JP2019056526A - Water supply structure of automatic ice-making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem that an automatic ice-making machine that has an ice-making chamber having small ice-making chambers defined with the bottom open and a water pan configured to open and close the ice-making chamber, and supplies ice-making water from a jet hole of the water pan to manufacture cubes of ice is configured to let the ice-making water, supplied from a water supply pipe to an upper surface of the water pan, fall in an ice-making water tank from a return h ole of the water pan, and may decrease in cooling efficiency of the ice-making chamber as the ice-making water stagnates at the border between the ice-making chamber and water pan when the ice-making water is supplied to a region where the ice-making chamber does not close the water pan during ice-making operation.SOLUTION: An automatic ice-making machine which collects ice-making water supplied from a water supply pipe 29 to a water pan 24 from a return hole of the water pan 24 to an ice-making water tank 28, and supplies the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 28 from the water pan 24 to an ice-making chamber 14 to obtain cubes of ices has a water channel 34 recessed in a region where the water pan 24 is not closed with the ice-making chamber 14, so that the ice-making water supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the water pan 24 flows through the water channel 34 and thereby never stagnates on an upper surface of the water pan 24.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a water supply structure for an automatic ice making machine, and more specifically, ice making water supplied from a water supply pipe to a water tray is collected into an ice making water tank through a return hole of the water tray and stored in the ice making water tank. In an automatic ice making machine that obtains ice cubes by spraying supplied ice making water from the water dish to the ice making room, the ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe to the water dish does not stay on the upper surface of the water dish and returns quickly. The present invention relates to an improvement of a water supply structure that is recovered from a hole to an ice making water tank.

  In kitchens such as restaurants and coffee shops, automatic ice makers that produce large amounts of ice blocks are widely used. Various types of ice making structures have been put to practical use as this automatic ice making machine, but the present invention relates to ice making water from a water dish provided below the ice making room so as to be freely opened and closed to each ice making chamber (cell) in the ice making room. It is related with the water supply structure of what is called a closed cell type automatic ice making machine which manufactures ice cubes by injecting and supplying ice. Therefore, the basic structure of the closed cell type automatic ice making machine will be briefly described.

  6 and 7 show an ice making mechanism portion of a closed cell type automatic ice making machine. Reference numeral 10 designates a mounting base fixed horizontally to the ice making machine main body. Below the mounting base 10, ice making chambers 14 in which a large number of ice making chambers 12 that open downward are vertically and horizontally mounted are mounted at a required interval via a plurality of mounting members 16. On the top surface of the ice making chamber 14, an evaporation pipe 18 led out from a refrigeration circuit (not shown) is meandered, and the ice making chamber 14 is forcibly cooled to the freezing temperature of the ice making water by the refrigerant passing through the evaporation pipe 18. It is supposed to be.

  A bracket 20 is fixed to a lower surface of the mounting base 10 and a side away from the ice making chamber 14 by a required distance, and a water tray 24 described later includes an arm 25 and a pivot shaft 22 provided on the side. Via the bracket 20 so as to be tiltable. The water tray 24 is made of a plate-like member having an area that can cover the lower opening surface of the ice making chamber 14 from the bottom, and a plurality of fountain holes 26 corresponding to the respective ice making chambers 12 in the ice making chamber 14. A return hole 27 is opened. In addition, an ice making water tank 28 is provided below the water tray 24, and the ice making water stored in the ice making water tank 28 is arranged on the back surface of the supply pump 30 and the water tray 24 when the ice making operation shown in FIG. The water supply pipes 32 and the fountain holes 26 communicating with the water supply pipes 32 are jetted and supplied to the corresponding ice making chambers 12. Since the ice making chamber 12 is cooled below the freezing point by the evaporation pipe 18, the sprayed ice making water freezes on the inner wall of the ice making chamber 12 and gradually grows into ice cubes 35. In addition, ice making water that has not been frozen on the inner wall of the ice making chamber 12 (unfreezing water) falls from the return hole 27 and is collected and stored in the ice making water tank 28.

  6 and 7, a water supply pipe 29 for supplying ice-making water to the ice-making water tank 28 is horizontally provided above the water tray 24 and on the left side (behind the ice making chamber 14). The water supply hole is directed to the upper surface of the water tray 24. That is, the water supply pipe 29 is a pipe body horizontally disposed above the water dish 24 and behind the ice making chamber 14 as shown in the plan view of FIG. 8 and the longitudinal sectional view of FIG. The water tray is supplied with ice-making water supplied from an external water supply source via a water supply valve (not shown) through a water supply hole (not shown) formed in the lower portion of the water supply pipe 29 at a predetermined interval. 24 can be supplied to the upper surface.

