line or in zigzag. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cell-type ice making machine that cools the peripheral wall of a cell that opens downward with a refrigerant and generates ice cubes while supplying ice-making water toward the cell, and in particular, the ice-making water is ejected toward the cell. The present invention relates to a supply water tray structure.

  Patent Document 1 is a publicly known document of the present applicant relating to a water supply / drainage structure of a water supply tray. However, the respective water supply / drainage grooves are arranged in a straight line along the inclination of the water supply tray. One known document relating to the problem of the present invention is Patent Document 2.

JP 2006-017401 (paragraph numbers 0015 and 0032) JP-A-6-265247

  As shown in Patent Document 1, the cell-type ice making machine includes a water supply tray 8 that is disposed oppositely so as to cool an ice making case 6 including a group of cells 14 that open downward to below the freezing point and close the lower surface thereof. Ice-making water is sprayed from the nozzle holes toward the cells 14 to generate ice cubes in the cells 14. Thereafter, the water supply tray 8 is tilted to open the lower surface side of the ice making case 6. The ice cube 6 produced by heating the ice making case 6 is dropped by its own weight and accommodated in the ice making chamber 2.

  At this time, each ice cube produced in the ice making case 6 is produced in a state where the lower end surface is continuous with thin ice. This is because, when they are produced in one piece rather than in pieces, the ice cubes are more easily peeled off from the ice making case 6 due to the weight of full-width ice and can be reliably deiced. Then, the lump of ice cubes (ice ice lump K) peeled off from the ice making case 6 falls on the water supply tray 8 inclined downward as it is, slides down the upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8 and falls into the ice making chamber 2. The thin ice is crushed by the impact at that time, and the ice cubes K are scattered on the individual ice cubes.

  However, rarely, when the peeled ice cube K slides down the upper surface of the water supply tray 8, it may be caught on the upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8 and not fall into the ice making chamber 2. Therefore, when the applicant examined the cause in detail, the following was found. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, minute protrusions t are formed on the lower surface of the generated ice cubes K corresponding to the respective water supply / drain grooves m, and these protrusions are projected when the ice cubes K slide down on the water supply tray 8. t fits into the water supply / drainage groove m and is caught.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the water supply / drainage groove m is composed of a single nozzle hole 125 and a pair of return holes 126 arranged to face each other with the nozzle hole 125 interposed therebetween. A groove-shaped drainage recess 127 is formed between the return hole 126 and the return hole 126. At the time of ice making, a protrusion t is formed on the lower surface of the ice cube L where the drain recess 127 and the return hole 126 face each other. In particular, a large protrusion is formed on the return hole 126 side. Each drain recess 127 has a central axis in the longitudinal direction arranged linearly along the inclination of the water supply tray 8, so that when the ice cubes K are peeled off from the ice making case 6 and dropped onto the water supply tray 8, FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the projection t formed on the ice cube K and each drainage recess 127 partially overlap along the inclination direction of the water supply tray 8. Since the water supply tray 8 is tilted, the projection t formed on the ice cube K is not located directly above the drain recess 127 where the projection t is formed, but with the adjacent drain recess 127 on the tilting tip 23 side. It overlaps. As a result, the protrusion t fits into the drainage recess 127 and gets caught immediately after falling and gaining momentum in the sliding speed.

  As described above, the ice caught on the water supply tray is a problem that can hardly be left unattended because there is a possibility that the ice will be caught when the water supply tray returns to the ice making posture again, resulting in damage to the equipment. . Also, in order to prevent ice catching, water for deicing is supplied to the upper surface of the water supply tray at the time of deicing, but since the supplied water is simply drained as it is, a large amount of water is wasted. It was.

  In this respect, in the above cited reference 2, the size of the opening on the ice cube side of the depression where the protrusion is generated is narrowed so that the protrusion is broken when the water supply tray is tilted, and the ice cube is removed by removing the protrusion from the lower surface of the ice cube. It is devised to slide down smoothly. However, since the protrusion does not always break, the certainty is lacking, and reducing the opening size also affects drainage.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cell type ice making machine that can remarkably reduce the occurrence of a failure due to the biting of ice with a relatively simple change, and can greatly improve the economy and durability. There is. An object of the present invention is to provide a cell-type ice making machine provided with a water supply tray that can more effectively prevent a fallen ice cube from being caught on the water supply tray without impairing the original ice making function.

