JP6593963B2 - Ice machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice making machine.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a drum type ice making apparatus including a tank in which ice making water is stored and a drum that is immersed in the ice making water in the tank and is rotatably provided. A refrigeration circuit evaporator is provided inside the drum, and the refrigerant circulating in the evaporator cools the drum itself, thereby forming layered ice on the surface of the drum immersed in the ice making water. The The ice formed on the surface of the drum comes out on the surface of the ice making water as the tank rotates, and is then peeled off by a cutter fixed to the tank to become ice pieces and guided into the ice storage.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 13A, after the ice layer L8 having a certain thickness or more is formed on the surface of the drum 103, the gear motor 105 shown in FIG. The reason for forming the ice layer L8 before the operation of the gear motor 105 is that if the thickness of the ice is thin, the ice enters the gap between the cutter 109 and the drum 103, which may cause an overload to the gear motor 105. Because.

JP-A-8-29032

  However, since the ice layer L8 is formed under the surface of the ice making water while the drum 103 is stationary, the ice edge E7 is in the direction of the rotation axis of the drum 103, that is, the cutter 109 as shown in FIG. It extends in a direction substantially parallel to the blade. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13 (b), when the drum 103 starts to rotate and enters the step of peeling off the ice, the edge E7 of the ice formed almost in parallel with the blade of the cutter 109 is peeled off at once. There is a need to. Accordingly, the corresponding force is applied to the gear motor 105, and depending on the thickness of the ice layer, the torque peak at the start of the peeling becomes too large, and the gear motor 105 cannot peel the ice and the motor lock occurs. there's a possibility that.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ice making machine capable of reducing the load of a motor for rotationally driving a drum at the start of peeling of ice formed on the drum. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an ice making machine according to the present invention is provided with a tank in which ice-making water is stored and a tank in which the refrigerant flows, and the refrigerant and ice-making water exchange heat. A drum in which ice is formed on the surface, a driving device that rotates the drum, a cutter that scrapes off the ice from the surface of the drum, and a corrugated edge that forms an edge of the ice facing the cutter in a wave shape Part forming means.

Further, the corrugated edge forming means of the ice making machine according to the present invention may have a watering device capable of forming the edge of ice into a wave shape by spraying water on the surface of the drum.
The watering device has a watering pipe that extends in parallel with the extending direction of the rotating shaft of the drum and through which ice-making water circulates. The watering pipe includes a plurality of watering pipes for spraying ice-making water on the surface of the drum. Sprinkling holes may be provided side by side in the extending direction of the watering pipe.
Moreover, the watering pipe is provided so that rotation is possible, and the position of the watering hole with respect to a drum may be variable.

  Further, the corrugated edge forming means of the ice making machine has a wave generating device that forms an edge of the ice into a wave shape by generating a wave on the surface of the ice making water in the tank.

  Further, the drive device of the ice making machine may start the rotation of the drum when a predetermined time has passed or the temperature of the refrigerant has fallen below a predetermined temperature.

  According to the ice making machine according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the motor that rotationally drives the drum at the start of peeling of the ice formed on the drum.

