JPH02161272A - Ice making structure of automatic ice machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To block a supply hole and a discharge hole by an ice layer for growing in a space to make possible the production of a hollow globular ice before a solid lump of ice is produced in the ice forming space at the time of ice making operation by composing the pictured part of the ice making water supply hole and discharge hole drilled on the bottom part of a second ice making chamber of a good heat conductor. CONSTITUTION:Since a second ice making chamber 12 is composed of a good heat conductor, the drilled parts of a supply hole 12a and a discharge hole 12b is composed of a heat good conductor. Accordingly, an ice layer is produced on the inner face of the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b together with the production of the ice layer in a first and a second ice making small chambers 13, 15. The ice layer growing in a globular space is combined with the other ice layer growing on the inner faces of the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b to block the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b. Thereby, a hollow globular ice 1 is produced in a globular space formed in both the ice making small chambers 13, 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an ice-making structure of an automatic ice-making machine that can fully automatically produce large quantities of hollow ice cubes, for example, spherical or polyhedral.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In various industrial fields, automatic ice making machines that continuously produce large quantities of dice-shaped ice cubes, ice sheets of a required thickness, and ice flakes are suitably used depending on the application.

For example, as an ice maker for producing ice cubes as described above, (1) A large number of cubic 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 poured from the water tray. The so-called closed cell method, in which ice cubes are gradually formed in each ice-making chamber by injection water supply; A so-called open cell system is known in which ice cubes are formed in the ice making compartment. In addition, ice makers that continuously produce sheet ice or fine crushed ice, and auger-type ice makers that continuously produce ice flakes are also in use.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As mentioned above, most of the ice produced by various conventional ice making machines are cube-shaped ice cubes, sheet ice, other flaky ice pieces, and crushed ice. Only the above-mentioned ice cubes have the required shape and can be floated on drinks or used as a cooling bed for various foodstuffs (sheet ice also has a shape, but (Usually cannot be used with the same dimensions.)

However, in recent years, coffee shops, restaurants, and other food and beverage establishments have been making strenuous efforts to differentiate themselves from other companies in order to gain an advantage over similar businesses in various ways and attract customers. As the ring, for example, a ball-shaped (spherical) block of ice can be used instead of the ice cubes that have been widely used in the past.
As a result, there is a tendency to try to provide immediate new changes to customers.

However, since this spherical water is widely used for eating and drinking, its commercial value will decrease unless it is clear and transparent ice cubes without cloudiness due to aeration. It also needs to be able to be produced in large quantities, but there has been no automatic ice-making machine for spherical water that meets this type of requirement. Therefore, the inventor of the present application engaged in the development of an ice making machine capable of producing a large amount of transparent and clear spherical water, and having obtained a mechanism that fully satisfies the above requirements, the inventor developed the basic concept in January 1988. On the 29th, he filed a patent application for his invention, an "automatic ice maker."

The ice making machine according to the previous application has a number of 6 first ice making chambers with 114 holes downward, and an 11th ice making chamber equipped with a steamer: R1 on the back side.
Basically, it is equipped with an ice chamber and a second ice-making chamber which has a number of second ice-making chambers that are open upwards, and both ice-making chambers are closed correspondingly during ice-making operation, and inside the second ice-making chamber there is an irregular shape such as a sphere. It defines the space in which ice forms.

Here, not only the spherical water produced by this ice maker, but also the ice cubes produced by the ice maker according to the prior art described above are solid ice blocks, and when used, they are cooled until they become small ice pieces. have the ability. However, ice cubes served with drinks such as juice and alcohol remain unmelted even after the drinker has finished the drink, and despite their cooling capacity, all ice cubes remain unmelted. Will be discarded.

In other words, only a very small portion of the ice cubes used for short-time cooling is used, and the ice-making water, electricity, etc. used to solidify the ice cubes are wasted, which is extremely uneconomical. .

