JP3834171B2 - Automatic ice machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic ice making machine that performs continuous ice making, and more particularly, to an automatic ice making machine that can efficiently drain water in the ice making machine and prevent wasteful consumption of ice making water.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a conventional auger type ice making machine.
An auger 6 having a spiral blade is provided inside the refrigeration casing 1 made of a cylindrical member, and is rotatably supported by an upper bearing 7 and a lower bearing 8. The auger 6 is connected to a geared motor (GM) 10 via a speed reducer 9 at the lower end. A cooling pipe 5 as an evaporator is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 1, and a condenser 4, a compressor (CM) 2 and the like are connected to the cooling pipe 5 to form a refrigeration circuit. A fan motor 3 that cools the condenser 4 is provided opposite to the condenser 4.
[0003]
On the inner wall of the refrigeration casing 1, an ice making part 22 for supplying ice making water and producing ice is formed. One end of each of the water supply pipe 16 and the drain pipe 20 is connected to the ice making unit 22 at the lower part of the refrigeration casing 1. The drain pipe 20 is provided with a drain valve 21. The other end of the water supply pipe 16 opens at the bottom of the ice making water tank 15.
In the ice making water tank 15, a water level sensor 18 for detecting an upper limit water level H and a lower limit water level L of the ice making water tank 15 is provided. Further, an external water supply pipe 17 for guiding the ice making water to the ice making water tank 15 is provided at the upper part of the ice making water tank 15. The external water supply pipe 17 is provided with a water supply valve 19.
Further, a pressing head 11 is formed on the upper portion of the refrigeration casing 1, and the pressing head 11 is connected to an ice storage tank 13 via an ice transport pipe 12. The ice storage tank 13 is provided with an ice storage sensor 14 for detecting that the ice storage tank 13 is full of ice, that is, full ice.
[0004]
When the water supply valve 19 is opened, water serving as ice making water is supplied from the external water supply pipe 17 to the ice making water tank 15. The ice making water stored in the ice making water tank 15 is supplied from the water supply pipe 16 to the refrigeration casing 1, ice is generated in the ice making part 22 of the refrigeration casing 1, and the ice is scraped by the auger 6, and then the pressure head 11. It is transported towards. Ice is compressed in the pressing head 11, and the compressed ice is sent to the ice storage tank 13 through the ice transport pipe 12. When the ice storage tank 13 is full and the ice storage sensor 14 is activated, the circulation of the refrigerant in the refrigeration circuit and the rotation of the auger 6 are stopped in order to temporarily stop the ice making operation.
[0005]
When such an auger type ice making machine is operated for a long time, the concentration of impurities such as magnesium contained in the ice making water of the ice making unit 22 increases during ice making. When the impurity concentration is high, the quality of the produced ice is deteriorated, and impurities are likely to precipitate in the ice making part, and the wear of the bearings 7 and 8 is remarkably increased due to the precipitated impurities.
Furthermore, if the ice making water is retained in the refrigeration casing 1 or the ice making water tank 15 for a long time, the quality of the ice making water may be deteriorated.
For this reason, conventionally, after the auger type ice making machine is turned on, the drainage valve 21 is opened at regular intervals to discharge the ice making water remaining in the ice making unit 22.
Alternatively, when the ice storage sensor 14 detects that the ice is full, the drain valve 21 is opened to discharge the ice making water remaining in the refrigeration casing 1.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if drainage is performed at regular intervals, icemaking water is drained even during the ice making operation, and the ice making operation is stopped during the drainage so that ice making cannot be performed. Moreover, if drainage is performed frequently, there is also a problem that water is consumed unnecessarily. .
Furthermore, in the method of draining when the ice is full, if the ice in the ice storage tank continues to be used while the ice storage tank is not full, the ice making water stays in the refrigeration casing 1 for a long time without draining. There is a problem that the quality of ice-making water deteriorates.
[0007]
Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic ice making machine that can efficiently drain the ice making machine and prevent wasteful consumption of ice making water. And
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Automatic ice maker according to the present invention, by continuously ice ice making water supplied from the ice-making water tank at the ice making unit, an automatic ice maker of the ice storage in ice storage tank, provided in the ice storage tank, an ice storage tank An ice storage sensor that detects the amount of ice stored, a water supply valve that supplies ice making water to the ice making unit, a drain valve that discharges ice making water remaining in the ice making unit, a manual drain switch that directs the drain valve to open, and drainage after the valve is opened, when the regular drainage timer first water supply valve starts counting time when open, regular drainage conditions this regular drainage timer is an occurrence of a predetermined time is satisfied, drained with opening the valve, and a control circuit for resetting the count time of regular drainage timer, an automatic ice maker, the control circuit, in addition to when the periodic draining conditions is met, the ice storage sensor Ice full condition is a case of detecting that it is full of the ices, even when a manual drainage switch is at least one condition of the manual drainage conditions is when instructed opening of the drain valve is established, opening the drain valve with, it's also you reset the count time of the regular drainage timer.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an automatic ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
An auger 6 having a spiral blade is provided inside the refrigeration casing 1 made of a cylindrical member, and is rotatably supported by an upper bearing 7 and a lower bearing 8. The auger 6 is connected to a geared motor (GM) 10 via a speed reducer 9 at the lower end. A cooling pipe 5 as an evaporator is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 1, and a condenser 4, a compressor (CM) 2 and the like are connected to the cooling pipe 5 to form a refrigeration circuit. A fan motor 3 that cools the condenser 4 is provided opposite to the condenser 4.
