JPS58193070A - Water-cooling heat accumulation type drink cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a water-cooled thermal storage type beverage cooling device used in cup-type automatic beverage decoupling machines, cold water or syrup beverage dispensers, and the like.

As a beverage cooling system, the evaporator coil of the refrigerator, the beverage cooling coil inserted in the beverage supply pipeline, and the agitator for water stirring are placed immersed in a cooling water tank filled with water, and the water tank is heated by the operation of the refrigerator. Devices for cooling beverages using water as a heat transfer medium are well known. In this case, for the purpose of reducing the capacity of the refrigerator, ice, called an ice bank, is constantly stored in the side light of the evaporator coil in the water tank.
A widely used method is to use an ice heat storage lid to maintain the cooling water in the tank at a low temperature even when the refrigerator is stopped, thereby increasing the beverage cooling capacity. The main features of such a conventional water-cooled thermal storage beverage cooling device are shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, l is a cooling water tank filled with water for cooling beverages, and inside this tank, a four-round coil 211 of the refrigerator 2 is inserted in the middle of the beverage supply line 3. A coil 31 and an agitator 4 for stirring water are arranged. The refrigerator 2 includes a compressor 22 including an evaporator coil 21.
．． A ring device 23. and the cabillary tube 24 constitute a refrigeration cycle. The beverage supply line 3 is a cold water line drawn out and piped from a water reservoir 5 that receives water from the water supply pump 32. Cooling coil 31. The discharge nozzle at the tip passes through the cold water valve 33 and opens above the bent stage (the broken cup 6).Although not shown, there are other cold water lines in the same cooling water tank l in addition to the above-mentioned cold water line. The syrup supply line and the carbonator of the carbonated water supply line branched from the middle of the beverage supply line 3 are also immersed for cooling.

In this configuration, the water in the cooling water tank 1 is cooled by operating the refrigerator 2 while stirring the water with the agitator 4, and the drinking water flowing through the cooling coil 31 is cooled using this water as a heat transfer medium. Furthermore, while the refrigerator 2 is operating, the evaporator coil 2
Ice is generated around 1 and stored as an ice bank at all times, and when drinking water is continuously supplied, the heat storage violet of the ice is used to increase the beverage cooling capacity.

By the way, during the operation of the beverage cooling apparatus o), there may often occur a problem in which drinking water is not smoothly supplied to the cup 6 even though the operation of the beverage supply line 3 is normal. When we investigated this problem, we found that small pieces of ice had formed in a narrow part of the beverage supply line 3, such as inside the cold water valve 33. It turned out that it was blocking the flow of water.

This is thought to be because supercooling occurred in the beverage cooling coil 31 when the cold water valve 33 was closed during the cooling process, and this caused ice chips to form in the drinking water when the cold water valve was opened. As a result of considering this point, it became clear that the following factors were responsible for this.

In other words, if the time course of the water temperature in the cooling water tank 1 is represented graphically, it follows the course of points (a), (b), H, etc. in FIG. 2. In other words, when the refrigerator 2 starts operating, the temperature of the water surrounding the evaporator coil 21 in the water tank 1 gradually decreases from the room temperature (a), and just before ice forms around the evaporator coil 21, the temperature of the water surrounding the evaporator coil 21 decreases (b) → Like E-Sai, the water temperature is at freezing point 0
The temperature further decreases beyond 0.degree. C., reaching a supercooled state of minus temperature, and the moment ice forms on the evaporator coil 21, the water returns to 0.degree. After that, a layer of ice grows as the refrigerator operates, or the water temperature is maintained at 0"C.Also, if the amount of drinking water supplied increases and the cooling load exceeds the ice storage capacity of the refrigerator, The water melts and disappears, and the water temperature rises as follows: (i) → (e), but if the supply of drinking water decreases or stops, the water temperature will drop again.In this case, too, during the process of water landing on the evaporator coil, (Go) → (Severe cooling occurs during the 9-off period.According to experiments, the degree of supercooling at this time varies depending on the capacity of the refrigerator, or is at most -3°C, and at the time It lasts several minutes, depending on the conditions, for several tens of minutes.Furthermore, since the agitator 4 is operating even during this supercooling period, the supercooling phenomenon spreads to the entire area of the water tank IFF3.As a result, the evaporator coil 21 Beverage cooling coil 3 arranged separately from the beverage cooling coil 3
The drinking water in the tank 1 will also be supercooled to below the freezing point, and fine water particles will be generated in the cooling coil, causing the cold water valve to pull at this point. Particularly in automatic vending machines, the amount of beverage supplied during the light collecting operation is determined by time control of a valve, and therefore, the aforementioned blockage of ice pieces can directly lead to sales troubles.

As a means to prevent such supercooling phenomenon in the water tank, we installed a thermostat made by our company that detects the water temperature in the water tank, especially the water temperature near the beverage cooling coil, and temporarily stops when the water temperature drops to near the freezing point. The agitator is stopped to stop stirring the water to prevent the supercooling that occurs around the evaporator coil just before icing starts from spreading to the beverage cooling coil, and a separate thermostat is used to prevent icing from forming on the evaporator coil. An operation control method has been proposed in which the agitator is restarted after confirmation. Although this method is effective in preventing the generation of ice chips in the drinking cup, it costs a lot of money to configure the operation control circuit of the agitator, which includes two thermostats, and the additional parts increase the cost in the aquarium. constraints on the layout of parts installation.

Further, due to the accuracy of the thermostat and the operating characteristics of the original clearance, it actually takes at least several minutes to switch the agitator from stop to start. Moreover, since the agitator is stopped during this stop period, the heat transfer efficiency in the water tank is reduced, and if a beverage supply command is given during this period, the refrigerant cannot be sufficiently cooled, resulting in a problem.

