JPH01200167A - Automatic ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a continuous manufacturing of some uniform and transparent sphere-like ices by a method wherein an ice making chamber is provided to be comprised of a first ice making chamber having several first ice making small chambers of a specified shape opened in a downward direction and a second ice making chamber to be moved toward or away from the first ice making small chamber and having several second ice making small chambers which can be closed from below correspondingly. CONSTITUTION:A cooling operation is carried out for a chamber 11 through circulation of coolant at an evaporator 14 installed in a first ice making chamber 11, an iced water 20 from an ice making tank 19 is forcedly fed to a distributer pipe 24 and then injected into each of second ice making small chambers 15 through each of water injection holes 25. The injected ice making water is contacted with an inner surface of the first ice making small chamber 13 and cooled by it. After the ice water wets the small chamber 15 in the lower second ice making chamber 12, it is returned back to a tank 19 through a plurality of returning holes 26 made at a bottom part of the small chamber 15. Some spherical ices are formed in a spherical space formed between the small chambers 13 and 15 while repeating this circulation. Finally, the second ice making chamber 12 and the ice making chamber tank 19 are inclined and opened while the spherical ices 1 are being adhered to the first ice making small 13 and then the iced water in the tank 19 is discharged out of the device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an automatic ice maker, and more specifically, it relates to an automatic ice maker, and more specifically, it is an automatic ice maker that can produce ice cubes other than the conventionally known regular hexahedral ice cubes, such as spherical ice cubes and polyhedral (diamond) ice cubes. This invention relates to an automatic ice making machine that can continuously produce large quantities of cut-shaped ice cubes.

BACKGROUND ART In various industrial fields, automatic ice making machines that continuously produce large quantities of ice cubes in the shape of regular hexahedrons, ice cubes of a required thickness, and other ice cubes are suitably used depending on the application. There is. For example, the ice making machine for producing the ice cubes described above is as follows: (1) A large number of cube-shaped ice making compartments are defined downward in the ice making compartment, which can be opened and closed from below with a water tray, and ice making water is supplied from the water tray. This is a so-called closed cell system in which ice cubes are gradually formed in each ice-making chamber by being injected into each ice-making chamber.

■The so-called open-cell method, in which ice-making water is directly supplied to a large number of ice-making chambers that open downward, without going through a water tray, and ice cubes are formed in the ice-making chambers. The ice-making machine to be manufactured has an ice-making plate equipped with an evaporator connected to the refrigeration system arranged at an angle, and ice-making water is supplied to the front or back side of the ice-making plate to form ice sheets on the surface of the ice-making plate. The flow-down type is widely used. Furthermore, the water flowing down on the inner wall surface of the cooling cylinder is frozen to form an ice layer, and this ice layer is scraped with the cutting blade of a rotating auger to obtain flaky ice, or the ice made by the ice making machine described above is used. An ice-making method is also used in which ice cubes are crushed to obtain fine-grained crushed ice.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As mentioned above, ice produced by automatic ice making machines according to various conventional methods is cube-shaped ice cubes or ice sheets.

All other types of ice are flaky ice and crushed ice. Of these ice cubes, only the ice cubes mentioned above have the required shape and can be floated on top of drinks or used as a cooling bed for various foodstuffs. , manufactured with a fixed shape, but usually cannot be used in the original size). However, in recent years, coffee shops, restaurants, and other food and beverage establishments have been making strenuous efforts to differentiate themselves from other businesses of the same type in order to gain an advantage over other businesses of the same type and to attract customers to their businesses. As a link to this, for example, there is a trend in some circles to use spherical ice instead of the conventionally widely distributed ice cubes, thereby providing customers with immediate new changes.

As a means for producing this spherical water, for example,
As disclosed in Publication No. 8-60177.

2. Description of the Related Art An ice making tray is known in which a saucer having an appropriate number of arbitrarily shaped recesses and a lid having four parts corresponding to the recesses of the tray can be fitted into the tray. This is done by storing the ice cube tray in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator for a required period of time with the spherical space defined by the two recesses filled with water, thereby freezing the water in the space.

This produces spherical ice blocks. In addition, spherical water can be produced by injecting water into a bag made of an elastic thin film such as a rubber sheet and storing the bag in a freezer or immersing it in antifreeze, or by cutting a block of ice with a knife. Some attempts have been made to produce spherical water.

However, none of the above-mentioned methods for producing spherical water can continuously produce a large amount of spherical water, and is inefficient as it requires complicated manual labor and time.
It cannot be used for commercial purposes. In addition, freezing progresses statically by storing it in a freezer or immersing it in antifreeze.