[0010]
On the inner wall of the refrigeration casing 1, an ice making part 22 for supplying ice making water and producing ice is formed. One end of each of the water supply pipe 16 and the drain pipe 20 is connected to the ice making unit 22 at the lower part of the refrigeration casing 1. A drain valve 21 is provided in the drain pipe 20, and a control circuit 101 is connected to the drain valve 21. The other end of the water supply pipe 16 opens at the bottom of the ice making water tank 15. In the ice making water tank 15, a water level sensor 18 for detecting an upper limit water level H and a lower limit water level L of the ice making water tank 15 is provided. A control circuit 101 is connected to the water level sensor 18.
Further, an external water supply pipe 17 for guiding the ice making water to the ice making water tank 15 is provided at the upper part of the ice making water tank 15. A water supply valve 19 is provided in the external water supply pipe 17, and a control circuit 101 is connected to the water supply valve 19.
Further, a pressing head 11 is formed on the upper portion of the refrigeration casing 1, and the pressing head 11 is connected to an ice storage tank 13 via an ice transport pipe 12.
The ice storage tank 13 is provided with an ice storage sensor 14 for detecting that the ice storage tank is full of ice, that is, full ice. A control circuit 101 is connected to the ice storage sensor 14.
[0011]
The control circuit 101 is connected to a regular drain timer 102 that counts time in order to drain the drain valve 21 periodically.
Further, a manual drain switch 103 is connected to the control circuit 101 so that a user of the automatic ice maker can directly instruct the valve opening of the drain valve 21.
Further, the compressor 2, the fan motor 3 and the geared motor 10 are connected to the control circuit 101.
[0012]
The control circuit 101 determines the upper limit water level H and lower limit water level L of the ice making water tank 15 detected by the water level sensor 18 at the start of ice making, and opens the water supply valve 19 until the ice making water tank 15 reaches the upper limit water level H. When the ice making water tank 15 reaches the upper limit water level H, the control circuit 101 starts the ice making operation by operating the geared motor 10 after operating the compressor 2. During the ice making operation, when the ice making water in the ice making water tank 15 reaches the lower limit water level L, the control circuit 101 opens the water supply valve 19 based on the signal from the water level sensor 18 to supply ice making water until the upper limit water level H is reached. .
The ice making water stored in the ice making water tank 15 is supplied from the water supply pipe 16 to the refrigeration casing 1, ice is generated in the ice making part 22 of the refrigeration casing 1, and the ice is scraped off by the auger 6. It is transported toward 11. In the pressing head 11, the ice is compressed, and the compressed ice is sent to the ice storage tank 13 through the ice transport pipe 12.
[0013]
Next, the operation of the automatic ice making machine according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step S1, the control circuit 101 confirms the operation history of the drain valve 21 and the water supply valve 19 and determines whether the water supply valve 19 is first opened after the previous drain valve 21 was opened. If the water supply valve 19 is first opened after the previous drain valve 21 was opened, the count time TE of the regular drain timer 102 starts to be counted from 0 in step S2. If the water supply valve 19 is not open or if the water supply valve 19 is open but the water supply valve 19 is not opened first after the previous drain valve was opened, the determination in step S1 is repeated.
Next, in step S3, the control circuit 101 determines whether or not the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 has reached a certain time Ta.
When the control circuit 101 determines that the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 has reached the predetermined time Ta, that is, when the regular drainage condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S6, and the control circuit 101 includes the compressor 2 and the geared motor 10. The ice making operation is temporarily suspended and the drain valve 21 is opened for a certain period of time to perform drainage treatment for discharging the ice making water remaining in the refrigeration casing 1. Thereby, the refrigeration casing 1 is regularly cleaned. Furthermore, it progresses to step S7, the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 is reset to 0, and a series of control is complete | finished.
