JPH0332715B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an ice maker, and particularly relates to a method of operating an inverted cell type ice maker.

(b) Prior Art The automatic ice making machine disclosed in Publication of Utility Model Publication No. 13249/1988 tilts the water tray after completing the ice making cycle, performs a deicing cycle using hot gas, and removes ice from the ice making compartment. The completion of deicing is detected by a predetermined temperature rise of the evaporator, and the water tray is moved back, and when the water tray completes its return movement, the hot gas is stopped and the next ice making cycle is restarted.

According to this conventional method, hot gas is flowed to the evaporator during the double movement of the water pan, so the temperature of the suction gas of the electric compressor gradually rises and the load increases, sometimes exceeding the operating limit of the compressor. This made it undesirable for use. In addition, since the evaporator is heated even though the ice has left the ice-making chamber, the evaporator must be cooled down by the amount of heat that was heated during the next ice-making cycle, which lengthens the ice-making time and reduces ice-making capacity. It was causing a decline.

(c) Purpose of the Invention The present invention addresses the drawbacks of the conventional technology, improves the life of the electric compressor by eliminating unnecessary heating of the cooler, and improves the ice-making capacity by shortening the ice-making time. purpose.

(D) Structure of the Invention The present invention is an inverted cell type ice maker, and when a deicing completion detection thermostat detects the removal of ice, the water tray starts to move backward, and the cooler starts to perform preliminary cooling. This is a method of operating an ice maker that starts operation.

(E) Embodiment Figure 1 shows a partially cutaway side view of the ice maker of the present invention, showing a large number of ice maker compartments 1 that open downward.
A, the cooler 1 has a refrigeration system evaporation pipe 2 arranged on the outer surface of the upper wall, each ice making compartment 1A is closed off from below with sufficient margin, and a fountain corresponding to each ice making compartment 1A is installed on the surface. Water tray 5 with holes 3 and return holes 4 formed
, a water tank 6 fixed to the water tray 5 and communicating with the return hole 4, and a circulation pump that circulates the water in the water tank 6 from the water fountain 3 to each ice making compartment 1A via a water supply pipe 7 and further a distribution pipe 8. 9, a drive device 11 including a deceleration motor 10 capable of forward and reverse rotation for tilting and reciprocating the water tray 5, a water sprinkler 13 that sprinkles water on the surface of the water tray 5 when the water supply valve 12 is opened, and a water tank 6. Float 14 in float tank 14A communicating with the bottom of
The water level switch 14C is actuated by the water level switch 14C, and the water level detection device 14, which detects a predetermined water level in the water tank 6, constitutes a so-called inverted cell type ice maker. Then,
A drive cam 17 having first and second arms 17A and 17B extending in opposite directions is connected to the output shaft of the deceleration motor 10 supported on a mounting plate 16 fixed to the support beam 15. The other end of the coil spring 18 attached to the end of the first arm 17A is connected to the side of the water tray 5, and the rear part of the water tray 5 is supported on a rotating shaft 19. Further, 20 is switched by the second arm 17B of the drive cam 17 which rotates counterclockwise due to the forward rotation of the deceleration motor 10, and the power supply to the deceleration motor 10 is cut off to move the water tray 5 to a predetermined inclined open position. The deceleration motor 10 is stopped at
This is a seesaw type control switch that is switched by the first arm 17A of the drive cam 17 that rotates clockwise due to the reversal of the rotation speed, and cuts off the power to the deceleration motor 10 to stop the water tray 5 at a predetermined horizontal closed position. be.

Next, the electric circuit of the present invention will be explained based on FIG. 21 is an electric compressor for the refrigeration system, and 22 is a timer for controlling the end of the ice-making operation, which has a timer contact (22A) that closes the contact when a predetermined time has elapsed. (23) is a de-elongation completion detection thermostat that controls the end of de-elongation operation, and when the temperature of the cooler (1) falls to a predetermined temperature, it switches to the L contact (23A), and when the temperature rises to a predetermined temperature, it switches to the H contact. Switches to contact (23B). (24) is the first relay connected in series with the storage switch (25) which closes the contact when a predetermined storage amount is detected, and the normally closed first relay contact 24A
and a normally open first relay contact 24B. A second relay 26 has normally closed second relay contacts 26A and 26B and normally open second relay contacts 26C, 26D and 26E. A third relay 27 has normally open third relay contacts 27A and 27B. 12
is the water supply valve connected in series with the water level switch 14C. 20A1 and 20A2 are tilting contacts of the control switch 20; 20B1 and 20B2;
is a double-acting contact of the control switch 20. 10
9 is the aforementioned circulation pump, 28 is a condenser air cooling fan, and 29 is a hot gas valve connected in series with the normally open second relay contact 26E. It is. Note that the water level detection device 14 is mechanically provided with a differential to prevent water from being supplied during ice-making operation.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained. The water tray 5 is in a horizontal state with the ice making compartment 1A closed, as shown by the solid line in FIG. When opened, water is sprinkled from the sprinkler 13 onto the surface of the water tray 5, and mainly passes through the return hole 4 to the water tank 6.
Start water supply. In addition, the electric compressor 21 operates to cool the cooler 1, and also connects the circulation pump 9 and condenser air cooling via the normally closed first relay contact 24A, the tilting contact 20A1, and the normally closed second relay contact 26A. The fan 28 operates to start ice-making operation, and then, when the water level in the water tank 6 reaches a predetermined water level, the water level switch 14C is activated by the float 14B.
The contact is opened, and the supply of electricity to the water supply valve 12 is cut off, water sprinkling is stopped, and the water supply operation to the water tank 6 is completed.

