KR20090118590A - The ice storage and supply apparatus and ice-making system having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ice storage and supply apparatus and an ice making system with the same are provided to control the amount of supplying ice or whether a machine operates in consideration of the amount of supplied ice or an operating state of the machine. CONSTITUTION: An ice storage and supply apparatus and an ice making system with the same comprise an inlet(311), a housing(310), an ice transfer unit(330), a sensing unit(360) and a controller(370). The inlet stores ice. Ice is inserted into one side of the inlet. A sensing unit is arranged in the front side of a discharging unit. The sensing unit includes a loading amount sensor which senses ice height. The controller controls driving speed of a transfer driving unit based on the sensing result.

Description

ICE STORAGE AND SUPPLY APPARATUS AND ICE-MAKING SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME

The present invention relates to an ice storage and supply device and an ice making system, and more particularly, to an ice storage and supply device and an ice making system having the same in consideration of the stored state of ice.

Ice makers make ice and are used in manufacturing processes in a variety of industries. For example, ice is used to properly maintain the atmosphere process temperature in the process of manufacturing meat products such as chicken, dye or pigment manufacturing process, and the like.

In an ice making system having an ice maker, the process of making ice in the evaporator and separating the ice produced by the evaporator from the evaporator is repeated. Then, the defrosted ice is stored at a predetermined position and crushed or crushed to a predetermined size and transported as needed.

The ice storage and supply device is provided to automatically take out the stored ice produced in the ice maker to the outside as needed, and is used in various manufacturing processes. For example, the ice storage and supply device supplies ice to prevent the temperature of the material from rising in the process of manufacturing meat products such as chicken, dye or pigment manufacturing process.

In addition, the ice storage and feeder can have a very large capacity as needed. In this case, the height of the ice may vary depending on the time when ice is produced and the amount of ice used. If the stored ice is supplied at a constant rate, there may be a difference in the amount of ice supplied. For example, there is a difference between the ice supply when the height of the ice is loaded at 1 meter and the ice supply when the height of the ice is loaded at 2 meters.

In addition, it is preferable to control each device in consideration of the height of the ice in order to supply the ice quantitatively in the process of supplying the ice.

However, the related art has a problem in that the stored ice is supplied without considering the height of the ice in the process of storing and supplying the ice. In addition, there is a fear that the operation of the machine can not be properly controlled to the amount of ice supplied.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice storage and supply apparatus and an ice making system having the same, which can supply ice in a quantitative manner in consideration of the storage state of the ice in the process of supplying the ice.

In addition, another object of the present invention, in consideration of the amount of ice supplied or the operating state of the machine can control the amount of ice supplied or the operation of the machine, ice storage and supply that can improve the reliability of the product An apparatus and an ice making system having the same are provided.

The object is, according to the present invention, in the ice storage and supply device for storing and discharging ice making ice, the inlet for storing the ice, the ice is introduced into one side, and the ice stored in the other side is discharged A housing having a discharge portion; An ice conveying unit forming a lower portion for storing ice of the housing and having a conveying driving part provided to be movable to convey the stored ice to the discharge portion; A detection unit including a load sensor disposed in front of the discharge unit before the ice falls to the discharge unit and detecting a height of the ice stored and transported in the housing; It is achieved by the ice storage and supply device characterized in that it comprises a control unit for controlling the drive speed of the transfer drive unit based on the detection result of the detection unit.

The control unit divides the height of the ice detected by the load sensor into a plurality of equal parts, and preferably controls the driving speeds of the transfer driving unit differently according to each divided part.

The discharge unit includes a discharge means for discharging the ice to the outside of the housing, and a discharge port communicating with the outside, the detection unit and a discharge sensor for detecting the height of the ice loaded in the discharge means; The controller may control whether the transfer driving unit is operated based on a detection result of the emission sensor.

It is preferable to further include an ice crusher disposed between the load sensor and the discharge portion to distribute ice to the discharge portion.

The ice block is provided in plurality in the up and down direction of the housing, the detection unit further comprises a cutting sensor for detecting whether at least one of the ice block is driven, the control unit based on the detection result of the cutting sensor It is preferable to control the drive of the transfer drive.

On the other hand, an object of the present invention, an ice maker for ice-making; It is also achieved by an ice making system comprising an ice storage and supply device for storing and discharging ice produced in the ice maker.

According to the present invention, it is possible to control the amount of ice supplied in consideration of the storage state of the ice in the process of supplying the ice can supply the amount of ice in a quantitative manner.

In addition, it is possible to control the amount of ice supplied or the operation of the machine in consideration of the amount of ice supplied or the operating state of the machine, it is possible to improve the reliability of the product.

