JP2582582Y2 - Automatic ice machine - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ice making machine which can automatically make relatively large brick-shaped ice continuously, and in particular, efficiently and automatically discharges the ice made to the outside of the ice making machine. It relates to a possible automatic ice maker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, automatic ice making machines employing various ice making methods have been proposed. Such ice making machines are broadly classified from the ice making methods, such as falling ice making machines, jetting ice making machines, plate ice making machines, and the like. There is an auger type ice machine.

Here, the falling ice maker is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-62.
No. 992, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-42058, etc., this is an ice making machine of the type of making ice while flowing ice making water down one or both sides of an ice making plate having a cooling pipe. It is used to make ice. Also,
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-14431, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-42055, etc.
This is a type in which cube-shaped ice is made while spraying ice making water into a plurality of ice making chambers provided on an ice making plate having a cooling pipe. Further, the plate type ice making machine is of a type in which plate-like ice is formed while flowing ice-making water on an ice making plate having a cooling pipe, and then cube-shaped ice is made by a heat cutter. In addition, the auger ice machine,
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-26300, a rotary spiral blade is disposed in a cooling cylinder around which a cooling pipe is wound, and solidifies while forming flake-like ice or flake-like ice. It is a type that makes chip-shaped ice.

In each of the above ice machines, each side has a size of 3 cm to 4 cm.
The purpose of this method is to make relatively small ice cubes, chips, flakes, etc., and to store various forms of ice in a storage room such as a stocker. In the case of other types of ice machines, ice is made from each ice plate or ice making room via hot gas etc. After the ice is released, the ice is stored in a storage room provided in the ice making machine itself by its own weight.

[0005]

As described above, the purpose of the conventional ice making machine is to make relatively small ice cubes, chips, flakes and the like having a side length of 3 to 4 cm. In the case where the ice made is small in weight, the ice is destroyed by the collision between the ices even if the ice is dropped from the ice making room and stored in the storage room even if it is dropped into the storage room by its own weight. It is relatively unlikely that the commercial value will be reduced.

However, in an ice maker for making relatively large brick-shaped ice, since the weight of the ice itself is large, the same ice separation and storage method as in a conventional ice maker is used. If taken, the ice will be destroyed and the commercial value will be extremely reduced. Therefore,
In an ice maker that makes relatively large brick-shaped ice, the method of separating and storing ice in the conventional ice maker cannot be adopted.

[0007] Further, brick-shaped ice has a large volume, and thus, like a conventional ice-making machine, brick-shaped ice after ice-making is stored in a storage room provided in the ice-making machine itself. In such a case, it is difficult to provide a large storage room in the ice making machine itself, so that the storage room immediately becomes full. In such a case, it is desirable that the ice made by the ice making machine is sequentially and continuously discharged to the outside of the ice making machine along with the ice making operation. However, in the above-described conventional ice making machine, there is no such ice discharging mechanism. Not provided. Therefore, also in this respect, the method for separating ice and storing in the conventional ice making machine cannot be applied to an ice making machine for making ice of relatively large ice like a brick. The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and automatically made ice made in response to a brick-shaped ice making operation without lowering the commercial value, and An object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker that can be efficiently discharged to the outside of the ice maker.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ice making plate having a plurality of cooling pipes disposed on a lower surface thereof and arranged at an angle with a predetermined angle, and a cooling pipe disposed above the ice making plate. A plurality of brick-shaped bricks, which are arranged along the slope of the ice making plate while forming a predetermined gap between the ice making plate and arranged to be able to move up and down with respect to the ice making plate, are closed at the top and opened at the bottom. An ice making mechanism having an ice making compartment member in which an ice making compartment is formed, an ice making water supply mechanism for supplying ice making water from the ice making water tank to each of the ice making compartments, and an ice making compartment through the ice making water supply mechanism. After the ice making water supplied to the ice making plate is made by an ice making plate, an ice elevating mechanism for removing ice from each of the ice making compartments and elevating the ice making compartment members, and putting the ice removed from each of the ice making compartments outside the ice making machine. Ice discharge mechanism to discharge Is the example was constructed.

Further, a refrigeration system is connected to a cooling pipe of the ice making plate, and the refrigeration system blows hot gas to the ice making room member before raising the ice making room member by the elevating mechanism. A heater is provided in the ice making water tank, and the ice making water supply mechanism supplies the ice making water heated by the heater from the ice making water tank to the ice making chamber member after the hot gas is blown from the freezing device to the ice making chamber member. It is configured to flow. Further, the elevating mechanism raises the ice making chamber member in a first step of releasing the close contact between the ice made ice and each of the ice making compartments and a second step of completely removing the ice from each ice making compartment. The ice discharging mechanism includes a discharging shaft disposed below the inclined ice making chamber member, and a moving device that moves the discharging shaft from the lower side to the upper side along the inclination of the ice making plate. Is provided.