It has been pointed out that the water becomes cloudy due to the presence of microscopic air contained in the water, making it impossible to obtain clear ice cubes and reducing its commercial value. Therefore, an automatic ice making machine that can continuously produce large quantities of uniform and transparent spherical water and other polyhedral ice cubes is
Even at present, when the demand for this technology is becoming more apparent, it has not yet been put to practical use.6 Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic ice making machine with a new configuration that can continuously produce a large number of uniform and transparent spherical water and polyhedral ice blocks while having a simple configuration. purpose.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and suitably achieve the intended purpose, the present invention provides ice-making water stored in an ice-making water tank to be pumped to a distribution pipe via a pump, and a refrigeration system Ice-making water was injected from a fountain hole drilled in the distribution pipe into an ice-making compartment cooled by an evaporator connected to the ice-making compartment to form ice cubes in the ice-making compartment, but the ice-making compartment did not freeze. The automatic ice maker is configured so that the ice making water is returned to the ice making water tank for recirculation, and is equipped with a 1-liter evaporator on the back, fixedly arranged approximately horizontally inside the ice maker body, and facing downward. A first ice-making chamber is formed by recessing a number of first ice-making chambers each having a desired shape and opening.

It is arranged so that it can be freely approached and separated from this first ice making compartment,
During ice-making operation, each of the first ice-making chambers is closed correspondingly from below, and a number of second ice-making chambers of a desired shape are recessed so that a spherical or polyhedral ice-forming space can be defined inside. A bridge is formed between the ice-making compartment and a second ice-making compartment.

Furthermore, the ice making water tank is configured to be tiltable with respect to at least the first ice making chamber.

Embodiments Next, the automatic ice making machine according to the present invention will be described below with reference to preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. In addition,
According to the automatic ice making machine of the present invention, in addition to the spherical water 1 shown in FIG. 6(a), it is also possible to produce diamond-cut polyhedral water 2 as shown in FIG. 6(b). We will explain the case where a large number of water spheres of the same size are continuously produced.

(Regarding the ice maker end according to the first embodiment) FIG. 1 schematically shows the main ice maker bridge of the automatic ice maker according to the first embodiment of the present invention in an ice making state. In the figure, an ice-making compartment 10 that produces a large number of spherical water having a required diameter includes a first ice-making compartment 11 arranged horizontally, and a second ice-making compartment that can be opened and closed from below. It basically consists of 12. That is, a rectangular first H ice chamber 11 made of a metal having good thermal conductivity is horizontally disposed and fixed in the upper part of the inside of the casing (not shown) of the ice maker. on the bottom part.

A large number of first H ice chambers 13 that open downward are provided in a desired alignment pattern. Each of the first ice-making chambers 13 is formed as a hemispherical recess, the diameter of which is, for example, 3 cm, and the depth of the recess is set to 1.5 cm.

An evaporator 14 made of a tube that constitutes a part of the refrigeration system (described later) shown in FIG. This evaporator 1 is fixed by operating the refrigeration system.
4, heat exchange with the vaporized refrigerant is promoted, and the first ice making compartment 11
is cooled to below freezing.

Directly below the first ice making compartment 11, a second ice making compartment 12 made of a good thermal conductor is disposed. This second ice making room 12
During the ice making operation, the first ice making chamber 11 is closed from below, and during the deicing operation, the first ice making chamber 1 is closed.
1 can be opened. That is, in the 29th ice compartment 12, there is a 2111th ice compartment, which also has a hemispherical recess, corresponding to the first ice making compartment 13 recessed in the first ice compartment 11.
! A large number of ice chambers 15 are provided upward in a desired alignment pattern. The diameter of this second ice making chamber 15 is also 3 an, for example, and the depth of the recess is set to 1.5 mm. Therefore, the second ice making compartment 12 is different from the first ice making compartment 11.
When closed, the first ice-making chamber 13 and the second ice-making chamber 15 correspond to each other, and a spherical space with a diameter of 3G is defined inside both ice-making chambers 13.15.

The second ice making chamber 12 is pivotably supported at one end of a fixed portion of the ice maker casing (not shown) via a pivot 16, and is rotated clockwise around the pivot 16. By moving it, the first ice making chamber 13 can be opened, and by rotating it counterclockwise, the first ice making chamber 13 can be closed. As the opening/closing driving means for the second ice making chamber 12, a motor (actuator motor) AM with a reducer shown in FIG. 1 is preferably used.
A cam lever 17 and a lever piece 37 are coaxially fixed to the rotating shaft. A coil spring 18 is elastically engaged between the tip 17a of the cam lever 17 and the front end of the second ice making chamber 12. The cam lever 17b formed at the base of the cam lever 17 is connected to the first ice making chamber 1.
The dimensions are set so that the cam can be engaged with the side upper surface of the second ice making chamber 12 that closes the second ice making chamber 12. In addition, in the first ice making room 11,
A changeover switch S2 shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4 is provided, and when the lever piece 37 shown in n7f rotates due to the rotation of the motor AM accompanying the deicing operation, the changeover switch S2 is connected to the contacts a -
It is possible to switch and energize the contacts from the b side to the contact a-a side.