The ice storage and supply apparatus 300 and the ice making system 100 having the same according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

The ice making system 100, as shown in FIG. 1, includes an ice maker 200 and an ice storage and supply device 300.

1 to 5, the longitudinal direction of the housing 310 is in the "X" direction, the height direction of the housing 310 is in the "Y" direction, and the width of the housing 310 is illustrated for convenience of description. Direction is set to the "Z" direction.

Ice maker 200 forms ice from water. The ice maker 200 includes a reservoir for storing water not shown to form ice, a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant, and a condenser for condensing the refrigerant. Thus, in the ice maker 200, ice is formed on the surface of the evaporator, is iced from the evaporator, stored in the ice storage and supply device 300, and supplied to a predetermined place.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the ice storage and supply device 300 includes a housing 310, an ice transfer unit 330, a detector 360, and a controller 370. The ice storage and supply device 300 may further include an ice crusher 350.

The housing 310 stores ice and supplies the ice to a predetermined place. The housing 310 has an inlet 311 through which ice is introduced from the ice maker 200, and an outlet 313 through which the stored ice is discharged. The housing 310 supports the stored ice and is preferably formed of a material that can be insulated so as not to transfer heat to the stored ice.

Discharge part 313 is disposed in the lower direction of the housing 310, the side of the ice transfer unit 330. Discharge unit 313 is discharged by the ice transfer unit 330 is discharge means 317 for transferring the ice dispersed in the ice crusher 350 in a predetermined position and direction, and discharge drive unit for driving the discharge means 317 Has 315. Discharge means 317 include a screw conveyor, but may optionally employ a variety of known means. The discharge part 313 includes an outlet 319 communicating with the outside. Here, the rotational speed of the discharge drive unit 315 is preferably variable.

In this process, the height of the ice formed in the ice maker 200 is loaded on the housing 310 is the highest immediately below the inlet 311 side, as shown in Figure 4, the axial direction of the inlet (311) ( The further away from the "Y" direction, the lower. In addition, the height of the ice is loaded in the housing 310 and cut along the "XY" plane, as shown in Figures 3 and 5, the quantity of ice maker 200, the ice making capacity, the ice making time of the upper housing 310 It may also differ depending on the like.

Means for transferring the ice in the housing 310 to the discharge unit 313 may be a variety of methods, but here the caterpillar 341 forms the lower side of the housing 310 to the ice transfer unit 330 to transfer the ice Explain.

The ice transfer unit 330 has a caterpillar 341 for forming the lower portion of the housing 310 to support the stored ice from the lower portion, and a conveyance driving portion 331 for conveying the caterpillar 341. The caterpillar 341 includes a plurality of rows of unshown chains and a filler plate 343 that blocks a space between the chains. The chain to filler plate 343 may be guided along a rail, not shown.

The transfer driving part 331 is coupled to the caterpillar 341 to drive the caterpillar 341 and the drive shaft (not shown), and the driven driven by the rotation of the caterpillar 341 is coupled to the caterpillar 341 And has a driven shaft, not shown. The transfer driving unit 331 includes a drive motor 333 for providing a driving force to the drive shaft, and a reducer 335 for reducing the rotational speed of the drive motor 333. Here, the driving sprocket 337 and the driven sprocket 339 are provided in plural in correspondence with a plurality of chains. In addition, the drive motor 333 and the reducer 335 may also be provided in plural according to the capacity of the ice storage and supply device 300, the drive motor 333 is preferably a variable speed of rotation.

Accordingly, when power is applied, the driving motor 333 is driven, and the rotation speed of the driving motor 333 is decelerated by the reducer 335 to transmit force to the driving shaft. Accordingly, when the driving sprocket 337 rotates according to the rotation of the drive shaft, the caterpillar 341 is moved at a constant speed while the driven sprocket 339 is also rotated so that the ice loaded on the upper portion of the caterpillar 341 is discharged to the discharge part 313 side. Will be transported towards the end.

Here, since the height of the ice loaded in the housing 310 varies depending on the position, if the ice transfer unit 330 is driven at a constant speed, too much ice is supplied in some cases, and in some cases, too little Ice can be supplied.