Regarding the ice cubes that are used for short-time cooling, there is a demand from users for an automatic ice maker that can continuously produce large quantities of ice cubes with less wastage of ice making water and electricity. . Therefore, it is possible to produce small ice cubes and use them for short-term cooling, but small ice cubes have a low cooling capacity due to their small surface area.
It has the disadvantage that it is easy to dissolve, and it cannot meet the demands of users.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems and to suitably solve the problems. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel ice-making end product that can be manufactured.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and suitably achieve the intended purpose, ice-making water is injected into the ice-making chamber to form ice blocks within the ice-making chamber, without causing freezing. The automatic ice making machine is configured to recirculate the ice making water, and includes a first ice making compartment with an evaporator on the back, fixedly arranged inside the machine, and having a number of first ice making compartments each having a desired shape and opening downward; The first ice maker is arranged so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the first ice maker.
It consists of a second ice-making chamber in which a large number of second ice-making chambers each having a desired shape are formed so that each of the ice-making chambers can be closed correspondingly from below.

The ice making water supply hole and the discharge hole formed in the bottom of the second ice making chamber are formed of a good thermal conductor.

Example Next, the automatic ice making machine according to the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the main parts of an ice-making structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the main ice-making structure of an automatic ice-making machine according to the present invention in an ice-making state. It is. In the embodiment of the present invention, the hollow spherical water 1 shown in FIG. 11(a) is continuously jJIF? An automatic ice making machine will be described, but by simply changing the internal shape of the ice making chamber, which will be described later, it can easily be adapted to the production of diamond-cut hollow polyhedral water 2 as shown in FIG. 11(b).

(Regarding the first and second II! ice chambers) As schematically shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ice making chamber 1o that produces a large number of spherical water having the required diameter consists of a first ice making chamber 1 which is arranged horizontally.
1, and a second ice-making compartment 12 that can freely open and close the first ice-making compartment 11 from below. That is, a rectangular first ice-making chamber 11 made of a metal with good thermal conductivity is arranged and fixed horizontally in the upper part of the inside of an ice-making machine housing (not shown), and the first ice-making chamber 11 is arranged and fixed horizontally in a predetermined alignment pattern. Ice making room 1
3 are downwardly recessed in the first ice making chamber 11. Each eleventh ice chamber 13 is formed as a hemispherical recess, and has a diameter of 30 cm and a depth of 1.5 cm, for example. An evaporator 14 led out from a refrigeration system (not shown) is tightly fixed in a meandering manner on the upper surface of the first ice-making compartment 11, and heat exchange of the vaporized refrigerant in the evaporator 14 is promoted by operation of the refrigeration system. , the first ice making chamber 11 is cooled down to below freezing point.

Immediately below the first ice making chamber 11, a second ice making chamber 12 made of a metal with good thermal conductivity such as copper is disposed in the tilting interior 7E as described later. 11 from below, and the first ice making chamber 11 can be opened during water removal operation. That is, the second ice-making compartment 12 includes a first ice-making compartment recessed in the first ice-making compartment 11.
Corresponding to the ice-making chambers 13, a large number of second ice-making chambers 15, also made of hemispherical recesses, are recessed upward in a desired alignment pattern. The diameter of this second ice making chamber 15 is also 31, for example, and the depth of the four parts is set to 1.5 cn+. Therefore, the second ice making compartment 12 is different from the first ice making compartment 11.
When the ice-making compartments 13 and 15 are closed from below, the ice-making compartments 13 and 15 correspond to each other, and a spherical space with a diameter of 3a++ is defined within each compartment.