An ice-making water tank 19 having the shape shown in the figure is integrally provided below the second ice-making chamber 12, and a required amount of ice-making water 20 can be stored in the tank. A water supply pipe 21 led out from the bottom side of the ice-making water tank 19 is communicated via a water supply pump 22 with a pressure chamber 23 provided on the side of the tank. A distribution pipe 24 is led out from the pressure chamber 23 in a meandering manner.

This distribution pipe 24 is fixed to the bottom of each of the second ice-making compartments 15 in the second ice-making compartment 12. A fountain hole 25 of a required diameter is bored at the bottom of each of the six second ice-making compartments 15. The second ice making chamber 15 and the distribution pipe 2 are connected through the water fountain 25.
It is connected to 4.

Therefore, the ice-making water pumped from the ice-making water tank 19 via the pump 22 can be injected into the corresponding first ice-making compartments 15 through the respective water fountain holes 25 .

In addition, a plurality of return holes 26 are bored in the bottom of the second ice making chamber 15 in the vicinity of the water fountain hole 25, so that during the ice making operation described later, freezing does not occur in both ice making chambers 13 and 15. The ice-making water (hereinafter referred to as "unfrozen water") can be returned to the ice-making water tank 19 through the return hole 26.Furthermore, around the bottom of the second ice-making chamber 15, there is a heater for promoting de-icing. As shown in the control circuit of FIG. 4, when the ice-making operation is completed, the heater H is energized for the required time set by the timer T. , by opening the water supply valve WV in the control circuit shown in FIG. 4, via the water supply pipe 27 connected to the external water supply system.

At the top of the required first ice-making compartment 13 in the first ice-making compartment 11, there is an ice-making detection thermometer Th as ice-making completion detection means;
is installed. This ice making detection thermo T h 1 is
It is installed in the control circuit shown in FIG. 4, and during the ice making operation, the contacts a and a are closed and the contacts c and b are opened, and when the ice making operation is completed, the contacts a and Q are opened. It is set so that the contact point c-b can be closed together with the contact point c-b. Further, a deicing detection thermo Th2 as a deicing completion detection means is disposed at the top of another first ice making compartment 13, and this deicing detection thermo Th2 indicates that the first ice making compartment 13 is in a cooling state. If so, close the contact c-b and close the contact a-
When a is opened and ice is released from the ice making compartment 13 and the temperature rises, the contacts c-b are opened and the contacts c
-a is set so that it can be closed.

The second ice making chamber 12 and the ice making water tank 19 are.

During the deicing operation, as will be described later and shown in FIG. 2, the ice making chamber 11 is tilted diagonally downward and to the right by a predetermined angle about the pivot 16 to open the first ice making chamber 11 which is arranged horizontally. At this time, water is used to stop the spherical water that has been de-frosted from falling from the first ice-making compartment 13 and to guide the spherical water to a water storage (not shown) provided diagonally below the ice-making water tank 19. A guide plate 35 is disposed so as to be freely advanced and retractable along the second ice making compartment 15 of the second ice making compartment 12 in a tilted position.

Although various types of advancing/retracting end of the water guide plate 35 have been proposed, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is suitably adopted. That is, the water guide plate 35 includes a large number of plate-shaped pieces 35.
A winding motor RM winds the ice onto a roll 36, which is configured in a shutter-type manner in which the ice-making water tank 19 is diagonally lower right and above the water storage (not shown). It is possible to take it. The water guide plate 35 has its open end facing close to the tilt stop position of the second ice making chamber 12 when it is completely wound up on the roll 36 .

Then, after the deicing operation starts and the second ice making chamber 12 tilts diagonally downward and to the right, the motor RM installed in the control circuit shown in FIG. 4 is energized to rotate the roll 36 toward the feeding side. If the water guide plate 35
It extends slidably onto the upper surface of the ice-making compartment 15. Thereby, the water guide plate 35 can smoothly guide the spherical ice that has fallen from the first fM ice chamber 13 toward the water storage. Further, when the deicing is completed, the motor RM is reversely rotated to wind up the water guide plate 35 onto the roll 36, so that it can be quickly retreated from the second ice-making compartment 15.