The ice crusher 350 is coupled to the housing 310 to crush or disperse the ice before the ice is discharged to the discharge portion 313, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 5. Ice blocker 350 has an ice block unit 353 for crushing or dispersing ice while rotating, and an ice block driving unit 351 for providing a rotational force to the ice block unit 353. The ice block unit 353 has a rod-shaped ice block 357 and a pin-shaped ice block 359 attached to the ice block 357 at a predetermined pitch. The ice block unit 353 is connected to the ice block driving unit 351 to transmit the rotational force, the ice block chain 355 for transmitting the driving force to another ice block unit 353, and the ice block sprocket 341 combined with the ice block shaft 357 Has

The ice block unit 353 is disposed in the vertical direction along the "Y" axis when the housing 310 is large. In addition, the ice block unit 353 is disposed so as to move away from the upper vertical direction of the discharge portion 313 toward the top. That is, the ice block unit 353 is disposed in consideration of the falling distance of the ice falling from the upper portion.

Here, the ice block driving unit 351 may preferably drive several ice blocks 350 at the same time.

Thus, the plurality of ice block units 353 may rotate by the rotation of one ice block drive unit 351. In addition, the ice block unit 353 preferably rotates in the clockwise direction as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.

The detector 360 includes a load sensor 361 disposed in the housing 310 to sense the height of the ice before the ice is discharged through the ice crusher 350. In addition, the detection unit 360 is the discharge sensor 363 and the ice block unit 353 of the ice block 350 to detect the amount or height of the ice loaded on the discharge means 317, that is, the ice block drive unit Although 351 is being driven, it is provided with a cutting sensor 365 for detecting whether the ice block unit 353 is rotated due to breakage of the ice block chain 355 or the like.

The controller 370 changes the driving speed of the transfer driver 331 or controls whether the transfer driver 331 is driven based on the result detected by the detector 360.

The operation of the ice storage and supply apparatus and the ice making system 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6 as follows.

As shown in FIG. 1, ice formed in the ice maker 200 is stored falling into the housing 310. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, four icemakers 200 capable of producing 25 tons of ice per day will be described with an example installed on the housing 310.

In this case, the approximate ice storage capacity of the housing 310 is 250 tons, and the size of the housing 310 is 17 meters in the length of "X" direction, about 5 meters in the height of "Y" direction, and width of about "Z" direction. 5 meters.

First, when power is applied, the ice maker 200 is operated to store ice in the ice storage and supply device 300. Operation of the ice maker 200 may operate or partially operate all four ice makers 200 in consideration of the amount of ice stored in the ice storage and supply device 300.

Next, when power is applied to the ice storage and supply device 300 to supply the stored ice to a predetermined place, the discharge unit 313 is activated, the ice maker 350 is operated, and the ice transfer unit 330 is It is operated sequentially. This reduces the load on the machine while smoothly transporting the ice.

First, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, the controller 370 may control the rotational speed of the transfer driver 331 based on the height of the ice detected by the load sensor 361. That is, if the height of the ice detected by the load sensor 361 is high, the control unit 370 slows down the rotation speed of the transport driving unit 331, and if the height of the ice is low, the control unit 370 rotates the speed of the transport driving unit 331. You can control to increase. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the controller 370 controls the transfer driver 331 by dividing the height detected by the load sensor 361 into three equal parts. When the detection result of the load sensor 361 belongs to a region where the height of the ice discharged to the discharge unit 313 is low (see 'h1' in FIG. 3), the control unit 370 rotates the number of rotations of the driving motor 333. When the control is high, the rotation speed of the driving sprocket 337 is increased (see 'RPM1' in FIG. 3) and the moving speed of the caterpillar 341 is increased (see 'V1' in FIG. 3). At this time, the controller 370 may control the rotation speed of the ice-block driving unit 351 to increase as needed.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a plurality of arrangements of the load sensors 361 are installed on the housing 310 to determine the heights detected by the load sensors 361 (see h11, h12, and h13 of FIG. 4). By calculating the average value as the height it is possible to control the rotational speed of the transfer driving unit 331 according to the average height calculated by the control unit 370. This is to detect the amount of ice loaded more accurately by correcting that the height of ice loaded in the "Z" direction is different as described above.

First, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the detection result of the load sensor 361 belongs to a region where the height of ice discharged to the discharge unit 313 is high (see 'h3' in FIG. 5), the controller When the control unit 370 controls the rotation speed of the driving motor 333, the rotation speed of the driving sprocket 337 is lowered (see 'RPM3' in FIG. 5) and the moving speed of the caterpillar 341 is slowed (FIG. 5). See 'v3'). At this time, the controller 370 may control the rotation speed of the ice-block driving unit 351 to be slow as necessary.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, based on the result of the discharge sensor 363 detecting the height of the ice discharged above the discharge unit 313, the control unit 370 may be configured as the transfer drive unit 331. It may be controlled to stop the operation or to lower the feed rate of the transfer driving unit 331. In addition, in some cases, the controller 370 may control the rotational speed of the discharge driving unit 315 quickly.

