JP2008309406A - Ice-making portion of flow-down type ice-making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively provide an ice-making portion of a flow down-type ice-making machine capable of making ice of desired shape. <P>SOLUTION: This ice-making portion S is composed of an evaporation pipe 14 formed into the plane meandering shape constituted by alternately forming straight portions and folded portions, ice-making plates 10 joined to the straight portions of the evaporation pipe 14 at back faces and provided with a plurality of projecting portions 42 at a front side, and joining members 50 having through holes 52 for inserting and joining the evaporation pipe and kept into face-contact with the back faces of the projecting portions 42 at outer faces. The ice-making plates 10 are disposed in opposition to each other in a state that tips of the projecting portions are butted to each other between the straight portions of the evaporation pipe 14, and an ice-making room R is formed by a pair of ice-making face portions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice making part of a flow-down type ice maker, and more specifically, a flow-down type ice maker that generates ice having a desired shape by flowing water for making ice on the front side of an ice making plate having a cooling pipe disposed on the back side. It relates to the ice making department.

  An automatic ice maker that continuously generates a large amount of ice blocks is suitably used in facilities such as coffee shops and restaurants and other kitchens. These automatic ice making machines supply spraying water from below to a large number of ice-making chambers that open downward, and spray types that continuously produce ice of the required shape, flow-down types that allow ice-making water to flow down the ice-making surface, etc. There are things.

In recent years, polygonal ice such as hexagonal ice has been demanded, and as an ice making machine that produces polygonal ice, as shown in Patent Document 1, an ice making space is formed by punching a plate material constituting an ice making chamber into a required shape. In the flow-down type, as shown in Patent Document 2, there has been proposed one in which an ice making space is formed by a movable ice making plate.
JP 2004-293826 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-033150

  However, the one described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the manufacturing cost is high because it is difficult to process and the yield is low because an ice making chamber must be formed by punching a metal plate material such as copper. there were. Moreover, since the thing of patent document 2 requires a moving apparatus, there existed a problem that a machine will become very expensive.

  That is, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described problems inherent in the conventional technology described above, and is a flow-down type ice maker that can generate ice having a desired shape with an inexpensive configuration. The purpose is to provide an ice making part.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and achieve the intended purpose suitably, the ice making part of the flow-down type ice making machine according to the present invention comprises:
A plurality of protrusions extending in the vertical direction on the surface are formed to be spaced apart in the horizontal direction, an ice making plate in which an ice making surface portion is formed between adjacent protrusions, and a refrigerant disposed on the back surface of the ice making plate A flow-down type ice maker, which comprises a circulatingly supplied evaporation pipe, cools the surface of the ice making plate by circulatingly supplying refrigerant to the evaporation tube, and generates ice blocks by supplying ice making water to the surface of the ice making plate In the ice making section of the machine,
The evaporation pipe is formed in a plane meandering shape in which a straight portion and a folded portion are continuous, and an ice making plate is disposed between the straight portions so that the tips of the ridges face each other. An ice making chamber is formed by the above.

  According to the ice making part of the flow-down type ice making machine according to the present invention, since the ice making part is formed by the meandering evaporator tube and the plate-like ice making plate, an ice making part capable of generating ice having a desired shape can be manufactured at low cost. .

  Next, the ice making part of the flow-down type ice making machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by giving a preferred embodiment.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a flow-down type ice maker as an automatic ice maker in which the ice making unit of the flow-down type ice maker according to the embodiment is preferably carried out. An ice making section S is constituted by the ice making plate 10 and an evaporation pipe (evaporator) 14 for forming a part of the refrigeration circuit 12 and forcibly cooling the ice making plate 10 by circulating a refrigerant during the ice making process. Immediately below the ice making section S, an ice guide plate 20 is provided in an inclined posture for guiding the ice mass M, which has been peeled off from the ice making plate 10 by the deicing process and dropped, to the stocker 18 disposed obliquely below. The ice guide plate 20 is provided with a number of through holes (not shown), and the ice making water supplied to the ice making surface of the ice making plate 10 during the ice making process passes through the ice guide plate 20. It is collected and stored in the ice making water tank 22 located below through the hole. The stocker 18 is provided with ice detection means (not shown) for detecting the fullness of the ice block M, and controls the operation or stop of the ice making machine based on the full detection signal from the ice detection means. Configured to do.