  The cell type ice making machine according to the present invention has an ice making case 6 provided with a group of cells 14 arranged vertically and horizontally in a lattice shape inside the ice making chamber 2 and facing the lower surface side of the ice making case 6. A water supply tray 8 that is disposed and supported so as to be tiltable up and down around a tilting shaft 22 on one side, a water tank 9 that stores ice-making water, and ice-making water in the water tank 9 is pressurized and fed to the water-feeding tray 8. And a posture switching mechanism that tilts and displaces the water supply tray 8 between an ice making posture that closes the lower surface of the ice making case 6 and an ice removing posture that is disposed in a downwardly inclined manner by opening the lower surface of the ice making case 6. I have. A group of water supply / drainage provided on the upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8 is provided with a nozzle hole 25 for supplying ice making water to the cell 14 and a drainage recess 27 and a return hole 26 for returning the water that has not been frozen into the water tank 9. The grooves M are provided so as to be aligned vertically and horizontally corresponding to the respective cells 14. In the water supply / drain grooves M of each row along the inclination direction of the water supply tray 8, at least the adjacent water supply / drain grooves M are formed so as to be shifted in arrangement. “Shifting” is not limited to the position of the water supply / drainage groove M, but includes shifting the direction of the water supply / drainage groove M.

  For example, the water supply / drain grooves M of each row can be arranged in a polygonal line. Specifically, the inclination angle θ of each water supply / drain groove M with respect to the column reference line L is preferably set in the range of 10 degrees to 45 degrees. Further, the water supply / drain grooves M in each row can be arranged in a staggered manner. As shown in FIG. 1, the column reference line L refers to an imaginary line that connects the centers of the water supply / drain grooves M arranged along the tilt direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, among the water supply and drainage grooves M arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions on the upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8, at least the adjacent water supply and drainage grooves in each row of the water supply and drainage grooves M along the inclination direction of the water supply tray 8. By displacing M, the ice cubes K can be effectively prevented from being caught on the water supply tray 8. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, according to the water supply tray 8, the position of the protrusion T formed on the lower surface of the ice cube K during ice making is also shifted for each adjacent protrusion T corresponding to each water supply / drain groove M. Formed at different positions. Then, the ice cubes K falling on the water supply tray 8 inclined at the time of deicing fall to the tilting tip 23 side by an amount corresponding to the inclination of the water supply tray 8, but at this time, the adjacent water supply / drain grooves M are separated. Therefore, the probability that the protrusion T formed on the lower surface of the ice cube K and the water supply / drainage groove M overlap each other is extremely small. Moreover, when the ice cube K slides down the water supply tray 8 after the fall, the protrusions T and the water supply / drainage grooves M do not overlap exactly at least for the distance of one adjacent cell 14. As the speed increases, the protrusion T becomes more difficult to fit into the water supply / drainage groove M.

  When the water supply / drainage grooves M of each row are arranged in a polygonal line as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, it is only necessary to change the tray body 17 of the water supply tray 8, and related members such as the water channel frame 18. Can be used as it is, and can be implemented very easily and at low cost. Since the adjacent water supply / drain grooves M are opposite to the row reference line L, the probability that the protrusion T and the water supply / drain grooves M overlap can be extremely reduced.

  If the inclination angle θ of each water supply / drain groove M with respect to the row reference line L is set in the range of 10 ° to 45 °, the contact resistance is small even if the protrusion T fits into the water supply / drain groove M, thus preventing the sliding force. There is nothing, and it can prevent the catch.

  If the water supply / drain grooves M in each row are arranged in a staggered manner, at least the positions of the adjacent water supply / drain grooves M are different, so that the overlap of the projections T of the ice cubes K that have dropped and the water supply / drain grooves M can be eliminated. Further catching can be prevented.

