JP5142853B2 - Ice separator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice separator for separating ice from a sherbet-like slurry ice formed by mixing a liquid such as water or salt water and ice.

  In recent years, for example, sherbet-like slurry ice formed by mixing water and ice has been found suitable for transporting fresh food (for example, fish), and such slurry ice is used.

By the way, slurry ice is manufactured by an ice making machine, and is usually sent to a place where it is used via a pipe and once stored in a large storage tank, from which ice is discharged according to the purpose of use. In addition, water was newly mixed at a predetermined ratio and transported to the final consumption area (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 03-500806

  According to the above-described conventional configuration, if it is attempted to adjust the ratio of ice in the final consumption area, it is necessary to take out only ice. Conceivable. In this method, slurry ice is put in a basket of a predetermined volume and only water is discharged from the bottom so that granular ice is taken out in a batch manner. However, granular ice is taken out continuously. It is hoped that.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the ice separation apparatus which can isolate | separate and take out ice content from the slurry ice transported by slurry continuously.

In order to solve the above problems, an ice separation device according to claim 1 of the present invention is an apparatus for separating ice from a sherbet-like slurry ice formed by mixing a liquid such as water and salt water with ice,
A separation container capable of storing slurry ice;
A slurry ice introduction pipe for guiding slurry ice to the lower part in the separation container;
An overflow pipe having one end connected to the upper part of the separation container and the other end opened at a position lower than the one end;
An ice dispenser that disposes the ice that is placed above the separation container and pushed up to the top of the separation container ;
In addition, the filter is disposed in the separation container, and the tip of the slurry ice introduction tube is positioned above the filter .

The ice separator according to claim 2 is an apparatus for separating ice from a sherbet-like slurry ice formed by mixing water and a liquid such as salt water and ice,
A separation container capable of storing slurry ice;
A slurry ice introduction pipe for guiding slurry ice to the lower part in the separation container;
A lower overflow pipe having a lower end connected to a lower portion of the separation container and an upper end opened at a position below the upper end surface of the separation container;
An upper overflow pipe whose one end is connected to the separation container above the upper end of the lower overflow pipe and whose other end is opened at a position lower than the one end;
It is composed of an ice dispenser that is disposed above the separation container and dispenses the ice that has been pushed up to the top of the separation container.

An ice separation device according to claim 3 is a device in which a filter is disposed in the separation container in the device according to claim 2, and the tip of the slurry ice introduction pipe is positioned above the filter. .

  According to the above configuration, the slurry ice transported in the slurry is guided into the separation container, and after the liquid component is discharged by the overflow pipe or the upper overflow pipe, the ice layer pushed up to the upper part of the separation container is Since the ice is dispensed by the ice dispenser, the ice content can be continuously separated and taken out at a place where ice is required.

  Also, by providing a lower overflow pipe in addition to the upper overflow pipe, even if a large amount of slurry ice is introduced into the separation container, the liquid is discharged from the lower overflow pipe, so that it overflows from the separation container. It can be prevented from coming out.

Further, by providing a filter in the separation container and positioning the tip of the slurry introduction tube above the filter, it is possible to more reliably separate ice.
Furthermore, since the surface position detecting means capable of detecting the surface position of the ice layer in the separation container and the control means for operating the ice dispenser based on the detected position detected by the surface position detecting means are provided, A quantity of ice can be taken out automatically.