As described above, the second ice-making chamber 12 is configured as a block body made of a metal with good thermal conductivity such as copper, and each of the second ice-making chambers 15
A water fllL38 for injecting and supplying ice-making water to the ice-making chamber 12 is integrally fixed to the outer bottom of the second ice-making chamber 12 via a bolt 60. The rear end of the water tray 38 stands up at a right angle to form a rear portion 64, and the open end of the rear portion 64 is attached to a fixed portion of the ice maker housing (not shown) with a pivot shaft 1.
6 so that it can tilt and turn, and is urged to rotate together with the second ice making chamber 12 by an actuator motor AM, which will be described later. That is, by rotating clockwise as shown in FIG. 6, the second ice making chamber 12 integrally fixed to the water tray 38 moves to the first
If the lj ice chamber 13 is opened and rotated counterclockwise, the second ice making chamber 12 becomes the first ice making chamber 13 as shown in FIG.
Close.

On the back side of the water tray 38, fountain holes 25 communicating with each of the second ice making chambers 15 are correspondingly bored, and a distribution pipe 24 for supplying ice making water to these fountain holes 25 also meanders on the back side of the water tray 38. It is located. Further, below the water tray 38, an ice-making water tank 19 for supplying ice-making water to the distribution pipe 24 is integrally provided.

As shown in No. 154, a supply hole 12a is bored at the bottom of each second ice-making chamber 15 in the second ice-making chamber 12, and when the water tray 38 and the second ice-making chamber 12 are fixed, each fountain hole 25
The dimensions are set so as to correspond to the supply hole 12a. The supply hole 12a functions to supply ice-making water to the ice-forming space defined in both ice-making compartments 13.15 during the ice-making operation to be described later. Further, a discharge hole 12b is provided adjacent to the supply hole 12a of each 2y5 ice chamber 15, and this discharge hole 12b is connected to each water fountain hole 2 of the water tray 38.
i+t! in the return hole 26 drilled adjacent to 5. It's a bucket. Therefore, the ice-making water (
The ice-making water tank 19 is returned to the ice-making water tank 19 through the discharge hole 12b and the return hole 26.

Since the second ice-making chamber 12 is made of a good thermal conductor, during the ice-making operation described later, unfrozen water that has not frozen in both ice-making chambers 13 and 15 is discharged through the discharge hole 12b. However, as the ice making operation progresses and an ice layer with a predetermined thickness is generated in the ice forming space, the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b become blocked by the ice layer. Thereby, hollow spherical water 1 is generated in the ice forming space.

(Regarding the water pan tilting mechanism and water circulation system) The actuator motor AM for tilting the water pan 38 is equipped with a speed reducer, and the cam lever 17 and the lever piece 37 are fixed to the rotating shaft thereof so as to extend in the radial direction. tip 1
A coil spring 18 is elastically engaged between 7a and the front end of the water tray 38. The cam lever 17b formed at the base of the cam lever 17 is dimensioned so as to be able to cam engage with the upper surface of the side portion 61 of the water tray 38. Further, a changeover switch S2 is disposed at a fixed portion that supports the first ice making chamber 11, and when the lever piece 37 is rotated by the rotation of the motor AM accompanying the deicing operation, the changeover switch S2 is changed over. The motor AM is stopped, and the water tray 38 is stopped in a tilted state. It also functions to switch the refrigeration system valve and circulate hot gas to the evaporator 14.

Water supply pipe 2 led out from the bottom side of the ice-making water tank 19
1 communicates with a pressure chamber 23 provided on the side of the tank via a water supply pump 22, and further communicates from the pressure chamber 23 with the distribution pipe 24. Therefore, from the ice making water tank 19 to the pump 2
The ice-making water pumped through 2 is supplied to each second fRI ice compartment 1 through the water fountain holes 25 drilled in the distribution pipe 24 and the supply hole 12a bored in the bottom of the second ice-making compartment 15.
It is injected into the tank. In addition, unfrozen water that has not been frozen in both ice-making chambers 13.15 during ice-making operation can be returned to the ice-making water tank 19 through the return hole 26 bored in the discharge hole 12b and the water IIIL3)'3. It looks like this.

