JPH04356163A - Ice cream freezer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the subject freezer effective for preventing the quality deterioration, etc., of ice cream during the cooling operation by placing a detector for detecting the supercooling temperature of a cylinder and a specific controlling means in an apparatus to prepare ice cream, by cooling and stirring an ice cream mix supplied from a hopper. CONSTITUTION:The objective apparatus is provided with a hopper 4 for holding and precooling an ice cream mix, a cylinder 1 for cooling the mix supplied from the hopper under stirring with a stirrer 3 built in the cylinder, a compressor 20, a condenser, a cooling solenoid valve 22, a cooler 2, a cooling circuit, etc., and, in addition to the above parts, a temperature detector 30 to detect the cooling temperature, a hot gas solenoid valve 25 placed on a by-pass circuit between the condenser and an expansion mechanism, and a controlling apparatus 22 to automatically release the gaseous mixture of the hot gas and the cooling gas. When the temperature detected by the temperature detector 30 attached to the cylinder 1 is lower than a prescribed level, the hot gas solenoid valve 25 and the cooling solenoid valve 22 are opened and the supercooled mix is automatically softened by heating with the mixture of above gases for a prescribed period.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing soft serve ice cream, etc. by stirring a mix appropriately fed from a hopper to a cooling cylinder using an agitator. The present invention relates to a control device that controls manufacturing equipment so as not to interfere with its operation.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in this type of frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, it is important to maintain the mix in the cylinder at a predetermined cooling temperature and hardness. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately control the refrigeration device and agitator for cooling the cylinder.

[0003] In particular, if the mix becomes too hard, the rotation of the stirrer will be accompanied by a large resistance.
Not only will it not be possible to provide a mix with an appropriate viscosity due to insufficient stirring, but there is also a concern that it may damage the stirring motor of the stirrer and lead to an accident in which the stirrer is damaged.

[0004] Here, the reason why the mix is too hard is often due to insufficient mix in the cylinder.
This may be due to, for example, forgetting to replenish the mix to the hopper.

[0005] Therefore, in the past, the unfavorable situation where such a mix is too hard has been solved by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-910.
As shown in Publication No. 44, after a predetermined time (3 minutes) after taking out the frozen dessert, the cooling operation is stopped when the temperature is below a predetermined value as measured by a temperature detector attached to the cooler (cooling cylinder). As a result, since the mix is small, the load on the agitator is small, and the output torque does not increase to enough to stop the cooling operation, and the cooling operation continues and mix supercooling occurs.The timer 43 stops the cooling operation. issue a command,
After waiting for the mix to gradually become soft naturally, and after a predetermined period of time after the cooling operation is stopped by the timer 38,
Cooling is starting again.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above-mentioned conventional device, the cooling operation is stopped and the frozen dessert that has become too cold in the cylinder only needs to wait until it naturally becomes soft. The drawback is that it takes too long to restore. In addition, there is a problem in that too much cooling causes an excessive load to be continuously applied to the stirring motor, which adversely affects the life of the product.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points.
When it is too cold, a means is activated to warm the cylinder and forcibly soften the mix inside, so that the frozen dessert can always be kept in a stable state of viscosity and temperature, and then cooled. It is an object of the present invention to provide a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus that is controlled so as to prevent overloading of a stirring motor due to overloading.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a hopper that accommodates and pre-cools a mix, and a cylinder that cools the mix fed from the hopper and stirs it with an internal stirrer to produce frozen desserts. and compressor, condenser,
A temperature sensor attached to the cylinder and detecting its cooling temperature in a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus comprising a cooling solenoid valve, an expansion mechanism, and a refrigeration circuit in which the hopper and a cooler for cooling the cylinder are successively connected by refrigerant piping. and a hot gas solenoid valve provided in a bypass circuit that bypasses the condenser and expansion mechanism of the refrigeration circuit, and when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is below a predetermined value, the hot gas solenoid valve is opened to release the hot gas. The cylinder is heated by the cooling gas from the cooling solenoid valve or by a mixed gas of the hot gas for a certain period of time to automatically soften the supercooled mix.

