JPH10274457A - Auger-type ice-making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent ice from being frozen in an ice-making cylinder during ice-making operation, and to improve reliability by measuring the temperature of the ice-making cylinder when making ice and judging tat water has frozen in the ice-making cylinder when the measured value is lower than a set temperature and the ice-making operation in stopped. SOLUTION: When an ice-making operation is started, a control device 25 measures a temperature at the lower part of an ice-making cylinder 1 from a signal from a temperature detector 21, and compares the measurement value with a set temperature which is stored in the memory of the control device 25. Then, when the lower temperature of the ice-making cylinder 1 is lower than the set temperature, the control device 25 judges that water for making ice being supplied into the ice-making cylinder 1 has began to freeze, and transmits an emergency stop signal to a refrigeration circuit and a geared motor 12 and further transmits an alarm signal to an alarm device 26, thus operation of a fan motor and a geared motor 12 of a compressor 5 and a condenser 6 respectively stop driving and the alarm device 26 is actuated and generation of a failure is alarmed to a user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice making machine, and more particularly, to rotating an auger rotatably provided in an ice making cylinder to scrape ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder, and to remove the shaved ice from the ice making cylinder. The present invention relates to an auger-type ice maker that transfers to a compression passage formed in an upper part of a cylinder to be compressed and solidified.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an auger type ice making machine has a structure as shown in FIG. 5, and one end of a water supply pipe 2 is connected to a lower portion of an ice making cylinder 1. The other end of the water supply pipe 2 is connected to the bottom of the water storage tank 3, and the water stored in the water storage tank 3 is supplied to the ice making cylinder 1 through the water supply pipe 2 as ice making water. The ice making cylinder 1 is formed of stainless steel or the like, and a cooling pipe 4 is spirally wound around the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1. The cooling pipe 4 constitutes the evaporator of the refrigeration circuit shown in FIG. 6. The refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 4 is compressed by the compressor 5, and then the condenser 6, the dryer 7, and the thermal expansion valve 8. And is supplied to the cooling pipe 4 again.

[0003] The ice making cylinder 1 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and an auger 9 is rotatably provided inside the ice making cylinder 1. The auger 9 has a rotating shaft 10 at the center of the ice making cylinder 1.
The output shaft of a geared motor 12 is connected to the lower end of the rotating shaft 10 via a spline joint 11. The geared motor 12 is for rotating the auger 9 and is driven by a drive circuit (not shown). Further, the auger 9 has a spiral rotary blade 13 on the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 10, and ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 is scraped off by the rotary blade 13 and transferred to the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1. It has become so. A mechanical seal 14 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end of the rotating shaft 10 to prevent ice water from entering the geared motor 12.

On the other hand, an upper bearing 15 for rotatably supporting the rotating shaft 10 is provided in an upper part in the ice making cylinder 1. The upper bearing 15 has a compression passage 16 inside, and the ice transferred to the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1 by the auger 9 is pushed into the compression passage 16 and is compressed and solidified.
The compressed and solidified ice is pushed out from the compression passage 16 by the ice pushed in later, and is discharged to a stocker 17 provided at an upper portion of the ice making cylinder 1.
Although not shown, the ice making cylinder 1 and the stocker 17 are not shown.
Is encapsulated in a heat insulating material made of urethane foam or the like.

