JP6617953B2 - Ice grain production method and ice grain production stage - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice grain production method for producing substantially spherical ice grains and a mounting table for producing ice grains.

  Conventionally, an apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as an apparatus for obtaining granular ice (ice grains) by dropping a liquid material into a liquid refrigerant. As shown in FIG. 8, this apparatus includes a liquid refrigerant R supplied from a liquid refrigerant supply port 101, for example, a bowl-shaped refrigerant flow path 102 that forms a flow path of liquid nitrogen, and an end of the refrigerant flow path 102. Separation unit 103 provided, ice particle container 104 for containing the generated ice particles T, refrigerant circulation means 105 for circulating and using the liquid refrigerant R, and liquid material provided in the upstream part of the refrigerant flow path 102 And means 106.

  The to-be-frozen liquid L dropped in the liquid refrigerant R is brought into contact with the low-temperature liquid refrigerant R and rapidly cooled, and flows downstream along with the flow of the liquid refrigerant R. Since it freezes while rotating by the flow of the liquid refrigerant R, it becomes a substantially perfect spherical ice particle T. The ice particles T thus formed ride on the flow of the liquid refrigerant R and reach the separation portion 103 at the end of the refrigerant flow path 102, where the liquid refrigerant R enters the liquid recovery container 107 from between the thin rods. The ice particles T that have flowed down and are circulated and used by the refrigerant circulating means 105 slide on a thin rod and fall into the ice particle container 104, and are collected by appropriate means.

JP-A-6-147705

  It can be said that the method of producing ice particles using a conventional apparatus is excellent in that it can produce a large amount of ice particles having a substantially spherical shape and a substantially equivalent size. However, since it is a method of manufacturing using a liquid refrigerant such as liquid nitrogen, a part of the liquid refrigerant is vaporized, and it is necessary to replenish the vaporized liquid refrigerant, and a large amount of liquid refrigerant is cooled. Therefore, it has been necessary to maintain a predetermined cryogenic state, which requires a large production cost, and there has been a problem that it is difficult to efficiently produce substantially spherical ice particles at a low cost.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and provides an ice grain production method and an ice grain production stage that can produce substantially spherical ice grains efficiently at low cost. For the purpose.

The object of the present invention is an ice grain production method for producing substantially spherical ice grains,
A dropping step of dropping a liquid material onto the water-repellent coating layer of the ice particle production stage provided with the water-repellent coating layer to form a substantially spherical liquid to be frozen;
A freezing step of freezing the liquid to be frozen dropped on the water-repellent coating layer to generate ice particles, and the water-repellent coating layer accommodates and supports the liquid to be dripped, A plurality of movement restricting portions for restricting movement; and in the dropping step, a liquid substance is dropped to dispose one liquid to be frozen in each movement restricting portion, and the freezing step The object is achieved by an ice grain production method characterized in that ice liquid is generated by freezing the liquid to be frozen in a state in which the liquid to be frozen is placed on the regulating portion .

  The maximum diameter of the substantially spherical liquid to be frozen is preferably 2 mm to 15 mm.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said freezing step freezes the said to-be-frozen solution at -10 degreeC--50 degreeC, and produces | generates an ice grain.

Another object of the present invention is a mounting table for producing ice particles capable of holding a dropped liquid substance in a substantially spherical shape, which is disposed on the mounting table main body and the upper surface of the mounting table main body, and is dropped. and a water-repellent coating layer supporting liquid material, said water-repellent coating layer has a plurality of movement restricting portion for restricting the movement of the liquid product containing support liquid material is dropped, moved each The restricting unit is achieved by an ice particle manufacturing mounting table that maintains a state where the dropped liquid material is mounted .

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said movement control part is a recessed part formed on the said water-repellent coating layer.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the mounting table main body is a metal sheet body.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the ice-particle manufacturing method and the mounting table for ice-particle manufacture which can manufacture a substantially spherical ice particle efficiently at low cost can be provided.