[0009]Furthermore, after automatic defrosting in which the cylinder is heated for a certain period of time with hot gas or mixed gas, cooling operation and stirring operation of the stirrer are temporarily stopped, and then cooling operation is resumed.

0010

[Operation] When the temperature of the cylinder is determined by the temperature sensor to be below a predetermined value, the control device opens the hot gas solenoid valve to flow hot gas and heat the cylinder. The hot gas is passed through for a certain period of time, during which time the mix in the cylinder is forced to soften and return to the proper temperature and consistency of the mix.

[0011] Furthermore, it is also possible to similarly soften the mix by flowing a mixed gas of hot gas and cooling gas. In this way, the overly cold mix situation is eliminated and the undesirable situation of overloading the agitator is prevented.
Avoid damage.

[0012] Furthermore, once the operation of the agitator is prevented after the mix has been softened, the mix can be smoothly introduced into the cylinder from the hopper, and the mix can be refilled into the cylinder immediately, thereby eliminating the cause of overcooling. Eliminates the situation of insufficient mix.

[0013]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a cylinder for manufacturing soft serve ice cream, etc., and a cooling coil 2a of a cooler 2 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder. A stirrer 3 is inserted into the cylinder 1 to stir the mix to produce soft serve ice cream, and is rotated during cooling operation and when taking out frozen desserts. Further, above the cylinder 1, a hopper 4 containing a mix is provided in advance, and this hopper 4 is also cooled by a cooling coil 5, and the mix is supplied to the rear part of the cylinder 1 through a mix supply tube 6. will be supplied to. Both the cylinder 1 and the hopper 4 are surrounded by a heat insulating wall 7. The frozen dessert (for example, soft serve ice cream) in the cylinder 1 is taken out through the extraction passage 12 and the extraction opening by operating a take-out lever 11 installed on the freezer door 10 at the front of the cylinder 1. Reference numeral 13 designates the stirring motor of the agitator 3, whose rotational driving force is transmitted to the reducer 17 via the large pulley 14, V-belt 15, and small pulley 16, and further transmitted to the agitator 3 via the reducer shaft and the joint 18. The signal is transmitted to the drive shaft 19.

Next, the configuration of the refrigeration circuit will be explained.

20 is a compressor, and the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from its discharge port is supplied to a water-cooled condenser (condenser) 2.
1, the liquid refrigerant flows into the cooling coil 2a of the cylinder 1 through an expansion mechanism such as the cooling solenoid valve 22 and the capillary tube 23, and evaporates.After cooling the cylinder 1, it is transferred to the compressor 20. Return and cycle. In this way, the compressor 20, the water-cooled condenser 21, the cooling electromagnetic valve 22, and the cooler 2 are sequentially connected in an annular manner through the refrigerant piping to form a refrigeration circuit 29. In addition, a hot gas circuit 24 is provided that connects the refrigerant inlet of the water-cooled condenser 21 and the refrigerant outlet of the capillary tube 23 and bypasses the water-cooled condenser 21, the cooling solenoid valve 22, and the refrigeration circuit portion of the capillary tube 23. It is equipped with A hot gas solenoid valve 25 is provided in the hot gas circuit 24 . This hot gas circuit 24 is an effective means for flowing hot gas into the cooling coil 2a of the cylinder 1 to heat the cylinder 1 and soften the mix when the mix in the cylinder becomes too hard during the production of frozen desserts. It has become. If only hot gas is used to heat the cylinder 1, the discharge pressure of the compressor 20 will become considerably high, causing the compressor 20 to operate under an overload.
A mixture of hot gas and cooling gas is flowed through. However, it is not always necessary to flow the mixed gas, and the cylinder may be heated only with hot gas.