Hereinafter, an ice separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Note that the ice separation device according to the present embodiment uses, for example, a sherbet-shaped slurry ice prepared by mixing ice with water or salt water produced by an ice making machine through a pipe, that is, by slurry transport. It is transported to the place where it is needed, for example, the place where the ice is used, the place where it is consumed (hereinafter referred to as the place of use), and is equipped with an ice making facility that can separate and remove the ice from the slurry ice at the place of use. Although described as a thing, this ice separation device can be installed as a single device at a certain distance from the ice making machine.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this ice making facility is roughly divided into an ice making machine 1 for producing a sherbet-like slurry ice in which ice is mixed with water or salt water (which is a liquid component, hereinafter referred to as water). An ice separation device 3 for guiding slurry ice produced by the ice making machine 1 through a slurry transport pipe 2 and separating it from water or the like as granular ice obtained by growing sherbet-like ice to a certain extent; The water separation tank 5 is configured to be able to guide and store the remaining water from which the ice content has been separated by the ice separation device 3 through the water collection pipe 4. Actually, salt water is used as the liquid in the slurry ice. Specifically, when transporting fresh fish or the like, it is packed together with the fish for freezing. Further, cold water or the like stored in the water recovery tank 5 is returned to the ice making machine 1 through the cold water transfer pipe 6.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ice separation device 3 according to the present invention has a vertical cylindrical shape or a vertically long box having a storage chamber 12 having an open upper surface (that is, a storage chamber with a bottom). And a filter (a sherbet-shaped filter) provided at a predetermined height position (predetermined lower position) h from the bottom surface of the storage chamber 12 of the separation container 11. 13 having an opening that makes it difficult for ice to pass through), and one end is connected to the tip of the slurry transport pipe 2 and has an on-off valve 15 in the middle and the other end for the separation. The slurry ice introduction pipe 14 connected to the lower part of the container 11, that is, opened to the upper position of the filter 13 in the storage chamber 12, and the lower end part is located below the separating container 11, more precisely below the filter 13. Connected (reservoir A lower overflow pipe 16 having an upper end opened at a position below the upper end surface of the container (also referred to as a lower draining position) H1 (indicated by a height from the bottom of the container), and the lower overflow pipe 16 A water recovery container 17 for recovering more discharged (overflowed) water, and a base position (one end) above the lower overflow pipe 16 at a predetermined position (also referred to as an upper draining position) H2 (from the bottom of the container) Connected to the separation container 11 (indicated by height) (therefore, a position below the upper end surface of the separation container, which is also opened in the storage chamber) and the tip (the other end) Is disposed above the separation container 11 and pushed up to the top of the separation container 11. The upper overflow pipe 18 is opened in the water recovery container 17 at a position below the base end. An ice dispenser 19 for discharging granular ice (floating), a discharge chute 20 for guiding the ice dispensed by the ice dispenser 19 to the outside of the separation container 11, and the separation container 11 is a surface position detection means (for example, an ultrasonic sensor is used) 21 for detecting the surface position of the granular ice content, for example, from the upper end surface of the container, and the surface position detection means 21. And a control means 22 for controlling the ice dispenser 19 and the on-off valve 15 by inputting the detected position.

  The ice dispenser 19 is, for example, a square-shaped (or plate-shaped) pushing member (also referred to as a scraper) that is provided so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction on the upper surface of the separation container 11 and can push out the ice layer C protruding from the surface. ) 31 and a cylinder device 32 for reciprocating the pushing member 31 in the horizontal direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control means 22 receives a detection signal from the surface position detection means 21, obtains the height from the position of the upper end surface of the separation container 11, and based on this height, The volume calculation unit 41 for determining the volume of ice above the upper end surface, and the volume calculated by the volume calculation unit 41 are input and compared with a preset set volume to exceed the set volume. If there is, the dispenser operating unit 42 for operating the ice dispenser 19 to dispense the granular ice layer C pushed up to the upper part of the separation container 11 to the discharge chute 20, and the volume calculating unit An opening degree control unit 43 that controls the opening degree of the on-off valve 15 so that the amount of slurry ice introduced into the separation container 11 by inputting the volume obtained at 41 is constant is provided.

  As described above, the base end portion of the upper overflow pipe 18 is connected to the upper draining position H2 of the separation container 11, that is, a position that is lowered from the upper end surface of the container by a predetermined distance (for example, a distance of about 15 to 25 cm). Has been. This upper draining position H2 is a height necessary for discharging water or the like, for example. In other words, gravity is larger than the surface tension in the upper portion, and water or the like can be drained from the gap between the granular ice. It is at a height.