(Example) Fig. 1 to Fig. 6 show an example of a cell type ice making machine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the inside of the ice making machine from the front. The ice making machine has a square box-shaped main body case 1 surrounded by a heat insulating material. The chamber 3 is divided into upper and lower parts. A door (not shown) is attached to the front opening of the ice making chamber 2 and can be opened and closed upward. Refrigeration equipment such as a compressor and a condenser is accommodated in the machine room 3. Arranged in the upper part of the ice making chamber 2 is an ice making unit F for making ice.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the ice making unit F is configured with a unit base 5 fixed near the upper end of the ice making chamber 2 as a basic structure, and an ice making case 6 fixed to the lower surface of the unit base 5. A water supply tray 8 that is disposed opposite to the lower surface side of the ice making case 6, a water tank 9 that is integrally fixed to the water supply tray 8 below the water supply tray 8 and stores ice-making water, a water supply tray 8, and a water tank A drain pan 10 disposed below 9 for guiding the flow of surplus ice making water or washing water at the time of deicing, a pump 12 for supplying ice making water in the water tank 9 to the water supply tray 8 under pressure, and a water supply tray 8 and a water tank 9 for tilting the water tank 9 in the vertical direction and a water supply pipe 13 for supplying ice water.

  In FIG. 4, the ice making case 6 is formed of a metal square dish-like container that opens downward and has excellent thermal conductivity, and a group of cells 14 that open downward are partitioned in a vertical and horizontal lattice shape. On the upper surface of the ice making case 6, a heat exchange pipe for circulating and feeding the refrigerant in the ice making process to cool the ice making case 6 to below the freezing point and for circulating the hot gas in the ice removing process to heat the ice making case 6. 15 is closely arranged. Incidentally, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the cell 14 here were 30 mm square.

  The water supply tray 8 includes a square tray-like tray main body 17 that opens downward, and a water channel frame 18 that is integrally fixed to the inner surface of the upper wall of the tray main body 17. A water supply channel 20 for circulating and supplying ice-making water is formed by the tray main body 17 and the tree-shaped water channel frame 19 of the water channel frame body 18 (see FIG. 1). A water tank 9 is integrally fastened and fixed to the lower surface of the tray main body 17, and a tilting arm 21 made of a press fitting is fixed to the left end of the tray main body 17 in FIG. 4. The upper end of the tilting arm 21 is pivotally supported by the unit base 5 via a tilting shaft 22, and the water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 can tilt up and down around the tilting shaft 22. The water tank 9 is formed of a square plate-like plastic molded product that rises and inclines toward the tilting tip 23 side, and a drain port 24 that discharges excess water in the water tank 9 is formed on the lower surface of the peripheral wall on the tilting tip 23 side. ing.

  1 and 5, a group of water supply / drain grooves M are provided on the upper wall surface of the tray body 17 at positions corresponding to the respective cells 14 in a state of being aligned vertically and horizontally. Each of the water supply / drainage grooves M has a nozzle hole 25 for supplying ice-making water, a pair of return holes 26 opposed to each other with the nozzle hole 25 interposed therebetween, and a U-shaped cross section inclined downward from the nozzle hole 25 toward the return hole 26. It is comprised by the drainage recessed part 27 which consists of an upper groove | channel. The nozzle hole 25 communicates with the water supply channel 20, and the return hole 26 communicates with a portion outside the frame of the water channel frame 19. Specifically, the opening diameter of the nozzle hole 25 is 1.5 mm, and the opening diameter of the return hole 26 is 3 mm. Each drain recess 27 has a length of 8 mm and a width of 4 mm on the nozzle hole 25 side, and the width is narrowed toward the 3 mm return hole 26 side. The distance between the water supply / drain grooves M is 30 mm, similar to the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the cell 14. Such a configuration is extremely economical because it can be carried out only by changing the tray body 17 with respect to a conventional ice making machine.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the water supply / drain grooves M in each row along the inclination direction of the water supply tray 8 are arranged in a polygonal line shape that is alternately inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the row reference line L. The inclination angle θ of each water supply / drain groove M is preferably set in the range of 10 degrees to 45 degrees. If the angle exceeds 45 degrees, the contact resistance when the protrusion T fits into the water supply / drainage groove M increases and the ice cubes K are easily caught. Therefore, the angle is preferably set to 45 degrees. The lower limit may be set in consideration of the overlapping condition between the water supply / drainage groove M and the protrusion T, and it is usually sufficient to set the lower limit to 10 degrees or more. Here, it was set to 30 degrees.