[0017] The supply of this mixed gas can also be used for softening for mix recovery, which is necessary during periodic cleaning of the frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus. 26 is water-cooled condenser 2
A water saving valve 27 is provided in the middle of the water supply pipe to 1. 28 is a drain pipe led from the water-cooled condenser 21.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a temperature sensor which is attached to the outer wall surface of the cylinder 1 and indirectly detects the cooling temperature of the cylinder 1, and uses a thermistor. Temperature data detected by the temperature detector 30 is input to a control device 32 including a microcomputer, etc., and the control device 32 issues control commands to drive and stop the stirring motor 13 and opens the cooling solenoid valve 22 and the hot gas solenoid valve 25.・Control command to close, and compressor 20
Outputs operation commands.

The control device 32 includes a setting device 35 that can set the supercooling temperature at which the cylinder 1 is recognized to be supercooled to a predetermined value (for example, −20° C.), and detects this predetermined value and the temperature detector 30 by using the set predetermined value and the temperature detector 30. A comparator 36 that compares the temperature with
It is comprised of an output controller 37 that outputs a control operation command to 0, and a timer 38 that keeps the output controller 37 operating for a predetermined period of time (for example, 3 minutes). 39 is a power source for operating this control device 32.

In the above configuration, the pre-cooled mix from the hopper 4 is introduced into the cylinder 1 through the mix supply tube 6, and under normal conditions when the cylinder 1 is sufficiently filled with the mix, the compressor 20 is turned on. The cooling solenoid valve 22 is opened and the stirring motor 13 is also driven. This causes the refrigeration device to operate, and the stirrer 3 to rotate. Therefore, the mix in the cylinder 1 is cooled by the cooler 2 and stirred by the stirrer 3 to have an appropriate mix cooling temperature and hardness.

When the take-out lever 11 is operated, the mix in the cylinder 1 is pushed out and extracted by the rotating stirrer 3.

In such a normal state, the temperature sensor 30
The detected temperature is higher than the set predetermined value temperature, and the cylinder 1 is not in a supercooled state. Therefore, no control signal is output from the comparator 36 to the output controller 37, and no control signal such as a control signal for opening the hot gas solenoid valve 25 is output from the control device 32.

Therefore, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 30 is
When supercooling is detected as below the predetermined temperature (-20°C) set by the setting device 35, the comparator 36 outputs a signal.
The output controller 37 operates according to the signal. Then, the output controller 37 outputs a valve opening signal that causes the hot gas solenoid valve 25 to open. This opens the hot gas solenoid valve 25.

On the other hand, at this time, a valve opening signal is outputted to the cooling solenoid valve 22 to keep it open, thereby keeping the cooling solenoid valve 22 open. It also outputs a command to the compressor 20 to continue operating as it is, and outputs a drive signal to the stirring motor 14 to cause it to rotate as it is. Therefore, by operating the compressor 20, hot gas flows into the bypass circuit 24, while cooling gas flows through the cooling condenser 21 and capillary tube 23, and the hot gas and cooling gas meet and mix at the confluence section G. The mixed gas flows into the cooling coil 2a and heats the cylinder 1 with the mixed gas. Therefore, the mix in the cylinder 1 that has become too cold is forcibly softened by the stirring action of the stirrer 3, and automatic defrost is performed to return the mix to an appropriate cooling temperature and hardness.

The time period during which automatic defrosting is performed by flowing this mixed gas is controlled by a timer 38, which controls the operation of the output controller 37.
I set it to 8 and let it run for 3 minutes. After waiting for 3 minutes, the output controller 37 is forcibly activated, and the output controller 37 sends a signal to close the cooling solenoid valve 22 and hot gas solenoid valve 24, and a signal to stop the compressor 20 and stirring motor 13. outputs.

In the above case, when overcooling of the cylinder 1 is detected, the control device 32 opens the hot gas solenoid valve 25, holds the cooling solenoid valve 22 open, and heats the cylinder by flowing the mixed gas. However, it is also possible to control the cylinder 1 to be heated by flowing only hot gas. In that case, open the hot gas solenoid valve 25 and
The cooling solenoid valve 22 is closed.

[0027] Accordingly, the hot gas flows from the bypass circuit 24 to the cooling coil 2a, heating the cylinder 1 in the same manner as in the case of mixed gas, and softening the overly cold mix. The opening operation of the cooling solenoid valve 22 in this case is also controlled by the timer 38.