Further, in front of the water tray 38, a dam part 62 is provided which is set to be lower than the side part 61 by a predetermined dimension, and both ends of this dam part 62 are in close contact with both side parts 61. . Further, a drainage hole 63 of a required diameter is bored in the water tray 38 between the front end of the second ice making chamber 12 and the damming part 62. As a result, the inner surface of the water tray 38 has both sides 61,
61. A water reservoir portion 65 surrounded by the dam portion 62 and the rear portion 64 is formed. A part of the water stored in the water reservoir 65 flows down from the drain hole 63 to the ice-making water tank 19, and the other water overflows from the upper end of the dam 62 and flows from the front side of the water tray 38. It is arranged so that it flows into the tank 19. Note that water is supplied to the ice-making water tank 19 by opening the water supply valve Wv of the water supply pipe 27 connected to the external water supply system.

(Regarding the temperature-sensing mechanism) A temperature-sensing section (
A temperature sensing portion of a water removal detection thermometer Th, which functions as water removal completion detection means, is also provided at a different position on the top surface of the first ice making chamber. Furthermore, the second ice making room 1
A temperature sensing part of a thermometer Th3 is disposed on a required side of the water tray 3, and the main body of the thermometer Th3 that emits an electric signal is a water tray 3.
8.

(About the water guide plate) A drain tray 69 is provided below the ice making water tank 19 to receive the ice making water and discharge it to the outside of the machine.

A water guide plate 67 fixed to the shaft 68 above the drain tray 69
is coming. During the ice making operation, this water guide plate 67 has a positioning member 7 that extends and hangs down from the fixed part of the housing.
0, and is stopped at a position close to the open end of the tank 19, as shown in FIG. In this state, if the ice-making water in the tank 19 overflows, this water will flow to the water guide plate 6 as shown in FIG.
After flowing down along the back surface of the drain plate 7, it is discharged from the drain tray 69 to the outside of the machine. In addition, during deicing operation, as shown in FIG. is in a tilting state (described later).
It collapses onto the upper surface of the ice-making chamber 15 and blocks each of the second ice-making chambers 15.

As shown in FIG. 7, the hydrophobic water falling from the first ice-making compartment 11 is caused to slide down on this water guide plate 67 and into the water storage tank.
(not shown).

Note that when the water tray 38 (second ice making compartment) returns to its original position, the water guide plate 67 is pressed by the water tray 38 returning to the horizontal state and rotates clockwise, as shown in FIG. , comes into contact with the positioning member 70 and stops. This water guide plate 6
7 is tilted by moving the center of gravity using the shaft 68 as a fulcrum.

(Modified example of the first and second ice-making compartments) Fig. 10 shows a modification of the internal shapes of the first and second ice-making compartments, which makes it possible to produce shaped ice as shown in Fig. 11(c). Can be done. That is, as shown in the figure, the first ice-making chamber 13 recessed in the first ice-making chamber 11 has a triangular shape in cross section,
Its bottom is open. Further, the second ice-making compartment 15, which is made of a metal with good thermal conductivity such as copper and is recessed in the second ice-making compartment 12, is formed to have a rectangular cross section.

Its width dimension is set shorter than the width dimension of the bottom surface of the 5th and 11th ice compartments 13.

A supply hole 12a is provided at the bottom of the twenty-first ice chamber 15 and communicates with a water fountain hole 25 formed in the water tray 38. Further, a discharge hole 12b is provided adjacent to the supply 12a, and this discharge hole 12b communicates with a return hole 26 provided adjacent to the fountain hole 25 of the water tray 38. These supply holes 12
Since the portion defining the discharge hole 12b and the ice-making chamber 13.15 are made of a good thermal conductor, if ice cubes are produced in the ice-making chamber 13.15, a hollow shaped ice 3 having a shape as shown in FIG. 11(c) is formed.
can be easily manufactured.