(Regarding the refrigeration system) Fig. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the refrigeration system in the ice maker, in which the vaporized refrigerant compressed by the compressor CM is condensed and liquefied in the condenser 28 via the discharge pipe 34, and then After being dehumidified in step 29, the pressure is reduced in capillary tube 30, and it flows into evaporator 14 where it expands and evaporates all at once.
! 1 ice compartment 11, and each first ice making compartment 13
cool down to below freezing. The vaporized refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 14 and the unevaporated liquefied refrigerant flow into the accumulator 31 in a gas-liquid mixed state, where they are separated into gas and liquid.

The gas phase refrigerant then returns to the compressor CM via the suction pipe 32, and the liquid phase refrigerant is stored in the accumulator 31.

Further, a hot gas pipe 33 is branched from the discharge pipe 34 of the compressor CM, and this hot gas pipe 33 is communicated with the inlet side of the evaporator 14 via a hot gas valve HV. This hot gas valve HV is controlled to be opened only during deicing operation and closed during ice making operation. That is, during deicing operation, the hot gas valve HV is opened and the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor CM is sent to the evaporator 1 via the hot gas pipe 33.
4 and heats each first ice-making chamber 13, the circumferential surface of the spherical ice produced inside the chamber is melted, and each ice block is caused to fall by its own weight. Further, the high temperature refrigerant flowing out from the evaporator 14 flows into the accumulator 31,
The liquid phase refrigerant staying in the accumulator 31 is heated to evaporate and is returned to the compressor CM through the suction pipe 32 as a gas phase refrigerant. Note that the symbol FM in the figure indicates a fan motor for the condenser 28.

(About the electrical control circuit) FIG. 4 shows an example of an electrical control circuit diagram of the automatic ice maker according to the embodiment. In the figure, a fuse F and a water storage detection switch S1 are provided in series between the power supply line R and the connection point, and a compressor CM is connected to the relay X1 between the connection point and the power supply line T. are connected via the normally closed contact X□-b.

The water storage detection switch S is configured to close when the ice in the water storage (not shown) decreases below a predetermined level, and to open when the ice in the water storage reaches a predetermined level. Further, during the deicing operation, the terminal a of the changeover switch S2, which is energized by the tilting of the second ice making chamber 12, is connected to the connection point, and the changeover contact of the changeover switch S2 is connected to the contact point of the ice making detection thermometer Th. Connected to C.

■ The driving motor PM of the pump 22 and the fan motor FM are connected in parallel between the contact a of the ice-making detection thermo Th and the line T. ■ Between the contact of the ice-making detection thermo Th1 and the line T for.

Relay x1. A timer T and a heater H connected in series with the normally closed contact T-b of the timer T are connected in parallel. In addition, a line T is connected to the terminal of the actuator motor AM.
The tilt drive terminal m of the motor AM is connected to the contact point of the thermostat Th via the normally open contact T-a of the timer T. Further, the changeover contact C of the changeover switch S2 is connected to the return drive terminal n of the actuator motor AM through the contact c-a of the de-icing detection thermometer Th, and between the changeover contact C and the line T. The hot gas valve HV and the water supply valve Wv are connected in parallel.

The timer T is configured to open the normally closed contact T-b and close the normally open contact T-a after a required set time has elapsed from the start of energization (start of deicing operation). ing.

A relay x2 is connected between a contact point of the de-icing detection thermometer Th2 and a line T via a limit switch LSW, and a terminal k of a motor RM that drives the water guide plate 35 forward and backward is connected to the line T. ing. Note that the limit switch LSW is for detecting the position of the water guide plate 35, which will be described later.

The contact is opened by contact with the water guide plate 35.

In addition, the water guide plate extending terminal m of the motor RM is connected to the relay X.
The water guide plate retreat terminal n of the motor RM is connected to the return drive terminal n of the actuator motor AM. .

(About the operation of the first embodiment) Next, the operation of the ice maker according to the first embodiment will be explained. First, the automatic ice maker is powered on (the power switch is not shown). At this time, since no ice blocks are stored in the water storage, the water storage detection switch S is activated.

is closed, and the changeover switch S2 is connected to the contacts a and b. Further, since the temperature of the first ice making chamber 11 is maintained at about room temperature, the ice making detection thermometer Th1 is connected to the contact Q-a side. Therefore, as soon as the power is turned on, the compressor CM, fan motor FM, and pump motor PM
Power is turned on and ice making operation begins. As a result, the refrigerant is circulated in the evaporator 14 provided in the first ice-making compartment 11, and
While the first ice-making chamber 11 is being cooled, ice-making water 20 from the ice-making water tank 19 is force-fed to the distribution pipe 24.