[0010]

In the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, first, ice making water is flown from an ice making water supply device onto an inclined ice making plate, and the ice making plate is cooled through a cooling pipe. As a result, an ice thin film is formed in the gap formed between the ice making chamber member and the ice making plate, and the gap is filled with the ice thin film. Thereafter, the ice making water is supplied from the ice making water tank to each of the plurality of ice making compartments formed in the ice making chamber member via the ice making water supply device. Subsequently, the ice making plate is cooled through the cooling pipe, and the ice making water supplied into each ice making compartment is cooled,
The ice is frozen and brick-like ice is made in each ice making compartment.

After the ice making is completed, hot gas is blown from the refrigerating device to the ice making chamber member through the cooling pipe.
Thereby, the thin film of ice filled in the gap provided between the ice making plate and the ice making chamber member is melted. Subsequently, the ice making chamber member is raised to the height of the first stage by the lifting mechanism. Further, the ice making water heated via the heater in the ice making water tank is flowed to the ice making chamber member by the ice making water supply mechanism. By flowing the heated ice making water through the ice making compartment members, the close contact between the ice made in each ice making compartment and each ice making compartment is released.

Thereafter, the ice making compartment members are raised to the second stage height via the elevating mechanism, whereby the ice in each ice making compartment is completely removed from each ice making compartment. Thus, the ice completely removed from each ice compartment is
Each ice will slide down along the slope of the ice making plate, but each such ice will be locked by the discharge shaft of the ice discharging mechanism arranged below the ice making chamber member, and each ice will be outside the ice making machine. Sliding is prevented. Subsequently, the discharge shaft is moved from the lower side to the upper side along the inclination of the ice making plate by the moving device, and as a result, each ice is moved upward on the ice making plate and discharged to the outside of the ice making machine. It is. Thus, the discharged ice is stored in a storage such as a stocker.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a schematic configuration of the entire ice making machine will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the ice making machine with four side wall panels removed, and FIG. 2 is a right side view of the ice making machine.

In these figures, two ice making mechanisms A are provided at the upper part in the main body frame 1 at an inclination angle of about 10 degrees from the horizontal plane (in FIG. 1, the inclination is so increased as going from right to left in FIG. 1). ) Are arranged in two upper and lower stages. An ice making water tank 3 and a refrigerating device 4 are mounted on a bottom wall panel of the main body frame 1. Further, a pump is provided between the ice making water tank 3 and the lower part of the lower ice making mechanism A from the ice making water tank 3. Accordingly, an ice making water supply mechanism 5 for supplying ice making water to an ice making compartment 9A (described later) of each ice making mechanism A via a hose or the like is provided. Here, a heater is provided inside the ice making water tank 3, and the heater is energized from the time when the ice making completion is detected by a sensor 37 (detecting the ice making completion) described later, and the ice making in the ice making water tank 3 is performed. The water is warmed to 40-50 ° C. The ice making water heated in this way is used as deicing water when removing ice from the ice making compartment 9A, as described later.

Each of the ice making mechanisms A has the same configuration. Further, the refrigerating device 4 has a compressor and the like, supplies a refrigerant to a cooling pipe 18 to be described later during ice making, cools ice making water through an ice making plate by the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant, and makes ice. It is a type that supplies a high-temperature refrigerant to heat an ice making plate 10 described below,
Its configuration is well known and will not be described in detail here. Further, a control box 6 is disposed at an upper left position on the front of the main body frame 1, and a control device necessary for performing various controls of the ice maker is built in the control box 6.

Next, the structure of the ice making mechanism A will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged right upper portion of the ice making machine. The ice making mechanism A is provided between the left frame 7 and the right frame 8 in an ice making chamber member 9 and above the ice making chamber member 9. A stirring mechanism B (to be described later) disposed therein, and
An ice making plate 10 is provided below the ice making chamber member 9. An ice discharging mechanism C (discussed below) is provided between the right support frame 11 and the left support frame 12 disposed below the side frames 7 and 8 to discharge ice after ice making to the outside of the ice making machine. ) Is provided.

First, the ice making chamber member 9 will be described. The ice making chamber member 9 is formed by dividing a box-like body having a closed upper surface and an opened lower surface into 16 portions, and 16 ice making compartments 9A (FIG. 6) is formed. The ice making chamber member 9 is made of a polycarbonate resin plate, and its thermal conductivity is extremely lower than that of a metal plate or the like due to the properties of the material. The ice making chamber member 9 configured as described above is
At the front and rear ends, the support shaft 13 is supported by the support shaft 13 (only the support shaft 13 at the front end is shown in FIG. 3, but the same support shaft exists at the rear end). The guide frame 7A, 8A formed at a position facing the right frame 8 and the right frame 8 can move up and down. Accordingly, the ice making chamber member 9 has a structure that is hung by the respective support shafts 13, and the respective support shafts 13 are vertically movable along the guide grooves 7A and 8A so as to be vertically movable. . Both ends of each support shaft 13 are supported by an end of a link member 43C of a three-way link 43 in a lifting mechanism D, which will be described later, and each support shaft 13 is raised and lowered by moving the three-way link 43 of the lifting mechanism D. It moves up and down.

