JP2014005987A - Automatic ice-maker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely and stably stop a door of an ice storage cabinet which is opened upward, in an open attitude.SOLUTION: An automatic ice-maker comprises: an ice-making device 20; an ice storage cabinet 30 on which the ice-making device 20 is disposed; and a door 50 which is pivoted in an upper part of an ice takeout port 30a in the ice storage cabinet 30 so as to freely flip up and closes the ice takeout port normally. When taking out ice, the door 50 is caused to flip up around a pivotal point, so as to open the ice takeout port 30a and caused to fall down closer to the ice-making device 20 over a perpendicular line L passing the pivotal point, such that the door 50 is stopped on a front panel 22 of the ice-making device 20. A portion of a front surface of the front panel is formed as a retraction part 25a retracting rather than other portions so as to stop the door 50 in the retraction part 25a.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic ice making machine provided with a door for opening and closing an ice take-out port of an ice storage.

  Automatic ice makers that continuously produce ice in the required shape are used in facilities such as coffee shops and restaurants and other kitchens. This automatic ice maker includes an ice making mechanism that generates a large number of ice and a refrigeration mechanism that includes a compressor, a condenser, a cooling fan, and the like, and the ice making water supplied to the ice making mechanism is cooled by the refrigeration mechanism. Ice is generated by freezing according to the circulation of the refrigerant. The ice making mechanism and the refrigeration mechanism are built in the ice making device, and the ice released from the ice making mechanism is stored in an ice storage provided below the ice making device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-243807 A

  In the ice making machine of Patent Document 1, an ice take-out port for taking out ice is formed in front of the ice storage, and a door for opening and closing the ice take-out port is provided. The door is rotated upward about a pivot shaft to open the ice outlet.

  FIG. 4A is a partially broken side view of a conventional automatic ice maker, and an ice making device 91 incorporating an ice making mechanism 92 and a refrigeration mechanism 93 is placed on an ice storage 95. Inside the ice storage 95, an ice storage chamber 99 for storing the ice produced and released by the ice making mechanism 92 is defined.

  An ice take-out port 96 is opened above the front of the ice storage 95, and a door 97 is pivotally supported so as to be lifted obliquely upward through a hinge 98 provided at the upper part of the ice take-out port 96 so that the support shaft is horizontal. The ice outlet 96 is always closed. Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, a vertical front panel 94 is disposed on the front surface of the ice making device 91, and the panel 94 is located slightly behind the front panel 89 of the ice storage 95. . Therefore, in the automatic ice making machine shown in the figure, the door 97 is swung upwardly around the hinge 98 to take out ice, and the door 97 is moved over the vertical line L passing through the support shaft of the hinge 98 to make the ice making. The door 97 rests on the front panel 94 of the ice making device 91 when it is tilted toward the device 91 side.

  However, since the front panel 94 of the ice making apparatus 91 is a vertical flat surface as shown in FIG. 4B, the door 97 is opened in FIG. The resting angle is inevitably shallow. Further, it is known that if the angle is deepened, the door 97 is stably rested. However, it is difficult to move the ice making device 91 more backward than the ice storage 95. For this reason, when the door 97 is vibrated when the ice is taken out, or when the user's hand unintentionally touches the door 97, the door 97 may close at once. If the heavy door 97 closes unexpectedly, the user's fingers may be caught between the ice outlet 96 and injured, and surrounding dust may be caught in the ice storage chamber 99. It was.