Function of the embodiment Next, the function of the ice making structure according to the embodiment will be explained. During the ice-making operation, as shown in FIG.
and each of the second ice-making chambers 15 to define an ice-forming space inside. When the automatic ice making machine is turned on in this state, ice making operation is started, and the refrigerant is circulated and supplied to the evaporator 14 provided in the first ice making compartment 11.
cooling is performed. The ice-making water from the ice-making water tank 19 is pumped to the distribution pipe 24, and is divided into five ice-making compartments 13.15 via each water fountain 25 of the distribution pipe 24 and the supply hole 12a of the second ice-making compartment 15. is injected into a spherical space.

The injected ice-making water contacts the inner surface of the first ice-making chamber 13 and is cooled, moistens the second ice-making chamber 15 below, and is then discharged from the spherical space through the plurality of discharge holes 12b. This unfrozen water flows through the return hole 2 formed in the water tray 38.
6, it is returned to the ice-making water tank 19 and subjected to circulation again. As the cycle of ice-making water 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.

Then, a portion of the ice-making water begins to freeze on the inner wall surfaces of the first ice-making compartment 13 and the second ice-making compartment 15, and an ice layer begins to form (see FIGS. 3 and 9(a)'#), and the Water drain hole 1
2b and returning to the tank 19 from the return hole 26, the growth of the ice layer further progresses. As mentioned above, since the second ice-making compartment 12 is made of a good thermal conductor, the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 1 formed in the ice-making compartment 12 are
The drilled portion 2b is also a good thermal conductor. Therefore, as an ice layer is generated in the first and second ice-making chambers 13.15, ice is also formed on the inner surfaces of the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b, as shown in FIG. 9(b). layers are generated. and an ice layer growing in the spherical space.

Together with the ice layer growing on the inner surfaces of the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b, the supply hole 12a and the discharge hole 12b are blocked. As a result, Figures 4 and 9 (
As shown in c), hollow spherical ice 1 is finally generated in the spherical spaces formed in both ice-making compartments 13,15.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the supply hole 12a is blocked by a layer of ice, ice-making water is no longer supplied into one spherical space, so heat exchange between the ice-making water and the first ice-making chamber 11 is no longer performed.
The temperature of the first ice making compartment 11 rapidly decreases. Then, when the temperature of the 1st v5 ice chamber 11 drops to the required temperature range,
This temperature drop is detected by the ice-making detection thermometer Th□, and the circulating supply of ice-making water is stopped, while the supply of refrigerant to the evaporator 14 is continued. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the water supply valve Wv is opened and the water reservoir 6 defined on the surface of the water tray 38 is
Start water supply on 5th. Since the tap water supplied via the water supply 6wv is larger than the amount flowing down from the drain hole 63 to the tank 19, the water level in the water reservoir 65 gradually rises.
Eventually, the water will overflow from the damming part 62 of the water tray 38. The water surface level of the water reservoir 65 at the time of overflow is 2nd! ! ! By setting the temperature so that the water reaches near the upper end of the ice compartment 12, the tap water at room temperature flows into the second ice compartment 12.
can mainly be heated.

In addition, as a means for detecting the completion of generation of hollow ice, various detection methods other than the thermostat Th1 can be employed.

For example, when hollow ice is generated in the ice-making compartment 13.15, ice-making water is no longer supplied to the ice-making compartment 13.15, and as a result, the supply pressure of the pump 22 increases. Therefore, a method of detecting the completion of ice making by detecting a change in the supply pressure of the pump 22 may also be suitably used.

The overflow water from the dam 62 is transferred to the water tray 38.
The water flows down into the tank 19 from the tip. The water level in the tank 19 gradually rises due to the water flowing in from the tip of this water dish and the water flowing down from the drain hole 63, and the water level in the tank 19 overflows from the tip of the tank in a short time, and the water guide plate is in the MI standby position. 67
It is discharged from the drain tray 69 to the outside of the machine along the same direction.

