JPH11218373A - Ice maker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce good quality ice efficiently and enable smooth separation of ice. SOLUTION: A photo-semiconductor layer 21 made of titanium oxide as a primary constituent is formed on each of an ice making plate 1, ice making face 2 and ice separating face 3. Ice making is performed by making a refrigerant flow through a cooling pipe 6 in order to cool the ice making plate 1 and making water for ice making flow downward on the ice making face 2. The water for ice making flows downward while being stretched uniformly on the whole ice making face 2 thanks to hydrophilic function of the photo- semiconductor layer 21 so that ice having a uniform quality is efficiently produced. When the ice 1 is separated by heating the ice making plate 1 from an ice removing face 3 side, a phenomenon wherein the formed ice is peeled off by allowing the ice to start melting from a water film formed on the photo- semiconductor 21 surface takes place so that ice separation work is smoothly carried out. Because the photo-semiconductor layer 21 exhibits antibacterial action, both of the ice making face 2 and ice separation face 3 are kept clean.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a falling ice maker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general structure of a flow-down type ice maker is that an ice maker made of a stainless steel plate or the like is arranged in a substantially vertical posture, and a cooling pipe of a refrigeration cycle is piped on the back side of the ice maker. While cooling the ice making plate by circulating a cooling medium through the cooling pipe, the ice making water is caused to flow down on the surface of the ice making plate, so that a frozen layer is grown on the surface.

[0003]

In this case, in order to efficiently produce high-quality ice, it is desired that the ice-making water spread uniformly on the surface of the ice-making plate and flow down.
In the conventional ice making plate, the water tends to be repelled on the surface and flow like streaks. However, it is possible to spread the water over the entire surface if the amount of flowing water is increased. However, if the amount of flowing water is increased, icing becomes harder and the ice making time becomes longer. In addition, in order to achieve uniform wettability, an attempt was made to apply an organic hydrophilic material to the surface of the ice making plate, or to roughen the surface with sandpaper or the like. There is a problem, and the latter is not as effective as expected, and none of them has been put to practical use.

[0004] On the other hand, when the ice making is completed, deicing water is allowed to flow down the back surface of the ice making plate, and if necessary, hot gas is supplied to the cooling pipe to heat the ice making plate so that the generated ice is taken out. Has become. Specifically, the surface of the generated ice is melted on the ice making plate side to form a water film, which separates from the surface of the ice making plate, but surface tension acts between the water film and the ice making plate. Therefore, it is difficult to peel off, and it takes time. In other words, the conventional one has a problem in the deicing work. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ice making machine that can efficiently produce high-quality ice and that can smoothly perform the work of separating the produced ice. To provide.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a method of producing ice by causing water to flow down on the surface of an ice making plate to be cooled. In an ice machine that is designed to peel off from the ice making plate,
The present invention is characterized in that an optical semiconductor layer whose surface has hydrophilicity in response to light excitation is formed on the surface of the ice making plate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, ice is generated by flowing water on the surface of the ice making plate to be cooled, and then the ice generated by flowing deicing water on the back surface of the ice making plate is converted from the ice making plate. In an ice making machine that is peeled, a feature is that an optical semiconductor layer having a hydrophilic surface is formed on the back surface of the ice making plate in response to light excitation. The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, the optical semiconductor layer is composed mainly of titanium oxide.

[0007]

<Operation and effect of the invention><Invention of claim 1> Due to the hydrophilic function of the optical semiconductor layer, the ice making water flows down while spreading uniformly over the entire surface of the ice making plate. Thereby, ice of uniform quality over the entire surface is efficiently generated. Also, when the ice produced by heating the ice making plate is peeled off, there is a phenomenon that a thin water film is formed on the surface of the optical semiconductor layer, and the water film generated by melting of the ice is peeled from the water film. Present. Since the surface tension between the two water films is suppressed to a very small value, the operation of removing the ice is also smoothly performed.