  An ice-making water supply pipe 24 led out from the ice-making water tank 22 through a circulation pump PM is connected to an ice-making water spreader 25 provided above the ice making unit S. A large number of water sprinkling holes 26 are formed in the ice making water spreader 25, and the ice making water pumped from the ice making water tank 22 during the ice making process is sprinkled down from the water sprinkling holes 26 to the ice making surface of the corresponding ice making plate 10. Thus, an ice block M having a required shape is generated on the ice making surface. Further, in the deicing process, by switching the hot gas valve HV disposed in the refrigeration circuit 12, the ice making plate 10 is heated by circulating hot gas (high temperature refrigerant) through the evaporation pipe 14, and the ice making surface, the ice mass M, and the like. Constructed to melt the frozen surface of

  Above the ice making section S, a water supply pipe 29 connected to an external water system faces and is connected to a deicing water spreader 27 provided above the ice making section S. A large number of sprinkling pipes 28 project from the deicing water spreader 27, and the water supply valve WV inserted into the water supply pipe 29 is opened prior to the deicing process by hot gas, so that the ice making plate is removed from the sprinkling pipe 28. The deicing water is supplied to the back surface of 10 to reduce the adhesion of the iced surface between the ice making surface and the ice mass M. The deiced water after flowing through the back surface of the ice making plate 10 is collected and stored in the ice making water tank 22 and used as ice making water in the next ice making process. The ice making water tank 22 is provided with an overflow pipe 30 so as to regulate the amount of ice making water stored in the tank 22. Further, a drain pipe 31 is connected to the bottom of the ice making water tank 22, and the drain valve DV inserted in the drain pipe 31 is opened so that the ice making water remaining in the tank 22 can be discharged out of the machine. It is configured.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the refrigeration circuit 12, the vaporized refrigerant compressed by the compressor CM is condensed and liquefied by the condenser 34 through the discharge pipe 32, decompressed by the expansion valve 36, and flows into the evaporation pipe 14. The ice making plate 10 expands and evaporates all at once, and exchanges heat with the ice making plate 10 of the ice making unit S to cool the ice making plate 10 to below the freezing point. The vaporized refrigerant evaporated in the evaporation pipe 14 repeats a cycle of returning to the compressor CM via the suction pipe 38.

  Further, a hot gas pipe 40 is branched from the discharge pipe 32 of the compressor CM, and the hot gas pipe 40 communicates with the inlet side of the evaporation pipe 14 via a hot gas valve HV. The hot gas valve HV is controlled to be opened only during the deicing process and closed during the ice making process. That is, the hot gas valve HV is opened during the deicing process, and the hot gas discharged from the compressor CM is bypassed to the evaporation pipe 14 via the hot gas pipe 40 to add the ice making plate 10 of the ice making section S. By heating, the icing surface of the ice block M generated on the ice making surface is melted, and the ice block M is dropped by its own weight. In addition, the code | symbol FM in FIG. 1 shows the cooling fan for condensers.

  A temperature sensor (not shown) is disposed at a predetermined position of the ice making plate 10 to detect that the temperature has dropped to a predetermined ice making completion temperature during the ice making process, and the temperature has risen to the predetermined deicing completion temperature during the ice removing process. By detecting this, the ice making process and the deicing process can be switched.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view in which a part of the ice making part S is disassembled, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ice making part S. The ice making part S has a meandering shape in which straight portions and folded portions are alternately arranged. The formed evaporation pipe 14, the ice making plate 10 in which the back surface is joined to the straight portion of the evaporation pipe 14 and a plurality of protrusions 42 are formed on the front surface side, and the through hole 52 for inserting and joining the evaporation pipe. And a joining member 50 whose outer surface is in surface contact with the back surface of the ridge 42. The ice making plate 10 is formed of a metal (stainless steel plate) plate material, and a plurality of protrusions 42 extending in the vertical direction by bending the plate material at a required portion are spaced apart in the horizontal direction and formed in parallel. . Since the protrusion 42 is formed in a sharp triangular shape, the surface of the ice making plate 10 is composed of a flat surface 44 and an inclined surface 46, and the flat surface 44 and a pair of sandwiching the flat surface 44 The inclined surfaces 46 and 46 form an ice making surface portion.