It is a typical section side view of the ice making part of the ice making machine concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a state in which water is sprayed from a sprinkling pipe to the drum of the ice making machine shown in FIG. 1 and a new ice layer is formed on the surface of the ice making water. It is a side view which shows typically the state of the outer peripheral surface of a drum when water is sprinkled from the water sprinkling pipe to the drum of the ice making machine shown in FIG. 1, and a new ice layer is formed on the surface of the ice making water. . FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view schematically showing a state in which the end of the ice layer is in contact with the blade edge of the cutter immediately before the ice layer formed on the drum of the ice making machine shown in FIG. 1 is scraped off by the cutter. FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing an ice making part in a state where a new ice layer shown in FIG. 4 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum of the ice making machine shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing that a new ice layer shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is scraped off from the outer peripheral surface of the drum of the ice making machine shown in FIG. 1 by a cutter. It is a typical cross-sectional side view of the ice making part of the ice making machine according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. It is a typical cross-sectional side view of the ice making part of the ice making machine according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the ice making part of the ice making machine shown in FIG. It is a typical section side view of the ice making part of the ice making machine concerning Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a typical section side view of the ice making part of the ice making machine concerning Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a typical section side view of the ice making part of the ice making machine concerning Embodiment 6 of this invention. FIG. 13A is a schematic cross-sectional side view of an ice making part of an ice making machine according to a conventional example, and FIG. 13B is a diagram showing a drum formed by rotating the drum of the ice making machine shown in FIG. It is a cross-sectional side view which shows typically the state which the edge part of the ice layer formed in the outer peripheral surface contact | abutted to the blade edge | tip of the cutter. It is a perspective view of the ice making part of the ice making machine shown to Fig.13 (a).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ice making machine 100 has an ice making unit 10 for making ice, and the ice making unit 10 has a tank 4 for storing ice making water W. As shown in FIG. 5, the tank 4 includes side walls 14 and 15 that face each other. Further, the tank 4 includes a tank main body 4a having a substantially C shape with a cross section opened upward, and a cutter mount 4b attached to the tank main body 4a between the side wall 14 and the side wall 15. A water supply pipe 40 for supplying ice-making water W to the inside of the tank 4 is provided above the tank 4. The water supply pipe 40 has a valve 41.
Here, in the following description, the side on which the cutter mount 4b is attached to the tank body 4a is referred to as a front side F, and the opposite side is referred to as a rear side B.
Further, the water surface of the ice making water W filled in the tank 4 is set to H.

A substantially cylindrical drum 3 is accommodated in the tank 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the drum 3 is arranged so that about 2/3 is immersed in the ice making water W and about 1/3 on the upper side is exposed above the water surface H of the ice making water W. Further, the drum 3 has a rotation shaft 3 a, and the rotation shaft 3 a is rotatably supported on the side walls 14 and 15 of the tank body 4 a and one end is connected to the gear motor 5. Accordingly, the drum 3 is provided inside the tank 4 so as to be integrally rotatable in the direction R of the arrow in FIG. 1 as the rotary shaft 3a rotates. The other end of the rotating shaft 3 a is connected to the refrigerant inlet / outlet portion 7 provided outside the side wall 14 of the tank 4. The drum 3 is connected to a refrigeration circuit 19 outside the tank 4 through a refrigerant inlet / outlet part 7 connected to the rotating shaft 3a. Accordingly, the refrigerant flows through the drum 3 and the drum 3 functions as an evaporator. In addition, the refrigerant inlet / outlet portion 7 incorporates a temperature sensor 7 a that measures the outlet side temperature of the refrigerant flowing out of the drum 3.
Here, the gear motor 5 constitutes a driving device that rotates the drum 3.

Further, above the drum 3, a sprinkling pipe 20 is bridged in parallel with the extending direction of the rotating shaft 3 a of the drum 3. The watering pipe 20 is formed with five watering holes 20a arranged at equal intervals. The sprinkling holes 20a are formed at positions where they are disposed obliquely downward toward the rear side B.
Here, the watering pipe 20 constitutes a corrugated edge forming means.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a pump 6 is provided outside the side wall 14 of the tank 4. The pump 6 communicates with the inside of the tank 4. Furthermore, one end of a pump pipe 6 a is connected to the pump 6. The other end of the pump pipe 6 a penetrates the side wall 14 of the tank 4 and is connected to a watering pipe 20 provided inside the tank 4.
Here, the control device 90 is electrically connected to the temperature sensor 7 a of the gear motor 5, the pump 6, and the refrigerant inlet / outlet portion 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a substantially plate-shaped cutter 9 is attached to the cutter mount 4b of the tank 4 with the blade edge 9a facing obliquely upward. The cutting edge 9a of the cutter 9 is close to the outer peripheral surface which is the surface of the drum 3 with a slight gap. An ice guide plate 9 b is attached to the upper surface of the cutter 9.

  Further, the ice making machine has an outer wall 11 on the front side of the tank 4, and a chute 12 that is a space extending downward is provided between the tank 4 and the outer wall 11. The lower end of the chute 12 communicates with an ice storage (not shown).

Next, operation | movement of the ice making part 10 of the ice making machine 100 is demonstrated using FIGS.
First, the refrigeration circuit 19 outside the tank 4 starts operation, and the refrigerant circulates inside the drum 3 through the refrigerant inlet / outlet portion 7 and the rotating shaft 3a. Then, on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3, the refrigerant exchanges heat with the ice making water W, and the ice making water W is cooled to form an ice layer L <b> 1 in a portion below the water surface H on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3. The ice layer L1 increases in thickness over time.
In addition, the process in which the ice layer L1 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 below the water surface H is referred to as an ice making process.