  That is, the present invention has been proposed to solve this problem in view of the above-described problems, and the ice storage door that opens upward can be stably stopped in an open posture with a simple structure. An object is to provide an automatic ice maker.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the intended purpose, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is
An ice making device having an ice making mechanism and a refrigeration mechanism built into the storage chamber;
This ice making device is arranged on the top, and an ice storage for storing the ice upon receiving the release of ice produced by the ice making device;
It is pivotally supported at the upper part of the ice take-out port in the ice storage so as to be freely repelled, and always comprises a door for closing the ice take-out port,
When the ice is taken out, the door is repelled around the pivot point to open the ice outlet, and the ice making device is tilted over the vertical line passing through the pivot point to the side of the ice making device. In an automatic ice maker designed to rest on the front panel,
A part of the front surface of the front panel is formed as a part that is retreated from the other part,
The door is configured to rest at the retracted portion.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a space that allows the door to be largely inclined toward the front panel side can be secured, so that the door is stably rested when the door is opened, and it is safe without being closed unexpectedly by some external force. . In addition, since only a part of the front surface of the front panel is retracted and the center of gravity of the door can be moved to the retracted portion, there is no need to reduce the space of the storage chamber in the ice making device. That is, it is possible to sufficiently secure the size of the storage chamber inside the ice making device while configuring the front panel so that the door can be rested stably.

In the invention according to claim 2,
The front panel is composed of a thick resin louver and a metal panel thinner than the resin louver, whereby the receded portion where the metal panel is retracted from the resin louver on the front surface of the front panel. The gist is that
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the metal panel is moved backward from the thick resin louver to form the retracted portion of the front panel, the door can be stably rested at the retracted portion.

In the invention according to claim 3,
The summary is that the retreating portion is a recess formed in a boundary region between a louver portion located at the upper part of the front panel and a panel portion located at the lower part.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, since the recessed part of the front panel was formed as a hollow in the boundary area of a louver part and a panel part, the upper-end edge part of a door can be made to rest stably in this hollow. In addition, since only the boundary area between the louver part and the panel part is retracted, even if a part of the front panel is retracted into the accommodation room, only a part corresponding to a small area as the boundary area is required. A sufficient thickness can be secured.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic ice maker that can reliably and stably rest an ice storage door that opens upward in an open posture and that does not easily close with some external force. it can.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an automatic ice making machine according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front panel according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a front panel according to Embodiment 2. FIG. (a) is a partially broken side view schematically showing a conventional automatic ice making machine, and (b) is a perspective view of a conventional front panel.

  Next, the automatic ice making machine according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of preferred embodiments. In the embodiment, the relationship between the front panel of the ice making device and the door of the ice storage is mainly described, and detailed description of the specific structure and operation of the ice making mechanism and the refrigeration mechanism is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic ice making machine according to the first embodiment includes an ice making device 20 having an ice making mechanism 28 and a refrigeration mechanism 29 built in a storage chamber 23, and an ice storage that receives and stores ice released from the ice making device 20. The storage 30 is provided. A door 50 that opens upward is pivotally supported at the ice take-out port 30a opened in the ice storage 30. The automatic ice making machine according to the present embodiment is a so-called stack-on type in which the ice making device 20 is placed on the ice storage 30.

(Ice Maker 20)
The ice making device 20 includes a box-shaped housing 21 that houses therein an ice making mechanism 28 and a refrigeration mechanism 29, and a front panel 22 that is detachably attached to the front portion of the housing 21. A housing chamber 23 for accommodating an ice making mechanism 28 and a refrigeration mechanism 29 is defined inside the housing 21, and when ice released from the ice making mechanism 28 falls into the ice storage 30 on the bottom plate of the housing 21. The communication port 21a is formed. In addition, an opening 21b is formed in the front portion of the casing 21, and the opening 21b is detachably closed by the front panel 22. And by removing the said front panel 22 from the housing | casing 21, the ice making mechanism 28 and the freezing mechanism 29 in the storage chamber 23 are exposed, and these inspections etc. can be performed now easily. The refrigeration mechanism 29 includes a compressor, a condenser, a cooling fan, and the like (not shown) and circulates the refrigerant through the ice making device 20. The ice generated in the required shape by the ice making mechanism 28 is discharged from the ice making mechanism 28, falls through the communication port 21 a, and is stored in the ice storage 30.