It is a schematic structure top view of the mounting table for ice grain manufacture concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is principal part expansion schematic structure sectional drawing in the AA cross section of FIG. It is a schematic structure top view explaining the modification of the mounting table for ice grain manufacture shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the process with which the ice grain manufacturing method which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is provided. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the dripping step with which the ice grain manufacturing method which concerns on this invention is provided. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the isolation | separation step with which the ice grain manufacturing method which concerns on this invention is provided. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the suitable ice grain manufacturing apparatus which can be used in order to manufacture an ice grain with the ice grain manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the conventional ice grain manufacturing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an ice grain production method and an ice grain production stage according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration plan view of a mounting table 1 for manufacturing ice particles according to the present invention, and FIG. In addition, in order to make an understanding of a structure easy, each component is shown partially expanded or reduced rather than an actual size ratio. The mounting table 1 for manufacturing ice particles according to the present invention is used when, for example, a liquid material such as water, milk, syrup, coffee, and various juices is frozen to manufacture substantially spherical ice particles. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a mounting table main body 2 and a water-repellent coating layer 3 disposed on the upper surface of the mounting table main body 2 are provided.

  The mounting table main body 2 in the present embodiment is configured by a flexible sheet body. The material for forming the sheet body is not particularly limited. For example, the sheet body can be formed from a resin material such as plastic or a metal material, but the sheet body can be formed from a metal material having high thermal conductivity. preferable. When a metal sheet formed of a metal material is employed as the mounting table body 2, it is possible to quickly cool and freeze the liquid material dropped on the water-repellent coating layer 3. Various metals can be employed as the metal material, and aluminum having particularly high thermal conductivity can be preferably employed. In addition, when forming the mounting base main body 2 with a sheet body, the said sheet body may laminate | stack and form the sheet | seat material each formed from a some material. Moreover, there is no restriction | limiting in particular regarding the thickness of the mounting base main body 2 as long as it has the intensity | strength which does not generate | occur | produce damages, such as a fracture | rupture easily.

  The water repellent coating layer 3 is disposed on the upper surface of the mounting table body 2 as described above. By the action of the water repellent coating layer 3, the dropped liquid material is maintained and supported in a substantially spherical shape. The water-repellent coating layer 3 can be formed by various methods. For example, the water-repellent coating layer 3 can be formed by applying a fluorine-based compound or the like on the mounting table main body 2. In addition, a coating liquid containing metal oxide particles having water repellency is applied onto the mounting table main body 2 in order to form a concavo-convex structure with metal oxide particles having water repellency on the surface of the water repellent coating layer 3. Can be formed. The water-repellent coating layer 3 is preferably configured such that the water-repellent performance is such that, for example, the liquid droplets come into contact with the surface at a contact angle of more than 100 degrees, and in particular, the contact with the surface exceeds 150 degrees. It is more preferable that the structure is super water-repellent so that the droplet contacts at the corner.

  In the present embodiment, the water-repellent coating layer 3 is configured to include a plurality of movement restricting portions 4 that restrict the movement of the dropped liquid material. The movement restricting portion 4 is formed as a concave portion 41 formed by denting the water-repellent coating layer 3 and the mounting table main body 2. The concave portion 41 is formed so as to have a circular shape in plan view, and its inner surface shape is formed into a spherical shape. The size of the recess 41 can be set as appropriate according to the size of the liquid material to be dropped. For example, the recess 41 has an opening edge with a diameter of about 3 mm to 20 mm. Is preferred. Further, the interval between the recesses 41 can be set as appropriate according to the size of the liquid to be dropped. For example, the interval between the recesses 41 may be formed with an interval approximately equal to the diameter of the opening edge. preferable. The depth of the recess 41 is preferably set to about 10% to 60% of the diameter of the opening edge of the recess 41. If it is smaller than 20%, the movement restriction effect on the dropped liquid may be reduced. If it is larger than 50%, the frozen liquid (ice particles) may be released from the water-repellent coating layer 3 after freezing. May become difficult. Here, the specific configuration of the movement restricting portion 4 is not limited to the concave portion 41, and for example, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, a wall body formed to protrude upward from the exposed surface of the water repellent coating layer 3. The movement restricting portion 4 may be formed by configuring 42 (members indicated by hatched portions in FIG. 3) in a lattice shape. It is essential that the surface of the wall 42 is also provided with a water-repellent coating. Even when the wall body 42 is formed as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid material dropped by the action of the water repellent coating layer 3 has a substantially spherical shape in each lattice 43 surrounded by the wall body 42. Supported while maintaining. The movement restricting portion 4 may be configured as a concave portion having a rectangular shape in plan view instead of the concave portion 41 having a circular shape in plan view. Even when the movement restricting portion 4 is configured as a rectangular concave portion in plan view, the liquid material dropped by the action of the water repellent coating layer 3 is supported while maintaining a substantially spherical shape in each concave portion. . The thickness of the water repellent coating layer 3 is preferably set to about 20 μm, for example.