<Invention of claim 2> Due to the hydrophilic function of the optical semiconductor layer, deicing water flows down while spreading uniformly over the entire back surface of the ice making plate, so that the ice generated on the front surface side is peeled off. It will be easier. That is, the deicing ability can be increased. <Invention of claim 3> Since the titanium oxide formed as the optical semiconductor layer exhibits an oxidizing function, it is effective for decomposing organic substances, and is effective for antibacterial, deodorizing, and the like. Can be. In addition, the optical semiconductor layer containing titanium oxide as a main component is hardly peeled off because it is formed in a tightly adhered state as a thin film as compared with a paint or the like.
That is, it has excellent durability.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on FIG. A schematic structure of the ice making machine according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Sign 1
Is an ice making plate made of a stainless steel plate or the like, a pair of which are arranged in a vertical position at a predetermined interval, each upper end is bent in a direction approaching each other and joined in a mountain shape, and each ice making plate is A guide portion 5 for guiding the ice making water to the surface of the first surface (hereinafter, referred to as an ice making surface 2) is formed. Cooling pipes 6 (evaporators) constituting a part of the refrigeration cycle are respectively provided on the back surface of each ice making plate 1 (hereinafter referred to as the deicing surface 3) in a meandering manner at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. ing.

A water supply pipe 7 for water for making ice is disposed above the top of the guide section 5 in a horizontal posture, and is supplied from a water supply port 8 opened in the water supply pipe 7 as shown by an arrow in FIG. The water for ice making is supplied to the guide portion 5.
The ice making surface 2 of the ice making plate 1 is located below the two ice making plates 1.
Tank 10 that receives excess water that did not freeze in
Is equipped. The tank 10 is connected to the water supply pipe 7 via a pump 11, and the water in the tank 10 is pumped up by the pump 11 and circulated and supplied as ice making water from the water supply pipe 7 as described above. I have. A sprinkling pipe 13 for deicing is provided inside the guide section 5 and is connected to a water supply path 14 of another system, and by opening an on-off valve 15 interposed there, the sprinkling pipe 13 is opened. The deicing water is sprinkled from the sprinkling port opened to the upper part of the deicing surfaces 3 of both ice making plates 1.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, an optical semiconductor layer 21 mainly composed of titanium oxide is formed on the ice making surface 2 and the deicing surface 3 of both the ice making plates 1 described above. . It should be noted that the thickness of the optical semiconductor layer 21 is shown to be larger than the actual thickness for emphasis. Optical semiconductor layer 2 described above
The method for forming 1 is as follows. First Example: A titania-containing coating composition was prepared by adding anatase-type titanal sol to silicone as a coating film forming element, and the composition was applied to the ice making surface 2 and the deicing surface 3 of an ice making plate 1, By curing at a temperature, an optical semiconductor layer 21 in which anatase type titania particles are dispersed in a silicone coating film is formed.

Second Example: First, an amorphous silica thin film is formed on the ice making surface 2 and the deicing surface 3 of the ice making plate 1 and then a mixture of tetraethoxytitanium Ti (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ and ethanol is formed. A titania coating solution is prepared, and the solution is applied to the ice making surface 2 and the deicing surface 3 and dried. The hydrolysis of tetraethoxytitanium produces titanium hydroxide, and the dehydration-condensation polymerization produces amorphous titania. Third Example: A thin film of amorphous silica is formed on the ice making surface 2 and the deicing surface 3 of the ice making plate 1 in the same manner as the second example, and a thin film made of amorphous TiO ₂ is formed by a sputtering method. Is also good. The optical semiconductor layer 21 containing titanium oxide as a main component formed as in each of the above examples is transparent and has a hydrophilic surface in response to photoexcitation. In addition, it has an oxidizing function by photoexcitation and decomposes organic substances to be effective for antibacterial, deodorizing, and the like.

A fluorescent lamp 23 is provided for irradiating the ice making surface 1 and the deicing surface 3 of the ice making plate 1 with light. As the fluorescent lamp 23, an ultraviolet lamp (a wavelength of about 370 nm) in which titanium oxide can exhibit its best performance
Is preferred. The fluorescent lamp 23 may be turned on while the ice maker is operating, but if it is turned on intermittently, the life of the fluorescent lamp 23 can be extended. The method of intermittent lighting is to turn on during the ice making process, turn on during the deicing process, turn on when the ice is peeled and there is no ice on the ice making plate, or turn on and off regardless of the ice making process. Alternately, it is conceivable.