(Front panel 22)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front panel 22 is configured by sandwiching a metal panel 25 from above and below by an upper louver unit 24 formed of synthetic resin and a lower skirt 26 made of synthetic resin. Yes. A louver unit 24 that is an upper part of the front panel 22 is formed to have a sufficient thickness as compared with a metal panel 25 described later, and the front panel 22 is attached to the casing 21 as shown in FIG. In the attached state, it corresponds to the refrigeration mechanism 29 in the storage chamber 23. The louver unit 24 is formed with a vent 24a for taking outside air into the storage chamber 23, and a plurality of slats 24b are arranged in an upright direction in an inclined posture in the vent 24a. The outside air taken in along the inclination of the slat 24b from the vent 24a of the louver unit 24 circulates in the upper space of the storage chamber 23 and contacts the condenser or the like in the refrigeration mechanism 29 to exchange heat, It is discharged to the outside through an exhaust port (not shown). Further, an insertion / removal port 24c of the filter 24d opens downward at the lower portion of the louver unit 24. Further, as a separate body from the louver unit 24, the skirt 26 constituting the lower portion of the front panel 22 is formed as a synthetic resin member having a thickness following the louver unit 24.

  The metal panel 25 is preferably made of a stainless steel material, and is a sufficiently thin plate material compared to the louver unit 24 and the skirt 26. For this reason, in a state where the louver unit 24 and the skirt 26 are connected to the upper and lower sides of the metal panel 25, the front surface of the metal panel 25 has a difference in thickness between the upper and lower members and the louver unit 24 and the skirt 26. It will be located behind the front. That is, the front surface of the metal panel 25 forms a receding portion 25a that is retracted from the front surface of other members on the front surface of the front panel 22, as can be seen from the side view of FIG.

(Door 50)
In FIG. 1, a door 50 that opens and closes the ice take-out port 30 a is pivotally supported via a hinge 51 at an ice take-out port 30 a that is opened in the upper front portion of the ice storage 30 with a gentle inclination rearward. The hinge 51 includes a pair of hinge pins 51 a that are attached to both sides across the upper edge of the ice outlet 30 a and are horizontally opposed to each other, and a pair of pin supports 51 b that are attached to both upper edges of the door 50. Then, by inserting the pair of pin support members 51b of the door 50 correspondingly to the pair of hinge pins 51a of the ice outlet 30a, the door 50 is pivotally supported by the hinge 51 so as to be rotatable about the hinge pin 51a. . However, it goes without saying that various other configurations can be adopted as the hinge 51. The door 50 is always pivotally supported by a hinge 51 to close the ice take-out port 30a. A handle 53 is provided at the open front end of the lower end of the door 50.

[Operation of Example 1]
Next, the operation of the automatic ice making machine according to the first embodiment will be described.

  In order to take out the ice from the ice outlet 30a, the user grasps the handle portion 53 of the door 50 and lifts the door 50 around the hinge pin 51a to open upward. Then, when the repelled door 50 crosses a vertical line L that virtually passes through the hinge pin 51a, the center of gravity of the door 50 moves rearward and is stably rested on the retreating portion 25a.

  As described above, in the automatic ice making machine according to the first embodiment, the door 50 is opened to a position where the center of gravity exceeds the vertical line L, and the door 50 is stopped at the retracted portion 25a on the front surface of the front panel 22. At this time, as described above, the receding portion 25a is a portion where the thin metal panel 25 is retracted with respect to the thick upper louver unit 24. Therefore, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. However, it is possible to sufficiently increase the angle at which the front panel 22 leans on the retreating portion 25a of the front panel 22 and stops, and the door 50 can be opened and stopped stably and reliably. Further, since the entire front panel 22 is not simply retracted, but only a part of the front surface of the front panel 22 is retracted, it is not necessary to greatly reduce the space of the storage chamber 23.

  FIG. 3 shows the front panel 72 of the automatic ice making machine according to the second embodiment. The basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, and only the different parts will be described.