  In the said embodiment, although the example in which the mounting base main body 2 was comprised by the sheet | seat which has flexibility was demonstrated, it is not specifically limited to such a structure, For example, the sheet | seat body and plate body which have rigidity are used. The mounting table main body 2 may be configured by using it.

  Next, the ice particle manufacturing method according to the present invention for manufacturing substantially spherical ice particles using the above-described ice particle manufacturing stage 1 will be described below. The ice particle production method according to the present invention is a method of producing substantially spherical ice particles by freezing liquid materials such as water, milk, syrup, coffee, and various juices, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. The dropping step S1, the freezing step S2, and the separation step S3 are provided. Here, the term “substantially spherical” refers to a spherical shape, an elliptical spherical shape, a shape that has a flat portion in part but is recognized as a spherical shape as a whole, a shape that has a deformed portion but is recognized as a spherical shape as a whole, etc. It is a concept that includes

  In the dropping step S1, as shown in FIG. 5, a liquid Z1 is dropped on the water-repellent coating layer 3 of the ice table manufacturing stage 1 having the water-repellent coating layer 3 to form a substantially spherical liquid Z2 to be frozen. It is a process to do. In this dropping step S1, any configuration can be used as long as the liquid Z1 can be dropped on the water-repellent coating layer 3 as droplets. Further, the dropping step S1 is configured to drop the liquid Z1 so as to dispose one liquid Z2 to be frozen in each movement restricting portion 4 (each concave portion 41) formed in the water repellent coating layer 3. ing. In the dropping step S1, the dropped liquid material Z1 is repelled on the water-repellent coating layer 3 by the action of the water-repellent coating layer 3 on the surface of the mounting table 1 for producing ice particles, and the water-repellent coating is formed into a substantially spherical form. It will be supported on layer 3. Moreover, since each dripped liquid Z2 dropped is accommodated in each movement restricting portion 4 (each concave portion 41), even when moving the ice particle production stage 1 horizontally, It can prevent effectively that each to-be-frozen liquid Z2 dripped and slides on the water-repellent coating layer 3, and each to-be-frozen liquid Z2 contacts. Here, it is preferable to set the volume of one drop of liquid Z1 so that the maximum diameter of the substantially spherical to-be-frozen liquid Z2 is in the range of 2 mm to 15 mm.

  The freezing step S2 is a step of freezing the to-be-frozen liquid Z2 dropped on the water-repellent coating layer 3 to generate ice particles Z3. In this freezing step S2, for example, with the liquid Z2 to be frozen placed on the water-repellent coating layer 3, the ice particle production stage 1 is moved horizontally or vertically to be accommodated in the freezer. Can be performed. In the refrigeration apparatus, for example, cooling is performed in a temperature atmosphere of −10 ° C. to −50 ° C. for 1 minute to 60 minutes to freeze the to-be-frozen liquid Z2 to generate ice particles. The liquid to-be-frozen Z2 placed on the water-repellent coating layer 3 is cooled, frozen and hardened while maintaining a substantially spherical shape by the water-repellent function of the water-repellent coating layer 3, and is substantially spherical ice. Grain Z3.