The second ice-making chamber 12 is heated by the tap water flowing into the water reservoir 65 and its temperature rises, and the freezing force between the wall surface of the second ice-making chamber 15 and the hydrophobicity decreases. Furthermore, the adhesion force of the ice formed on the surface adjacent to the first ice making chamber 11 is also weakened. When the temperature of the second ice-making compartment 12 rises in this way, the thermometer Th detects this and closes the water supply valve Wv, and the actuator motor AM is energized, counterclockwise in FIG. Begin co-movement in the direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the cam lever 17 rotates, and the cam surface 17b formed at its base forcibly presses the upper side surface of the water tray 38 downward. As already mentioned, the second ice-making compartment 12 is heated by tap water, and the adhesion force between the first ice-making compartment 11 and the spherical ice 1 is reduced, so the water tray 38 and the second ice-making compartment 12 are It is forcibly separated from the first ice making chamber 11 and begins to tilt diagonally downward.

By tilting the water tray 38 and the tank 19, the ice-making water in the tank 19 and the water in the water droplet are disposed of to the outside.

During the tilting of the water ji 1138, by pushing a reversing lever (not shown) integrated with the shaft 68 with a part of the water tray assembly, the water guide plate 67 is reversed and moved toward the water tray 38. It tilts in the suspended state. At the timing when the water tray 38 is tilted to the maximum, the lever piece 37 presses and biases the changeover switch S2.

As a result, the motor ΔM stops its rotation +h and the water tray 38
stop tilting. As described above, the water guide plate 67 extends over the upper surface of the second ice making chamber 12 and provides a smooth surface for the ice cubes to slide down.

Further, by switching the eight switches, the condenser fan motor (not shown) is stopped, the hot gas valve (not shown) is opened, and hot gas is supplied to the evaporator 14.
The first ice-making chamber 11 is heated, and the frozen surface between the inner surface of the first ice-making chamber 13 and the spherical ice 1 starts to melt. Note that the first
As described above, since the ice making chamber 11 continues to cool until the water tray 38 is tilted open, the freezing force (adhesion force) between the spherical ice 1 and the inner surface of the first ice making chamber 13 is strong, and the ice making chamber 11 continues to cool until the water tray 38 is tilted open. Room 1
When the ice cube 2 is opened, the spherical ice 1 is firmly attached to the first ice making chamber 13, as shown in FIG. However, since hot gas has been circulating in the evaporator 14 since before, the first ice making compartment 1
1, the temperature is rising. When the first ice-making chamber 13 is heated to an extent that the spherical ice 1 is unfrozen from the chamber wall, it falls under its own weight, and as shown in FIG. It lands on the surface and is collected by sliding into a water storage (not shown).

In this way, when all the spherical ice 1 leaves the first ice-making chamber 13 (see FIG. 8), the first ice-making chamber 11 becomes steamy! '
a The temperature rises all at once due to the hot gas circulating in 14. When the de-icing detection thermo Th2 detects this temperature rise, the de-icing operation is completed and the motor AM reversely rotates to drive the cam lever 17 by 1. Therefore, the coil spring 18 elastically engaged between the lever 17 and the water tray 38 urges the water tray 38 and the ice-making water tank 19 to rotate counterclockwise to return them to the horizontal state. The first ice making chamber 11 is closed again from below.

Next, the cam lever 17 is rotated by the reverse rotation of the motor AM.
The refrigeration system valve also rotates in the opposite direction, and the changeover switch S2 is suppressed and energized to switch the refrigeration system valve and stop the supply of hot gas to the evaporator 14. Furthermore, the water supply valve Wv is opened to supply new ice-making water to the tank 19 whose water level has decreased. Then, the ice making operation is restarted and the above-described operation is repeated.