  Here, the drilling pattern of the return holes 27 existing on the upper surface of the water tray 24 will be described with reference to FIG. The return hole 27 is formed in the first area of the water tray 24 that is blocked by the ice making chamber 14 and the second area of the water tray 24 that is not blocked by the ice making chamber 14. Divided into patterns. That is, the former first region refers to a region closed by the ice making chamber 14 when the water tray 24 closes the ice making chamber 14 from below in FIGS. 8 and 9. In the first region of the water tray 24, the fountain hole 26 for ice making water and the return hole 27 for non-icing water are formed adjacent to each other corresponding to each ice making chamber 12 in the ice making chamber 14. As described above. The second region refers to a region that is the upper surface of the water dish 24 and is not blocked by the ice making chamber 14, and as shown in FIG. 8, a U-shape surrounding the ice making chamber 14. It is a narrow band of shape (or square C shape). And the return hole 27a is formed in the U-shaped site | part used as the said 2nd area | region on the upper surface of the said water dish 24 (it distinguishes from the return hole 27 drilled in the 1st area | region). Therefore, “27a” is displayed). However, even in the second zone, the number of return holes 27a drilled in the region immediately below the water supply pipe 29 is the same as that of the return holes 27a drilled in the zones along both sides of the ice making chamber 14. Set less than the number. Note that the return hole 27 a may not be formed in a region of the water tray 24 that is directly below the water supply pipe 29.

  In this state, when ice-making water is supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the upper surface of the water tray 24, the ice-making water flows through the second region, falls from a large number of return holes 27a formed in the region, and enters the ice-making water tank 28. Collected. In addition, since there is a slight gap between the lower surface of the ice making chamber 14 closing the water tray 24 and the water tray 24, a part of the ice making water supplied to the water tray 24 passes through the gap. Then, it enters the first area (closed by the ice making chamber 14), and is dropped and collected to the ice making water tank 28 from the return hole 27 formed in the first area. Further, in FIG. 8, the ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the second region of the water dish 24 falls from the return hole 27a drilled in the second region, but falls from the return hole 27a. As shown in FIG. 9, the ice making water that has not been cut falls from the tip of the water tray 24 (the front side on the left side in FIG. 8), and is similarly collected and stored in the ice making water tank 28.

  The ice making mechanism is provided with an actuator (not shown) driven by a motor. Then, when ice cubes 35 grow in the respective ice making chambers 12 in the ice making process of FIG. 6, a temperature sensor (not shown) detects completion of ice making. As a result, the actuator is driven to forcibly tilt the water dish 24 downward about the pivot shaft 22 as shown in the deicing step of FIG. The group is dropped and stored in a lower ice storage chamber (not shown). Prior to the operation of the actuator, a hot gas valve (not shown) of a refrigeration circuit is switched to supply hot gas to the evaporation pipe 18 to heat the ice making chamber 12 so that the inner wall of the ice making chamber 12 is heated. Melt ice cubes of ice cube 35 against

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-58115

  As described above, the ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the upper surface of the water tray 24 includes (1) the return hole 27 in the first region closed by the ice making chamber 14, and (2) the ice making water. It falls from the return hole 27a in the second area not blocked by the chamber 14 and (3) the tip of the water tray 24 connected to the second area, and is collected in the ice making water tank 28. However, the portion where the ice making chamber 14 closes the water dish 24 (the boundary between the first region and the second region) is slight even though there is a gap between them. For this reason, the ice making water covers the gap between the ice making chamber 14 and the water tray 24 due to surface tension, and the ice making water does not easily fall from the return hole 27 in the first region closed by the ice making chamber 14. It stays in the second area.

  If the ice making water stays on the upper surface of the water tray 24 in this way, even if the ice making chamber 14 is started to cool the ice making chamber 14 by the evaporation pipe 18, the cooling speed of the ice making chamber 14 due to the accumulated water. However, the ice making ability is not fully exhibited. Further, when the water supply time from the water supply pipe 29 becomes long, the water supply is continued even when the ice making operation starts and the ice making water in the ice making water tank 28 starts to be sprayed and supplied to each ice making chamber 12. For this reason, the water collected at the boundary between the ice making chamber 14 and the water tray 24 cooled to below the freezing point freezes and freezes the ice making chamber 14 and the water tray 24. Thus, when icing progresses at the boundary between the ice making chamber 14 and the water tray 24, even if the actuator switches to the deicing operation and tries to tilt the water tray 24 from the ice making chamber 14, it does not open easily. In some cases, a large load is applied to the actuator to cause a failure, and peripheral devices such as the water tray 24 are damaged.