  Separation step S3 is a step of separating the frozen and hardened substantially spherical ice particles Z3 from the mounting table 1 for manufacturing ice particles. This separation step S3 is preferably performed, for example, in a refrigeration apparatus used in the freezing step S2 in a temperature atmosphere of −10 ° C. to −50 ° C. In order to separate the substantially spherical ice particles Z3 from the ice particle production table 1, for example, the ice particle production table 1 is tapped lightly or the ice particle production table 1 is vibrated. Can do. Since the substantially spherical ice particles Z3 are placed on the water repellent coating layer 3, they are easily separated from the water repellent coating layer 3 by light tapping or vibration. The ice particles Z3 separated from the ice particle manufacturing stage 1 are collected and used in a subsequent process such as a process of storing the ice particles Z3 in a product packaging container. Further, in this separation step S3, as shown in FIG. 6, after a portion of the sheet-like ice particle manufacturing stage 1 is bent downward to form the inclined portion 11, the tapping portion 11 is lightly tapped. The ice particles may be separated from the water-repellent coating layer 3 by applying vibration or vibration, or after tilting the entire sheet-shaped ice particle production stage 1, light tapping or vibration may be applied. You may comprise so that it may provide to the mounting stand 1 for ice grain manufacture, and an ice grain may be isolate | separated from the water-repellent coating layer 3. FIG. When the ice particles Z3 are separated by such a method, since the separated ice particles Z3 fall downward due to their own weight, the ice particles can be simply disposed by placing the ice particle storage container 92 below the ice particle manufacturing stage 1. It becomes possible to accumulate Z3 efficiently and simply.

  As described above, according to the ice particle manufacturing method for manufacturing ice particles using the ice particle manufacturing stage 1 according to the present invention, it is not necessary to use a liquid refrigerant such as liquid nitrogen as in the prior art. Without requiring a large amount of electric power for replenishing the refrigerant or cooling the liquid refrigerant, it becomes possible to efficiently produce substantially spherical ice particles at low cost.

  Moreover, in the conventional manufacturing method which manufactures an ice grain using liquid refrigerants, such as liquid nitrogen, the liquid refrigerant which has the temperature of about -200 degreeC is used for the liquid substance which has the temperature of about 5 degreeC-10 degreeC, for example. It is dripped in. Therefore, a temperature difference exceeding 200 ° C. is added to the dropped liquid material in a short time, and an extremely large thermal shock is generated, and there is a high possibility that defects such as cracks and chips occur in the ice particles. On the other hand, in the ice grain manufacturing method according to the present invention, for example, a liquid material having a temperature of about 5 ° C to 10 ° C is cooled and frozen in a temperature atmosphere of -10 ° C to -50 ° C. Thus, it is possible to remarkably reduce the thermal shock applied to the dropped liquid substance, and it is possible to extremely effectively suppress the occurrence of defects such as cracks and chips in the ice particles.

  Next, an example of a suitable ice grain production apparatus 5 that can be used for producing ice grains by the above-described ice grain production method according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of the ice grain production apparatus 5. In order to facilitate understanding of the configuration, each component is shown in an enlarged or reduced manner, not in the actual size ratio, and a part thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the ice grain production apparatus 5 includes a liquid material supply unit 6, an ice grain production stage 1, an unwind reel 71, a take-up reel 75, a support base 8, and a freezer room. 9, a vibration applying device 91, and an ice particle storage container 92.

  The liquid material supply unit 6 is means for dropping a liquid material such as water, milk, syrup, coffee, and various juices onto the water-repellent coating layer 3 in the ice particle manufacturing stage 1. The liquid material supply unit 6 includes a tank 61 that stores a liquid material Z1 such as water or milk, and a dropping nozzle 62 that is disposed below the tank 61 and drops the liquid material Z1 as droplets. In addition, it is preferable that the dripping nozzle 62 is provided with the flow volume adjustment mechanism which changes suitably the quantity of the liquid substance Z1 dripped.