The present embodiment has the above structure,
Subsequently, the operation will be described. When performing ice making, water for ice making is supplied from the water supply pipe 7 while cooling the ice making plate 1 by flowing a refrigerant through the cooling pipe 6. The ice-making water flows down the ice-making surfaces 2 of both ice-making plates 1 from the guide portion 5, and a frozen layer is grown sequentially from the portion of the ice-making surface 2 where the cooling pipe 6 is mainly piped, that is, ice I is generated.

Here, an optical semiconductor layer 21 containing titanium oxide as a main component is formed on the ice making surface 2 of the ice making plate 1, and exhibits hydrophilicity by light excitation. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the ice making water spreads uniformly and wets down the entire surface of the ice making surface 2 of the ice making plate 1. As a result, high-quality ice with little cloudiness is uniformly generated. Also, since the ice making water is spread evenly without increasing the flow rate, the ice growth time can be shortened by the reduced flow rate, that is, the ice making capacity can be increased. At the same time, since the titanium oxide formed as the optical semiconductor layer 21 exhibits an oxidizing function, it exhibits an antibacterial action for suppressing the propagation of various fungi and sanitizes the ice making surface 2 of the ice making plate 1, ie, the generated ice I. It becomes suitable on the surface.

When the ice making is completed, deicing water is sprinkled from the water sprinkling tube 13 to flow down the deicing surface 3 of the ice making plate 1 and, if necessary, hot gas is flowed into the cooling tube 6 to heat the ice making plate 1. Then, the generated ice I is taken out. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the surface of the generated ice I on the side of the ice making plate 1 is melted to form a water film W <b> 1, so that the ice I is separated from the ice making surface 2 of the ice making plate 1. Here, as before, the ice making surface 2
When the optical semiconductor layer 21 is not formed and the ice I is peeled off directly from the surface of the stainless steel plate, the surface tension acts between the water film W1 and the ice-making surface made of stainless steel. The ice I is hard to come off. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the optical semiconductor layer 21 exhibiting hydrophilicity on the ice making surface 2 is provided.
Is formed, a thin water film W2 is formed on the surface, and the water film W1 melted from the ice I is separated from the water film W2 on the surface of the optical semiconductor layer 21. In that case,
Since the surface tension acting between the water films W1 and W2 is much smaller than the surface tension acting between the water film W1 and the ice making surface itself as in the prior art, the ice I is smoothly separated. .
As a result, the deicing time is shortened to improve the ice making capacity, and double ice making such that new ice is generated on the previous ice due to delayed separation is also eliminated.

Further, deicing water is sprinkled on the deicing surface 3 to remove ice I.
In the case of peeling off, it cannot be said that the deicing water does not flow to the ice making surface 2 side. In this respect, in this embodiment, the optical semiconductor layer 2 exhibiting an antibacterial action is also provided on the deicing surface 3 side.
1 is formed and kept clean, so that germs and the like are prevented from flowing to the ice making surface 2 side through the deicing water.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above with reference to the drawings, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing an ice making part.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... ice making plate 2 ... ice making surface 3 ... de-icing surface 6 ... cooling pipe 7
... water supply pipe (water for ice making) 13 ... water sprinkling pipe (water for deicing) 21 ... optical semiconductor layer I ... ice W1 ... water film W2 ... water film

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ice making machine in which water is caused to flow on a surface of an ice making plate to be cooled and ice generated after the ice is formed is separated from the ice making plate. And an optical semiconductor layer having a hydrophilic surface. 2. After ice is generated by flowing water on the surface of the ice making plate to be cooled, ice generated by flowing deicing water on the back surface of the ice making plate is separated from the ice making plate. An ice maker, wherein an optical semiconductor layer having a hydrophilic surface is formed on a back surface of the ice maker plate in response to light excitation. 3. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the optical semiconductor layer is mainly composed of titanium oxide.