JP3524768B2 - Ice dispenser - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice dispenser equipped with an ice stocker for storing produced ice, and more particularly to improvement of an ice discharging mechanism attached to the ice stocker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an ice dispenser is constructed so that an ice piece discharged from an ice piece discharge port is guided by an ice piece chute to be discharged to the outside. As specific examples of this, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-13025 and Japanese Utility Model Publication 55-5.
The materials described in Japanese Patent No. 056 can be listed.

In the former case, since the cover for covering the ice piece discharge port and the ice piece chute portion are integrally formed, the outlet of the ice piece chute portion is narrowed. A beverage supply pipe is provided at the outlet of the ice piece chute.
As described above, the fact that the ice piece chute portion is squeezed and that the beverage supply pipe is arranged near the outlet of the ice piece chute portion are combined, and the ice piece is clogged at the ice piece chute portion outlet. It was in an easy situation. Further, if a beverage supply pipe is provided in the ice piece chute, tap water is scattered from the ice supply chute and the inner surface of the ice piece chute is often contaminated with impurities such as scaly water in the ice piece chute. Had to clean.

Further, in the latter, although the beverage supply pipe like the former is not described, the ice receiving portion of the ice piece chute for guiding the ice pieces discharged from the ice piece discharge port, that is, the inlet of the ice piece chute. Since the space between the side and the ice piece discharge port is not continuous, the inlet of the ice piece chute is made large, and its outlet is small to guide the ice piece to a receiving container such as a cup, that is, of the throttle. It was shaped. For this reason, ice pieces tend to be clogged at the exit side of the ice piece chute, and when the ice pieces begin to clog from the exit part of the ice piece chute, the ice pieces start to accumulate in the ice piece chute, and the ice pieces are above the ice piece chute. There was a risk that it would overflow from the entrance.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made by paying attention to the problems existing in such conventional techniques. The purpose of this is that the ice pieces can be discharged smoothly without being blocked by the ice pieces, and the inner surface of the ice pieces chute can be polluted by impurities such as scaly water of tap water scattered from the pouring pipe. It is to provide an ice dispenser that is not.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention as set forth in claim 1, an ice making device and ice pieces made by the ice making device are stored, and the ice pieces are closed by a door. An ice stocker with an outlet opening on the front of the side wall, a box housing these, an ice piece chute that guides the ice pieces released from the ice piece outlet to the outside, and a pouring pipe for pouring tap water etc. with the door in the ice dispenser and as to release the ice pieces in the ice stocker by the opening of the door through the ice pieces chute, the front <br/> Symbol pouring pipe is disposed outside the vicinity of the ice chips chute ,
Attach the tip of the ice piece chute and the pouring pipe to the box.
Outside the lower part of the front panel of the body, outside the box
When it is possible to receive ice chips and beverages in cups etc.
In both cases, the ice piece shoots and
And the tip of the pouring pipe is a separate cover from the ice piece chute.
It is characterized by being surrounded by bars at intervals.

[0007]

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the tip end portion of the pouring pipe is inclined toward the tip end portion of the ice piece chute.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a frame piece is provided around the ice piece discharge port of the ice stocker so as to stand upright on the side wall of the ice stocker, and the ice piece chute is opened from the lower open end side of the cover. The ice piece chute is inserted and the inlet side of the ice piece chute is fitted into the frame piece, the ice piece chute is connected to the ice piece discharge opening through the frame piece, and the ice piece is attached to the lower end of the rear wall of the cover. The chute is detachably fixed.

[0010] In the ice dispenser according to claim 1-3, wherein, if the ice pieces is opened the door with an ice piece discharge switches or the like is released is guided by the ice chips chute from the ice piece discharge port, also water injection pipe Since the ice pieces are not arranged in the ice piece chute, the ice pieces are not clogged in the ice piece chute as in the conventional case, and the ice pieces are smoothly discharged from the ice piece chute into a cup or the like. Further, since tap water does not scatter from the pouring pipe into the ice piece chute, the inner surface of the ice piece chute is not contaminated with impurities such as scaly water of the tap water. Well
Also, ice pieces chute and spout pipe cover at intervals
The cover is not cooled because it is disposed inside. others
Therefore, there is no dew on the outer surface of the cover, so
There is dew on the outside of the unsanitary cover, and this dew
It does not enter the receiving container and is kept clean.

[0011]

Further, in the ice dispenser according to the second aspect of the invention, since the pouring pipe is inclined toward the outlet of the ice piece chute, drinking water or the like can be poured into a receiving container such as a cup without scattering.