  The ice particle production stage 1 included in the ice grain production apparatus 5 is configured such that a water-repellent coating layer is disposed on the upper surface of a long and flexible sheet-like stage body. Further, the water repellent coating layer is configured to include a plurality of movement restricting portions that restrict the movement of the dropped liquid material Z1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the movement restricting portion is formed as a concave portion (not shown) having a circular shape in plan view formed on the water repellent coating layer.

  Such a long sheet-shaped ice particle manufacturing stage 1 is set on the unwinding reel 71 in a state of being wound in a roll shape, and is pulled out from the unwinding reel 71. One end side of 1 is connected to the take-up reel 75 and disposed. The unwinding reel 71 is configured to be able to pull out the sheet-like ice particle manufacturing stage 1 by rotating around its reel axis. The take-up reel 75 has a function of taking up the sheet-shaped ice particle manufacturing stage 1 drawn out from the take-up reel 71, and a drive device (not shown) connected to the reel shaft. By this action, the take-up reel 75 can be rotated around the reel axis. The take-up reel 75 is disposed in the refrigeration apparatus chamber 9.

  The support table 8 is disposed between the unwinding reel 71 and the take-up reel 75 and below the sheet-shaped ice particle manufacturing stage 1, and the sheet-shaped ice particles pulled out from the unwinding reel 71. It is a member having a function of supporting the production stage 1. The sheet-shaped ice particle production mounting table 1 wound up by the winding reel 75 is configured to move horizontally while sliding on the support table 8. A part of the support base 8 is configured to be disposed in the refrigeration apparatus chamber 9.

  The refrigeration apparatus chamber 9 is an apparatus that cools and freezes the liquid substance Z1 (the liquid Z2 to be frozen) dropped on the mounting table 1 for producing ice particles in a temperature atmosphere of −10 ° C. to −50 ° C., for example. As described above, the take-up reel 75 and a part of the support base 8 can be arranged inside. The take-up reel 75 disposed in the refrigeration apparatus chamber 9 is disposed at a position separated from the support base 8 and at a position below the upper surface of the support base 8. A part of the sheet-shaped ice particle manufacturing stage 1 stretched between the take-up reel 75 and the take-up reel 75 is configured to form the inclined portion 11.

  The vibration applying device 91 is in the refrigeration apparatus chamber 9 and below the mounting table 1 for ice particle production (inclined portion 11) stretched between the end of the support base 8 and the take-up reel 75. It is an apparatus that has a function of separating the ice particles Z3 on the ice particle production stage 1 from the ice grain production stage 1 by providing vibration to the inclined portion 11. The vibration applying device 91 is not particularly limited as long as it can apply vibration to the inclined portion of the ice particle manufacturing stage 1. However, the air is intermittently supplied to the inclined portion 11 of the ice particle manufacturing stage 1. The apparatus which injects into the back side of this and gives the vibration to the said inclination part 11 can be illustrated.

  The ice grain storage container 92 is disposed in the freezer room 9 and adjacent to the take-up reel 75. The ice particle storage container 92 is configured to store ice particles Z3 that slide down the inclined portion 11 of the sheet-shaped ice particle manufacturing stage 1 stretched between the end of the support base 8 and the take-up reel 75. A container to be stored.

  The operation of the ice grain manufacturing apparatus 5 configured as described above will be described below. First, the drive device of the take-up reel 75 is driven, the take-up reel 75 is rotated, and the sheet-like ice particle manufacturing stage 1 is taken up and moved horizontally on the support base 8.

  Next, a liquid material Z1 such as water or milk is dropped as a droplet onto the surface of the ice particle manufacturing stage 1 (on the water-repellent coating layer 3) sequentially through the liquid material supply unit 6. At this time, the liquid material supply unit is configured so that the liquid droplet (liquid material Z1) dropped from the liquid material supply unit 6 is accommodated in the recess 41 (movement restricting unit 4) formed in the water repellent coating layer 3. The operation of 6 is synchronized with the horizontally moving sheet-shaped ice particle manufacturing stage 1.