  A recess is formed in one corner of the lower surface of the water tank 9 on the tilt arm 21 side, and the pump 12 is disposed in the recess. The pump 12 is mounted on a bracket fixed to the lower surface of the tilting arm 21, and its suction port communicates with the water tank 9 and its discharge port communicates with the water supply path 20 of the water supply tray 8. A drain pan 10 below the water tank 9 receives excess ice-making water in the water tank 9 and washing water flowing down from the water supply tray 8 and drains it out of the machine to prevent dripping of water into the ice making chamber 2. Thus, ice cubes stored in the ice making chamber 2 are prevented from sticking to each other.

  The water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 are tilted between an ice making posture in which the water supply tray 8 closes the lower surface of the ice making case 6 and an ice removing posture in which the water supply tray 8 opens the lower surface of the ice making case 6 and is arranged in a downwardly inclined manner. A posture switching mechanism is provided for displacement. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 3, the posture switching mechanism includes a motor (not shown) fixed to the unit base 5 so as to face the tilting tip 23 of the water supply tray 8, a pair of drive arms 28, and a water supply tray. 8 and a pair of spring coil-type springs 31 mounted between the pair of spring receiving pins 30 fixed to 8 and the drive arms 28.

  In FIG. 3, when the clock face is used as a position reference, when the tip of the drive arm 28 is at the 12 o'clock position (solid line state), the water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 are maintained in a substantially horizontal ice making posture. Is in a state. When the drive arm 28 rotates counterclockwise and its tip is approximately at the 7 o'clock position (indicated by the imaginary line), the water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 move downward with their own weight around the tilting shaft 22. Tilt to switch to a tilted deicing position. From this state, the water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 are returned to the ice making posture by rotating the drive arm 28 to the 12 o'clock position with a motor.

  In the space between the ice making case 6 and the tilting arm 21 above the water supply tray 8, water supply pipes 13 having sprinkling openings opened at regular intervals on the pipe wall are arranged. The water supply pipe 13 is connected to a water pipe through an electromagnetic valve 32, and can supply water to the upper surface of the upper wall of the tray body 17 by opening and closing the electromagnetic valve 32.

  In the ice making process, new ice making water is supplied from the water supply pipe 13 to the upper surface of the water supply tray 8, and a necessary amount is stored in the water tank 9 through the return hole 26. While cooling the ice making case 6 by circulating and feeding the refrigerant to the heat exchange pipe 15, the pump 12 is activated to pressurize and feed the ice making water in the water tank 9 to the water supply path 20, and into the cell 14 from the nozzle hole 25. Spout to make ice. The water that has not been frozen returns to the water tank 9 through the drain recess 27 and the return hole 26. The water supply tray 8 in the ice making process is in an ice making posture to block the lower surface of the ice making case 6 as shown in FIG. At this time, since a slight gap is provided between the lower surface of the ice making case 6 and the upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8, the ice cubes are linked together by thin ice due to the existence of this gap. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a protrusion T is formed on the lower surface of the ice cubes K connected with thin ice. However, in the case of the water supply tray 8 of the present invention, the protrusion T also corresponds to the water supply / drainage groove M. The adjacent protrusions T are formed at positions shifted in opposite directions.