Next, the control device 90 turns on the operation of the pump 6 when the operation of the refrigeration circuit 19 is started, and causes the pump 6 to pump up the ice making water W inside the tank 4. The ice-making water W pumped up flows into the sprinkling pipe 20 through the pump pipe 6a. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ice making water W is sprinkled from the five sprinkling holes 20 a of the sprinkling pipe 20 toward the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3. At this time, a region where the ice making water W is sprinkled from the sprinkling pipe 20 onto the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 is defined as a sprinkling region S. Thereby, on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 above the water surface H, the ice making water W sprinkled in the sprinkling region S is cooled, and a new ice layer L2 is formed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the edge E1 on the rotation direction R side of the ice layer L2 has a wave shape having five vertices T1 respectively corresponding to the positions of the watering holes 20a of the watering pipe 20. The ice layer L2 above the water surface H is thinner than the ice layer L1 below the water surface H.
Here, the wavy shape formed by the edge E1 of the ice layer L2 is such that the edge E1 is closer or farther away from the blade edge 9a of the cutter 9 across the width direction of the drum 3. It is a trajectory of a curve that changes and extends. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the range in which the edge E1 undulates is a range of about Θ = 18 ° in the rotation direction R of the drum 3, but is not limited thereto, and the edge E1 is Any wave shape may be used as long as no excessive load is generated when the cutter 9 peels off the ice layer L2.
The amount of ice-making water W that the pump 6 supplies to the sprinkling pipe 20 is appropriately adjusted by a control device that is electrically connected to the pump 6.

  Here, when the gear motor 5 drives the drum 3 to rotate, the control device 90 can appropriately change the setting of the operation start condition of the gear motor 5 according to the installation environment of the ice making machine 100 or the like. That is, the control device 90 operates the gear motor 5 so that the ice layer L1 has a thickness sufficient to obtain a sufficient amount of ice making and prevent the motor lock of the gear motor 5 from being generated at the time of peeling. Adjust the start condition. Specifically, the control device 90 determines that the ice layer L1 has reached an appropriate thickness when 120 seconds have elapsed from the start of operation of the refrigeration circuit 19, and starts the operation of the gear motor 5. Further, the control device 90 may start the operation of the gear motor 5 when the refrigerant outlet temperature measured by the temperature sensor 7a of the refrigerant inlet / outlet section 7 records -8 degrees.

  When the ice layer L2 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 and the ice layer L1 has a predetermined thickness, the control device 90 starts driving the gear motor 5 as shown in FIGS. 3 is rotationally driven in the rotational direction R. At this time, when the ice layer L1 exceeds the water surface H of the ice making water W and the water spray area S, the ice layer L1 is dried by heat exchange, is supercooled, and becomes supercooled ice. Here, a process in which the ice layer L1 located below the water surface H comes out by the rotation of the drum 3 and is supercooled is referred to as a supercooling process.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the ice layers L1 and L2 are gradually scraped off by the cutter 9 starting from the wavy mountain portion of the edge E1 of the ice layer L2 to become ice pieces P. The ice piece P slides down on the ice guide plate 9b on the upper surface of the cutter 9, falls on the chute 12, and is stored in the ice storage below.
The process of peeling the ice layers L1 and L2 with the cutter 9 is defined as a peeling process.

  As described above, in the ice making machine 100 according to the first embodiment, the edge E1 of the ice layer L2 on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 is formed in a wave shape by watering from the watering pipe 20. As a result, the force acting between the blade edge 9a of the cutter 9 and the drum 3 when starting the peeling is smaller than when peeling an ice layer having a substantially straight edge as shown in FIG. The load applied to the gear motor 5 is reduced. Therefore, the torque peak related to the rotational drive of the drum 3 can be suppressed, and the situation where the gear motor 5 is locked can be prevented.

  Furthermore, the gear motor 5 starts the rotation drive of the drum 3 when a predetermined time has passed through the refrigerant in the drum 3 or when the refrigerant outlet side temperature in the refrigerant inlet / outlet section 7 is lower than the predetermined temperature. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately adjust the thickness of the ice layer L1 before the start of peeling, and it is possible to more reliably prevent the occurrence of motor lock of the gear motor 5 while ensuring a certain amount of ice making.