  The liquid material Z1 dropped on the surface of the mounting table 1 for producing ice particles (on the water-repellent coating layer 3) is repelled by the action of the water-repellent coating layer 3 and supported in the recess 41 as a substantially spherical frozen liquid Z2. Is done. In addition, since the concave portion 41 regulates the movement of the substantially spherical frozen liquid Z2, even when the ice particle production stage 1 moves horizontally, the substantially spherical frozen liquid Z2 moves and is adjacent to the frozen liquid Z2. Is prevented from coming into contact with.

  The substantially spherical to-be-frozen liquid Z2 placed on the water-repellent coating layer 3 moves horizontally together with the ice particle production stage 1 by the action of the take-up reel 75 and is guided into the freezer room 9 for cooling. -It is frozen and becomes a substantially spherical ice particle Z3. The frozen ice particles Z3 are further moved together with the ice particle manufacturing stage 1 by the action of the take-up reel 75, and are used for manufacturing ice particles stretched between the end of the support table 8 and the take-up reel 75. In the mounting table 1 part (inclined part 11), it is separated from the water-repellent coating layer 3 by the action of the vibration applying device 91, falls by its own weight, and is stored in the ice particle storage container 92.

  When the ice particles Z3 stored in the ice particle storage container 92 reach a predetermined amount, the ice particle storage container 92 is replaced with an empty ice particle storage container 92, and the ice particle storage container 92 storing the ice particles Z3 is, for example, a product. It is used for a post-process such as a process of storing the ice particles Z3 in the packaging container for use.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mounting stand for ice grain production 2 Mounting base main body 3 Water-repellent coating layer 4 Movement control part 41 Recess 42 Wall body 43 Grid 5 Ice grain production apparatus 6 Liquid substance supply part 61 Tank 62 Drop nozzle 71 Unwinding reel 75 Winding reel 8 Support base 9 Refrigeration unit chamber 91 Vibration imparting unit 92 Ice grain storage container Z1 Liquid to be dropped Z2 Liquid to be frozen Z3 Ice grain S1 Dropping step S2 Freezing step S3 Separation step

Claims (6)

An ice grain production method for producing substantially spherical ice grains,
A dropping step of dropping a liquid material onto the water-repellent coating layer of the ice particle production stage provided with the water-repellent coating layer to form a substantially spherical liquid to be frozen;
A freezing step of freezing the liquid to be frozen dropped on the water repellent coating layer to generate ice particles,
The water-repellent coating layer includes a plurality of movement restricting portions that accommodate and support the dropped liquid substance and restrict the movement of the liquid substance,
In the dropping step, a liquid substance is dropped to dispose one frozen liquid in each movement restricting portion ,
In the freezing step, the ice liquid is generated by freezing the liquid to be frozen in a state where the liquid to be frozen is placed on each movement restriction unit .   2. The method for producing ice particles according to claim 1, wherein a maximum diameter of the substantially spherical liquid to be frozen is 2 mm to 15 mm.   The method for producing ice particles according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the freezing step freezes the solution to be frozen at -10 ° C to -50 ° C to generate ice particles. It is a mounting table for ice grain production that can hold the dropped liquid substance in a substantially spherical shape,
A mounting table body;
A water repellent coating layer disposed on the top surface of the mounting table body and supporting the dropped liquid material;
The water-repellent coating layer includes a plurality of movement restricting portions that accommodate and support the dropped liquid substance and restrict the movement of the liquid substance ,
Each said movement control part hold | maintains the state which mounted the dripped liquid substance, The mounting table for ice grain manufacture characterized by the above-mentioned. The mounting table for manufacturing ice particles according to claim 4 , wherein the movement restricting portion is a recess formed on the water-repellent coating layer. 6. The mounting table for manufacturing ice particles according to claim 4, wherein the mounting table main body is a metal sheet.

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