  On the other hand, the lower end of the lower overflow pipe 16 is connected to the separation container 11 below the filter 13 (more precisely, to the side wall), and of course, the upper end of the lower overflow pipe 16 is connected to the base end of the upper overflow pipe 18. It is opened at a position slightly below.

  By the way, as described above, the lower overflow pipe 16 is provided in addition to the upper overflow pipe 18, but this lower overflow pipe 16 has a large amount of slurry ice introduced (that is, when a large amount of ice is required). In addition, when only the discharge of water or the like from the upper overflow pipe 18 is not enough, the discharge from the lower overflow pipe 16 prevents the water or the like from exceeding the connection position of the base end portion of the upper overflow pipe 18. That is, it is provided to prevent the slurry ice from overflowing from the separation container 11.

This can be explained from the opposite viewpoint as follows.
That is, the upper overflow pipe 18 is provided in addition to the lower overflow pipe 16 when the amount of water discharged from the lower overflow pipe 16 is smaller than the amount of slurry ice introduced (that is, the introduced slurry ice Water), or when the amount of slurry ice introduced is large, the upper surface of the water (moisture) inevitably rises above the lower draining position H1 by the lower overflow pipe 16 This is because the rising amount can be discharged so that water or the like does not overflow from the separation container 11.

Of course, the upper end of the lower overflow pipe 16 is opened in the water recovery container 17.
Next, the operation | movement which isolate | separates a granular ice component from the slurry ice manufactured with the ice making machine 1 is demonstrated.

Slurry ice, which is sherbet-like ice, is produced in the ice making machine 1 and stored in a storage tank on the ice making machine 1 side.
Then, the slurry ice in the storage tank can be stored in the separation container 11 through the slurry transport pipe 2 and the slurry ice introduction pipe 14 when the on-off valve 15 is fully opened by a command from the control means 22, for example. After the amount is sent, the on-off valve 15 is once closed and left in this state for a while.

  As a result, water and ice are substantially separated and settled (this state is also referred to as a balanced state). For example, the lower part is a layer A containing only water, the middle part is a mixed layer B of water and ice, the upper part is divided into a layer C containing only ice, and the intermediate mixed layer B is further divided into water and ice. The state of the gradient in which the ratio changes sequentially (that is, the state of water or the like increases as it goes down, and the mixed layer B is shown in a very simplified manner in FIG. 1). For example, if the height from the bottom of the mixed layer B of water or ice to the surface of the upper ice layer C is 100 cm, the thickness of the ice layer C is about 10 cm. The thickness of the layer sufficiently containing water due to the surface tension varies depending on the ice particle diameter. For example, since the ice used in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and food processing is 1 mm or less, the height of the layer sufficiently containing water is about 3 to 4 cm. The presence of the filter 13 makes it possible to quickly separate water and the like.

  Then, after the slurry ice is calmed down and divided into a lower water equivalent layer A, an intermediate mixed layer B, and an upper ice layer C, an opening / closing valve 15 is provided by an opening degree command from the control means 22. The slurry ice is opened in a fixed amount, and the slurry ice is sequentially fed into the separation container 11.

  In the separation container 11, the upper ice layer C rises by the amount fed. That is, the lower granular ice component adheres to the lower surface of the upper ice layer C and pushes up the upper ice layer C. When the moisture reaches the lower drainage position H1, the moisture flows from the lower overflow pipe 16. Discharged.

  However, in reality, most of the slurry ice that has been fed rises without being discharged from the lower overflow pipe 16. In other words, due to the resistance of the ice stored in the storage chamber, most of it moves upward without moving much downward.

  When the water or the like that has moved to the upper side reaches the connection position of the upper overflow pipe 18, it is discharged from the upper overflow pipe 18, so that the slurry ice is prevented from overflowing from the separation container 11.

  Then, when the ice layer C rises and reaches a predetermined height, that is, when the floating ice layer C reaches a predetermined volume, this is detected by the surface position detection means 21. When this detection signal is input to the control means 22, the ice dispenser 19 is activated, and the upper ice layer (shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1) C is dispensed onto the discharge chute 20 and carried out. Dropped into the container M.