  In this embodiment, watering by the watering pipe 20 is always performed during the operation of the refrigeration circuit 19, but is not limited thereto, and the operation of the gear motor 5 is started after the operation of the refrigeration circuit 19 is started. Watering may be performed only until Thus, by spraying water on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 only immediately before the operation of the gear motor 5 is started, the water spray region S becomes narrower, and accordingly, the range of the supercooling process on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 is reduced. Can be taken widely.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 7 shows the configuration of ice making unit 120 of ice making machine 200 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the following description, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are the same or similar components, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.
An air pump 50 is provided in the ice making water W inside the tank 4 of the ice making unit 120 of the ice making machine 200. When the air pump 50 is operated together with the driving of the refrigeration circuit 19, bubbles are generated and a wave is generated on the water surface H. Accordingly, the edge E2 facing the cutter 9 of the ice layer L3 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 corresponds to the edge E1 of the ice layer L2 of the ice making machine 100 corresponding to the wave generated on the water surface H. Similarly, it forms a wave shape over the direction in which the rotating shaft 3a of the drum 3 extends.
The air pump 50 constitutes a wave edge forming means and a wave generator.

  As described above, in the ice making machine 200 according to the second embodiment, by generating bubbles from the air pump 50 in the ice making water W stored in the tank 4, the ice layer L3 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 is obtained. The edge portion E2 can be wave-shaped. Therefore, similarly to the ice making machine 100 of the first embodiment, the load applied to the gear motor 5 at the start of peeling of the ice layer L3 by the cutter 9 is reduced, and the situation where the gear motor 5 is locked can be prevented.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
8 and 9 show the configuration of the ice making unit 130 of the ice making machine 300 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
Inside the tank 4 of the ice making unit 130 of the ice making machine 300, a second pipe 23 is provided adjacent to the sprinkling pipe 20. The second pipe 23 extends in parallel with the direction in which the water spray pipe 20 extends. In the second pipe 23, a plurality of water discharge holes 23a are formed side by side in the extending direction of the second pipe 23. A second pump 30 is provided outside the tank 4, and the second pipe 23 is connected to the second pump 30. As the refrigeration circuit 19 is driven, ice-making water W is sent to the second pipe 23 by the second pump 30 and sprinkled from the water discharge hole 23a to the water surface H as shown in FIG. Will occur. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the edge E3 of the ice layer L4 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 that faces the cutter 9 corresponds to the waves generated on the water surface H, and the ice of the ice making machine 100 Similar to the edge E1 of the layer L2, it forms a wave shape over the direction in which the rotating shaft 3a of the drum 3 extends.
The second pipe 23 constitutes a corrugated edge forming means and a wave generating device.

  As described above, in the ice making machine 300 according to the third embodiment, the edge E3 of the ice layer L4 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 by being sprinkled from the second pipe 23 onto the water surface H of the ice making water W. Can be wave-shaped. Therefore, similarly to the ice making machine 100 of the first embodiment, the load applied to the gear motor 5 at the start of peeling of the ice layer L4 by the cutter 9 is reduced, and the situation where the gear motor 5 is locked can be prevented.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 10 shows the configuration of ice making unit 140 of ice making machine 400 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.
First, the valve 41 of the water supply pipe 40 that opens toward the inside of the tank 4 of the ice making unit 140 of the ice making machine 400 is opened along with the driving of the refrigeration circuit 19, so that the ice making water W flows from the water supply pipe 40 to the water surface H. Supplied towards. As a result, a wave is generated on the water surface H of the ice making water W stored in the tank 4. Therefore, the edge E4 facing the cutter 9 of the ice layer L5 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 corresponds to the edge E1 of the ice layer L2 of the ice making machine 100 corresponding to the wave generated on the water surface H. Similarly, it forms a wave shape over the direction in which the rotating shaft 3a of the drum 3 extends.
In this embodiment, the water supply pipe 40 constitutes a corrugated edge forming means and a wave generating device.