The water is injected into the corresponding second ice-making compartments 15 through each water fountain 25 .

The injected ice-making water comes into contact with the inner surface of the first ice-making compartment 13 in the first ice-making compartment 11 and is cooled, moistens the second ice-making compartment 15 in the second ice-making compartment 12 located below, and then cools down the second ice-making compartment 15 in the second ice-making compartment 12 located below. The ice-making water is returned to the ice-making water tank 19 through a plurality of return holes 26 drilled in the bottom of the ice-making water tank 15, and is again circulated. As this ice-making water circulation is repeated, the temperature of the entire ice-making water stored in the tank 19 gradually decreases, and the temperature of the second ice-making chamber 15 also gradually decreases. First, a portion of the ice-making water freezes on the inner wall surface of the first ice-making chamber 13 to form an ice layer (see Figure 5 Ca>), and the unfrozen water returns to the ice-making water tank 19 through the return hole 26. As the cycle continues, the growth of the ice layer further progresses, resulting in the growth of the ice layer as shown in Figure 5(b).
As shown in FIG. 5(c), five spherical ice cubes 1 are finally generated in the spherical space formed by the first ice-making compartment 13 and the second ice-making compartment 15.

When ice making is completed in this way and the temperature of the first ice making chamber 11 drops to the required temperature range, the ice making detection thermometer 'rh□ that detects this switches from the contact a - a side to the contact c - b side. . As a result, the power supply to the fan motor FM and the pump motor PM is stopped, and the circulating supply of ice-making water is stopped. Also, the relay X is energized and the normally closed contacts x and -b that cooperate with it are opened, and the operation of the compressor CM is also stopped. Further, the timer T is energized and starts counting the required set time period. Then, the timer T
The heater H connected in series to the normally closed contact T-b is energized until the second ice-making compartment 1 counts up.
2 is heated, thereby melting the spherical ice in the second ice making compartment 15.

When the required set time period elapses and the timer 1' counts up, the normally closed contact T-b of the timer T is opened to stop the power supply to the heater H, and the tilting drive terminal of the actuator motor AM is opened. Normally open contact T connected to m
-a is closed, and the motor AM is rotated counterclockwise in FIG.

As a result, the cam lever 17 rotates, and the cam lever 17b formed at the base of the cam lever 17 forcibly presses the upper side surface of the second ice chamber 12 downward. As already mentioned, the second ice making compartment 12
is heated by the heater H and the spherical water in the second ice-making compartment 15 has been defrozen, so the second ice-making compartment 12 (and the ice-making water tank 19) is forcibly separated from the first ice-making compartment 11. It begins to tilt diagonally downward.

Finally, the second ice making compartment 12 and the ice making water tank 1
9 is the first in the 1m ice chamber 11 as shown in FIG.
The ice-making chamber 13 is tilted open with the spherical water 1 attached to it, and the ice-making water with increased impurity concentration in the tank 19 is disposed of outside. At the timing of maximum tilt,
The lever piece 37 presses and energizes the changeover switch S2 and switches the contacts a and b to the contacts a and a, so that the actuator motor AM stops its rotation and the tilting of the second ice making chamber 12 is stopped. let Note that the contact Q-8 of the deicing detection thermometer Th2 maintains the open state, so a return command for the actuator motor AM is not issued yet.

By switching the changeover switch S3 mentioned above, the timer device [
The energization to T is cut off, its normally closed contact 1'-b closes again, and its normally closed contact T-a returns to open. In addition, the water supply valve Wv is opened to supply new ice-making water to the tank 19 whose water level has decreased, and the hot gas valve HV is opened to supply high-temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor CM via the hot gas pipe 33. and bypass the evaporator 14. As a result, the first ice making compartment 11 is heated, and the first ice making compartment 1 is heated.
3 and the frozen surface of the spherical water begins to melt.

Furthermore, by switching the changeover switch S2, the relay
2 is excited, the normally closed contacts X and -a which cooperate with this are closed, and the water guide plate extending terminal m of the motor RM is energized. As a result, the motor RM is driven in the required direction, and as shown in FIG.
It is extended over the entire upper part of the second ice-making chamber 12 in a tilted position, and waits for the frozen spherical water to fall into the first ice-making chamber 13. Note that a part of the water guide plate 35 comes into contact with the limit switch LSW shown in the circuit of FIG.
When the contact of the switch LSW is opened, the relay
The power supply to 2 is cut off and it becomes de-energized.

