JPS628706B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auger ice maker, and particularly to one that cleans and sterilizes the inside of a cooling cylinder.

(B) Prior Art It is generally known that when this type of ice maker is operated for a long period of time, impurities such as calcium and magnesium are deposited in the lower part of the cooling cylinder. Precipitation of such impurities may cause hygiene problems, may adhere to the inlet of the water supply pipe connected to the bottom of the cooling cylinder and prevent normal water supply, or may cause a seal failure at the bottom of the cylinder. This has caused problems and even promoted the growth of bacteria.

In order to deal with these shortcomings, it is possible to perform displacement cleaning by opening the drain valve and draining the water in the cooling cylinder while allowing water in the water storage tank to flow in, or to fill the water storage tank with an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite, etc. A sterilizing solution was put in and allowed to flow into the cylinder during drainage to perform sterilization.

It is true that the initial purpose of cleaning and sterilization can be achieved, but if the drain valve is left open for a long time, there will be no remaining sterilizing solution in the cooling cylinder.
When performing displacement cleaning with water, a large amount of water is wasted, and if the drain valve is opened for a short period of time, this wasteful use of water can be prevented. This resulted in the problem of residual ice forming smelly ice.

Furthermore, conventionally, it has been common to stop the ice making operation during cleaning or sterilization when the drain valve is open.

(c) Purpose of the Invention The present invention not only eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks caused by the precipitation of impurities, but also makes it possible to stop the ice-making operation when cleaning the inside of the cooling cylinder using water supplied to the water storage tank. You can select a circuit that periodically operates the drain valve for a predetermined period of time without having to do anything. When putting sterilizing liquid into the water storage tank and sterilizing the inside of the cooling cylinder with sterilizing water, ice-making operation can be stopped and the drain valve can be operated continuously. It is possible to select the circuit that will cause the sterilization to occur, thereby preventing wasteful water use and residual sterilizing liquid in the cooling cylinder, and efficiently performing ice-making operation.

(d) Embodiments of the invention FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an outline of an auger ice maker embodying the present invention, and 1 is an electric compressor 2.
It is a cooling cylinder with a refrigerant pipe 5 wound around its outer surface, which forms a refrigerant circuit together with a condenser 4 and the like that are forcedly air-cooled by an electric blower 3. Inside the cylinder 1, an ice-shaving auger 6 is mounted on an upper bearing. 7 and lower bearing 8
is rotatably supported by. Auger 6
is connected to the auger motor 10 via the reducer 9, and the ice generated on the inner surface of the cooling cylinder 1 is transferred to the auger 6.
After being scraped off by
The compressed ice here is delivered to an ice storage 13 via an outlet pipe 12 connected to the upper part of the cooling cylinder 1. Reference numeral 14 denotes an ice storage amount detection device for detecting a predetermined amount of ice in the ice storage 13, which is of a temperature type.
A water storage tank 15 determines the water supply level of the cooling cylinder 1, and the bottom of the tank 15 and the lower part of the cooling cylinder 1 are connected by a water supply pipe 16. 17 is an external water supply pipe that supplies water to the water storage tank 15, and is connected to a water supply valve 19 that is controlled by a water level detection device 18 that detects the water level of the water storage tank 15. The water level detection device 18 employs a float type in which a reed switch in the pipe is opened and closed by a float 18A with a built-in magnet that rises and falls according to changes in the water level, and the upper reed switch 18B controls the water supply valve 19,
The lower reed switch 18C is used for detecting water outage. Reference numeral 20 denotes a drain pipe for cleaning and sterilizing the inside of the cooling cylinder 1, which is connected to the lower part of the cooling cylinder 1, and an electromagnetic drain valve 21 is connected to the drain pipe 20.

Next, the electric circuit of the present invention will be explained based on FIG. 22 is a power switch, 23 is a first relay connected in series with the upper reed switch 18B,
It has normally closed first relay contacts 23A and 23B. A second relay 24 is connected in series with the lower reed switch 18C, and has a normally open second relay contact 24A and a normally closed second relay contact 24B. 19 is the water supply valve connected in series with the normally closed first relay contact 23B; 25 is a manual first selection switch having a first contact 25A and a second contact 25B; Drain valve 2
Connect 1. Reference numeral 26 denotes a second selection switch having a first contact 26A and a second contact 26B that are linked to the contact switching operation of the first selection switch 25, and are connected via the normally closed second relay contact 24B. . The ice storage amount detection device 14 is connected to the first contact 26A of the second selection switch 26 in the ice storage 13.
The third relay 27, the first contact 25A of the first selection switch 25, and the timer contact 28A connected to the ice storage switch 14A are periodically connected via the ice storage switch 14A, which opens the contact when a predetermined amount of ice is detected. Cam type timer 28 that closes the circuit for a predetermined time
are connected in series, and the second selection switch 26
The auger motor 10 is connected in series to the contact point 26B. The third relay 27 is in a parallel relationship with the second selection switch 26 and has a normally open third relay contact 2 connected in series with the auger motor 10.
7A, and another normally open third relay contact 27B connected in series with the electric compressor 2 and electric blower 3.
and has.

Next, the operation will be explained based on the above configuration. First, the operations of the first drainage circuit and ice making circuit that are formed when the first selection switch 25 is positioned at the first contact point 25A will be described. 1st selection switch 2
5, the second selection switch 26 is positioned at the first contact point 26A. When the power switch 22 is turned on, if the water storage tank 15 is empty, the first relay 23 is not energized, so the water supply valve 19, which is energized via the normally closed first relay contact 23B, is opened and the water storage tank 15 is turned on. water supply. At this time, since the lower reed switch 18C is closed, the second relay 24 is energized, the normally closed second relay contact 24B is opened, the third relay 27 is de-energized, and the normally open third relay Since the contacts 27A and 27B are open, the compressor 2, blower 3, and auger motor 10 do not operate.

