JPH0712851Y2 - Water tray structure of automatic ice maker - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a water tray structure of an automatic ice maker, and more specifically, to continuously manufacture a large number of ice cubes in a plurality of downwardly defined ice making chambers. In an automatic jet ice maker, ice-making water that leaks from the ice-making chamber during ice-making operation (hereinafter referred to as "non-freezing water") or de-icing water that flows into the water tray during de-icing operation is the water escaped through the water tray. The present invention relates to a water tray structure that can prevent some of these water from leaking from the insertion portions of the engaging pins provided on both sides of the water tray when the water is dropped from the holes.

2. Description of the Related Art A jet-type automatic ice-making machine that continuously produces ice cubes by jetting ice-making water from below into a large number of ice-making small chambers that open downward is suitable for use in facilities such as coffee shops and restaurants and in other kitchens. ing. Since the present invention relates to a water tray mechanism adopted in this ice making machine, for the sake of understanding, an outline of the ice making machine will be described first with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

In FIG. 3, partition plates 11 are arranged vertically and horizontally on the lower surface of an ice making chamber 10 arranged horizontally in the machine, and a plurality of ice making small chambers 12 opening downward are defined in a grid pattern. On the upper surface of the ice making chamber 10, an evaporation pipe 14 communicating with a refrigerating system (not shown) is closely arranged in a meandering manner, and a refrigerant is circulated during the ice making operation to forcibly cool the ice making small chamber 12.

Immediately below the ice making chamber 10, a water tray 18 having an ice making water tank 16 for storing a predetermined amount of ice making water is pivotally supported by a support shaft 20 so as to be tiltable. The tank 16 and the water tray 18 are positioned horizontally during the ice making operation and are held in parallel with the ice making chamber 10.
During de-icing operation, it is urged by the water tray opening / closing mechanism described later,
The ice making chamber 12 is tilted clockwise about the support shaft 20.
Is open.

A large number of fountain holes 22 and return holes 24 are formed on the surface of the water tray 18 at positions corresponding to the small ice making chambers 12, respectively. A plurality of distribution pipes 38 branching from the pressure chamber 34 are provided on the back surface of the water tray 18, and the distribution pipes 38 communicate with the fountain holes 22. The pump 26 provided on the side of the tank 16 pumps ice-making water to the distribution pipe 38 via the discharge pipe 32 and the pressure chamber 34,
The water can be sprayed from each fountain hole 22 into the corresponding ice making chamber 12. The unfrozen water that has not been frozen in the ice making compartment 12 is collected in the tank 16 through the return hole 24. In addition, a large number of water escape holes 28 are formed at a predetermined interval near the open end of the water tray 18, and water supply pipes are used during unicing and deicing operation that leaks from the narrow gap between the ice making compartment 12 and the water tray 18 during ice making operation. The deicing water supplied from 13 to the water tray 18 is supplied to this water release hole.
It is designed to be dropped and collected into the tank 16 via 28.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the water tray opening / closing mechanism is fixed to an actuator AM composed of a motor with a reduction gear, a horizontal rotary shaft 29 connected to the actuator AM, and both ends of the rotary shaft 29. A pair of lever members 30, 30 is provided, and a coil-shaped spring is provided between the engagement pin 31 provided at the tip of each lever member 30 and the engagement pin 33 protruding on each side of the water tray 18. The member 35 is elastically interposed. That is, as is clear from FIG. 5, the side plate 37 of the water tray 18 is provided with a through hole 39 at a position close to the water escape hole 28. Also ice water tank
Correspondingly, through holes 21 are also formed in the 16 side plates 19. Then, after the side plate 19 of the tank 16 is applied to the side plate 37 of the water tray 18 from the outside, the engaging pin 33 is commonly inserted into both the through holes 39 and 21, and one end of the pin 33 is By fixing it with an E-ring and nut 15 so that it cannot be removed, the water tray 18 and the ice-making water tank
Installation with 16 is done.

At this time, the main body of the engagement pin 33 horizontally projects outward from the side plate 19 of the tank 16, and a coil is provided between the outward protrusion of the engagement pin 33 and the engagement pin 31 of the lever member 30. The spring member 35 is interposed, and as shown in FIG. 3, the water tray 18 is pulled upward and biased to close the ice making chamber 10. Further, when the actuator AM is biased, the lever member 30 rotates counterclockwise to tilt the water tray 18 obliquely downward as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3, whereby the ice making compartment 12 is fully opened.