Next, the relationship between the ice making chamber member 9 and the ice making plate 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing a positional relationship between the ice making chamber member 9 and the ice making plate 10, and FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing an enlarged part of FIG. In FIG. 4, the ice making chamber member 9 is provided between the left and right side frames 7, 8 at an inclination angle of about 10 degrees, corresponding to the ice making mechanism A being disposed at an inclination angle of about 10 degrees as described above. The ice making plate 10 is arranged in parallel with the ice making chamber member 9 at an inclination angle of about 10 degrees. As shown in FIG. 5, a predetermined gap 14 (a gap of 3 mm in the present embodiment) is provided between the ice making chamber member 9 and the ice making plate 10, and the gap 14 is formed as described later. Before the ice making water is supplied to each ice making compartment 9A, the ice making plate 10 is cooled to form an ice thin film.

Each of the 16 ice-making compartments 9A formed in the ice-making chamber member 9 has a size of about a brick (length 20c).
m, width 15 cm, height 6 cm), and into the ice making compartment 9A at the highest position of the inclined ice making chamber member 9 from the ice making water tank 3 via the ice making water supply mechanism 5. The ice making water pipe 15 to which the ice making water W is supplied is open. Further, a float switch 17 for detecting the water level of the ice making water W is provided in the ice making compartment 9A at the lowest position of the inclined ice making room member 9. Further, a communication gap 16 is formed in an upper part of the partition plate 9B which partitions each ice making compartment 9A, and each ice making compartment 9A is connected to the communication gap 1A.
6 allows communication with each other.

On the back side of the ice making plate 10, a refrigeration unit 4 is provided.
A plurality of cooling pipes 18 to which the refrigerant is supplied are arranged in close contact with each other, and the ice making water W supplied into each of the ice making compartments 9A reduces the evaporation latent heat of the refrigerant flowing into each of the cooling pipes 18. Is cooled and frozen through the ice to form ice.

As a result, first, when the refrigerating device 4 is operated and the ice making water W is supplied from the ice making water pipe 15, the supplied ice making water W is frozen on the ice making plate 10,
An ice thin film is formed on the ice making plate 10. The gap 14 is closed by the thin film of ice. Thereafter, when the ice making water W is supplied from the ice making water pipe 15, first, the ice making water W is supplied to the ice making compartment 9A at the uppermost position (first), and the ice making compartment 9A reaches the full water level. Then, the ice making water W is supplied from the communication gap 16 to the second ice making compartment 9A. Similarly, when the second ice making compartment 9A becomes full, ice making water W is supplied from the communication gap 16 until the third ice making compartment 9A becomes full. The ice making water W is supplied to the ice making compartment 9A at the lowermost position (fourth) via this. Further, as the ice making water W is stored in the fourth ice making compartment 9A, the float switch 17 rises as the water level of the ice making water W rises. Then, when the ice making water W in the fourth ice making compartment 9A reaches the full level, the float switch 17 detects this, and the detection signal is sent to the control device in the control box 6. The control device receives the detection signal from the float switch 17 and stops the operation of the ice making water supply mechanism 5,
The supply of the ice making water W from the ice making water tank 3 to the ice making water pipe 15 is stopped. At this point, a predetermined amount of ice making water W is supplied into each ice making compartment 9A of the ice making chamber member 9.

Next, the stirring mechanism B will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the stirring mechanism B with the ceiling panel of the ice making machine removed, and an explanatory view schematically showing a driving system in an operating state of the stirring mechanism B. FIG. FIG. 9 is a side view schematically showing stirring blades provided in each ice making compartment 9A.

In FIG. 6, shaft support members 20, 21 each having a U-shaped end surface are fixed to the left and right ends of the upper surface of the ice making chamber member 9, respectively.
Are provided with shaft holes 22 at four positions facing each other. A rotation shaft 23 is rotatably supported in each shaft hole 22, and a sprocket 24 is fixed to one end (an end protruding outward of the shaft support member 20) of each rotation shaft 23, and the other end. (Outward end of shaft support member 21)
Is rotatably loosely fitted inside the shaft support member 21.
Also, first bevel gears 25 are fixed to each rotating shaft 23 at four positions corresponding to each ice making compartment 9A (four first bevel gears 25 are fixed to each rotating shaft 23, respectively). Therefore, the total number of the first bevel gears 25 is 16 corresponding to the total number of the ice making compartments 9A).