In order to solve the problem and achieve the intended object, the invention according to claim 1
An ice making chamber that defines a number of ice making chambers that open downward, and a closed posture that is tiltably disposed directly below the ice making chamber and closes the ice making chamber from below, or an open posture that is spaced apart from the ice making chamber. And a water supply pipe that is disposed in proximity to the water dish and supplies ice-making water to the upper surface of the water dish. The ice-making water supplied from the water supply pipe is on the upper surface of the water dish and An automatic ice maker configured to be collected in an ice making water tank provided at a lower portion of the water tray through a return hole formed in an area blocked by the ice making chamber and an area not blocked by the ice making chamber. In
In the region where the water dish is not blocked by the ice making chamber and the ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe flows, a water channel is formed deeper than the upper surface of the water dish,
The gist of the invention is that the return hole in the area not covered by the ice making chamber is formed in the bottom surface of the water channel.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the water channel that is dug below the upper surface level of the water dish is formed in the upper surface of the water dish and in the region that is not blocked by the ice making chamber. The made ice making water easily falls to the ice making water tank from the return hole formed in the water channel or the tip of the water tray. Therefore, the ice making water is restrained from staying between the lower edge of the ice making chamber and the upper surface of the water tray, and the ice making capacity is reduced, or the accumulated water freezes and an excessive load is applied to the surroundings of the actuator, etc. No more joining the device.

The gist of the invention described in claim 2 is that an inclined surface inclined toward the bottom surface is formed on the inner wall surface of the water channel on the side close to the ice making chamber.
According to the invention according to claim 2, even if unfrozen water that has been sprayed and supplied to the ice making chamber during ice making operation and did not freeze, flows out from the gap between the lower edge of the ice making chamber and the upper surface of the water dish, It is suppressed that it flows down from the said inclination to a water channel, and stays in the boundary of both members. Therefore, the water staying between the ice making chamber and the water pan freezes, and the peripheral device is not overloaded during deicing.

  According to the water supply structure of the automatic ice maker according to the present invention, when ice making water is supplied from the water supply pipe to the water dish in a state where the ice making room closes the upper surface of the water dish, the ice making room in the water dish closes the water. Since the water channel that is dug below the upper surface level of the water dish is formed in the non-stripped area, the ice making water flows along the water channel, and the return hole or the tip of the water dish drilled in the water channel. It becomes easy to fall to the ice making water tank. That is, it is suppressed that ice making water stays at the boundary between the lower end surface of the ice making chamber and the upper surface of the water tray. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress a decrease in ice making capacity and to prevent icing between the ice making chamber and the water tray.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view of a water supply structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a water channel having a level lower than the upper surface of the water dish is in a U-shaped zone that is not blocked by the ice making chamber in the water dish. The state where it is formed is shown. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the water supply structure shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line AA, and a water channel having a square groove shape is formed immediately below the water supply pipe. In the water supply structure according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the water tray is tilted with respect to the ice making chamber to open the ice making chamber. In the water supply structure which concerns on the Example shown in FIG. 2, it is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-section which shows the malfunction which arises with this Example. It is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the water supply structure which solved the inconvenience shown in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the ice making mechanism in a closed cell type ice making machine, and shows a state in which an ice tray is closed with a water tray during ice making operation. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ice making mechanism shown in FIG. 6, showing a state during the deicing operation in which the water tray is tilted to open the ice making chamber. FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view of the ice making mechanism shown in FIG. 6, in which a first region where the ice making chamber blocks the upper surface of the water dish and a second region where the ice making chamber does not block the upper surface of the water dish exist. It shows the state. It is the AA line longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG.

  A water supply structure for an automatic ice making machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of a preferred embodiment. In the embodiment, the same members and structures as those already described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Strictly speaking, the water supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the upper surface of the water tray 24 is tap water from an external water system, and should be finally stored in the ice making water tank 28. Further, in the deicing operation, the water supplied from the water supply pipe 29 is used as “deicing water” for washing away ice pieces remaining on the upper surface of the water tray 24. For this reason, only water that has been stored in the ice making water tank 28 and then supplied to the ice making chamber 12 by the supply pump 30 may be strictly referred to as “ice making water”. The water supplied from is widely referred to as “ice-making water”.

(Example)
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of a water supply structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and its basic structure is common to the structure shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the second region which is the upper surface of the water dish 24 and a U-shaped portion that is not blocked by the ice making chamber 14 A water channel 34 dug down below the level of the upper surface of the water dish 24 is formed, and the return holes 27a are formed in the bottom surface of the water channel 34 at a required interval. That is, the water channel 34 according to the embodiment is a rectangular groove having a rectangular cross section shown in a vertical cross section in FIG. 2, and this water channel 34 is a rear side of the ice making chamber 14 shown in FIG. (The region located above) and the U-shaped second region surrounding the three sides of both sides.