Further, in the ice dispenser according to claim 3, can be fitted from the lower open end of the cover to the frame piece is attached to the ice pieces chute ice pieces outlet, also, the back side of the cover Since the ice piece chute can be detachably attached at the lower end, the ice piece chute can be easily removed and cleaned. Also, the ice chute attachment can be made inconspicuous, which is very convenient in terms of product design.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows the entire front surface of the ice dispenser of the present embodiment, a part of the front panel is cut open, and the configuration and arrangement of the essential parts of the present invention are shown. 3 is a side sectional view of the ice dispenser shown in FIG. 2, showing an arrangement of essential parts viewed from the side. As shown in these FIGS. 2 and 3, the box body 2 of the ice dispenser.
Includes a top cover 2a, a main body panel 2b, an upper front panel 2c, a lower front panel 2d, an apron panel 2e, and the like. The top cover 2a projects forward of the main body panel 2b, and an upper front panel 2c and a lower front panel 2d are attached below the projecting portion of the top cover 2a.

On the right side of the lower front panel 2d,
An ice water switch S1, an ice making switch S2, an ice making lamp LP, and a safety breaker S3 are attached to the left side portion of the lower front panel 2d. A discharge switch S4 is attached to the center of the apron panel 2e. The discharge switch S4 is projected forward for better visibility, and is operated by pressing the receiving container 8 such as a cup against the front surface of the discharge switch S4, but the movable stroke is made longer than the operation stroke. The switch is turned on after being pushed to some extent.

Inside the box body 2, an ice making device 1, that is, an auger type ice making machine is installed. This auger type ice machine 1
Is an ice making cylinder 3 around which an evaporator 3a is wound,
This is a normal one having an ice stocker 4 on the upper portion of the ice making cylinder 3, and the ice growing on the inner peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 3 is scraped off by an auger 5, and this is put on the ice stocker 4 via a pressing cylinder 6. Send ice pieces to ice stocker 4
The ice is stored in.

The ice stocker 4 is arranged at the center of the box body 2 when viewed from the front. Further, an ice piece discharge port 7 that is normally closed by a door 20 that opens and closes in conjunction with the operation of the solenoid device 10 is opened in the lower part of the side wall front surface of the ice stocker 4 (FIGS. 1 and 6, (See FIGS. 12 and 13). Further, the inner bottom wall of the ice stocker 4 is provided with a sludge 4a, and the center of the ice stocker 4 is provided with a stirrer 4b. An ice storage switch S5 is arranged above the ice stocker 4.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the solenoid device 10 is interlocked with the solenoid device 10 from above in the central portion of the upper and lower front panels 2c and 2d, that is, on the front surface of the ice stocker 4. Door 20,
A piece of ice released from the door 20 is attached to the lower front panel 2d.
2, an ice piece chute 40 for discharging the ice piece chute 40 to the outside, a cover 50 surrounding the ice piece chute 40, and the discharge switch S4 are arranged, and the ice piece discharge port 7 is provided on the right side in FIG. A valve 60 is provided. The tip portion of the spout pipe 61 connected to the water valve 60 is provided in the cover 50 as can be seen from FIGS. 1 to 5 and 14.

The solenoid device 10 is well known in the art, and is mounted on the front surface of the side wall of the ice stocker 4 by a mounting base 11.
(See FIG. 3). Reference numeral 12 denotes a plunger that is pulled up when the electromagnetic coil of the solenoid device 10 is excited and is pushed down by an elastic member provided inside the solenoid device when the electromagnetic coil is demagnetized.

In the door 20, in particular, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a lid plate 21 made of an elastic member such as rubber is brought into contact with one side of the mounting plate 22, and the other side of the mounting plate 22. A state in which the thick flat plate-like pad plate 25 and the L-shaped thin pad plate 23 are brought into contact with the surface side (front surface side), and the cylindrical collar 26 is inserted into the through holes of the pad plate 25 and the pad plate 23. Then, the screw 24 is fastened with a double nut, and the lid plate 21 is attached to the attachment plate 22. Further, the mounting plate 22 has bending pieces 22a on both sides, and a hole 27a for inserting the moving shaft 27 into the both bending pieces 22a and a fixed shaft 28.
And a hole 28a for inserting the And
Fixed shaft 28 and movable shaft 27 of door 20 and solenoid device 1
The interlocking mechanism 13 is interposed between the plunger 12 and the plunger 12, and the interlocking mechanism 13 causes the door 20 and the solenoid device 1 to operate.
It is linked to 0.

The door 20 is shown in a closed state in FIG. 12 and in an open state in FIG. 13, and at the time of closing, the front end of the lid plate 21 abuts against a frame piece 30 described later and is bent. However, when released from this closed state, the tip bending portion 21a is linearly extended by the elastic force of the lid plate 21. The arcs of the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 12 and 13 indicate the opening / closing locus 21b at the tip of the cover plate 21.