Also, on the upper surface of each ice making compartment 9A, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a bearing 26 is fitted and fixed, and a second bevel gear 27 is fixed to the upper end of the bearing 26 and a stirring blade 28 is fixed to the lower end of the stirring shaft 2.
9 is rotatably arranged. The second bevel gear 27 is meshed with the first bevel gear 25 fixed to each of the rotating shafts 23 described above. As a result, the first bevel gear 25 and the second bevel gear 27 follow the rotation of the rotating shaft 23.
The stirring shaft 29 is rotated via the
With the rotation of 9, the stirring blade 28 is rotated, and the ice making water W stored in each ice making compartment 9A is stirred. As a result, impurities contained in the ice making water W are efficiently diffused.

Further, a sprocket 24 fixed to one end of each rotating shaft 23 outside the shaft supporting member 20 is provided.
An endless drive chain 30 that meshes with the teeth of the drive chain 30 is mounted.
The two idlers 31 and 32 are disposed on the left frame 7.
The drive chain 30 is driven by a sprocket 34 fixed to a motor shaft of a stirring motor 33 (see FIGS. 1, 7 and 8) fixed to a central portion of the left frame 7.
The driving state of the drive chain 30 by the stirring motor 33 is shown in FIG. In the state shown in FIG.
The elevating mechanism D of the ice making chamber member 9 in the ice discharging mechanism C described later is not operated, and the sprocket 34 of the stirring motor 33 is engaged with the drive chain 30 in this state. Accordingly, when the stirring motor 33 is rotationally driven, the drive chain 30 is rotated via the sprocket 34, and the sprocket 24 of each rotary shaft 23 is rotated by the rotation of the drive chain 30, whereby the first bevel gear 25, the 2
The stirring blade 28 is rotated via the bevel gear 27. In the state shown in FIG. 8, the elevating mechanism D of the ice making chamber member 9 in the ice discharging mechanism C is operated. In this state, the engagement between the sprocket 34 of the stirring motor 33 and the drive chain 30 is released. Therefore, at this point, the drive chain 30 is no longer
The third sprocket 34 does not rotate.
The on / off of the stirring motor 33 is controlled by a sensor 37 described later.
(Detection of completion of ice making).

Next, an ice making completion mechanism for detecting completion of ice making by driving the cooling of the ice making plate 10 after supplying the ice making water W into each ice making compartment 9A as described above will be described. 10 will be described. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view schematically showing the ice making completion detecting mechanism, and the stirring shaft 29 is shown.
A movable plate 35 is inserted through the stirring shaft 29 above the stirring blade 28 fixed to the lower end of the movable plate 35, and a pressing rod 36 is provided on the lower surface of the movable plate 35 at a position where the rotation of the stirring blade 28 is not hindered. Is attached. The lower end of the pressing rod 36 is in contact with the upper surface of the ice IC formed in the ice making compartment 9A, and moves upward as the thickness of the ice IC increases with the growth of the ice IC. The plate 35 is also moved upward.
Further, the movable plate 35 is linked to a sensor 37 arranged on the upper surface of the ice making compartment 9A. When the movable plate 35 moves upward by a certain amount, the sensor 37 detects the ice IC in the ice making compartment 9A. It is detected that it has grown to a predetermined thickness. The detection signal from the sensor 37 is sent to the control device in the control box 6, and the control device receives the detection signal and stops the rotation of the stirring motor 33. Here, the thickness t of the ice made in the ice making compartment 9A can be freely set by adjusting the length of the pressing rod 36. Further, the ice making plate 10 is of a single plate type, and according to the ice making plate 10, the ice making water in each ice making compartment 9A is slowly and uniformly cooled and made from the ice making plate 10 side. is there.

Next, the ice discharging mechanism C will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is an explanatory view schematically showing an elevating mechanism D for elevating and lowering the ice making chamber member 9 in the ice discharging mechanism C. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the elevating mechanism D.
3 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of a microswitch disposed on the back of the lifting mechanism D, and FIG. 14 is a side view schematically showing a state where the ice making chamber member 9 is raised to the first stage height by the lifting mechanism D. FIG. 15 is a side view schematically showing a state in which ice is removed from the ice making compartment 9A with the ice making chamber member 9 raised to the height of the first stage, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state in which ice is discharged via an ice discharging mechanism C in a state where the ice is raised to the height of the second stage.

First, the lifting mechanism D will be described. Although the lifting mechanism D is disposed on both sides of the left frame 7, one of them will be described here as an example. The lifting mechanism D includes a lifting motor 40, a sprocket 42 that is rotationally driven by the lifting motor 40 via a chain 41, and a three-way link 43 that is moved up and down by rotation of the sprocket 42.
Consists of

The elevating motor 40 is fixed to the outside of the left frame 7, and the sprocket 42 is similarly rotatably supported by the support shaft 42A outside of the left frame 7. A chain 41 is mounted between the elevating motor 40 and the sprocket 42, and the sprocket 42 is driven to rotate according to the rotation of the elevating motor 40. The three-way link 43 has three link members 43A,
43B and 43C are rotatably connected at a link center 43D, an end of the link member 43A is rotatably supported by the left support frame 11, and one end of the link member 43B is separated from a rotation center of the sprocket 42 by the sprocket 42. It is rotatably supported at a separated position. Further, one end of the link member 43C is provided with a cutout 44 formed in the left frame 7 in the vertical direction.
Is connected to the support shaft 13 for suspending and supporting the ice making chamber member 9 as described above, so that the link member 43C can move up and down in the notch 44, and moves up and down the support shaft 13 according to the elevation. Thus, the ice making chamber member 9 is raised and lowered.