  The front panel 72 of FIG. 3 includes a panel body 73 in which a suitable synthetic resin material is integrally molded in three dimensions, and the upper half of the front panel 72 serves as a louver portion 74 corresponding to the region where the refrigeration mechanism 29 of the ice making device 20 is disposed. Further, the lower half is configured as a panel portion 75 corresponding to the area where the ice making mechanism 28 is disposed. Then, a sufficiently deep recess 76 is formed in a lateral boundary region between the louver portion 74 located at the upper portion of the front panel 72 and the panel portion 75 located at the lower portion. It functions as the described retraction site. The shape of the recess 76 is basically dependent on the design applied to the front panel 72. However, when the door 50 is lifted up and the ice take-out port 30a of the ice storage is opened, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient door fall angle when the upper edge of the door 50 rests in the recess 76.

  The louver portion 74 is provided with a vent hole 74a and a plurality of parallel slats 77 inclined downward in the forward direction at the vent hole 74a. The slats 77 may be simultaneously molded by integral molding of the front panel 72, or a separately manufactured one may be attached from the back side.

[Operation of Example 2]
As described above, in the automatic ice making machine according to the second embodiment, the door 50 can be opened to a position where the center of gravity of the door 50 exceeds the vertical line L, and the recessed portion 76 can be stopped. That is, the retracted portion 76 of the front panel 72 is formed as a recess having a sufficient depth in the boundary area between the louver portion 74 and the panel portion 75, so that the door 50 is stably and reliably stopped when opened. .

[Example of change]
1. In the embodiment, the stack-on type in which the ice making device 20 and the ice storage 30 configured separately are placed in a vertical relationship has been described, but a structure may be provided integrally in a common housing.
2. In the embodiment, the ice outlet 30a and the hinge pin 51a are provided on the upper front surface of the ice storage 30, but a structure provided on the upper surface of the ice storage 30 exposed in front of the ice making device 20 may be used.
3. In the embodiment, the door 50 is pivotally supported by the ice storage 30 using the hinge 51 including the hinge pin 51a and the pin support 51b. However, the shaft pin and the bearing are integrated with the ice storage 30 and the door 50. You may comprise so that the door 50 may be pivotally supported by the ice storage 30 by forming in this.
4). In the embodiment, the louver unit 24 (louver part 74) is provided at the upper part of the front panel 22 (front panel 72). You may comprise as follows. In these cases, the retreating portion 25a (retreating portion 76) may be formed by avoiding the louver unit 24 (louver portion 74).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Ice making apparatus 22 Front panel 23 Accommodating chamber 24 Louver unit 25 Metal panel 25a Retreat part 28 Ice making mechanism 29 Refrigeration mechanism 30 Ice storage 30a Ice outlet 50 Door 72 Front panel 74 Louver part 75 Panel part 76 Recessed part (dent)

Claims (3)

An ice making device (20) in which the ice making mechanism (28) and the refrigeration mechanism (29) are incorporated in the storage chamber (23);
The ice making device (20) is installed above, and an ice storage (30) that stores the ice upon receiving the release of the ice produced by the ice making device (20),
The ice storage (30) is pivotally supported at the top of the ice take-out port (30a) so as to be repelled freely, and always comprises a door (50) that closes the ice take-out port (30a),
At the time of taking out the ice, the door (50) is repelled up around the pivot point to open the ice outlet (30a), and the ice making device (20 above the vertical line (L) passing through the pivot point). In the automatic ice making machine that causes the door (50) to rest on the front panel (22) of the ice making device (20)
A part of the front surface of the front panel (22) is formed as a part (25a, 76) retreated from the other part,
An automatic ice making machine characterized in that the door (50) rests at the retreating portion (25a, 76).   The front panel (22) is composed of a thick resin louver (24) and a metal panel (25) thinner than the resin louver (24), whereby the front panel (22) The automatic ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the retracted portion (25a) in which the metal panel (25) is retracted from the resin louver (24) is formed on a front surface.   2. The automatic retraction unit according to claim 1, wherein the retracted portion is a depression (76) formed in a boundary region between a louver part (74) located at an upper part of the front panel (72) and a panel part (75) located at a lower part. Ice machine.

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