  The ice making plate 10 is disposed so as to face the straight portions of the evaporating tube 14 with the tips of the ridges facing each other, and is attached by joining the back surface of the flat surface 44 to the straight portion of the evaporating tube 14 by welding or the like. . Since the protrusion dimension of the protrusion 42 is set to about ½ of the distance between the straight portions of the evaporation tube 14, the ends of the protrusions 42 arranged opposite to each other are in a substantially contacted relationship, and a pair of ice making A hexagonal ice making chamber R is formed by the surface portion. Further, above each surface of the flat surface 44 and the inclined surface 46 that define the ice making chamber R, water spray holes 26 of the ice making water spreader 25 are arranged at positions corresponding to the respective surfaces.

  The joining member 50 is made of a material having good thermal conductivity, such as a copper plate, and is formed in a rhombus shape in plan view as shown in FIG. 3, and the ice making plate 10 is attached by inserting the evaporating tube 14 into the through hole 52. In some cases, the outer surface of the corner portion 54 projecting sideways is formed with an outer dimension in surface contact with the rear surface of the protrusion 42. In addition, the joining member 50 is formed in a cylindrical shape whose upper and lower surfaces are opened, and a sprinkling pipe 28 of the deicing water spreader 27 is disposed at an upper position facing the inner surface of the joining member 50.

(Effects of Example)
Next, the operation of the flow-down ice making machine according to the above-described embodiment will be described.

  When the ice making process in the flow-down type ice making machine is started, the compressor CM, the circulation pump PM and the cooling fan FM are activated (ON), and the evaporation pipe 14 is gradually cooled by the refrigerant circulating in the evaporation pipe 14. go. Each ice making plate 10 in the ice making section S is forcibly cooled by exchanging heat with the evaporation pipe 14, and ice making water is supplied from the ice making water tank 22 to the ice making water spreader 25 via the circulation pump PM. As shown in FIG. 4, the ice making water supplied to the ice making water spreader 25 is sprayed down from the sprinkling holes 26 to the ice making surface of the corresponding ice making plate 10 to generate ice blocks of a required shape on the ice making surface. It has become. Here, the flat surface 44 in the ice making surface portion is directly cooled by the evaporation pipe 14, and the inclined surface 46 is indirectly cooled through the joining member 50. The ice making water falling from the ice making surface without freezing is collected in the ice making water tank 22 through the through hole of the ice guide plate 20 and supplied to the ice making plate 10 again.

  As ice grows on each ice making surface of the ice making plate 10, the ice making chamber R is closed at the sides by each ice making surface, so that a hexagonal ice mass M is generated as shown in FIG. . Ice blocks M are generated in the ice making chamber R, and a temperature sensor (not shown) detects a predetermined ice making completion temperature to detect the completion of ice making and starts the deicing process. Note that the ice making temperature is set so that ice making is completed at the timing when the hole H exists at the center of the ice block. This is because if the ice block grows too much and the hole H is blocked, the flow path of the ice-making water flowing down is lost.

  When the deicing process is started, deicing water (tap water) is first supplied to the deicing water spreader 27 by opening the water supply valve WV inserted in the water supply pipe 29 and removed from the sprinkling pipe 28 to the inner surface of the joining member 50. Ice water is supplied. By supplying deicing water to the inner surface of the joining member 50, the temperature of the joining member 50 is gradually increased, and the adhesion force of the icing surface between the inclined surface 46 and the ice mass M where the outer surface of the joining member 50 comes into surface contact is reduced. . The deicing water flowing down the inner surface of the joining member 50 is collected in the ice making water tank 22 and used as ice making water for the next ice making. Thereafter, when a predetermined time elapses, the water supply valve WV is closed to stop the supply of deicing water, the hot gas valve HV is opened, and hot gas is circulated and supplied to the evaporation pipe 14. With this hot gas, the flat surface 44 of the ice making plate 10 is heated directly by the evaporation tube 14, and the inclined surface 46 is heated indirectly via the joining member 50. When the ice block M completely leaves the ice making chamber R and the temperature sensor detects the deicing completion temperature, the deicing process is terminated and the process proceeds to the ice making process.