With the structure of the lifting mechanism D, when the lifting motor 40 is rotated, the sprocket 42 is driven to rotate via the chain 41, and when the sprocket 42 is driven to rotate counterclockwise, the link member 43B is moved to the left. Is moved up in the notch 44. As a result, the support shaft 13 is raised, and the ice making chamber member 9 is also raised. On the other hand, the lifting motor 4
When the sprocket 42 is driven to rotate clockwise through 0, the link member 43B moves rightward, contrary to the above, so that the link member 43C is lowered. As a result, the support shaft 13 is also lowered, and as the support shaft 13 is lowered, the ice making chamber member 9 is lowered.

The lifting mechanism D having the above-mentioned structure releases the close contact between the ice making compartments 9A and the ice in order to reliably remove the ice made from the ice making compartments 9A of the ice making compartment member 9 without chipping. The first stage and the ice is made in each ice making compartment 9A
The operation of the lifting mechanism D in two stages is described below with reference to FIGS. 13 to 16.

As shown in FIG. 13, two rotating cams 45 and 46 are provided on the rear side of the left frame 7 so as to rotate in conjunction with the sprocket 42 via the elevating motor 40.
2A and rotatably supported by the rotary cam 4
Each of the reference numerals 5 and 46 is provided with a cam surface (not shown) projecting outward. Further, two micro switches 47 and 48 are arranged at positions facing the rotary cams 45 and 46.

Then, before the operation of the first stage is performed, first, hot gas is blown to the ice making chamber member 9 through the compressor of the refrigeration apparatus 4. The hot gas melts the thin film of ice in the gap 14 provided between the ice making chamber member 9 and the ice making plate 10 sequentially from the upper side of the ice making section 9A to the lower side of the ice making section 9A. As a result, the ice making chamber member 9 and the ice making plate 10 are separated.

Thereafter, when the rotary cams 45 and 46 are rotated by the elevating motor 40 to perform the first-stage operation,
First, the cam surface of the rotating cam 45 activates the micro switch 47. The detection signal from the micro switch 47 is sent to the control device of the control box 6, and the control device stops the rotation of the lifting / lowering motor 40, and starts counting time by the timer in response to the detection signal. The timer measures the time to perform an operation (described later) for releasing the close contact between the ice and each ice making compartment 9A following the first-stage operation, and generates a trigger signal for performing the next second-stage operation. This is for sending to the control device. When the elevating mechanism D completes the first-stage operation, the ice making chamber member 9 is separated from the ice making plate 10 by a predetermined distance (about 2 cm) as shown in FIG. The ice IC made in each ice making compartment 9A is still in close contact with the wall surface of each ice making compartment 9A.

Next, the second stage operation of the elevating mechanism D is performed. Before performing the second stage operation, the ice making water (deicing water) heated through the heater in the ice making water tank 3 is performed. )
Flows into the ice making chamber member 9. The contact between the wall surface of each ice making compartment 9A and the ice IC is released by the heated ice making water. In this way, when the close contact between the wall surface of each ice making compartment 9A and the ice IC is released, the ice IC falls downward by its own weight and is placed on the ice making plate 10. This state is shown in FIG. However, in this state, since the thickness of the ice IC is larger than 2 cm, each ice making compartment 9
The ice in A is not completely removed from the ice making compartment 9A.

Next, the operation of the lifting mechanism D in the second stage will be described. When a certain period of time is measured by the timer in the control device, the control device starts rotating the elevating motor 40. According to the rotation of the elevating motor 40, the ice making chamber member 9 is further raised from the position at the time when the operation of the first stage is completed. At the same time, the rotating cam 4
6 is driven to rotate, and the cam surface of the rotary cam 46 eventually activates the micro switch 48. The detection signal from the micro switch 48 is sent to the control device, and the control device receives this detection signal and stops the rotation of the elevating motor 40. At this time, the ice making chamber member 9 has been raised to a position equal to or greater than the thickness of the ice IC, and therefore, the ice IC in each ice making compartment 9A is completely removed from the ice making compartment 9A. At this time, each ice making compartment 9A
The ice IC taken out of the ice making machine slides down to the lower position along the inclination of the ice making plate 10, and is prevented from falling out of the ice making machine by the discharge shaft 54 described later.