In addition, as shown in Figures 3 and 6, the cutting sensor 365 for detecting the operation or rotation of the ice block unit 353 is provided. Here, it is assumed that 11 ice block units 353 are provided, and two ice block driving units 351 drive 11 ice block units 353. That is, the first to fifth ice block units 353 at the bottom are driven by the first ice drive unit 351 coupled with the first ice block unit 353, and the sixth to eleventh ice block units 353 are the sixth ice block. It is assumed that it is driven by the second ice driving unit 351 coupled with the unit 353. And, each ice block unit 353 is chained up and down is rotated in the same direction as described above. Here, the cutting sensor 365 detects which one of the ice block units 353 is operated in the state where each ice block drive unit 351 is operated. In this case, the cutting sensor 365 is installed to detect whether the ice sprocket 341 of the fifth and eleventh ice block units 353 rotates or operates. In this situation, if the third or eighth ice block unit 353 does not rotate or operate, the fourth, fifth, ninth to eleventh ice block units 353 do not rotate or operate. Thus, the cutting sensor 365 may detect whether the fifth and eleventh ice block units 353 rotate or operate. Thus, the control unit 370 stops the operation of the transport driving unit 331 when it is determined that the operation of the one ice block unit 353 does not rotate or rotate as a result of the detection of the cutting sensor 365. In addition, the controller 370 may stop the operation of the discharge unit 313 in some cases.

Accordingly, the rotation speed of the ice transfer unit 330 may be varied in consideration of the amount of ice loaded in the housing 310 to supply a predetermined amount of ice discharged from the housing 310 to realize a quantitative supply. In addition, the amount of discharge from the discharge unit 313 may be sensed to change the driving speed of the transfer driver 331 or control whether the transfer driver 331 or the ice breaker 350 is operated. In addition, the cutting sensor 365 may detect whether the ice block unit 353 is rotated and control the operation of the transfer driver 331, thereby preventing the risk of breakage of the ice block 350. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the reliability of the product.

Herein, the embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present embodiments can be modified without departing from the spirit or spirit of the present invention. . It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

1 is a schematic diagram of an ice making system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

3 is a perspective view for explaining the operation of the ice storage and supply of Figure 1,

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane “Y-Z” of FIG. 3;

5 is a perspective view for explaining another operation of FIG.

6 is a control block diagram according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: ice making system 200: ice maker

300: ice storage and supply device 310: housing

311: inlet 313: outlet

315: discharge drive unit 317: discharge means

319: outlet 330: ice transfer unit

331: transfer drive 333: drive motor

335: reducer 337: drive sprocket

339: driven sprocket 341: caterpillar

343: filler plate 350: ice crusher

351: ice block driving unit 353: ice block unit

355: ice chain 357: ice block axis

359: ice block pin 341: ice block sprocket

360: detection unit 361: load sensor

363: emission sensor 365: cutting sensor

370: control unit

Claims (6)

In the ice storage and supply device for storing and discharging iced ice, A housing for storing the ice and having an inlet for introducing the ice on one side and an outlet for discharging the stored ice on the other side; An ice conveying unit forming a lower portion for storing ice of the housing and having a conveying driving part provided to be movable to convey the stored ice to the discharge portion; A detection unit including a load sensor disposed in front of the discharge unit before the ice falls to the discharge unit and detecting a height of the ice stored and transported in the housing; And a controller for controlling a driving speed of the transfer driver based on a detection result of the detector. The method of claim 1, The control unit divides the height of the ice detected by the load sensor into a plurality of equal parts, and the ice storage and supply device, characterized in that for controlling the driving speed of the transfer driving unit differently according to each divided. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The discharge portion includes a discharge means for discharging the ice to the outside of the housing, and a discharge port in communication with the outside, The detection unit and the discharge sensor for detecting the height of the ice loaded on the discharge means; The control unit is ice storage and supply device, characterized in that for controlling the operation of the transport drive unit based on the detection result of the discharge sensor. The method of claim 3, And an ice breaker disposed between the load sensor and the discharge unit to distribute ice to the discharge unit. The method of claim 4, wherein The ice block is provided in plurality and arranged in the vertical direction of the housing, The detection unit further includes a cutting sensor for detecting whether at least one of each ice block is driven, The control unit is ice storage and supply device, characterized in that for controlling the drive of the transport drive based on the detection result of the cutting sensor. An ice maker for making ice; An ice making system comprising: an ice storage and supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 for storing and discharging ice produced in the ice maker.

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