  Here, in the ice making process, the flat surface 44 is directly cooled by the evaporation pipe 14 and the inclined surface 46 is indirectly cooled through the joining member 50, but there is a concern that the ice growth rate may be different. Since the ice making process usually takes several tens of minutes, the temperatures of the flat surface 44 and the inclined surface 46 are made uniform during the ice making process for a long time, and there is almost no difference in the ice growth rate on each ice making surface. However, since the deicing process is shorter than the ice making process and takes only a few tens of seconds, there is a difference in the deicing speed between the flat surface 44 and the inclined surface 46, and there is a difference in the melting state of the outer surface of the ice. It will occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the deicing water is sprayed down on the back surface of the inclined surface 46 prior to deicing with hot gas. As a result, the temperature of the inclined surface 46 whose temperature rise rate is slower than that of the flat surface 44 can be raised first, so that when the hot gas is supplied, the inclined surface 46 can also be heated immediately and flat. The difference in deicing speed between the surface 44 and the inclined surface 46 can be reduced.

  Thus, according to the ice making part of the flow down type ice making machine of the embodiment, since the ice making part S is formed by the meandering evaporator tube 14 and the plate-like ice making plate 10, the ice making part that generates polygonal ice is produced. Parts can be manufactured at low cost. Since the protrusion 42 of the ice making plate 10 is formed by bending a metal plate at a required location, complicated processing is not necessary. Further, the inclined surface 46 of the ridge portion 42 formed by bending the plate material is cooled or heated by the evaporation pipe 14 via the joining member 50 formed of a material having good thermal conductivity. Differences in cooling and heating rates between the flat surface 44 and the flat surface 44 can be reduced, and the sizes of the outer surfaces of the polygonal ice can be made uniform. In addition, the ice making section S is arranged horizontally by arranging the ice making chambers in the horizontal direction, instead of arranging the ice making sections vertically as in the conventional flow-down type ice making machine. The ice making machine itself can be lowered in height.

[Example of change]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified as follows.
(1) Although the ice making chamber R has a hexagonal shape, it may have other shapes such as a square or an octagon. In the case of another shape such as an octagon, it is only necessary to change the shape of the protrusion 42.
(2) The deicing water supplied during the deicing step is supplied only to the inner surface of the joining member 50, but may be supplied to the back side of the flat surface 44 in the ice making surface portion. Thereby, the removal of the ice block on the flat surface 44 can be accelerated.
(3) As shown in FIG. 6, a bent portion 60 in which the upper end of the ice making plate 10 is bent toward the evaporation pipe 14 is provided, and ice making water is sprinkled from the water spray hole 26 toward the bent portion 60. Also good. The ice making water sprayed from the water sprinkling hole 26 is received by the bent portion 60, and the ice making water can be reliably guided to the ice making surface. Although not shown, a bent portion in which the lower end of the ice making plate 10 is bent toward the evaporation pipe 14 may be provided. As a result, the space on the back side of the ice making plate 10 decreases as it goes downward, so that the deicing water supplied to the back surface of the ice making plate 10 during deicing temporarily accumulates, improving the deicing efficiency. Further, the entire ice making surface of the ice making plate 10 may be inclined so that the width dimension of the ice making chamber R becomes wider as it goes downward. This makes it easier for the ice blocks to separate from the ice making surface during deicing.

It is a schematic block diagram of the flow-down type ice making machine which concerns on an Example. It is the disassembled perspective view which decomposed | disassembled some ice making parts which concern on an Example. It is a top view of the ice making part which concerns on an Example. It is sectional drawing along the AA in FIG. It is a partial top view of the ice making part in which the ice block was produced | generated. It is a figure which shows the example of a change of sectional drawing along the AA in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ice-making board, 12 Refrigeration circuit, 14 Evaporating pipe, 25 Ice making water spreader, 27 Deicing water spreader, 42 Projection part, 44 Flat surface, 46 Inclined surface, 50 Joining member, R Ice making room, S Ice making part

Claims (1)

A plurality of protrusions extending in the vertical direction on the surface are formed to be spaced apart in the horizontal direction, an ice making plate in which an ice making surface portion is formed between adjacent protrusions, and a refrigerant disposed on the back surface of the ice making plate A flow-down type ice maker, which comprises a circulatingly supplied evaporation pipe, cools the surface of the ice making plate by circulatingly supplying refrigerant to the evaporation tube, and generates ice blocks by supplying ice making water to the surface of the ice making plate In the ice making section of the machine,
The evaporation pipe is formed in a plane meandering shape in which a straight portion and a folded portion are continuous, and an ice making plate is disposed between the straight portions so that the tips of the ridges face each other. An ice making part of a flow-down type ice making machine, characterized in that an ice making chamber is formed by the above.

Images