JPH038930Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] a. Industrial application field This invention relates to an ice dispenser, and in particular, the invention relates to an ice dispenser, and is particularly concerned with changes in ambient temperature depending on the season and the time between the end of an ice dispensing operation and the next ice dispensing operation. The present invention relates to an ice dispenser that prevents fluctuations in the amount of stored ice released due to intervals.

b. Prior art There are various mechanisms and control methods for improving the ice discharging characteristics of ice dispensers that have been used in the past, but a typical one is the Utility Model Application No. 56-67591.
There are some that are disclosed in the publication. That's the 4th
As shown in the figure. In the figure, ice made by an ice making mechanism 1 is stored in an ice storage 2, and when the ice storage 2 is full, an ice storage switch (not shown) detects that the ice storage 2 is full and stops the ice making operation.

When taking out the ice stored in the ice storage 2, that is, when performing an ice discharging operation, an ice discharging instruction is issued, and a drive motor (not shown) rotates the stirring device 4 for a certain period of time to stir the ice. After a certain period of time, the ice releasing door 7 is opened for a certain period of time to release a certain amount of ice.

When the interval between one ice discharging operation and the next ice discharging operation, that is, the time interval between ice discharging operation stops, becomes longer, the ice may stick to each other due to the surface tension of the ice melting water, or a light arching state may occur due to the weight of the ice, which may cause the stirring device to In the early stages of operation, it becomes difficult for ice to come out and the amount of ice released decreases. To prevent this, the ice discharge door is opened after the stirring device is operated as described above.

c Problems that this invention aims to solve However, in the conventional configuration, the ice discharging door is opened after rotating the stirring device for a certain period of time each time the ice discharging operation is performed, so the time required for the ice discharging operation is As the time becomes longer, the time during which the ice is stirred by the stirring device also increases, resulting in a disadvantage that a large amount of powdered ice is generated and the quality of the ice deteriorates. Further, there was a problem that the lower the ambient temperature, the lower the amount of ice released could not be prevented.

d. Means for Solving the Problems According to this invention, there is provided an ice discharging means for discharging ice stored in an ice storage; a driving means for driving; a temperature sensor for detecting ambient temperature; and when the ambient temperature detected by the temperature sensor is higher than a reference temperature, the first predetermined time is shortened, and when it is lower than the reference temperature, the first predetermined time is shortened; An ice dispenser is provided, comprising: first means CH for correcting the first predetermined time to lengthen the first predetermined time.

e Effect In the above configuration, when the ice release operation is performed, the amount of ice released can be reduced by increasing the door opening time (ice release operation time) when the ambient temperature is low, regardless of ambient temperature changes throughout the seasons. Variations can be kept to an extremely low level.

In addition, by controlling the door opening time (ice release operation time) as described above, the rotation operation of the correspondingly rotating stirring device can be suppressed to the necessary minimum, which is different from the conventional method. Since there is no need to rotate the ice stirring device in advance when discharging ice, the time required for discharging ice can be shortened, and
Generation of powdered ice can be minimized.

f. Embodiment A preferred embodiment of the ice dispenser according to this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, ice made by the ice making mechanism section 1 is stored in an ice storage 2, and when the ice storage 2 is full, an ice storage switch 3 detects that the ice storage 2 is full, and the compressor and drive motor 5 (not shown) are stopped. . A stirring device 4 in the ice storage 2 is fixed to an auger 1a in the ice making mechanism 1 and rotated by a drive motor 5. The ice release door 7 is operated by a solenoid 7a attached to the lower side of the ice storage 2.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a control circuit section 20 for controlling the operation of the ice dispenser, and a high voltage section 21.
and a low voltage section 22, and a control board 27 shown in FIG. 2A is further connected to the low voltage section 22 via board terminals 27a and 27b.

In the high voltage section 21, the solenoid 7a is connected to the power supply via the switch 20a to the normally open contacts of the relays X ₃ and X ₄ (Fig. 2A), which will be described later.
X _3-1 and X _4-1 are connected in series, and the drive motor 5 is connected to relays X ₁ (Figure 2A), X ₃ and
connected in series with _{the respective normally open contacts X 1-1 ,} X _3-2 and X _4-2 of X 4 and in parallel with relay X ₅ ,
The compressor 23 and fan motor FM are connected in series with a normally open contact X _2-1 of a relay X ₂ (FIG. 2A), which will be described later.