  As described above, in the ice making unit 140 of the ice making machine 400 according to the fourth embodiment, the ice making water W is supplied from the water supply pipe 40 to the inside of the tank 4, whereby the ice layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3. The edge portion E4 of L5 can have a wave shape. Therefore, similarly to the ice making machine 100 of the first embodiment, the load applied to the gear motor 5 at the start of peeling of the ice layer L5 by the cutter 9 is reduced, and the situation where the gear motor 5 is locked can be prevented.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
FIG. 11 shows the configuration of ice making unit 150 of ice making machine 500 according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.
A drain pipe 60 is provided at the bottom of the tank 4 of the ice making unit 150 of the ice making machine 500. The drain pipe 60 has a valve (not shown). Then, as the refrigeration circuit 19 starts to be driven, the valve is opened, and the ice making water W is discharged from the drain pipe 60 to the outside, so that a wave is generated on the water surface H. Therefore, the edge E5 facing the cutter 9 of the ice layer L6 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 corresponds to the edge E1 of the ice layer L2 of the ice making machine 100 in response to the wave generated on the water surface H. Similarly, it forms a wave shape over the direction in which the rotating shaft 3a of the drum 3 extends.
The drain pipe 60 constitutes a corrugated edge forming means and a wave generator.

  As described above, in the ice making machine 500 according to the fourth embodiment, the ice making water W is discharged from the drain pipe 60, whereby the edge E5 of the ice layer L6 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 has a wave shape. can do. Therefore, similarly to the ice making machine 100 of the first embodiment, the load applied to the gear motor 5 at the start of peeling of the ice layer L6 by the cutter 9 is reduced, and the situation where the gear motor 5 is locked can be prevented.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
FIG. 12 shows the configuration of ice making unit 160 of ice making machine 600 according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.
The water spray pipe 62 of the ice making unit 160 of the ice making machine 600 is rotatably provided inside the tank 4. The watering pipe 62 is formed with five watering holes 62 a arranged at equal intervals. The water sprinkling pipe 62 sprinkles water on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 while rotating in the front-rear direction. That is, the position of the watering hole 62a of the watering pipe 62 with respect to the drum 3 is variable and can be moved to the position 62a ′. As a result, an ice layer L7 having a corrugated edge E6 facing the cutter 9 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 3 above the water surface H.

  As described above, in the ice making machine 600 according to the sixth embodiment, since the sprinkling pipe 62 rotates and the position of the sprinkling hole 62a changes, the edge E6 of the ice layer L7 can be formed in a wave shape. The thickness of the ice layer L7 can be made more uniform. Therefore, the ice layer L7 can be peeled off more efficiently by the cutter 9, and the load applied to the gear motor 5 at the start of peeling is further reduced.

  3 drums, 4 tanks, 5 gear motors (driving devices), 9 cutters, 20 watering pipes (waveform edge forming means, watering devices), 20a watering holes, 23 second pipes (waveform edge forming means, wave generating devices), 40 Water supply pipe (waveform edge forming means, wave generator), 60 Drain pipe (waveform edge formation means, wave generator), 62 Water sprinkling pipe (waveform edge forming means, water sprinkler), 62a Water spray hole, 100, 200,300,400,500,600 ice making machine, W ice making water.

Claims (6)

A tank for storing ice making water,
A drum in which ice is formed on the surface by being arranged in the tank and having a refrigerant circulating therein and heat exchange between the refrigerant and the ice-making water;
A driving device for rotating the drum;
A cutter for scraping the ice from the surface of the drum;
An ice making machine comprising corrugated edge forming means for forming an edge of the ice facing the cutter in a wave shape.   2. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the corrugated edge forming means includes a watering device that forms the edge of the ice into a wave shape by spraying water on the surface of the drum.   The watering device has a watering pipe that extends in parallel with the extending direction of the rotating shaft of the drum and through which the ice making water flows, and the watering pipe sprays the ice making water on the surface of the drum. The ice making machine according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of water sprinkling holes are provided side by side in an extending direction of the sprinkling pipe.   The ice making machine according to claim 3, wherein the watering pipe is rotatably provided, and the position of the watering hole with respect to the drum is variable.   2. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the corrugated edge forming unit includes a wave generator that forms a wave shape on the ice edge by generating a wave on a surface of the ice making water in the tank.   The said drive device starts rotation of the said drum, when the time when the said refrigerant | coolant distribute | circulated the inside of the said drum passes predetermined time, or when the temperature of the said refrigerant | coolant falls below predetermined temperature. The ice making machine as described in any one of.

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