  Here, the action of the filter 13 will be described. When the slurry ice is frequently fed, stirring in the container occurs, but the presence of the filter 13 can quickly separate water and the like. On the other hand, when the slurry ice is little fed, that is, when the slurry ice is slowly fed, the filter 13 can be omitted because the stirring in the container is not so much.

  In this way, the slurry ice produced by the ice making machine 1 is transported to the place of use, that is, the boxing work place of fresh fish through the slurry transport pipe 2, and the necessary amount of granular ice is dispensed on the spot. Can be used for freezing fresh fish.

  In addition, when detecting the thickness of the ice layer C which floated continuously, naturally the extrusion member 31 will be detected, but the set height at the time of paying out is smaller than the thickness of the extrusion member 31 By setting a value (for example, when the thickness of the extruded member 31 is 5 cm, the set height is about 3 cm), it is possible to distinguish whether the extruded member 31 or the ice layer is detected. it can.

  By the way, in the above-described embodiment, the ice dispenser 19 moves the scraper-type pushing member 31 in the horizontal direction to remove the ice layer C protruding upward from the upper end surface of the separation container 11 into the discharge chute 20. 4 and 5, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the blade member 52 having an outer diameter substantially equal to the upper end opening of the separation container 11 or the outer diameter of the upper end opening of the separation container 11 is larger. It may be a rotary ice dispenser 51, 51 'in which a blade member 52' having an outer diameter, for example, approximately twice the outer diameter is rotated by an electric motor (not shown). Of course, in the case of FIG. 4, the center of the blade member 52 coincides with the center of the separation container 11, and in the case of FIG. 5, the center of the blade member 52 ′ is on the outer periphery of the separation container 11 or Located on the outside.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the lower overflow pipe 16 is provided in addition to the upper overflow pipe 18, but when the amount of slurry ice fed is small, the upper side of the water etc. fed into the separation container 11 Therefore, the lower overflow pipe 16 need not be provided.

It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the ice making equipment provided with the ice separation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the ice separation device. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the control means in the ice separation apparatus. It is a schematic plan view which shows the modification of the ice dispenser in the ice separation apparatus. It is a schematic plan view which shows the modification of the ice dispenser in the ice separation apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ice making equipment 2 Slurry transport pipe 3 Ice separation device 4 Water recovery pipe 5 Water recovery tank 6 Water transfer pipe 11 Separation container 12 Reservoir chamber 13 Filter 14 Slurry ice introduction pipe 15 On-off valve 16 Lower overflow pipe 17 Water recovery container 19 Ice Dispensing machine 20 Discharge chute 21 Surface position detecting means 22 Control means 31 Pushing member 32 Cylinder device 41 Volume calculating part 42 Discharging operation part 43 Opening control part

Claims (3)

An apparatus for separating ice from a sherbet-like slurry ice formed by mixing water and salt water and ice,
A separation container capable of storing slurry ice;
A slurry ice introduction pipe for guiding slurry ice to the lower part in the separation container;
An overflow pipe having one end connected to the upper part of the separation container and the other end opened at a position lower than the one end;
An ice dispenser that disposes the ice that is placed above the separation container and pushed up to the top of the separation container ;
An ice separation device characterized in that a filter is disposed in the separation container and the tip of the slurry ice introduction pipe is positioned above the filter . An apparatus for separating ice from a sherbet-like slurry ice formed by mixing water and salt water and ice,
A separation container capable of storing slurry ice;
A slurry ice introduction pipe for guiding slurry ice to the lower part in the separation container;
A lower overflow pipe having a lower end connected to a lower portion of the separation container and an upper end opened at a position below the upper end surface of the separation container;
An upper overflow pipe whose one end is connected to the separation container above the upper end of the lower overflow pipe and whose other end is opened at a position lower than the one end;
An ice separator comprising: an ice dispenser which is disposed above the separation container and dispenses the ice pushed up above the separation container. The ice separation device according to claim 2 , wherein a filter is disposed in the separation container, and a tip of the slurry ice introduction pipe is positioned above the filter.

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