The water in the water tank 6 passes through the water pipe 7 and the distribution pipe 8 and is sprayed from each water fountain 3 into each ice making compartment 1A, and the remaining water that does not freeze in the ice making compartment 1A is sent from the return hole 4 to the water tank 6. The water cycle of returning to water is repeated. After the start of ice making, when the temperature of the cooler 1 drops to a predetermined temperature, the deicing completion detection thermostat 23 changes to H.
The timer 22 is started by switching from the contact 23B to the L contact 23A, and when the predetermined time set by the timer 22 has elapsed, the timer contact 22A is closed, the second relay 26 is energized, and the normally closed second relay contact 26A and 26B is opened, and the normally open second relay contacts 26C, 26D, and 26E are closed. With this, the circulation pump 9 and the fan 28
stops and ice making operation ends. The third relay 27, which is energized at this time, is intended to prevent the operation from being stopped midway due to the closing of the ice storage switch 25.

On the other hand, the hot gas valve 29 is energized via the normally open second relay contact 26E, and the valve 29 opens to circulate the hot gas to the evaporation pipe 2, heating the cooler 1 and discharging the frozen ice in the ice making compartment 1A. Start deicing operation. At the same time, the deceleration motor 10 is energized via the timer contact 22A and the tilting contact 20A2 to rotate forward, and the drive cam 17 rotates counterclockwise. Along with this, the water tray 5 starts tilting, and when a portion of the ice-making water remaining in the water tank 6 is drained during the tilting of the water tray 5, the water level switch 14C is closed and the water supply valve 12 is energized. The sprinkler 13 then starts spraying water on the surface of the water tray 5 for cleaning. Thus, the second arm 17B of the drive cam 17 moves the control switch 20 from the tilting contacts 20A1 and 20A2 to the double-acting contact 20.
When switching to B1 and 20B2, the deceleration motor 10
The water tray 5 ends its tilting at the tilted position where the ice making chamber 1A is opened, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. In this state, water is left in the water tank 6 at a level as indicated by the dotted line X in FIG. 1, thereby preventing the circulation pump 9 from running idle at the start of the next cycle.

As a result of the deicing operation using hot gas, ice leaves each ice making compartment 1A, and the deicing completion detection thermostat 23 detects a predetermined temperature increase in the cooler 1 and changes the temperature from the L contact 23A to the H contact 23B. When switched, the power to the timer 22 is cut off and the timer contact 22A returns to normal. Also at this time, the second
When the relay 26 is de-energized, the normally closed second relay contacts 26A and 26B are closed to the normal state, and the normally open second relay contacts 26C, 26D and 26E are opened to the normal state, so that the double acting contact of the control switch 20 20B1, the deceleration motor 10 is energized via the normally closed second relay contact 26B, and now rotates in the reverse direction, the drive cam 17 rotates clockwise, and the water tray 5 starts to move backward. Further, by opening the normally open second relay contact 26E, the power to the hot gas valve 29 is cut off, and the deicing operation is completed.

When the hot gas valve 29 is closed, the low-temperature refrigerant is circulated through the evaporation pipe 2, and the precooling operation of the cooler 1 is started. Then, when the first arm 17A of the drive cam 17 switches the control switch 20 from the double-acting contacts 20B1 and 20B2 to the tilting contacts 20A1 and 20A2, the power to the deceleration motor 10 is cut off and the water tray 5 is turned off again as shown in FIG. As shown by the solid line, the return movement is completed at the horizontal position where each ice-making chamber 1A is closed, and the circulation pump 9 and fan 28 are operated to start the next cycle of ice-making operation. Thereafter, when the water level in the water tank 6 reaches a predetermined water level, the contact of the water level switch 14C is opened by the float 14B as described above, and the power supply to the water supply valve 12 is cut off, thereby ending the water supply operation to the water tank 6.

Furthermore, to summarize the above-mentioned main operations in the operating state explanatory diagram of FIG. 3, ice-making operation is performed with the water tray 5 blocking the ice-making chamber 1A, and when the ice-making operation is finished, the water tray 5 tilts to release the water. A dehydration operation is performed with the tray 5 opening the ice making compartment 1A, and when the deicing operation is finished, the water tray 5 starts double operation, and at the same time, the cooler 1 performs a preliminary cooling operation, and the water tray 5 When the double operation is completed, the next cycle of ice making operation is started.

(F) Effects of the Invention In the present invention, the pre-cooling operation of the cooler is started at the same time as the water tray starts to move backward, so the cooler is not heated unnecessarily and the usage limit of the electric compressor is exceeded. This eliminates the risk of overflow, which improves the life of the compressor, and reduces the amount of refrigeration necessary for ice making in the next cycle, thereby shortening ice making time and improving ice making capacity.

In addition, by starting the pre-cooling operation of the cooler at the same time as the water tray starts to move backward, the de-icing completion detection thermostat can also serve as a pre-cooling start signal source, and the control circuit for performing the operation can also be used as a pre-cooling start signal source. The configuration can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of an ice making machine embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the operating state of the present invention. 1... Cooler, 5... Water dish.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cooler comprising a plurality of ice-making compartments opening downward, a tiltable water tray that closes each ice-making compartment, a water tank fixed to the water tray, and a circulation pump, the circulation pump comprising: The ice maker operates to perform ice making operation by spraying water in the water tank into each ice making compartment from a fountain hole formed on the surface of the water tray, and also performs deicing operation by heating the cooler with hot gas. A method of operating an ice maker, characterized in that, when a deicing end detection thermostat detects the detachment of ice, tilting of the water tray is started and a preliminary cooling operation of the cooler is started. .