  In the deicing process, hot gas is supplied to the heat exchange pipe 15 to heat the ice making case 6 and promote the peeling of the ice cubes K. When the ice making case 6 is heated and a predetermined time has elapsed, the posture switching mechanism is operated to switch the water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 to the downward ice-breaking posture as shown in FIG. At the same time, the electromagnetic valve 32 is switched to supply deicing water from the water supply pipe 13 to the upper surface of the water supply tray 8. However, the supply amount may be a small amount.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the ice cubes K are peeled off from the ice making case 6 and dropped onto the upper wall surface of the water supply tray 8. At this time, since the ice cubes K fall to the lower end side of the inclined portion corresponding to the inclination of the water supply tray 8, the protrusions T on the lower surface of the ice cubes K do not fit into the water supply / drain grooves M of the same arrangement. Moreover, since the adjacent water supply / drain grooves M are shifted in the opposite direction, the probability that the protrusion T and the water supply / drain grooves M overlap is extremely small (see FIG. 5). Therefore, the ice cube K that has fallen begins to slide down on the water supply tray 8 without being caught. The distance of at least one cell is not likely to get caught, so the sliding speed is gaining momentum. As a result of the momentum of the sliding speed, even if the water supply / drainage groove M of the same arrangement is formed further below the tilting tip 23 side, it slides down without being fitted, and the ice cubes K are stably dropped into the ice making chamber 2. be able to. Finally, the ice debris adhering to the upper wall of the water supply tray 8 is washed away with the deicing water supplied from the water supply pipe 13, discharged through the drain pan 10 to the outside of the apparatus, and the deicing process is completed. When a series of ice removing operations are completed, the water supply tray 8 and the water tank 9 return to the ice making posture. Thereafter, ice cubes K are continuously generated by alternately performing the ice making process and the ice removing process.

(Another Example) FIG. 6 shows another example of the water supply tray 8 of the ice making machine according to the present invention. 6A to 6D show one row of water supply / drainage grooves M in each row along the inclination direction of the water supply tray 8. The corresponding arrangement of the cells 14 of the ice making case 6 is shown. 6A shows a conventional arrangement in which the longitudinal direction of the water supply / drainage groove M coincides with the inclination direction of the water supply tray 8 and a broken line-like arrangement in which the longitudinal direction of the water supply / drainage groove M is alternately inclined in the opposite direction. Formed in place. 6B, the longitudinal direction of the water supply / drainage groove M is formed along the inclination direction, and at least the positions of the adjacent water supply / drainage grooves M are arbitrarily shifted in the direction of the tilting shaft 22. 6C, the longitudinal direction of the water supply / drainage groove M is formed along the inclined direction, and the water supply / drainage grooves M are arranged in a staggered manner. In FIG. 6D, the water supply / drain grooves M are arranged in a polygonal line and staggered pattern.

It is a top view of a water supply tray. It is a vertical front view which shows a cell type ice making machine. It is a front view of an ice making unit. It is a vertical front view of an ice making unit. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the water supply / drain groove | channel of the Example seen from the AA direction of FIG. It is a top view which shows another Example of a water supply / drain groove. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the conventional water supply / drain groove | channel and protrusion of a square ice lump seen from the AA direction of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2 Ice making chamber 6 Ice making case 8 Water supply tray 9 Water tank 12 Pump 14 Cell 25 Nozzle hole 26 Return hole M Water supply / drain groove L Column reference line θ Inclination angle

Claims (4)

In the ice making chamber (2),
An ice making case (6) comprising a group of cells (14) arranged vertically and horizontally in a grid and opening downward;
A water supply tray (8) disposed opposite to the lower surface side of the ice making case (6) and supported so as to be tiltable up and down around a tilting shaft (22) on one side;
A water tank (9) for storing ice-making water;
A pump (12) for pressurizing and feeding ice-making water in the water tank (9) to the water supply tray (8);
An attitude switching mechanism that tilts and displaces the water supply tray (8) between an ice making attitude that closes the lower surface of the ice making case (6) and an ice separating attitude that is arranged in a downwardly inclined manner with the lower surface of the ice making case (6) open. With
On the upper wall surface of the water supply tray (8), a nozzle hole (25) for supplying ice-making water to the cell (14) and a drain recess (27) for returning the water that has not been frozen into the water tank (9) And a group of water supply / drainage grooves (M) provided with return holes (26) are provided in a state of being vertically and horizontally aligned corresponding to each cell (14),
A cell type ice making machine, wherein in each of the water supply / drainage grooves (M) in each row along the inclination direction of the water supply tray (8), at least adjacent water supply / drainage grooves (M) are formed in a shifted arrangement.   The cell type ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the water supply / drainage grooves (M) in each row are arranged in a polygonal line.   The cell-type ice making machine according to claim 2, wherein an inclination angle (?) Of each water supply / drain groove (M) with respect to a row reference line (L) is set in a range of 10 to 45 degrees.   The cell type ice making machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the water supply / drainage grooves (M) of each row are arranged in a staggered pattern.

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