JP2010065860A - Ice storage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ice storage from which ice cubes are easily taking out. <P>SOLUTION: This ice storage 10 includes an ice storage chamber 22 capable of storing the ice cubes R made by an ice-making mechanism, and a door 36 for opening and closing an ice taking-out port 34 formed on a front inner wall 24 which defines the ice storage chamber 22. A guide section 48, which curves upward from the inside of the ice storage chamber 22 toward a rear inner wall 26 and permits upward movement of the ice cubes R, is disposed at a corner section A between a bottom surface 38 and the rear inner wall 26 of the ice storage chamber 22. The curvature of the guide section 48 is determined to be larger than corner sections B between the bottom surface 38 and the respective right and left inner wall 28, 30. Further, an ice discharge port 46 for discharging the ice cubes R from the ice-making mechanism opens rightward in the ice making chamber 22, and the guide section 48 is formed to be gradually inclined downward toward the other part of the ice making chamber 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice storage, and more particularly, to an ice storage having an ice storage chamber capable of storing ice blocks and a door for opening and closing an ice take-out port communicating with the ice storage chamber.

For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, an automatic ice making machine installed in a kitchen of a restaurant or the like has an ice making chamber defined inside a heat insulating box made up of panels on the front, rear, left and right sides. An ice block is continuously produced by the arranged ice making mechanism. Below the ice making chamber, an ice storage having an ice storage chamber for storing ice blocks produced by an ice making mechanism is integrally provided. The front panel of the heat insulation box is provided with an ice outlet that communicates with the ice storage chamber, and the ice outlet is opened and closed by a door that is rotatably disposed on the front panel. Then, when taking out the ice blocks stored in the ice storage chamber, the door is rotated to open the ice outlet, and a scoop or the like is inserted into the ice block pile from the ice outlet to take out the ice blocks. .
JP 2003-214760 A

  By the way, when taking out the ice block, the ice blocks in the ice storage chamber push each other and move in the ice storage chamber, so that the scoop can be inserted into the ice block. However, if ice blocks are stored in a full state in the ice storage chamber, there is almost no room for the ice blocks to move horizontally (rearward) even if the scoop is inserted into the ice blocks, and the ice block removal operation becomes very complicated. There is a harmful effect. That is, in the structure of the conventional ice storage, when the ice block is full, it is difficult to move the ice block, which hinders the removal of the ice block.

  Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art, the present invention has been proposed to suitably solve this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ice storage that can easily take out ice blocks. .

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the intended purpose suitably, the ice storage according to the present invention is:
In an ice storage comprising an ice storage room capable of storing ice blocks, and a door that opens and closes an ice outlet provided on the front wall of the ice storage room,
In the corner formed by the bottom surface of the ice storage chamber and at least the rear wall portion, a guide portion that curves upward from the bottom surface toward the rear wall portion is provided,
The curvature of the guide portion is set to be larger than a corner portion formed by a bottom surface and left and right wall portions in the ice storage chamber.
According to the invention of claim 1, since the guide portion is provided at the corner formed by at least the rear wall portion and the bottom surface of the ice storage chamber, the ice block can move upward through the guide portion when the ice block is taken out, The ice block can be easily taken out.

In the ice storage according to claim 2, an ice discharge port for discharging an ice block produced by an ice making mechanism provided in an upper portion of the ice storage chamber to the ice storage chamber opens toward either the left or right in the ice storage chamber, The guide portion has a curvature that decreases toward the other side of the ice storage chamber and is inclined downward toward the other side of the ice storage chamber.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to guide a part of the ice block that tends to be biased and stored in one of the ice storage chambers to the other side along the guide portion, and the space in the ice storage chamber can be effectively used.

In the ice storage according to claim 3, a drain outlet is provided on the other end side of the guide portion on the bottom surface of the ice storage chamber.
According to invention of Claim 3, the water in an ice storage chamber can be sent to a drain outlet via a guide part, and it can drain efficiently and can clean the inside of a store | warehouse | chamber.