The normally closed contact X2-a that cooperates with this opens, and the rotation of the motor RM stops. When the hot gas circulates in the evaporator 14 described above and is heated to the extent that the first ice-making chamber 13 is formed, the ice between the chamber wall and the spherical water is released, and the spherical water is caused by its own weight. The water falls onto the water guide plate 35 in the extended position, slides down along the water guide plate 35, and is guided and collected in a water storage (not shown).

In this way, when all the spherical water leaves the first ice-making compartment 13, the temperature of the first ice-making compartment 11 rises all at once due to the hot gas circulating in the evaporator 14.

When the deicing detection thermometer Th2 detects this temperature rise, the thermometer Th2 opens its contact point c-b and closes its contact point Q-a to complete the deicing operation. When the contact Q-a of the thermostat Th is closed, the return drive terminal n of the actuator motor AM is energized, and the motor AM
rotates in the opposite direction to drive the cam lever 17, and the coil spring 18 elastically engaged between the lever 17 and the second ice making chamber 12 causes the second ice making chamber 12 and the ice making water tank 1 to be
9 is rotated counterclockwise and returned to the horizontal state, thereby closing the first ice making compartment 13 of the first ice making compartment 11 from below again. Also, the water guide plate retreating terminal n of the motor RM is energized, the motor RM is driven in the opposite direction, and the water guide plate 35 is wound around the roll 36. Note that the winding speed of the water guide plate 35 onto the roll 36 is
By making the return speed sufficiently higher than the return speed of the second ice-making compartment 12, the water guide plate 35 caused by the second ice-making compartment 12 during the return
No biting occurs.

Further, due to the reverse rotation of the motor AM, the cam lever 17 also rotates in the reverse direction, pressing and energizing the changeover switch S, thereby switching from the contact a-c side to the contact a-b side. As a result, the water supply valve Wv and the hot gas valve HV are closed,
Stop the supply of ice making water and hot gas. Then, the ice making operation is resumed by returning to the initial state shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4, and the above-described operations are repeated. When the ice making operation and the deicing operation are repeated and a predetermined amount of spherical water is stored in the water storage, the water storage detection switch S is opened and the operation of the ice maker is stopped.

(Regarding the ice-making mechanism according to the second embodiment) FIG. 7 schematically shows the automatic ice-making machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention in an ice-making state, and its basic configuration is similar to that of the first embodiment. It has the same structure. However, in this embodiment, the second ice making compartment 12
The distribution pipe 24 and the distribution pipe 24 are configured to be independent and separated. That is, this ice maker is provided with a tiltable water tray 38 having the distribution pipe 24 disposed on its back surface, and the ice making water tank 19 is provided in the water tray 38 . By energizing the actuator motor AM described above, the water tray 38 can be tilted during the deicing operation to open the second ice making chamber 12.

The second ice-making compartment 12 is movably disposed at a predetermined position directly below the first ice-making compartment 11 during ice-making operation, and the water tray 38 can be brought into close contact with the lower surface of the second ice-making compartment 12. Each water fountain hole 25 bored in the distribution pipe 24 provided on the back surface of the water tray 38 is connected to each second ice making compartment 15 in the second ice making compartment 12.
It is set so that it can correspond to the through hole 12a bored in the bottom of the. A return hole 26 is provided adjacent to each fountain hole 25 of the water tray 38, and unfrozen water is returned to the ice-making water tank 19 through the return hole 26.

The second ice-making compartment 12 used in this embodiment is configured to be able to be moved at a required timing by a moving mechanism to be described later and completely evacuated from directly below the first ice-making compartment 11.

That is, during the deicing operation, the second ice-making compartment 12 moves vertically down from the first ice-making compartment 11 by a required distance, and then moves horizontally to retreat from directly below the first ice-making compartment 11, which is a so-called L-shaped movement. An example of a moving mechanism that can perform a return movement in the opposite direction to that described above before restarting the ice-making operation, and provides this L-shaped and reverse-shaped movement is shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b). Schematically shown in

In the figure, a pair of L-shaped guide rails 39 are adjacent to both side edges of the first ice making chamber 11 which is horizontally fixed in a fixed position.
．． 39 are arranged in parallel.

The right side of this guide rail 39.39 (in Figure 8 (a))
A pair of L-shaped guide rails 40, 40 having the same shape are arranged in alignment at a predetermined distance apart. In each guide rail 39 and 40.

As shown in the figure, four pinion gears 41 are provided with rack teeth 39a and 40a on their rail surfaces, and are rotatably supported on both side edges of the second ice making chamber 12 via shafts 53 and 53.
meshing with the rack teeth 39a, 40a so as not to fall off;
The second ice making chamber 12 is movably supported horizontally by L-shaped guide rails 39, 39 at 40.40 mm. In addition,
In the second ice making chamber 12, another pinion gear 51 that meshes with rack teeth formed on the back side of the guide rail 39, 40 is provided.
It is rotatably supported adjacent to each pinion gear 41. That is, the guide rail 39.40 is held between both pinion gears 41.51, thereby preventing the second ice making chamber 12 from falling off the guide rail 39.40.