  Note that the tap water from the water supply pipe 29 enters the deicing operation shown in FIG. 7 when the water tray 24 tilts and the ice making chamber 14 is opened. It is also used as deicing water to wash away. At this time, when the water tray 24 is tilted by the deicing operation, if water is supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the water path 34 located below the water supply pipe 29, the supplied water passes through the water path 34 as it is. As a result, the water dish 24 described above cannot be washed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the water supply position of the ice making water (deicing water) supplied by the water supply pipe 29 is set in advance to a position where it is removed from the water channel 34 when the water tray 24 tilts to open the ice making chamber 14. Has been. That is, in the upper end portion (indicated by a white arrow) of the portion dug down as the water channel 34 in FIG. 3, the water supply from the water supply pipe 29 falls into the water channel 34 during the ice making operation shown in FIG. At the time of deicing shown in FIG. 3, the water supply from the water supply pipe 29 is removed from the water channel 34 with the tilting of the water tray 24, and the water tray 24 is exclusively used for cleaning the water tray 24.

  As described above, the water channel 34 is recessed in the second region on the upper surface of the water tray 24 and is not blocked by the ice making chamber 14, and the return hole 27a is formed in the water channel 34. The ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe 29 to the water tray 24 is less likely to come into contact with the lower edge of the three sides in the ice making chamber 14. For this reason, even if the ice making operation is started and the ice making chamber 14 is cooled by the evaporation pipe 18, it is suppressed that heat is taken away by the ice making water contacting the ice making chamber 14, and it is easy to suppress a decrease in ice making capacity. In addition, since the ice making water supplied to the water tray 24 by the water supply pipe 29 does not contact the lower edge of the three sides in the ice making chamber 14, the ice tray is peeled off from the ice making chamber 14 at the time of deicing. This eliminates the need for a large force and suppresses overloading the actuator and peripheral devices.

(Modification)
As described above, by providing the water channel 34 in the second region on the upper surface of the water tray 24, it is possible to suppress a decrease in ice making capacity and to overload peripheral devices such as an actuator during the deicing operation. Giving is suppressed. However, the cross section of the water channel 34 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is a square groove as described above. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4, so-called uniced water that has been sprayed into the ice making chamber 12 during ice making and has not been frozen basically falls from the return hole 27, but the remaining water that has not fallen completely is made up of ice. It flows into the water channel 34 through the gap between the lower edge of the chamber 14 and the upper surface of the water tray 24 and falls from the return hole 27a. However, the unfrozen water may stay between the ice making chamber 14 and the water tray 24 due to surface tension, and may not easily flow into the water channel 34. In this state, if the remaining water is cooled on the side surface of the ice making chamber 14 and freezes, the actuator may be overloaded at the time of deicing or peripheral devices may be damaged. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the above-mentioned difficulty can be achieved by setting the inner wall surface of the water channel 34 and a portion close to the side surface of the ice making chamber 14 as a slope 34 a inclined toward the bottom surface of the water channel 34. It is suppressed.

12 ice making rooms, 14 ice making rooms, 24 water dishes, 27 return holes, 28 ice making water tanks,
29 Water supply pipe, 34 waterway, 34a Slope

Claims (2)

An ice making chamber (14) that defines a large number of ice making chambers (12) that open downward, and a tiltable arrangement directly below the ice making chamber (14) to close the ice making chamber (12) from below. A water tray (24) that takes an established posture or an open posture separated from the ice making chamber (12), and is placed in proximity to the water tray (24) to supply ice making water to the upper surface of the water tray (24). The ice making water supplied from the water supply pipe (29) is composed of a water supply pipe (29), and the ice making water supplied from the water tray (24) is covered with the ice making chamber (14) and the ice making chamber (14). In the automatic ice making machine configured to be collected in the ice making water tank (28) provided at the lower part of the water dish (24) through the return holes (27) respectively drilled in the areas not blocked by
From the upper surface of the water tray (24), the water tray (24) is an area not covered by the ice making chamber (14), and the ice-making water supplied from the water supply pipe (29) flows. The water channel (34) is also dug down,
A water supply structure for an automatic ice maker, wherein a return hole (27) in a region not blocked by the ice making chamber (14) is formed in the bottom surface of the water channel (34).   The water supply structure for an automatic ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface (34a) inclined toward the bottom surface is formed on an inner wall surface of the water channel (34) adjacent to the ice making chamber (14).

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