The operation of this ice making mechanism is briefly described as follows.
When the ice making operation is started with the water tray 18 closed, the refrigerant circulates through the evaporation pipe 14 to forcibly cool the ice making small chamber 12. Further, the ice making water in the tank 16 is distributed to the distribution pipe 38 and the fountain hole 22.
Is spray-supplied to the ice-making small chamber 12 via, and a part thereof starts to freeze in layers on the wall surface of the small chamber. The unfrozen water that could not be frozen is collected in the tank 16 via the return hole 24 and the water escape hole 28 of the water tray 18. When ice making operation progresses and ice cubes are generated in the ice making compartment 12, the required sensor detects this and switches to ice removing operation, and tap water at room temperature from the water supply pipe 13 to the water tray 18 as ice removing water. The supplied deicing water is collected in the tank 16 from the water escape hole 28. Next, hot gas is supplied to the evaporation pipe 14, and the actuator AM is biased to start tilting of the ice making water tank 16 and the water tray 18. As a result, the ice cubes are discharged from the ice making compartment 12 and stored in an ice storage (not shown).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, in the ice making machine according to the above-described structure, uniced water leaking from the small gap between the ice making small chamber 12 and the water tray 18 during the ice making operation is near the open end of the water tray 18. It is dropped and collected in the tank 16 through the water escape hole 28 that has been drilled. Also, during the deicing operation, the water tray
The deicing water supplied to the tank 18 is also supplied from the water escape hole 28 to the tank 16
Will be collected. However, since the water escape hole 28 located closest to the side plate 37 of the water tray 18 is also in close proximity to the engaging pin 33 inserted and fixed to the side plate 37, the water escape hole 28 is A portion of the unfrozen water and deiced water from the water flows around the back surface of the water tray 38, and the through hole 3 for inserting the pin is used.
The phenomenon of seeping out from 9 and 21 and dripping is seen.

In this way, if uniced water or deiced water seeps out from the pin insertion part, the
The ice-making water to be collected in 16 and to be recycled will be consumed in excess of the amount of ice-making in the ice-making compartment 12, and therefore the absolute amount of ice-making water in the tank 16 will be insufficient. Will come. This leads to a decrease in ice-making ability, and forms cloudy ice due to air entrainment in the ice-making water, which also reduces the ice quality. It is also pointed out that there are problems such as seizure of the mechanical seal portion of the pump motor due to lack of ice-making water, and anxiety about hygiene due to rusting of the engagement pin 33 due to water adhesion.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the side plate 37 of the water tray 18 and the tank
It was necessary to apply a sealing material 36 to the portion where the engaging pin 33 is inserted between 16 side plates 19 to prevent unfrozen water from seeping out and dropping. But this is
This means that a separate manual process is added to the assembly of the ice making mechanism, which is against the tendency of labor saving.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has been proposed in order to suitably solve this problem, and is an automatic ice-making machine that continuously manufactures a large number of ice cubes in an ice-making small chamber defined downwards. In the above, the unpinned water that drips from the water escape hole of the water tray during the ice making operation, and the deicing water that is also supplied during the deicing operation and drips from the water escape hole, are inserted and fixed on both sides of the water tray. It is an object of the present invention to provide a water tray structure that can effectively prevent leakage from the attachment site of the.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to overcome the above problems and preferably achieve an intended purpose, the present invention provides an ice making chamber that defines a large number of ice making small chambers that open downward, and tilts directly below the ice making chamber. A water tray which is freely arranged and has a fountain hole formed corresponding to each ice making chamber, a return hole, and a plurality of water escape holes formed near the open end separated from the ice making chamber, and this water tray Is integrally fixed below the water tray, and is fixedly inserted on both sides of the water tray and in a portion close to the water escape hole, and a spring member is elastically engaged with the water tray opening / closing mechanism. And a lock pin for ejecting ice making water in the tank from a fountain hole to form ice cubes in the ice making chamber, and returning uniced water to the tank through the return hole and the water escape hole. In the configured automatic ice maker, on the back surface of the water tray, Between the fixed portion and the water relief holes adjacent thereto, the width in the direction along the side of the water tray and sets sufficiently larger than the diameter of the water relief holes,
A guide member whose vertical dimension is set so as to extend below the insertion portion of the engaging pin is suspended and fixed, and unfrozen water or deiced water from the water escape hole is guided to the ice making water tank by the guide member. The feature is that it is made to be dropped.

Embodiments Next, a water tray structure of an automatic ice maker according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings with reference to preferred embodiments. The same members as those already described in the automatic ice maker according to the conventional example described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, water escape holes 28 are formed at required intervals in the vicinity of the open end of the water tray 18 in the jet type automatic ice making machine. And in the series of water escape holes 28, both side plates 3 of the water tray 18
As described above, the unfrozen water and the deiced water from the respective water escape holes 28 located on the side closest to the 7,37 leak to the outside through the insertion portions of the fastening pins 33.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
A plate-shaped guide that vertically projects downward on the back surface of the water tray 18 and at a portion between the fixing portion of each engagement pin 33 and the water escape hole 28 located closest to the engagement pin 33. The member 40 is formed. As will be described later, the guide member 40 is for guiding the uniced water through the water escape hole 28 adjacent to the side plate 37 of the water tray 18 downward and dropping it into the tank 16. Therefore, as for the size of the guide member 40, the lateral width W is sufficiently larger than the hole diameter of the water escape hole 28 as shown in FIG. 1, and the vertical dimension H is the engaging pin on the side plate 37 as shown in FIG.
It is set so as to extend below the insertion portion of 33. It is preferable that the guide member 40 is integrally formed at the same time when the water tray 18 is formed, because the manufacturing process can be simplified, but the guide member 40 may be attached later by an appropriate attachment means such as an adhesive. .

Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of the water tray structure according to this embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. As described above, during the ice making operation, the ice making water is jetted from the respective fountain holes 22 to the corresponding ice making small chamber 12,
An ice layer is gradually formed on the inner wall. Most of the water that has not frozen in the ice making compartment 12 is collected in the return holes 24, but uniced water that leaks from the small gap between the ice making compartment 12 and the water tray 18 is at the open end of the water tray 18. It is collected in the tank 16 through the water escape hole 28 provided. Similarly, during deicing operation, deicing water supplied to the water tray 18 is also collected in the tank 16 from the water escape hole 28.

In this case, the unfrozen water or deicing water from the water escape hole 28 located adjacent to the engagement pin 33 hangs down from the back surface of the water tray 18 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is guided downward as it is by 40 and drops toward the tank 16. Moreover, the lateral width W of the guide member 40 is larger than the hole diameter of the water escape hole 28, and the vertical dimension H is set so as to extend below the pin insertion portion of the side plate 37. Go around from the guide member 40 to the back side,
There is no exudation to the outside from the insertion part of, and these are almost completely recovered in the tank 16.

As described above, according to the water tray structure of the present invention,
In an automatic ice making machine for continuously producing a large number of ice cubes in the ice making chamber by jetting and supplying ice making water into the ice making chamber defined by a large number of downward faces, on the back surface of the water tray and at the fixing portion of the engaging pin. A guide member is hung and fixed between this and a water escape hole adjacent thereto. Therefore, uniced water dripping from the water escape hole of the water tray during ice making operation and deicing water dripping from the water escape hole during deicing operation can be smoothly guided to the ice making water tank and collected. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent water from leaking from the attachment portion of the engaging pin inserted and fixed on both sides of the water tray.

For this reason, the work of applying the sealing material between the side plate of the water tray and the side plate of the tank at the portion where the engaging pin is inserted becomes unnecessary, and labor saving in the process is achieved. In addition, since the unfrozen water is prevented from seeping out from the pin insertion part, there is no shortage in the absolute amount of ice making water in the tank, and there is also a drop in ice quality due to the formation of cloudy ice. Can be prevented.
Further, the problems such as the sanitary anxiety caused by the seizure of the pump motor and the rusting of the engaging pin can be solved at once.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a water tray structure of an automatic ice maker according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the water tray structure shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view seen from the direction, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing an ice making mechanism of a jet-type automatic ice making machine according to a conventional technique, and FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a water tray structure shown in FIG. And FIG. 6 is a partial front view of a conventional water tray structure. 10 …… Ice making chamber, 12 …… Ice making small chamber 16 …… Ice making water tank, 18 …… Water tray 22 …… Fountain hole, 24 …… Return hole 28 …… Water escape hole, 30 …… Lever member 33 …… Landing pin, 35 …… Spring member 40 …… Guide member, AM …… Actuator

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An ice making chamber (10) defining a large number of downwardly opening ice making chambers (12), and tiltably arranged directly below the ice making chambers (10). A water tray (18) having correspondingly formed fountain holes (22), a return hole (24), and a plurality of water escape holes (28) formed near the open end separated from the ice making chamber (10).
And an ice making water tank (16) integrally provided below the water tray (18), and inserted and fixed on both sides of the water tray (18) and in a portion close to the water escape hole (28). , The engaging pin (3) elastically engaging the spring member (35) with the water tray opening / closing mechanism (AM, 30).
3) and the ice making water in the tank (16) is sprayed from the fountain hole (22) to form ice cubes in the small ice making chamber (12), and uniced water is returned to the return hole (24) and In an automatic ice making machine configured to return to a tank (16) through a water escape hole (28), a fixed portion of a locking pin (33) on the back surface of the water tray (18) and a water adjacent thereto Water tray (18) between the escape hole (28)
The width (W) in the direction along the side of the water is set to be sufficiently larger than the hole diameter of the water escape hole (28), and the vertical dimension (H) is set below the insertion portion of the engagement pin (33). A guide member (40) set to extend is fixed by hanging, and uniced water or deiced water from the water escape hole (28) is guided and dropped by the guide member (40) toward the ice making water tank (16). The water tray structure of the automatic ice maker is characterized by the above.