In the ice storage according to claim 4, the ice take-out opening opens above the bottom surface of the front wall portion of the ice storage chamber, and the maximum height position of the guide portion is the height position of the lower end portion of the ice take-out outlet. Is set to the same level.
According to invention of Claim 4, the ice block located below the lower end part of an ice taking-out exit can be moved via a guide part, and the removal operation | work of an ice block can be made efficient. In addition, since the ice block located above the lower end of the ice take-out port has a space in which the ice block can move by opening the door, it is not necessary to provide the guide portion higher than the lower end of the ice take-out port. That is, the size of the guide portion can be minimized, and the narrowing of the ice storage chamber can be suppressed.

  According to the ice storage according to the present invention, the ice blocks can be easily moved in the ice storage chamber, and the ice blocks can be taken out efficiently.

  Next, a preferred embodiment of the ice storage according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, and “lower” refer to the ice storage as viewed from the door side (front side) as shown in FIG. We will refer to the case as a reference.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an external appearance of an automatic ice making machine 12 including an ice storage 10 according to the embodiment. The automatic ice making machine 12 has an ice making chamber (not shown) and an ice storage chamber 22 in an up-and-down relationship inside a heat-insulating box having four sides constituted by a front panel 14, left and right side panels 16, 18 and a back panel 20. The automatic ice making machine 12 has an ice making machine 13 on the upper side and an ice storage 10 on the lower side. The ice making chamber and the ice storage chamber 22 are constituted by front and rear inner wall portions (wall portions) 24, 26, 28, 30 provided at a predetermined distance from the panels 12, 14, 16, 18. , 14, 16, 18 and the corresponding inner wall portions 24, 26, 28, 30 are filled with a heat insulating material 32.

  The front panel 14 and the front inner wall portion (front wall portion) 24 are provided with an ice outlet 34 communicating with the ice storage chamber 22, and a door 36 for opening and closing the ice outlet 34 is rotatably disposed. The ice outlet 34 is provided above the bottom surface 38 of the ice storage chamber 22 by a predetermined height H (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 3, on the left side of the rear part of the automatic ice maker 12, a housing unit that houses a drain pipe 40 that discharges water such as condensed water generated by an ice making mechanism (described later), a refrigerant pipe 42 that supplies refrigerant, and the like. 44 is formed. By providing the storage portion 44, a protruding portion 26a that protrudes forward and extends in the vertical direction is formed at a corresponding position of the rear inner wall portion (rear wall portion) 26 of the ice storage chamber 22 (see FIG. 4). ). Further, downwardly convex curved surfaces 50 and 50 are formed at the corner B formed by the bottom surface 38 of the ice storage chamber 22 and the left and right inner wall portions 28 and 30.

  The ice making chamber is provided with an ice making mechanism for producing the ice block R, and the ice block R manufactured by the ice making mechanism is discharged to the lower ice storage chamber 22 through the ice discharge port 46. As shown in FIG. 4, the ice outlet 46 opens toward the right inner wall (right wall) 30 side (one side), and the ice block R discharged through the ice outlet 46 is stored in the ice storage. In the chamber 22, it accumulates mainly on the right side.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the corner A formed by the bottom surface 38 of the ice storage chamber 22 and the rear inner wall portion 26 has a curved surface 48 a that curves upward from the bottom surface 38 toward the rear inner wall portion 26. A guide 48 is provided. The guide portion 48 is formed integrally with the bottom surface 38 and the rear inner wall portion 26, and has a smooth curved surface shape convex downward. When the ice block R is taken out, the ice block R can move upward along the curved surface 48a. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide portion 48 is provided over a range from the right end of the rear inner wall portion 26 to the protruding portion 26a.

  The curvature of the cross-sectional shape of the curved surface 48a is set larger than the curvature of the curved surfaces 50 and 50 (see FIG. 4) of the corner B. That is, by making the curvature of the curved surface 48a larger than the curved surfaces 50, 50 of the other corners B, the area of the curved surface 48a is increased to secure an amount by which the ice block R can move upward. As shown in FIG. 5, the guide portion 48 is formed such that the curvature gradually decreases from the right side (one side) to the left side (the other side), and the curved surface 48a is entirely directed to the left side (the other side). Inclined downward. As shown in FIG. 2, the height position of the portion of the guide portion 48 having the largest curvature (the right end portion 48 b of the guide portion 48) is substantially the same level (height H as the lower end portion 34 a of the ice outlet 34. ) Is set.

  A drainage port 52 is opened on the bottom surface 38 of the ice storage chamber 22 in the vicinity of the left end of the rear inner wall portion 26, and moisture W such as condensed water and melted water generated in the ice storage chamber 22 is passed through the drainage port 52. Are discharged to the outside. As shown in FIG. 4, the left end portion (the other end portion) 48c of the guide portion 48 faces the drain port 52, and moisture W transmitted through the guide portion 48 (curved surface 48a) is transferred. It can be guided to the drain 52.

(Operation of Example)
Next, the operation of the ice storage 10 according to the embodiment will be described below. The ice block R manufactured by the ice making mechanism is discharged to the lower ice storage chamber 22 through the ice discharge port 46 and accumulated in the ice storage chamber 22. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, since the ice discharge port 46 opens toward the right in the ice storage chamber 22, the ice lump R is biased and accumulated on the right side of the ice storage chamber 22. However, since the ice block R around the guide portion 48 is guided to the curved surface 48a and moves to the left, the ice block R around the guide portion 48 can be accumulated in the ice storage chamber 22 in a lateral manner. . Therefore, the space of the ice storage chamber 22 can be used effectively, and the ice storage capacity can be improved.

  When the ice making operation elapses, the ice block R accumulates in the ice storage chamber 22, and eventually the ice block R becomes full. In this state, when the user takes out the ice block R, the user rotates the door 36 to open the ice outlet 34. Next, a scoop (not shown) is inserted from the ice outlet 34 and inserted into a pile of ice blocks R. Then, the ice blocks R are pressed against each other by the insertion of the scoop, and the ice block R near the curved surface 48a of the guide portion 48 moves upward along the curved surface 48a (see FIG. 4). That is, as the ice block R around the guide portion 48 moves upward, the scoop can be inserted smoothly, and the ice block R can be taken out easily. In addition, since the guide part 48 is not provided in the left and right inner wall parts 28 and 30, the movement of the ice block R to the left and right is suppressed as compared with the movement to the rear (the direction in which the scoop is inserted). Therefore, there is no adverse effect that the ice lump R moves greatly forward, backward, left and right when the ice lump R is taken out, making it difficult to take out the ice lump R.

  By the way, when the temperature in the ice storage chamber 22 rises with the opening and closing of the door 36, a part of the ice block R is melted and moisture W (melted water) is generated. However, since the guide portion 48 is inclined downward toward the drain port 52 (left side), the water W around the guide portion 48 can be guided to the drain port 52 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, the water W can be suitably discharged from the drain port 52, and the inside of the ice storage chamber 22 can be sanitized.

  The highest position of the guide part 48 is set at substantially the same level as the lower end part 34 a of the ice outlet 34. This is because the ice block R located above the lower end portion 34a of the ice outlet 34 has a space when the door 36 is opened and can move forward. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the guide part 48 above the lower end part 34a of the ice outlet 34. Thereby, the dimension of the guide part 48 can be minimized and the space where the ice storage chamber 22 is narrowed by the guide part 48 can be suppressed. In addition, since the guide portion 48 is formed so that the curvature decreases toward the left, the space of the ice storage chamber 22 can be widened compared to the case where the guide portion 48 is provided with a constant curvature on the entire rear inner wall portion 26. .