Further, in the second ice making chamber 12, a drive shaft 52 which is perpendicular to the shaft 53 is rotatably supported.
．． It meshes with a worm wheel 55.55 disposed at 53. A second ice making chamber 12 is located approximately in the center of the drive shaft 52.
A gear 56 disposed on the output shaft of the deceleration motor 42 disposed in the
A gear 57 that meshes with the motor 42 is provided, and by driving the motor 42, the shafts 53, 53 are rotated in the same direction.

As a result, under the meshing action of each pinion gear 41 disposed on the shafts 53, 53 and the rack teeth 39a, 40a,
As shown in FIG. 8(b), the second ice-making compartment 12 is made to run on its own along each pair of L-shaped guide rails 39, 39, and 40, 40, and is completely evacuated from directly below the first ice-making compartment 11. It's something you get.

Note that when the ice-making operation is completed, the first ice-making compartment 11 and the second ice-making compartment 12 are firmly frozen, and the second ice-making compartment 12 is solidly frozen.
The heat of fusion caused by the heater H and the deceleration motor 42
It seems difficult to separate the two ice chambers 11 and 12 with only the driving force of . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8(a), the motor 44 equipped with the cam 43 is
1, and the rotation of this cam 43 opens the second ice making chamber 12.
By pressing the edges of the ice chamber 11.
It is recommended to install a mechanism that forcibly peels off 12.

(Regarding the operation of the second embodiment) During ice-making operation, as shown in FIG.
2 closes the first ice making chamber 11 from below, and the water tray 38 closes the second ice making chamber 12 from below. The ice-making water in the tank 19 is then supplied to the first ice-making chamber 13 and the second ice-making chamber 15 through the fountain hole 25 formed in the distribution pipe 24 and the through hole 12a formed in the bottom of the second ice-making chamber 15. The ice is injected into the spherical space defined by the ice, and spherical ice is generated here. In addition, unfrozen water is stored in the second ice making compartment 15.
The water returns to the water tray 38 through the through hole 12a, and is returned to the ice making water tank 19 through the return hole 26 formed in the water tray 38.

FIGS. 9(a) to 9(e) show the movements of the water tray 38 and the second ice making chamber 12 over time during the deicing operation.

That is, when the ice-making operation is completed, the ice-making detection thermo Th1 detects this and energizes the heater H.
The back surface of the second ice making compartment 12 and the water tray 38 are thawed, as shown in FIG. 9(a).

The water tray 38 is forcibly peeled off by the actuator motor AM. Note that under the action of heat generation from the heater H, the second ice-making chamber 15 and the spherical ice 1 are being unfrozen.

Therefore, the motor 44 is driven to rotate the cam 43, and the edge of the second ice making chamber 12 is pushed downward, so that the first ice making chamber 1
Forcibly peel off from 1. Also, synchronously, the deceleration motor 42 is driven to connect the pinion gear 41 and the rack teeth 39a.
, 40a, the second ice making chamber 12 is allowed to move along each pair of L-shaped guide rails 39, 39 and 40, 40. As a result, FIGS. 9(b) and 9
As shown in Figure (c), the second ice making compartment 12
After moving away from the ice maker and vertically descending, it moves to the right and completely evacuates from directly below the first ice making chamber 11. However, the spherical ice 1 is frozen in the first ice-making compartment 13 in the first ice-making compartment 11, and in this state, the hot gas valve HV is opened and the evaporator 14 provided in the first ice-making compartment 11 is heated. Hot gas is passed through.

When the first ice-making compartment 11 is heated by circulating hot gas to the evaporator 14, the spherical ice 1 in the first ice-making compartment 13 is unfrozen, and as shown in FIG. 9(d), The spherical ice 1 falls from the first ice-making compartment 13 under its own weight, lands on the surface of the water tray 38 that is tilted and is on standby, and is slid down and collected in the water storage.

Next, the deceleration motor 42 is reversely rotated.

The second ice making chamber 12 includes a pinion gear 41 and rack teeth 39a,
40a, it returns to its self-propelled position along the pairs of L-shaped guide rails 39, 39 and 40, 40, and returns to the lower part of the first ice-making compartment 11, as shown in FIG. 9(e). and waits for the next ice-making operation.