[0005] Such an auger type ice making machine is a stocker 17
When the ice storage switch 18 provided in the water storage tank 3 is turned on, the water supply solenoid valve 19 is opened to supply the ice making water into the water storage tank 3. When the ice making water is supplied into the water storage tank 3, the water inside the ice making cylinder 1 is turned off. The water level rises. Then, when the water level in the ice making cylinder 1 reaches the specified water level, the float switch 20 provided in the water storage tank 3 is turned on. As a result, the water supply solenoid valve 19 is closed to automatically stop water supply to the water storage tank 3, and when the water supply to the water storage tank 3 is stopped, the compressor 5 and the geared motor 12 are driven to start the ice making operation. It has become.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional auger-type ice making machine, if the ice making water freezes in the ice making cylinder 1 during the ice making operation, the volume of the ice making water expands, so that the ice making water is expanded. The cylinder 1 and the mechanical seal 14 may be damaged, or the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 6 may return to the compressor 5 in a liquid state and increase the load on the compressor 5. Further, when the ice making water freezes in the ice making cylinder 1, a loud abnormal sound is generated, and there is a fear that the user may feel uncomfortable. The reasons why the ice making water freezes in the ice making cylinder 1 are as follows: (1) The auger 9 cannot rotate the auger 9 due to the failure of the geared motor 12, and the ice formed on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 is scraped by the auger 9. If not, (2)
If the rotational force of the geared motor 12 cannot be transmitted to the auger 9 due to the breakage of the spline joint 11, (3) a large amount of air, carbon dioxide gas,
When chlorine gas or the like is dissolved and a gas phase is formed between the water phase and the ice phase in the ice making cylinder 1 by the dissolved gas in the ice making water as shown in FIG. It is considered that the frictional resistance in the compression passage 16 increases due to the adhesion, or (5) the outside air temperature drops to 0 ° C. or less.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an auger type ice making machine capable of preventing ice making water from freezing in an ice making cylinder during an ice making operation and improving reliability. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a refrigerant discharged from a compressor is passed through a condenser to a cooling pipe wound around an outer peripheral surface of an ice making cylinder. Supplying and cooling the ice making cylinder with the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe, and rotating and driving an auger rotatably provided in the ice making cylinder to scrape off the ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder, In an auger-type ice making machine for transferring the collected ice to a compression passage formed in the upper part of the ice making cylinder and compressing and solidifying the same, a temperature detector is attached to an outer surface of the ice making cylinder, and the temperature detector is used for the ice making cylinder. The temperature is measured during the ice making operation, and if the measured value is lower than a preset temperature, it is determined that the ice making water has frozen in the ice making cylinder, and the ice making operation is stopped.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the auger ice maker of the first aspect, the temperature detector is attached to an upper portion of an outer surface or a lower portion of the outer surface of the ice making cylinder.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those shown in FIGS. Is omitted. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an auger type ice making machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which 21 indicates a temperature detector. The temperature detector 21 is attached to a lower portion of the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1, and a signal output from the temperature detector 21 is supplied to a control device 25. The temperature detector 21 is housed in a protective tube 22 made of a metal such as copper as shown in FIG. The open end of the protective tube 22 is sealed with a sealing material 23 made of, for example, a thermosetting resin in order to prevent intrusion of moisture. The protective tube 22 containing the temperature detector 21 has a portion in contact with the outside air made of urethane foam or the like. Covered with a heat insulating material 24. Therefore, when the temperature detector 21 fails, the failed temperature detector 21 can be replaced by removing the sealing member 23.

The controller 25 controls the compressor 5, the fan motor (not shown) of the condenser 6, the geared motor 12, and the water supply solenoid valve 19 in accordance with a predetermined control sequence. The signal output from the ice storage switch 18 and the float switch 20 is supplied to 25 in addition to the signal output from the temperature detector 21. The control device 25 includes a memory (not shown). The memory has a surface temperature (for example, 0 ° C. to 0 ° C.) of the ice making cylinder 1 when the ice making water starts to freeze.
-5 ° C.) is stored as the set temperature. One of the output ports of the control device 25 has an alarm device 2 such as a buzzer.
6 are connected.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control sequence of the control device 25. In the first embodiment, when the ice storage switch 18 is turned on in step S1 shown in FIG. Is determined to be less than the prescribed amount, and a water supply start signal is transmitted to the water supply solenoid valve 19 (step S2). As a result, the water supply solenoid valve 19 is opened, and the water tank 3
Tap water is supplied inside as ice making water. Then, when the ice making water is supplied into the water storage tank 3, the control device 25 takes in the signal output of the float switch 20 and detects whether the signal output of the float switch 20 is ON (step S3). Here, when the signal output of the float switch 20 is OFF, the control device 25 determines that the water level in the ice making cylinder 1 has not reached the specified water level, and continues to supply water to the water storage tank 3. Also, float switch 2
If the signal output of 0 is ON, the controller 25 determines that the water level in the ice making cylinder 1 has reached the specified water level, and sends a water supply stop signal to the water supply electromagnetic valve 19 (step S4).
As a result, the water supply solenoid valve 19 is closed, and water supply to the water storage tank 3 is automatically stopped.

When the supply of water to the water storage tank 3 is stopped, the control device 25 sends an operation start signal to the refrigeration circuit including the compressor 5 and the condenser 6 and the geared motor 12 (step S5). Thereby, the fan motors of the compressor 5 and the condenser 6 of the refrigeration circuit are started, and the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 5 is supplied to the cooling pipe 4 again through the condenser 6, the dryer 7 and the temperature type expansion valve 8. . Also, the control device 2
5 sends an operation start signal to the geared motor 1
2 starts and the auger 9 is rotated by the rotational force of the geared motor 12 to start the ice making operation.

When the ice making operation is started, the controller 25 takes in the signal output from the temperature detector 21 to measure the lower temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 (step S6), and stores the measured value in the memory of the controller 25. (Step S7). Here, when the lower temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is higher than the set temperature stored in the memory of the controller 25, the controller 25 takes in the output of the ice storage switch 18 and the amount of ice stored in the stocker 17 reaches the specified amount. It is detected whether or not it has been performed (step S8). Then, when the ice storage amount in the stocker 17 reaches the specified amount (the ice storage switch 18 is turned off).
In the case of F), an operation stop signal is sent to the refrigeration circuit and the geared motor 12 (step S9), and if the amount of ice stored in the stocker 17 has not reached the specified amount (the ice storage switch 1).
If (8 is ON), the process returns to step S6, and the lower temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is measured again. When the control device 25 sends the operation stop signal in step S9, the process returns to step S1 and is in a standby state until the ice storage switch 18 is turned on.