  The left end 48c side of the guide 48 has a small curvature and cannot move the ice block R greatly upward. However, the ice discharge port 46 is opened to the right, and the ice block R easily accumulates on the right side of the ice storage chamber 22, and the presence of the protruding portion 26 a in the ice storage chamber 22 allows the user to On the other hand, psychologically tends to insert a scoop from the right side. Therefore, the scoop is rarely inserted from the left side with respect to the mountain of ice blocks R, and even if the size of the guide portion 48 on the left end portion 48c side is reduced, there is almost no trouble.

  In the embodiment, the guide portion 48 is provided only on the rear inner wall portion 26. However, as shown in FIG. 6, from the left and right inner wall portions 28, 30 (the right inner wall portion 30 in FIG. 6) to the rear inner wall portion. 26 may be provided over 26. In the embodiment, the guide portion 48 is formed integrally with the rear inner wall portion 26 and the bottom surface 38. However, as shown in FIG. 7, a separate thin plate-like guide portion 56 is provided so as to cover the corner portion A. It may be provided.

  In the embodiment, the guide portion 48 is inclined downward toward the left, but the inclination direction may be appropriately changed according to the aspect of the ice storage. In addition, the front inner wall part (front wall part) 24 demonstrated in the Example means the wall part in which the door 36 is provided. Therefore, when the door 36 is provided on the right inner wall portion 30 of the embodiment, the right inner wall portion 30 becomes the front wall portion. In the embodiment, the curved surfaces 50 and 50 are formed at the corner B, but the corner B may be formed at a right angle. In this case, the curvature of the corner B can be regarded as zero. In the embodiment, the ice storage 10 is integrated with the ice making machine 13, but the two may be separate. Further, as in the embodiment, it is not always necessary that the ice block R is dropped from the ice making mechanism to the ice storage 10, and an ice storage of a type installed away from the ice making machine may be used.

It is a perspective view which shows the automatic ice making machine provided with the ice storage which concerns on an Example. It is a vertical side view of the ice storage which concerns on an Example. It is a cross-sectional view of the ice storage according to the embodiment, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the ice storage which concerns on an Example, Comprising: It is the IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the principal part of the ice storage which concerns on an Example. It is a cross-sectional top view of the ice storage which concerns on the example of a change. It is a vertical side view of the ice storage which concerns on the other example of a change.

Explanation of symbols

22 Ice storage rooms, 24 Front inner wall (front wall), 26 Rear inner wall (rear wall)
28 left inner wall (left wall), 30 right inner wall (right wall), 34 ice outlet 34a lower end, 36 door, 38 bottom, 46 ice outlet, 48 guide 48c left end (the other end) , 52 Drain port, 54 Guide section (example)
56 Guide part (other modification), A, B corner, R ice block

Claims (4)

In an ice storage comprising an ice storage chamber (22) capable of storing ice blocks (R), and a door (36) for opening and closing an ice outlet (34) provided in the front wall (24) of the ice storage chamber (22) ,
A guide portion that curves upward from the bottom surface (38) toward the rear wall portion (26) at a corner (A) formed by the bottom surface (38) of the ice storage chamber (22) and at least the rear wall portion (26). (48,54,56)
The curvature of the guide portion (48, 54, 56) is set larger than the corner (B) formed by the bottom surface (38) and the left and right wall portions (28, 30) in the ice storage chamber (22). Ice storage characterized by.   An ice discharge port (46) for discharging ice blocks (R) produced by an ice making mechanism provided at an upper part of the ice storage chamber (22) to the ice storage chamber (22) is either left or right in the ice storage chamber (22). An opening toward one side, and the guide portion (48) has a curvature that decreases toward the other side of the ice storage chamber (22) and is inclined downward toward the other side of the ice storage chamber (22). The listed ice store.   The ice storage according to claim 2, wherein a drain port (52) is provided on the other end (48c) side of the guide portion (48) in the bottom surface (38) of the ice storage chamber (22).   The ice take-out port (34) opens above the bottom surface (38) of the front wall portion (24) of the ice storage chamber (22), and the maximum height position of the guide portion (48) is the ice take-out port. The ice storage as described in any one of Claims 1-3 set to the same level as the height position of the lower end part (34a) of (34).

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