The high voltage section 21 and the low voltage section 22 are the transformer 24
In the low voltage section 22, the float switch 25 is connected in series with the relay X ₆ and the contact S ₁ of the ice storage switch 3, and the water supply valve ₂₆ is connected to the relay It is connected in series with the closed contact X _6-2 , and the series connection body of this water supply valve 26 and the normally closed contact X _6-2 , and the float switch 25
and the series connection body of relay X ₆ are connected in parallel.

Low voltage section 2 via board terminals 27a and 27b
As shown in FIG. 2A _, the control board 27 connected to the control board 27 has relays _{X 1} , X _{2 ,} X ₃ , X ₄ , and 3 timer TM ₃ , contact S ₂ of discharge switch 28 , temperature sensor 29 such as a thermistor to detect ambient temperature
contacts S ₃ etc. are shown connected.

The operation of the ice dispenser according to the invention constructed as above will be explained with reference to the circuit diagrams of FIGS. 2 and 2A and the time chart of FIG. 3.

By turning on the power switch 20a (FIG. 3a), the water supply valve 26 opens and water starts to be supplied to the ice-making water tank (not shown). When the water is supplied to a certain level, the float switch 25 closes and the relay is activated.
X ₆ is energized, and the energization of relay X ₆ opens contacts X _6-2
is opened and the water supply valve 26 is closed, and at the same time, the contact X _6-1 is closed and the relays X ₁ and X ₂ (FIG. 2A) of the control board 27 are energized. Relay x ₁ and
When X _{2 is} energized, contact X _1-1 of relay X ₁ and contact X _2-1 of relay Figure 3 b and c).

When the ice making operation continues and the ice storage 2 becomes full of ice, the contact _S1 of the ice storage switch 3 opens (the third
Figure e), relay X ₆ is demagnetized and contacts X _6-1 are opened to demagnetize relays X ₁ and X ₂ , contacts X _{1-1 and} Machine 23
is deenergized and the ice making operation is stopped (Fig. 3 c and b). At the same time, relay _X5 is demagnetized and the contact
_X5-1 is closed, and thereby the second timer _TM2 on the control board 27 starts accumulating the stop time of the drive motor 5 (Fig. 3h).

If the accumulated time of this second timer TM ₂ is within the second predetermined time (varies depending on the characteristics of the ice dispenser; set to 2 hours in this embodiment), the contacts S ₂₁ and ₂ of this second timer TM 2 Both S ₂₂ have fallen to the a side as shown in the figure, and at this point the release switch 28 is operated and the relay X ₇ is energized and its contacts are
When X _7-2 and X _7-3 are closed, the first timer TM ₁ is
Contact S ₁₁ of TM ₁ closes and relay X ₃ is energized (Figure 3i). When this relay X ₃ is energized, the second
Contact X _3-1 in the figure is closed for the first predetermined time,
The ice discharge door is opened by the operation of the solenoid 7a, and the contact _X3-2 is closed, thereby driving the drive motor 5 (Fig. 3c) to rotate the stirring device.
Perform ice release action.

In addition, the relay X ₅ is excited by the closing of the contact X _3-2 , and the normally closed contact X _5-1 of this relay X ₅ is opened, so the second timer TM ₂ stops integrating (the third
Figure h).

After the first predetermined time has elapsed, the first timer TM ₁
When the time-up occurs, the contact _S11 is turned off, and the contacts _X3-1 and _X3-2 of the relay _X3 are also turned off, thereby ending the ice discharging operation. When contact X _3-2 is turned off, relay X ₅ is also demagnetized, so it is a normally closed contact.
_X5-1 closes and the second timer _TM2 starts the integration operation again.

When the cumulative time of the second timer TM ₂ reaches the second predetermined time, that is, 2 hours or more (Fig. 3 h),
Contacts S ₂₁ and S ₂₂ of this second timer TM ₂ are both b
If the release switch 28 is operated at this point, the solenoid 7a and the drive motor 5
is the third predetermined time set in the third timer TM ₃ (in this example, 20 minutes longer than the first predetermined time).
% longer. ) (FIG. 3 j, c and d). That is, when the release switch 28 is operated, the relay X ₇ operates and the contact X _7-2 closes, so the third timer TM ₃ operates and the contact S ₃₂ of the third timer TM ₃ closes. ,
In addition, contact X _7-3 is also closed due to the excitation of relay X ₇ , so relay _{X 4 is} energized, and normally open contacts X _4-1 and X _4-2 of relay The solenoid 7a and the drive motor will be driven.

In this way, by controlling the ice release time using the third predetermined time that is 20% longer than the first predetermined time, a reduction in the amount of ice released after a long-term stop is prevented, so the ice release Variations in quantity can be kept low.