On the other hand, if the lower temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is lower than the set temperature in step S7, the control device 25
It is determined that the ice making water supplied inside has begun to freeze. Then, an emergency stop signal is sent to the refrigeration circuit and the geared motor 12 in step S10, and an alarm signal is sent to the alarm device 26 in step S11. As a result, the drive of the fan motor and the geared motor 12 of the compressor 5 and the condenser 6 is stopped, and the alarm device 26 is operated to notify the user that an abnormality has occurred.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the lower temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is measured during the ice making operation, and the measured value is stored in the memory of the controller 25 (the temperature at which the ice making water begins to freeze). When the temperature is lower, the driving of the fan motor of the compressor 5, the condenser 6, and the geared motor 12 is stopped, so that the ice making water can be prevented from being frozen in the ice making cylinder 1 during the ice making operation. Therefore, since the ice making water does not freeze in the ice making cylinder 1 to damage the ice making cylinder 1 and the like, and the refrigerant flowing in the cooling pipe 6 does not return to the compressor 5 in a liquid state, the auger type ice making machine Reliability can be improved. Further, in the first embodiment described above, when the lower temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 falls below the set temperature during the ice making operation, the alarm device 26 such as a buzzer is activated, so that it is possible to notify the user that an abnormality has occurred. it can. Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the temperature below the ice making cylinder 1 is measured by the temperature detector 21 provided below the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1, so that
It is possible to accurately detect whether the freezing of the ice making water reaches the lower part of the ice making cylinder 1.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the above-described first embodiment, the surface temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is measured by the temperature detector 21 provided below the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1, but in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. The difference from the first embodiment is that the detector 21 is provided above the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1, and the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the above points.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the surface temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is controlled by the control device 25.
When the temperature falls below the set temperature stored in the memory of the compressor 5, an emergency stop signal is sent from the controller 25, and the fan motor and the geared motor 1 of the compressor 5, the condenser 6,
Since the drive of 2 is stopped, the ice making water can be prevented from freezing in the ice making cylinder 1 during the ice making operation, and the reliability of the auger type ice making machine can be improved. In the second embodiment, since the surface temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is measured by the temperature detector 21 provided on the upper part of the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1, the freezing of the ice making water does not reach the lower part of the ice making cylinder 1. The ice making operation can be stopped, so that the repair of the auger type ice making machine can be carried out earlier.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the temperature detector 21 is provided below the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1 or above the outer surface of the ice making cylinder 1. May be provided with a temperature detector 21. In the first and second embodiments described above, when the surface temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 becomes lower than the set temperature during the ice making operation, the drive of the refrigeration circuit and the geared motor 12 is stopped. The operation may be stopped.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an auger type ice making machine which can prevent ice making water from freezing in an ice making cylinder during an ice making operation and can improve reliability. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an auger type ice making machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a lower portion of the ice making cylinder shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation method of the auger ice maker according to the first embodiment, and is a flowchart showing a control sequence of the control device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an auger type ice making machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of an auger type ice making machine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a refrigeration circuit of the auger type ice making machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ice-making cylinder, 2 ... Water supply pipe, 3 ... Water storage tank, 4 ... Cooling pipe, 5 ... Compressor, 6 ... Condenser, 8 ... Temperature type expansion valve, 9 ...
Auger, 12 ... Geared motor, 13 ... Rotary blade, 16 ...
Compression passage, 17 ... Stocker, 18 ... Ice storage switch, 19
... electromagnetic valve for water supply, 20 ... float switch, 21 ... temperature detector, 25 ... control device, 26 ... alarm device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] A refrigerant discharged from a compressor is supplied through a condenser to a cooling pipe wound around the outer peripheral surface of an ice making cylinder, and the ice making cylinder is cooled by a refrigerant flowing in the cooling pipe, and The auger rotatably provided in the ice making cylinder is driven to rotate to scrape off the ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder, and the scraped ice is transferred to a compression passage formed in the upper part of the ice making cylinder and compressed. In the solidifying auger type ice making machine, a temperature detector is attached to the outer surface of the ice making cylinder, and the temperature of the ice making cylinder is measured by the temperature detector during the ice making operation,
When the measured value is lower than a preset temperature, it is determined that the ice making water has frozen in the ice making cylinder, and the ice making operation is stopped. 2. The auger ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the temperature detector is mounted on an upper surface or a lower surface of the outer surface of the ice making cylinder.