Next, an ice discharging mechanism C for discharging the ice IC produced as described above to the outside of the ice making machine will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 16, the left support frame 11
A pair of rotating shafts 51 (only one rotating shaft 51 is shown in FIG. 16) having sprockets 50 fixed to both ends are rotatable in front and rear positions of the two supporting frames 11 and 12 between the right and left supporting frames 12. It is supported by. A chain 52 is mounted on each sprocket 50, and a discharge motor 53 (see FIG. 1) is disposed at the lower left of the left support frame 11. The discharge motor 53 drives the rotation of the sprocket 50 on one of the rotary shafts 51, thereby rotating the chains 52 mounted on the respective sprockets 50. Further, between the chains 52, both ends of the discharge shaft 54 are fixed. The discharge shaft 54 prevents the ice produced as described above from sliding down along the inclination of the ice making plate 10 and lowers the ice along the inclination of the ice making plate 10 with the rotation of the chain 52. It is for moving from the position side to the higher position side and discharging it to the outside of the ice making machine. In FIG. 16, a sensor 55 for detecting a connection portion between the discharge shaft 54 and the chain 52 is provided at a position near the left sprocket 50, and the sensor 55 is such that the discharge shaft 54 is always fixed. The reference position of the discharge shaft 54 is set so as to start the movement from the position.

In the ice discharging mechanism C, the control device starts rotation of the discharging motor 53 by using the detection signal from the microswitch 48 as a trigger.
Each chain 5 is rotated via a sprocket 50 with the rotation of
2 is rotated. As a result, the discharge shaft 54 pushes the ice from the lower position to the higher position along the inclination of the ice making plate 10, and the ice is stored in a storage device such as a stocker outside the ice making machine in order from the higher position. It is discharged to.

As described above in detail, in the automatic ice making machine according to the present embodiment, a plurality of bricks provided in the ice making chamber member 9 by the ice making water pipe 15 from the ice making water tank 3 through the ice making water supply mechanism 5 are provided. The ice making water is supplied to the ice making compartment 9A, and the ice making water in each ice making compartment 9A is cooled via the cooling pipe 18 of the ice making plate 10 arranged below the ice making compartment member 9. In this way, a relatively large brick-shaped ice IC can be continuously and automatically made.

A stirring mechanism B is provided above the ice making chamber member 9, a stirring blade 28 rotatable by a stirring shaft 29 is provided in each ice making compartment 9 A, and a stirring motor 33 is provided.
, The sprocket 34, the drive chain 30,
The sprocket 24, the rotating shaft 23, the first and second bevel gears 25 and 27 and the like allow the stirring blade 28
Is rotated, the transparent ice IC can be made without white turbidity by making the ice IC while diffusing impurities, air and the like contained in the ice making water. Further, since ice making water stored in the ice making compartment 9A is made while stirring with the stirring blades 28, a hole is formed in the ice IC made ice unlike the conventional jet type ice making machine. Can be prevented.

Since the ice making plate 10 is a single plate type that covers the whole of the ice making room member 9, the ice making water in each ice making compartment 9A is made of the ice making plate 10A.
And the ice making water is made relatively slowly, so that a brick-like ice IC without cracks can be made. Further, the ice making chamber member 9 is formed of a material having low thermal conductivity such as polycarbonate, and therefore, the ice IC to be iced does not become uneven on the wall surface of each of the ice making compartments 9A. Smooth ice IC can be made.

Further, the ice making plate 10 and the ice making chamber member 9 are disposed so as to face each other while forming a gap 14 therebetween, and a thin film of ice formed in the gap 14 is removed during deicing. Since the ice is removed, the ice made in each of the ice making compartments 9A is not affected by the surface of the ice making plate 10. Therefore, even when the flatness of the surface of the ice making plate 10 is somewhat poor, the ice having a smooth surface is formed. ICs can be iced.

Further, a communication gap 16 is formed in the upper part of each ice making compartment 9A so that the ice making compartments 9A communicate with each other, so that the ice making compartment 9A located above the ice making water pipe 15 is placed in the ice making compartment 9A. By supplying water, the ice making water can be sequentially filled from the upper ice making compartment 9A to the lower ice making compartment 9A. Furthermore, the ice making compartment 9A on the lower side
When the ice making water is supplied, the float switch 17 is disposed inside the ice making compartment 9A when the float switch 17 detects that the ice making water is filled in the lower ice making compartment 9A. It can be detected that the ice making water is filled in the inside. Thereby, the detection of the full state of the ice making water in each of the ice making compartments 9A is performed as follows.
The number of the float switches 17 may be provided, and the configuration can be simplified.

Further, in the stirring mechanism B, the sprocket 34 and the drive chain 30 are driven via one stirring motor 33.
And the like, the respective stirring blades 28 (there are 16 corresponding to the respective ice making compartments 9A) are rotated, so that one stirring motor 3 for the stirring mechanism B is provided.
Only three are required, so that the cost can be reduced and the entire ice maker can be made cheaper. Also, during deicing,
The agitating mechanism B can be moved up and down together with the ice making chamber member 9 via the elevating mechanism D. The meshing of the sprocket 34 of the agitating motor 33 and the chain 30 and the release thereof are performed in accordance with the elevating and lowering. Is fixedly provided on the left side frame 7 without any inconvenience, which facilitates the design of the ice making machine.