[0028] In this way, the situation where the mix becomes supercooled due to insufficient mix in the cylinder 1 can be solved by heating the mixture gas or hot gas by flowing it through the cooling coil 2a of the cylinder 1 for a certain period of time using the timer 38. , eliminating supercooling of the mix.

[0029] After this, instead of restarting the cooling operation immediately, the refrigeration system is held in a stopped state for a certain period of time (for example, 3 minutes). That is, the compressor 20 is stopped and no cooling is performed, the stirring motor 13 is stopped, and the stirrer 3 is not rotated.

[0030] In this way, the air in the cylinder 1 is evacuated from the mix supply cylinder 6, and the mix in the hopper 4 is smoothly introduced into the cylinder 1 by opening the mix supply cylinder 6.

Therefore, maintaining the stopped state for a certain period of time after automatic defrosting (automatic stop) is an effective method for mix compensation. After the automatic stop, the cooling operation is restarted.

FIG. 2 is a control flow showing the above-mentioned control method.

During the cooling operation, it is determined whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature detector 30 is lower than a predetermined temperature (-20° C.) (judgment 41). (YES in judgment 41), automatic defrost (3 minutes) is performed (process 42). After the automatic defrost is finished, automatic stop is performed (process 43).

FIG. 3 shows the temperature sensor 30 and the cooling solenoid valve in relation to each operation mode during the cooling operation, the operation that becomes supercooled and enters automatic defrost, the subsequent automatic stop operation, and the return to cooling operation again. 22, an operation chart showing the operation states of the hot gas solenoid valve 25, the compressor 20, and the stirring motor 13 is shown.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, a temperature detector is provided to detect the temperature of the cylinder during the production of frozen desserts, and when the detected temperature is lower than a predetermined value temperature, the hot Since the cylinder is heated by flowing gas or a mixture of hot gas and cooling gas for a certain period of time, the mixture that has become too cold will soften in a short period of time.
It can automatically return to the original proper temperature.

[0036] As a result, frozen desserts of stable quality can be prepared to be provided at any time, and sales can be carried out smoothly. In addition, by adding a control that automatically stops the device for a certain period of time after automatically defrosting the mix that has become too cold, it is possible to smoothly introduce the mix from the hopper into the cylinder when the agitator is stopped. Refilling the mix into the cylinder can be done reliably and quickly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control flow showing the control method of the present invention when the mix becomes too cold.

[Figure 3] Each operation of the temperature sensor, cooling solenoid valve, hot gas solenoid valve, compressor, and stirring motor corresponds to each operation mode of the frozen dessert manufacturing equipment: cooling - automatic defrost - automatic stop - restart of cooling. A time chart showing the status.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cylinder 2 Cooler 3 Stirrer 4 Hopper 13 Stirring motor 20 Compressor 21 Water-cooled condenser 22 Cooling solenoid valve 25 Hot gas solenoid valve 30 Temperature detector 32 Control device 38 Timer

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: A hopper for storing and pre-cooling a mix, a cylinder for cooling the mix fed from the hopper and stirring it with an internal stirrer to produce a frozen dessert, a compressor, a condenser, A temperature sensor attached to the cylinder and detecting its cooling temperature in a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus comprising a cooling solenoid valve, an expansion mechanism, and a refrigeration circuit in which the hopper and a cooler for cooling the cylinder are successively connected by refrigerant piping. and a hot gas solenoid valve provided in a bypass circuit that bypasses the condenser and expansion mechanism of the refrigeration circuit, and when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is below a predetermined value, the hot gas solenoid valve is opened to release the hot gas. According to
Alternatively, a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus is provided with a control means for automatically softening the supercooled mix by heating the cylinder for a certain period of time using a mixed gas of the cooling gas from the cooling solenoid valve and the hot gas. [Claim 2] A control method in which, after automatic defrosting in which the cylinder is heated for a certain period of time with hot gas or mixed gas, the cooling operation and the stirring operation of the stirrer are automatically stopped, and then the cooling operation is returned to. The frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: