JPH018927Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an ice maker, and in particular, is a novel ice making machine that has a large accumulator effect, fully utilizes the internal volume, and prevents boiling inside the accumulator during deicing. This is related to major improvements.

There are various types of accumulators in ice making machines that have been used in the past, but the most typical ones are the inclined type and the horizontal type, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. configuration was mainly used.

That is, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the accumulator case 1 is provided at an angle of inclination of about 15 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane, and the suction pipe 2 is attached to one end of the accumulator case 1, and the outlet pipe 3 is attached to the other end. It had been. In the horizontal type shown in Fig. 2, a suction pipe 2 is attached to one end of the accumulator case 1 arranged horizontally.
The outlet pipe 3 provided at the other end is also installed parallel to the suction pipe 2, and one end of the outlet pipe 2 is attached to the bottom of the accumulator case 1. It is immersed in Tamatsuta refrigerant liquid 4.

Furthermore, in the horizontal type shown in FIG. 3, the suction pipe 2 is provided at the lower position of one end of the horizontally arranged accumulator case 1, and the outlet pipe 3 is provided at the upper position of the other end. The suction pipe 2 is immersed in the refrigerant liquid 4 collected at the bottom of the accumulator case 1.

However, the above configuration has caused significant inconveniences when used in an ice making machine.

That is, in the configuration shown in FIG.
The lower end of the open end 5 is the upper limit for storing the refrigerant liquid, and when the liquid level is located above the open end 5, a so-called boiling phenomenon occurs, and the compressor connected to the accumulator case 1 machine (not shown)
This is extremely inconvenient because liquid refrigerant must be directly poured into the tank. Furthermore, if the suction pipe 2 is brought closer to the outlet pipe 3 in order to increase the amount of liquid stored, there is a possibility that mist-like refrigerant liquid will be sucked into the outlet pipe 3. Therefore, according to the applicant's experimental data, the protrusion amount L of the suction pipe 2 is 1/2 of the length L' of the accumulator case 1.
L' is the limit, and if the internal volume of the accumulator is V, then the effective refrigerant reservoir amount is limited to 0.5V.

Further, in the configurations shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the suction pipe 2 is directly immersed in the refrigerant reservoir, so the boiling phenomenon described above occurs, which has a serious adverse effect on the compressor.

Now, to explain the boiling phenomenon mentioned above in detail,
Generally, when an ice making machine starts ice making operation, the ice making water temperature and the temperature of the evaporator are high at the beginning, so the refrigerant liquid that flows in completely evaporates and leaves the evaporator, but as the ice making operation continues for a while, the temperature gradually decreases. As the temperature of the evaporator decreases, evaporation of the refrigerant liquid becomes less and less, and the liquid level in the accumulator gradually rises. In other words, the liquid level in the accumulator is at its highest just before ice making is completed, and when deicing operation begins after ice making is complete, high temperature gas from the compressor is sent to the evaporator for heat exchange, but the temperature remains high. The refrigerant flows into the accumulator in this state, rapidly heating the refrigerant inside the accumulator, and the accumulated refrigerant evaporates significantly (so-called boiling phenomenon), causing the liquid level to become rough. As a result, liquid refrigerant is easily sucked into the compressor, which may lead to damage to the compressor due to problems such as liquid compression. Furthermore, during deicing, the low pressure increases rapidly, placing an excessive load on the compressor.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an extremely effective means for quickly eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks.In particular, the present invention aims to provide an extremely effective means for quickly eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks. and a suction pipe to store liquid refrigerant at the bottom of the accumulator case to increase capacity.
The structure is designed to prevent the boiling phenomenon, and furthermore, the accumulator itself is mounted horizontally on the ice-making tray, so that water droplets dripping from the outer periphery of the accumulator are returned to the ice-making water tank. It is the composition.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the ice making machine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows a refrigeration circuit diagram of the ice maker according to the present invention.
The refrigerant from the evaporator pipe 14 is returned to the compressor 10 via an accumulator 15, and the hot gas from the compressor 10 is directly evaporated via a hot gas valve 16. It can be sent to pipe 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, the accumulator 15 has a longitudinal shape as a whole and is connected to the evaporation pipe 14 at an inlet portion 17a formed at one end of the upper part of an accumulator case 17 held in a horizontal state. In addition, an outlet pipe 19 is provided at the outlet portion 17b formed at the other end of the upper part of the accumulator case 17, and the suction pipe 18 and the outlet pipe 19 are connected to the The Umulator case 17 is configured to be in a horizontal state parallel to the case surface.

Accumulator case 17 of the suction pipe 18
The amount of protrusion inside the accumulator case 1
It is best that the length is 1/2L for the length L of 7, and if it is longer than 1/2L, the distance between the suction pipe 18 and the outlet pipe 19 will be shortened, and according to the experimental results, the distance between the suction pipe 18 and the outlet pipe 19 will be shorter. It has been found that the liquid component contained in the refrigerant discharged from the refrigerant easily enters the outlet pipe 19. Therefore, the accumulator case 17
A liquid refrigerant 17d can be stored in the bottom 17c of the suction pipe 18 and the outlet pipe 19 up to the lower ends of the open ends 18a and 19a, as shown by dotted lines.

Here, when comparing the storage volume of refrigerant between the conventional accumulator and the accumulator according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 6A and B and FIG. Comparing calculated values between the accumulator according to the invention and the conventionally used accumulator shown in FIG. The refrigerant volume V ₁ is: V ₁ = (D/2) ² × π × L × 1/2 = D ² · π × L/8 D is the diameter of the accumulator L is the length of the accumulator case 17 The storage volume of refrigerant V ₂ in the conventional accumulator shown in Fig. 7 is V ₂ = {(D/2) ² ×π×(L/2−l/2)}+{
(D/2) ² ×π×l×1/2} = {D ² /4×π×L−l/2}+{D ² /4×π×l
×1/2}=D ² /4π(L-l/2+l/2) =D ² /4π(L/2)=D ² ×π×l/8 In other words, half of the liquid is added to the accumulator according to the present invention. Even if the refrigerant only fills the air, it has the same volumetric effect as a conventional accumulator, and out of the refrigerant that comes out of the suction pipe 18, only the gas flows into the outlet pipe 1.
9, the liquid is collected in the lower part, and there is less boiling phenomenon during deicing. Therefore, while conventional accumulators can accommodate only 0.5V of the total volume (V) of liquid refrigerant, the configuration of the present application can accommodate liquid refrigerant of only 0.7 to 0.5V of the total volume (V).
It can also accommodate 0.8V.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the state in which the accumulator 15 is installed in the ice making tray 21 constituting the ice making section 20. The evaporation pipe 14 is attached to the ice making tray 21, which has a substantially rectangular shape as a whole and has a large number of ice making cups 22. A longitudinal accumulator 15 is housed inside the ice tray 21, and a suction pipe 18 is connected to the evaporation pipe 14. FIG. 8A is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 8, showing that the ice-making cup 22 is opened downward, and ice-making water is sprayed toward this opening.

The configuration shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B is another embodiment of the accumulator shown in FIG. The lower end portion of the fin portion 23 is bent at a substantially right angle to form a leg portion 24 .

Accumulator 1 configured as shown in Fig. 9
When the accumulator 5 is attached to the ice tray 21, if the legs 24 are placed in contact with the bottom wall of the ice tray 21, the accumulator can be stably housed in the ice tray 21. .

In the above configuration, when the ice making machine according to the present invention is operated, the compressor 10 is operated and the ice making state is entered, and the liquid level in the accumulator 15 gradually rises as shown by the dotted line in FIG. When the liquid level reaches this position and the ice making is completed, deicing operation begins. However, even if the hot gas from the compressor 10 is sent to the evaporation pipe 14 with the hot gas valve 16 open, the suction pipe 18 does not reach the liquid level. Because they are not in contact with each other, boiling does not occur, and the liquid enters the liquid reservoir.
Only gas is sent to the compressor 10 via the outlet pipe 19.

Since the ice maker according to the present invention has the above-mentioned structure and function, it can be installed horizontally, the accumulator can be installed in a limited narrow space, and it can be used effectively without boiling. An accumulator effect can be obtained.

In addition, since the accumulator can be housed in the ice tray that constitutes the ice making section, water generated by melting frost on the accumulator will not fall into the ice storage tank and will be stored in the ice making water tank. The accumulator is returned and reused, and there is little heat intrusion into the accumulator from the outside, so the accumulator effect is not diminished. Furthermore, when deicing water is introduced into the ice tray during deicing, the heat of the deicing water is applied to the liquid refrigerant in the accumulator through the legs and fins, effectively vaporizing it from below and reducing the amount of circulating refrigerant. can be secured. Another important effect is that when hot gas is used during deicing, it is possible to prevent a sudden rise in low pressure during hot gas defrosting.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1, 2, and 3 are cross-sectional views of conventional accumulators, Figure 4 is a refrigeration circuit diagram of the ice maker according to the present invention, and Figures A and B in Figure 5 are sectional views of the ice maker according to the present invention. A and B in FIG. 6 are block diagrams showing the effective volume of the accumulator according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 shows the effective volume of the conventional accumulator. Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the state in which the accumulator of the present invention is attached to the ice tray, Fig. 8A
The figure is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the accumulator. 10 is a compressor, 11 is a condenser, 12 is a dehydrator,
13 is a capillary, 14 is an evaporation pipe, 15 is an accumulator, 16 is a hot gas valve, 17 is an accumulator case, 17d is a liquid refrigerant, 18
1 is an inlet pipe, 19 is an outlet pipe, 20 is an ice making section, 21 is an ice tray, 22 is an ice making cup, 23 is a fin, 24
is the leg.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) An evaporator pipe provided in the ice making section, an accumulator connected to the evaporator pipe, a compressor connected to the evaporator pipe and the accumulator, and an evaporator connected to the evaporator pipe and the accumulator, An accumulator case located in a horizontal direction to configure the accumulator case, an evaporation pipe outlet pipe provided at an upper position at one end of the accumulator case and connected to the evaporation pipe, and other parts of the accumulator case. an inlet pipe provided at an upper position at an end, and the evaporator pipe inlet pipe is provided so as to protrude to approximately the center position in the longitudinal direction of the accumulator case. (2) Utility model registration claim No. 1, characterized in that the ice-making unit has an ice-making tray having a large number of ice-making cups, and the accumulator is horizontally disposed within the ice-making tray. The ice maker according to item 1. (3) The ice cube tray includes a fin integrally provided at both ends of the accumulator case, and a bent leg formed at one end of the fin, and the bent leg is fixed to the wall of the ice making tray. The ice making machine according to claim 2 of the utility model registration claim, characterized in that the ice making machine has the following configuration.