In each of the ice making compartments 9A, utilizing the property that the ice IC grows uniformly from the side of the ice making plate 10, one of the ice making compartments 9A formed in the inclined ice making compartment member 9 is used. One of them is provided with an ice making completion detecting mechanism including a movable plate 35, a pressing rod 36, and a sensor 37, and detects that the ice IC has grown to a predetermined thickness in the ice making compartment 9A. One ice making completion detecting mechanism can detect the thickness of ice ICs made in all the ice making compartments 9A. Furthermore, in the ice making completion mechanism, since the lower end of the pressing rod 36 is in direct contact with the upper surface of the growing ice IC, the thickness of the ice IC can be accurately and reliably detected. Further, the thickness of the ice IC to be iced can be freely set by adjusting the length of the pressing rod 36.

Further, when each ice IC made in each ice making compartment 9A is discharged to the outside of the ice making machine, first, hot gas is flowed from the freezing device 4 to make the ice making chamber member 9 and the ice making plate 10 free.
The ice thin film formed in the gap 14 is melted, so that only one surface (the surface on the side of the ice making plate 10) of the ice IC melts during deicing. The contact between the wall surface of each ice making compartment 9A and the ice IC is released by the deicing water (warmed ice making water), so that the ice IC is gradually melted without being rapidly melted. As a result, it is possible to prevent cracks from entering the ice IC that has been made.

Further, at the time of discharging the ice IC by the ice discharging mechanism C, the ice making chamber member 9 releases the close contact between the wall surface of each ice making compartment 9A and the ice IC via the elevating mechanism D, and Then, each of the ice ICs whose contact has been released is transferred to each of the ice making compartments 9.
Since the ascent is performed in two stages of the second stage of completely discharging the ice from A, it is possible to discharge each ice IC onto the ice making plate 10 while maintaining the aligned state matching the aligned state of the ice making compartment 9A. it can. As a result, the discharged ice IC
Can be prevented from being irregularly overlapped on the ice making plate 10, and each ice IC can be automatically discharged from each ice making compartment 9A.

Further, each ice IC discharged on the ice making plate 10
Will move downward along the inclination of the ice making plate 10, but these ices are prevented from slipping out of the ice making machine by the discharge shaft 54 fixed between the chains 52. At the same time, the discharge shaft 54 is rotated together with the chain 52 via the discharge motor 53, so that each ice I
C is moved from the low side to the high side along the slope of the ice making plate 10 while maintaining the aligned state, and is discharged to the outside of the ice making machine. It can be discharged outside.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the driving force from each motor is transmitted by a chain, a sprocket, or the like. However, the driving force from each motor may be transmitted via a belt or a gear mechanism. It is clear.

In the above-described embodiment, as shown in the drawings, the ice-making chamber member 9 is formed by partitioning a box-like body through a single-plate-shaped partition plate to form each ice-making compartment 9A. However, an ice making chamber member 60 having a structure as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 can also be used. FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the ice making chamber member with its upper plate removed, and FIG. 18 is a side sectional view schematically showing the ice making chamber member. In FIG. 17, an ice making chamber member 60 has a rectangular compartment 62 inside a box-shaped body 61.
Are arranged in a plurality (16). As is clear from FIG. 17, the compartment member 60 has a double wall structure between the outer wall 61A of the box-shaped body 61 and the outer wall 62A of each compartment 62, and between the outer walls 62A of each compartment 62. And a passage 63 formed between these double walls.
When ice formed in each of the compartments 62 is deiced from each of the compartments 62 via the ice making plate 10, heated deicing water is supplied as described later.

In FIG. 18, the compartment member 60 constructed as described above is disposed in an inclined state, similarly to the compartment member 9 in the above embodiment, and is positioned below the upper plate 64 (in FIG. 18). A water inlet 64A is formed at the left position). A water supply hose 65 having a pump P (provided in the ice making machine) interposed therebetween is connected to the water inlet 64A, and the other end of the water supply hose 65 is used as heated ice making water (used as deicing water). ) Is placed in an ice making water tank 3 (provided in the ice making machine) that fills the water. Also,
A water outlet 66 is formed in the outer wall 61A at a position above the box upper body 61 (the position on the right side in FIG. 18), and the water outlet 66 is circulated into the ice making water tank 3 via a water discharge hose 67. I have.

The side plate (not shown) of the compartment member 60 is provided with a drain port 68 as shown by a dotted line in FIG. An ice making plate 10 similar to that of the above embodiment is arranged below the compartment member 60. In the compartment member 60 having the above-described configuration, the pump P is driven when the ice made in each compartment 62 is deiced. By driving the pump P, ice making water in the ice making water tank 3 is supplied from the water supply hose 65 to the water inlet 64A. The ice making water supplied in this manner is applied to the outer wall 61A of the box-shaped body 61 and each compartment 62.
Between outer walls 62A of each other, and outer walls 62 of each compartment 62.
A flows into and is filled in the passage 63 existing between A, and flows sequentially from the compartment 62 at the lower position to the periphery of the compartment 62 at the upper position. After each passage 63 is filled with ice making water, the ice making water is circulated from the water outlet 66 into the ice making water tank 3.