When water is supplied to a predetermined water level in the water storage tank 15, the upper reed switch 18B is closed, the first relay 23 is energized, and the normally closed first relay contact 23A is closed.
and 23B are opened. With this, water supply valve 1
9 closes to stop the water supply, while the second relay 2
4 is de-energized and the second relay contact 24 is normally open.
The third relay 27 is energized to open the circuit A and close the normally closed second relay contact 24B, and closes the normally open third relay contacts 27A and 27B, so that the compressor 2,
The blower 3 and auger motor 10 are operated to start ice making operation. At the same time, timer 28 is started. Note that the water supply level in the cooling cylinder 1 increases as the water level in the water storage tank 15 rises, and is eventually controlled to approximately the same level as the water level in the water storage tank 15.

When the ice-making operation starts, the ice generated on the inner wall of the cooling cylinder 1 is scraped off by the rotation of the auger 6 and transferred to the compression passage 11, where the compressed ice passes through the outlet pipe 12 and is transferred to the ice storage 13. are continuously sent to.

When a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the start of the timer 28, the timer contact 28A closes and the drain valve 21 closes.
is energized, the drain valve 21 is opened, and the ice-making water, which has a high impurity concentration in the lower part of the cooling cylinder 1, is drained from the drain pipe 20 to the outside. Perform displacement cleaning with water flowing into the tank.

In this way, when the first drainage circuit starts replacing and cleaning the inside of the cooling cylinder 1, the water level in the water storage tank 15 decreases, the upper reed switch 18B opens, and the first relay 23 is de-energized. Since the normally closed first relay contacts 23A and 23B are closed, the water supply valve 19 is opened to supply water from the external water supply pipe 17 to the water storage tank 15, and maintain the water level in the water storage tank 15 at a predetermined upper level.

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the timer contact 28A opens to cut off the power supply to the drain valve 21, and closes the drain valve 21 to complete the cleaning of the inside of the cooling cylinder 1. During this time, since the third relay 27 is energized, the ice making operation continues in parallel with the cleaning operation.

Next, move the first selection switch 25 to the second contact point 2.
The operation of the second drainage circuit and ice-making operation stop circuit that are formed when the ice-making operation stop circuit is located at position 5B will be explained. Unlike the first drainage circuit, which performs replacement cleaning periodically using a timer 28, this second drainage circuit uses a sterilizing solution such as a sodium hypochlorite aqueous solution to sterilize the inside of the cooling cylinder 1. It is selected when carrying out this process, and is carried out at relatively large intervals, such as once every two weeks or once a month. in this case,
When the first selection switch 25 is positioned at the second contact 25B, the second selection switch 26 is also switched to the second contact 26B in conjunction with this. As a result, the drain valve 21 opens and the third relay 2
7 and the timer 28 are cut off, and the normally open third relay contacts 27A and 27B are opened, so the compressor 2 and the blower 3 are stopped, and the ice-making operation is stopped. Note that the auger motor 10 continues to operate via the second contact 26B of the second selection switch 26.

In this state, when a sterilizing liquid is poured into the water storage tank 15, the ice-making water in the cooling cylinder 1 is drained to the outside from the drain pipe 20, and the sterilizing water in the water storage tank 15 flows into the cooling cylinder 1 through the water supply pipe 16. to sterilize the inside of the cooling cylinder 1.

As a result, the water level in the water storage tank 15 decreases in the same way as when performing the above-mentioned replacement cleaning, and this shortage is replenished from the external water supply pipe 17, so that the concentration of the sterilizing solution in the water storage tank 15 gradually decreases. The first selection switch 25 is switched to the first contact point 25A again after allowing enough time for the inside of the cooling cylinder 1 to be replaced with water that contains almost no sterilizing solution. The selection switch 26 is also switched to the first contact 26A, whereby the drain valve 21
is closed to complete sterilization, and the ice making operation and the first drainage circuit are resumed.

(e) Effects of the Invention The present invention regulates the periodic drainage at a predetermined time without stopping the ice-making operation when the water in the water storage tank is used as it is to clean the inside of the cooling cylinder. Therefore, ice making operation can be performed efficiently, and the inside of the cooling cylinder can be effectively cleaned, and wasteful use of water can also be prevented. When sterilizing, the ice making operation is stopped and water is drained continuously.During this time, the sterilizing solution is stirred by an auger, so the inside of the cooling cylinder is effectively sterilized, and the inside of the cooling cylinder is also sterilized. It eliminates residual liquid and provides odor-free ice.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an auger ice maker according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram thereof. 1... Cooling cylinder, 15... Water storage tank, 16...
... Water supply pipe, 20 ... Drain pipe, 21 ... Drain valve, 2
5, 26 ...Selection switch, 25A, 26A...
First contact, 25B, 26B... second contact.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cooling cylinder in which an ice-shaving auger is rotatably arranged, and a water supply pipe that guides water appropriately supplied to a water storage tank into the cooling cylinder and a drain pipe equipped with a drain valve are connected to the bottom of the cylinder. In the auger-type ice maker, a selection switch having first and second contacts is provided, and when the switch is located at the first contact, an ice making operation circuit, an operation circuit for the auger, and the drain valve are provided. a first drain circuit that operates periodically for a predetermined period of time, and when the switch is located at a second contact point, continuously operates an ice making operation stop circuit, the auger operation circuit, and the drain valve. An auger-type ice maker characterized by forming a second drainage circuit.