On the other hand, in order to prevent the tendency for the amount of ice released to decrease when the ambient temperature is around 10°C, the first timer TM ₁ is equipped with a correction circuit CH for correcting the first predetermined time of the first timer TM ₁ . It is included. A temperature sensor 29 (in this example, a temperature controller set to turn on when the ambient temperature is 10°C and turn off when the ambient temperature is 12°C) is connected in series to this correction circuit CH. Then, the contact point of the temperature sensor 29
The closing of S ₃ activates the correction circuit CH, which extends the pulse interval of the ice release timer, ie, the first timer TM ₁ , by, for example, 20%. In this way, when the ambient temperature falls below 10° C., the ice discharging operation time is extended, and therefore a substantially constant amount of ice can be discharged without being affected by the ambient temperature.

As described above, the amount of ice released varies depending on the ambient temperature and the time interval between ice release and the next ice release, that is, the ice release operation stop time interval (substantially the stop time of the stirring device). By correcting the discharge operation time (that is, the operation time of the stirring device when ice is discharged), it is possible to always discharge a substantially constant amount of ice, and furthermore, the stirring device is configured to be driven only when necessary for ice discharge. Therefore, it is possible to minimize the generation of powdered ice.

In this example, the ice discharging operation time is corrected by dividing the ambient temperature into two categories: ambient temperature of 10°C or more, ice discharging operation stop time of 2 hours or more, and ice discharging operation stop time of 2 hours or more. If the ice discharging operation time is corrected by increasing each of them, it is possible to further suppress the variation in the amount of ice discharged.

Further, in the above embodiment, the third timer TM ₃ and the correction circuit CH are provided separately, and in either case, the first predetermined time, that is, the ice release operation time in the first timer TM ₁ is increased by 20%. However, as in this example, the ambient temperature is 10°C or higher, the discharge operation stop time interval is 2 hours or more,
If you use only the following two divisions and set the first predetermined time to the same 20% increase in both cases, you can add the third timer TM ₃ with a simple circuit change.
Those skilled in the art will readily understand that either the correction circuit CH or the correction circuit CH can be deleted.

g. Effects of the invention As described above, the ice dispenser according to this invention corrects the ice dispensing operation time, that is, the stirring time of the stirring device, depending on the ambient temperature, since the lower the ambient temperature, the smaller the amount of ice dispensed within a certain period of time. By doing this, the variation in the amount of ice released is kept to a minimum regardless of the ambient temperature conditions, so it is possible to obtain a nearly constant amount of ice, and the stirring device is driven only for the time necessary for ice release. This has the effect of reducing the generation of powdered ice and preventing deterioration in the quality of the ice.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an ice dispenser according to an embodiment of the invention, FIGS. 2 and 2A are electrical circuit diagrams showing a control circuit for controlling the ice dispenser according to an embodiment of the invention, Figure 3 shows
FIGS. 2 and 2A are waveform diagrams for explaining the operation, and FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the conventional ice dispenser. In the figure, 1 is the ice making mechanism, 2 is the ice storage, and 3 is the ice making mechanism.
is an ice storage switch, 4 is a stirring device, 5 is a drive motor, 7 is an ice discharge door, 7a is a solenoid, 20 is a control circuit, 23 is a compressor, FM is a fan motor, 25 is a float switch, 26 is a water supply valve ,
TM ₁ is the first timer, TM ₂ is the second timer,
TM ₃ is the third timer, 28 is the release switch, 2
9 is a temperature sensor, and CH is a correction circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) Ice discharging means for discharging ice stored in an ice storage, and a drive for driving the ice discharging means for a first predetermined period of time when discharging ice. means; a temperature sensor for detecting ambient temperature; when the ambient temperature detected by the temperature sensor is higher than a reference temperature, the first predetermined time period is shortened; when the ambient temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than the reference temperature, the first predetermined time period is shortened; An ice dispenser comprising: first means CH for correcting the first predetermined time to lengthen the time. (2) The ice dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the ice discharging means includes an ice discharging door. (3) The ice discharging means includes a stirring device for stirring ice and an ice discharging door as claimed in claim 1 of the utility model registration.
Ice dispenser as described in section. (4) The driving means includes a discharge switch that is operated to drive the ice discharge means when taking out the ice stored in the ice storage, and a discharge switch that is operated to drive the ice discharge means when the ice discharger is removed from the ice storage, and the ice discharge means after the discharge switch is operated. and a first timer means _TM1 for setting the first predetermined time for driving the ice dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 3. (5) The first means has a plurality of reference temperatures,
The ice dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first predetermined time is corrected in stages according to the ambient temperature detected by the temperature sensor.