By the circulation of the ice making water, each compartment 62
The periphery of the ice made inside is melted, whereby the ice is separated from the outer wall 62A of each compartment 62 and falls on the ice making plate 10. In this manner, by forming the passage 63 through which the ice making water flows between the outer wall 61A of the box-shaped body 61 and the outer wall 62A of each compartment 62, and between the outer walls 62A of each compartment 62, the inside of each compartment 62 is formed. Ice can be efficiently removed in a short time.

After the deicing is completed as described above, the ice making water filled in each passage 63 flows out of the ice making chamber member 60 from the water drain port 68 described above.
Thereby, there is no possibility that the ice making water is frozen in each passage 63 at the time of making ice again by the ice making machine, and there is no trouble in deicing.

[0055]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention automatically and efficiently supplies ice made in response to the ice-making operation of brick-like ice to the outside of the ice making machine without deteriorating the commercial value. It is possible to provide an ice making machine that can be discharged, and its effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an ice making machine with four side wall panels removed.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the ice making machine.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged right upper portion of the ice making machine.

FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing a positional relationship between an ice making chamber member and an ice making plate.

FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing an enlarged part of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a stirring mechanism shown by removing a ceiling panel of the ice making machine.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view schematically showing a drive system in an operating state of the stirring mechanism.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a drive system in a non-operating state of the stirring mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view schematically showing a stirring blade provided in each ice making compartment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an ice making completion detection mechanism.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view schematically showing a lifting mechanism in the ice discharging mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a lifting mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a mounted state of a micro switch provided on a back surface of the elevating mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the ice making chamber member has been raised to a first-stage height by a lifting mechanism.

FIG. 15 is a side view schematically showing a state in which ice is removed from the ice making compartment with the ice making compartment member raised to the height of the first stage.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which ice is discharged via an ice discharging mechanism in a state where the ice making chamber member is raised to the height of the second stage.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing another ice making chamber member with its upper plate removed.

FIG. 18 is a side sectional view schematically showing an ice making chamber member.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... Ice making water tank, 4 ... Refrigerator, 5 ... Ice making water supply mechanism, 6 ... Control box, 9 ... Ice making room member, 9A ... Ice making compartment, 10 ...・ Ice making plate, 13
... Support shaft, 14 ... Gap, 15 ... Ice making water pipe, 40 ... Elevating motor, 41 ... Chain, 42 ... Sprocket, 43 ... Three-way link,
43A, 43B, 43C ... link member, 44 ...
Notch, 45, 46 ... rotating cam, 47, 48 ... micro switch, 50 ... sprocket, 51 ...
Rotating shaft, 52 chain, 53 discharge motor, 54 discharge shaft, A ice making mechanism, B
... Agitating mechanism, C ... ice discharging mechanism, D ... elevating mechanism.

Claims (5)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] An ice making plate having a plurality of cooling pipes disposed on a lower surface thereof and being inclined at a predetermined angle, and ice making while forming a predetermined gap between the ice making plate above the ice making plate. An ice-making chamber member which is arranged along the inclination of the plate and is arranged so as to be able to ascend and descend with respect to the ice-making plate, and has a plurality of brick-shaped ice-making compartments closed at the top and open at the bottom. A mechanism, an ice making water supply mechanism for supplying ice making water from the ice making water tank to each ice making compartment, and ice making the ice making water supplied into each ice making compartment via the ice making water supply mechanism with an ice making plate. An ice elevating mechanism for removing ice from each of the ice making compartments and elevating the ice making compartment members, and an ice discharging mechanism for discharging the ice removed from each of the ice making compartments to the outside of the ice making machine. Automatic ice machine. 2. A refrigeration system is connected to a cooling pipe of the ice making plate, and the refrigeration system blows hot gas onto the ice making room member before the ice making room member is raised by the elevating mechanism. The automatic ice maker according to claim 1, wherein 3. An ice making water supply mechanism is provided in the ice making water tank, and the ice making water supply mechanism is configured such that hot gas is blown from the refrigerating device to the ice making chamber member and then the ice making water heated by the heater from the ice making water tank. 3. The automatic ice making machine according to claim 2, wherein the water flows through the ice making chamber member. 4. The ice making chamber member according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises a first stage for releasing the ice from the ice making compartments and a second stage for completely removing the ice from the ice making compartments. The automatic ice maker according to claim 1, wherein 5. The ice discharging mechanism includes a discharging shaft disposed below the inclined ice making chamber member, and a movement for moving the discharging shaft from below to above along the inclination of the ice making plate. The automatic ice making machine according to claim 1, further comprising an apparatus.