This invention was made in consideration of the above points, and its purpose is to solve the problems caused by conventional control methods, and to maintain high heat exchange performance between the beverage cooling coil and the cooling water using a simple control means. At the same time, it is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage cooling device that can reliably deposit ice on an evaporator coil while suppressing the occurrence of supercooling within the beverage cooling coil.

According to the present invention, this object is achieved by configuring the agitator to operate in a duty cycle by periodically repeating operation and stop using an operation control means such as a timer.

This description will be explained in detail below based on the illustrated embodiment 1. Figure 3 shows an operation control circuit for a beverage cooling device according to the present invention. In the figure, MC is the compressor motor of the compressor 22 shown in FIG. 1, MA is the drive motor of the agitator 4, and Th is the thermostat 1-1T that detects the amount of ice storage and controls the operation of the refrigerator. Agitator motor MA
A timer contact Ill of a timer T is inserted in series in the circuit, and the agitator 4 in FIG. 1 is controlled to be operated and stopped by the timer T. The contact Ts is turned on at the cycle of.

The agitator 4 is set to alternately turn off and on, thereby causing the agitator 4 to operate on a duty cycle. As mentioned above, by operating the agitator 4 in a duty cycle by alternately repeating constant operation and stopping regardless of the water temperature,
An ice layer is formed through the following process. In other words, when the refrigerator 2 is operated for one time in a state where all the ice banks in the water tank have melted and there is no ice, the surface temperature of the refrigerator evaporator coil 21 becomes the highest than other parts in the water tank during the pull-down process. declines quickly. If the agitator 4 is stopped by the above-described duty cycle operation under the condition that the surface temperature of the evaporator coil 21 has fallen to 0° C. or less, the water in the water tank becomes stationary, so that the icing conditions on the surface area of the evaporator coil are reduced. ication occurs instantly. Moreover, since the agitator 4 is stopped at this point, the supercooling is limited to the area around the evaporator coil 21 in the water tank, and the supercooling extends to the area around the beverage cooling coil 31, which is piped apart from the evaporator coil. There is no effect of cooling.

As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent ice pieces from forming inside the beverage cooling coil 31 during the icing process. In addition, in the above-mentioned water landing operation, the longer the agitator's tute cycle operation period, the higher the MU of stopping, and the greater the chance of icing. As mentioned above, once ice forms on the evaporator coil 21,
Even if the refrigerator 2 is operated after softening, the water in the water tank 1 is 0.
It will never be supercooled below 0.

On the other hand, automatic cup-type beverages on the market &! According to an actual machine test conducted by the inventor using the beverage cooling device of the machine, it took an average of about 4 to 5 minutes to lower the water temperature in the water tank by 1 degree Celsius under near-ambient temperature conditions. spend Note that this time is just an average value; the higher the water temperature, the faster the time, and the lower the water temperature, the longer the time. Also evaporator coil 2
It has been confirmed that when the agitator 4 is stopped in a state where the surface temperature of the agitator 1 is sufficiently lowered and icing conditions are established, the time required for icing to occur is only a few seconds. Also, based on this test result, the operation cycle of the timer T is turned ON for 5 minutes.
It has been confirmed that by operating the agitator 4 in a duty cycle by setting the contact Ts to turn ON and OFF in a cycle of OFF seconds, good operational results that can be used in practical use can be obtained. In other words, the 10-cycle agitator 4 stops while the aquarium water temperature drops from about 10'C to 0'0, and ice buildup on the evaporator coil 21 is ensured by seizing the opportunity during any of the stopping periods. become.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the operating characteristics of the present invention based on the results of the above-mentioned test, and the characteristic line A in the figure indicates the water temperature near the beverage cooling coil 31Q in the water tank, and B
indicates the 18th position of the evaporator coil 21. As is clear from this figure, the %A in water does not decrease below 0°C.

As described above, this invention uses a timer or the like to control the duty cycle of the agitator so that it is alternately started and stopped regardless of the water temperature. The operation control circuit can be configured more easily than a system using two thermostats that detect and operate the system, and the timer control method allows the agitator stop time to be set to just a few seconds, in line with the time required for icing. This can be easily carried out.Thus, the practical effect is that while maintaining high heat exchange performance in the water tank and suppressing the occurrence of supercooling phenomenon in the beverage cooling coil, ice can be reliably formed on the evaporator coil. can get.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a system diagram of a water-cooled thermal storage type beverage chiller, Fig. 2 is an operation chart showing changes in water temperature when the agitator in Fig. 1 is continuously operated, and Fig. 3V is a system diagram of a cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Continuous rotation fIIJ control circuit diagram, Fig. 3
3 is a time chart showing intoxication rotation Nil based on the circuit shown in the figure. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cooling water tank, 2... Freezer, 21... Evaporation coil, 3... Beverage supply line, 31... Beverage cooling coil, 4... Agitator, MA... Agitator motor, T...
...A timer as an operation control means. 1 22 figures 3 figures 4 figures

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) Operation of the refrigerator by immersing the evaporator coil of the refrigerator, the beverage cooling coil inserted in the drinking*+ supply line, and the agitator for water agitation in cooling water filled with water. A water-cooled thermal storage beverage cooling device that generates and stores water around an evaporator coil, and cools beverages flowing through the beverage cooling coil while operating an agitator using the water in the water tank as a heat transfer medium. The water-cooled thermal storage type beverage cooling device is characterized in that the water-cooled thermal storage type beverage cooling device is provided with an operation control means for periodically repeating operation and stop of the electric agitator to operate it on a duty cycle. 2. A water-cooled thermal storage type beverage cooling device in which a timer is used as a duty cycle operation control means in the beverage cooling device according to claim 1.