As described in detail, the ice-making structure according to the present invention has a first ice-making chamber including a first ice-making chamber that opens downward, and a second ice-making chamber that opens toward the L side. The above-mentioned second ice-making machine basically comprises two ice-making compartments and generates ice blocks in an ice-forming space internally defined by closing one ice-making compartment.
By constructing the ice-making water supply and discharge holes in the ice-making compartment from a material with good thermal conductivity, such as copper metal,
During ice making operation, before a solid ice block is generated in the ice forming space, the supply hole and the discharge hole are blocked by the ice layer growing in the space. Therefore, hollow spherical ice can be produced in the ice forming space. The hollow ice obtained in this way can be suitably used for short-term cooling of beverages such as juice and alcohol. Moreover, since the hollow ice has high buoyancy, it can be floating in an aquarium etc. for decorative purposes.
New ice demand can also be ventilated.

Furthermore, since hollow ice consumes less ice making water and takes less time to make ice, the ice making capacity can be greatly increased and running costs can be reduced. Furthermore, shaped ice for occasional viewing (for decorative purposes) does not need to be solid, so there is an advantage that such shaped ice can also be produced efficiently in a short time.

Note that other water circulation systems other than those shown in the drawings can also be suitably implemented in that the supply hole and discharge hole in the second ice making chamber are made of a good thermal conductor.

Further, although the explanation has been made regarding the production of spherical ice, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that it can be implemented to produce polyhedral ice having other shapes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an ice-making structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the main parts of the ice-making structure according to the embodiment, and FIGS. The ice making mechanism according to the preferred embodiment is also schematically shown in vertical cross-sectional view showing the η configuration, and FIG. 2 shows the 2′g! 5 Close the ice room,
Figure 3 shows the initial state when ice-making operation has started, and shows the state in which ice-making has progressed and hollow spherical ice with holes only at the supply and discharge holes has been formed in both ice-making chambers. Figure 4 shows a state in which ice making is approximately completed and complete hollow spherical ice is formed in both ice making compartments, and Figure 5 shows a state in which ice making is completed and the water supply valve is opened and water in the water reservoir section is shown. Water that overflows from the dam due to rising water level flows down along the back side of the water guide plate and is discharged from the drain tray to the outside of the machine.
FIG. 6 shows a state in which the actuator motor is energized to tilt and open the second ice-making chamber clockwise, and the water guide plate is collapsed onto the top surface of the second ice-making chamber to close each second ice-making chamber, FIG. 7 shows a state in which spherical ice falls from the 1m ice chamber and slides down the water guide plate located slanted directly below it. Figure 8 shows the state in which the second ice maker begins to rotate counterclockwise and return to its original position after deicing is completed, and the water guide plate is also returned to its original position, and Figures 9 (a) to (c) )teeth. An explanatory diagram showing the state in which hollow spherical ice is formed in the first ice-making compartment and the second ice-making compartment over time. Figure 10 shows ice making when the internal shapes of the first ice-making compartment and the second ice-making compartment are changed. A vertical cross-sectional view showing a modification of the mechanism, FIG. 11(a) is an explanatory view showing hollow spherical ice, and FIG. 11(b) is an explanatory view showing hollow multifaceted ice. FIG. 11(c) is an explanatory diagram showing hollow shaped ice. 11...1st ice making room 12...2nd! Pl! Ice chamber 12a...supply hole 12b...discharge hole 13...
・First ice making chamber 14...Evaporator 15...Second ice making chamber

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An automatic ice maker in which ice making water is injected into an ice making chamber to form ice cubes in the ice making chamber, and the ice making water that has not frozen is recirculated. A first ice-making compartment (11) is provided with a container (14), is fixedly arranged in the machine, and has a number of first ice-making compartments (13) of a desired shape that open downward.
), and is arranged so as to be able to freely approach and separate from this first ice-making compartment (11),
a second ice-making compartment (12) formed with a large number of second ice-making compartments (15) each having a desired shape that can correspondingly close each of the first ice-making compartments (13) from below; (12) An ice-making structure for an automatic ice-making machine, characterized in that portions defining an ice-making water supply hole (12a) and a discharge hole (12b) formed in the bottom of the ice-making machine are made of a good thermal conductor.