Effects of the Invention As explained in detail above, the automatic ice making machine according to the present invention can continuously produce a large number of spherical ice cubes of a predetermined diameter, and can be effectively used for various industrial purposes. It is something that Furthermore, in the illustrated example, explanation has been given on the case of manufacturing spherical ice, but by changing the inner surface shapes of the first ice-making chamber and the second ice-making chamber, multifaceted ice as shown in FIG. 6(b) can be mass-produced. It is also suitable for use. In addition to uses in restaurants and coffee shops, spherical ice can also be used as a golf ball, for example, since the ice is dense and extremely hard. In this case, when used at a hitting practice range, the spherical ice that is hit melts into water, which has the advantage of saving time and effort in recovering the ball.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

11i21 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an ice making mechanism according to the first embodiment, and FIG. A schematic perspective view showing the ice making mechanism shown in FIG. 1 with the second ice making chamber opened;
Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of a typical refrigeration system in an automatic ice maker.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of an ice-making control circuit for controlling the operation of the device according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 5(a) to (c) show spherical ice cubes in the first ice-making chamber and the second ice-making chamber. FIG. 6(a) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which ice is formed over time; FIG. 6(a) is an explanatory diagram showing spherical ice; FIG. 6(b) is an explanatory diagram showing polyhedral water;
9 to 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an ice making mechanism according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a mechanism for opening the second ice making compartment to the first ice making compartment. Figure 8 (a) is a schematic perspective view showing the state in which the first ice-making compartment is closed from below with the second ice-making compartment, and Figure 8 (b) is a schematic perspective view showing the state in which the second ice-making compartment is completely evacuated from directly below the first ice-making compartment. 9(a) to 9(e) are schematic perspective views showing a state in which the water tray is tilted and the second ice making compartment is separated from the first ice making compartment in the apparatus according to the second embodiment. It is an explanatory view showing a state where spherical water is discharged toward a water storage over time. 11...First ice making room 12...Second ice making room 13.
...First ice making chamber 14...Evaporator 15...Second ice making chamber 19...Ice making water tank 22...Pump
24...Distribution pipe FIG, 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] [1] Ice-making water stored in an ice-making water tank (19) is sent under pressure to a distribution pipe (24) via a pump (22), and is cooled by an evaporator (14) connected to a refrigeration system. Ice-making water is injected into the ice-making compartment from the fountain hole drilled in the distribution pipe (24) to form ice cubes in the ice-making compartment, and the ice-making water that has not frozen in the ice-making compartment is In an automatic ice maker configured to return water to a water tank (19) for recirculation, the evaporator (14) is provided on the back and is fixedly arranged substantially horizontally inside the ice maker body, opening downward. A first ice-making chamber (13) having a predetermined shape is recessed into the first ice-making chamber (13).
an ice-making compartment (11), which is arranged so as to be close to and separated from the first ice-making compartment (11), and correspondingly closes each of the first ice-making compartments (13) from below during ice-making operation; A second ice-making chamber (12) comprising a number of second ice-making chambers (15) each having a desired shape capable of defining a spherical or polyhedral ice-forming space inside.
constitutes the ice making chamber, and further includes the ice making water tank (1).
9) is set to be tiltable with respect to at least the first ice making compartment (11). [2] A spherical ice forming space is defined inside the first ice making chamber (13) and the corresponding second ice making chamber (15) by facing each other. The automatic ice making machine described in 1. [3] The first ice-making chamber (13) and the corresponding second ice-making chamber (15) face each other, thereby defining a polyhedral ice-forming space therein. The automatic ice making machine described in 1. [4] The second ice-making compartment (12) is integrally equipped with an ice-making water tank (19) at its lower part, and during ice-making operation, the second ice-making compartment (12)
2. The ice making chamber (11) is closed horizontally from below and is tilted together with the ice making water tank (19) during deicing operation to open the first ice making chamber (11). automatic ice maker. [5] The second ice-making compartment (12) has an ice-making water tank (19
), and the second ice-making compartment (12) has a position below the first ice-making compartment (11) where the first ice-making compartment (13) is closed by a moving mechanism, and a position where the first ice-making compartment (13) is closed by a moving mechanism. (
13) The automatic ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the automatic ice maker is configured to be moved back and forth between a position immediately below the ice maker and a retracted position. [6] The automatic ice making machine according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the distribution pipe (24) is integrally formed on the bottom surface of the second ice making chamber (15). [7] The distribution pipe (24) is separated from the second ice-making compartment (15), and the distribution pipe (24) is connected to the ice-making water tank (19) configured to be tiltable with respect to the first ice-making compartment (11). The automatic ice making machine according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 5, wherein the automatic ice making machine is arranged in a.