[0014]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 has not reached the predetermined time Ta, the control circuit 101 checks in step S4 whether or not the ice storage sensor 14 has detected full ice. . If the ice storage sensor 14 detects that the ice is full, the process proceeds to step S6, and the control circuit 101 temporarily stops the ice making operation and opens the drain valve 21 for a certain period of time, as described above, to open the refrigeration casing. The waste water treatment which discharges the ice making water remaining in 1 is performed. Furthermore, it progresses to step S7, the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 is reset to 0, and a series of control is complete | finished.
If the ice storage sensor 14 does not detect full ice in step S4, it is determined that the ice storage tank 13 has not reached full ice, and the process proceeds to step S5.
In step S5, the control circuit 101 confirms the ON / OFF state of the manual discharge switch 103. If the manual discharge switch 103 is ON, the manual drain condition instructed to open the drain valve 21 is satisfied. After the determination, the process proceeds to step S6, and as described above, the ice making operation is temporarily interrupted and the waste water treatment is performed. Furthermore, it progresses to step S7, the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 is reset to 0, and a series of control is complete | finished.
On the other hand, if the manual discharge switch 103 is in the OFF state, the process returns to step S3 while continuing the count of the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102.
[0015]
In addition, when the regular drainage condition or the manual drainage condition is established and the drainage treatment is performed, the ice making operation is resumed immediately after the drainage treatment. When drainage treatment is performed when the full ice condition is established, the ice making operation is resumed only after the full ice condition is canceled.
[0016]
As described above, when the ice storage sensor 14 detects full ice and when the manual discharge switch 103 is turned on, drainage processing is performed and the count time TE of the periodic drainage timer 102 is reset to zero. Thereby, since the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 is counted again from 0, drainage by the regular drainage timer 102 is not performed again immediately after the drainage treatment is performed. Therefore, unnecessary drainage is not performed.
[0017]
2, whether or not the water level sensor 18 has detected the upper limit water level H of the ice making water tank 15 is determined instead of determining whether the water supply valve 19 is first opened after the drain valve 21 was opened last time. You may judge. When the water level sensor 18 detects the upper limit water level H of the ice making water tank 15, it starts counting the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 from 0 in step S2. If the water level sensor 18 does not detect the upper limit water level H of the ice making water tank 15, the determination in step S1 is repeated.
Further, in step S4 in FIG. 2, when the ice storage sensor 14 continues to detect full ice for a certain period of time, the ice storage tank 13 may be determined to be full and drainage processing may be performed.
Furthermore, in step S7 of FIG. 2, the count time TE of the regular drainage timer 102 may be reset to a predetermined value other than 0 instead of being reset to 0.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the periodic drainage condition when the regular drainage timer reaches a certain time, the full ice condition when the ice storage sensor detects that the ice is full, and the manual drainage switch When at least one of the manual drainage conditions, which is when the drain valve is instructed to open, is satisfied, the control circuit opens the drain valve and resets the count time of the periodic drain timer, so drainage is efficient. It is possible to prevent wasteful consumption of ice making water. Moreover, the frequency of wastewater treatment based on the regular drainage conditions is reduced, and the ice making operation is less likely to be temporarily stopped. In addition, even if the ice storage tank does not become full and the ice in the ice storage tank continues to be used, if the regular drainage condition or manual drainage condition is satisfied, the wastewater treatment will be performed. The ice making water is retained for a long time, and the quality of the ice making water is not deteriorated.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic ice maker according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional automatic ice making machine.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Ice storage tank, 14 ... Ice storage sensor, 15 ... Ice making water tank, 18 ... Water level sensor, 19 ... Water supply valve, 21 ... Drain valve, 22 ... Ice making part, 101 ... Control circuit, 102 ... Periodic drainage timer, 103 ... Manual Drain switch.

Claims (1)

An automatic ice making machine that continuously makes ice making water supplied from an ice making water tank in an ice making unit and stores the ice in an ice storage tank,
An ice storage sensor installed in the ice storage tank for detecting the amount of ice stored in the ice storage tank;
A water supply valve for supplying ice making water to the ice making unit;
A drain valve for discharging the ice making water remaining in the ice making section;
A manual drain switch for instructing to open the drain valve;
A periodic drain timer that starts a count time when the water supply valve is first opened after the drain valve is opened,
A control circuit for opening the drain valve and resetting the count time of the regular drain timer when a regular drain condition is established, which is a case where the regular drain timer reaches a certain time ;
In an automatic ice maker equipped with
The control circuit is added when the regular drainage condition is satisfied,
Full ice condition when the ice storage sensor detects full ice,
Even when at least one condition is satisfied of the manual drainage conditions the manual drainage switch is when instructed opening of the drain valve, is opened to the drain valve, reset the count time of the periodic drainage timer
Automatic ice maker.

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