Reference numeral 30 is a frame piece arranged around the ice piece discharge port 7. As can be seen from the detailed view of FIG. 6, the frame piece 30 includes a bottom wall 31 that is inclined downward from the lower side of the ice piece discharge port 7, and the left and right sides of the bottom wall 31 in the same manner as the bottom wall 31. It is composed of side walls 32 and 33 forming inclined wall surfaces, which are integrally formed. And this frame piece 30
The end face of the ice stocker 4 side is the ice stocker 4
In a state of standing upright on the side wall of the ice piece outlet, the ice piece outlet 7 is abutted so as to surround the lower side and the left and right side edges, and is joined by welding or the like. The side walls 32 and 33 are provided with partial notches 34 and 35 on the front side of the upper ends thereof in order to avoid interference with the moving shaft 27 of the door 20.

The ice piece chute 40 has a substantially constant width as shown in FIG. 7, and as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the frame piece 30 can be fitted inside. It is about the size. 7 and 8
As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the lower part when viewed from the side is configured as a cylindrical vertical part 41 having a rectangular cross section, but the upper rear wall (right side in FIG. 7) is the bottom wall 31 of the frame piece 30. Is a receiving portion 42 that forms a slope along the outer side (see FIGS. 7, 8, 12, and 13). The upper front wall is a curved portion 43, a bent portion 44 in which the upper end of the curved portion 43 is released to the outside, and the tip of the bent portion 44 is a circle along the opening / closing locus 21b of the lid plate 21 of the door 20. An arc-shaped portion 45 is provided, and the opening / closing locus 2 of the arc-shaped portion 45 and the tip of the door 20.
The minimum gap is 1b. Therefore, the door 2
The opening degree of 0 easily causes an error, but even if the door 20 has an error, by configuring in this way, the passages of the ice pieces can be smoothly connected.

The depth dimension of the ice piece chute 40 is substantially the same as the height dimension of the ice piece discharge port 7. When the door 20 is opened, the ice piece chute 40 extends from the ice piece discharge port 7 to the lower end opening portion of the ice piece chute 40. It is configured such that the cross-sectional area of the passage up to the point is substantially constant. The upper end portions of both side walls of the ice piece chute 40, that is, the portion above and behind the central portion of the curved portion 43,
It is taken into consideration that the frame piece 30 can be fitted easily by forming an expanding portion 49 that rises upward with a constant width and has its upper end portion expanded leftward and rightward.

On the left and right sides of the rear surface of the cylindrical vertical portion 41 of the ice piece chute 40, mounting members 46 formed by bending a plate material into a U-shaped cross section are provided, and the mounting members 46 have screw holes 47 respectively. Has been drilled. Then, as will be described later, the ice piece chute 40 is attached to the cover 50 by utilizing the screw hole 47. The central portion sandwiched between the two mounting members 46 is left as the space 40a,
It is used as a space for disposing a spout pipe 61 described later. An arcuate cutout 48 is provided in the center of the upper end of the receiving portion 42 to prevent contact with the pouring pipe 61 when the ice piece chute 40 is attached or detached.

The cover 50 is a tubular member having a substantially square cross section, the ice piece chute 40 is disposed in the center, and
The ice piece chute 40 is attached to the lower surface of the lower front panel 2d so as to be spaced from the ice piece chute 40.
Further, at the lower end, only the front wall is extended slightly downward and bent rearward in consideration of the design. The lower ends of the side wall and the rear wall of the cover 50 and the lower end of the ice piece chute 40 are flush with each other. Further, the upper end portions of the rear wall and the right side wall of the cover 50 are cut off in the lower front panel 2d.

A U-shaped notch 51 and a round hole 52 are provided on the back surface of the cover 50 at positions corresponding to the screw holes 47 of the ice piece chute 40, as shown by phantom lines (two-dot chain lines) in FIG. Has been. That is, a U-shaped notch 51 that opens downward is provided on the right side of the lower end of the back surface, and a round hole 52 is provided on the left side. Then, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 14, the ice piece chute 40 is fixed to the back surface of the cover 50 with a decorative screw 53.

The spout pipe 61 hangs downward from the water valve 60, is horizontally bent at the bottom of the lower front panel 2d, and passes through the cutout portion at the rear portion of the cover 50, behind the central portion of the ice piece chute 40. Through the space 40a, it hangs slightly downward and hangs downward. The spout pipe 61 is fixed to the pipe bracket 63 attached to the lower front panel at the horizontal portion by a convex or the like, and is attached to the cover 50 in the hanging portion, that is, the space 40a. It is attached to 64 with a convex or the like.

This pipe bracket 64 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the center portion of a plate material having a predetermined width is raised as an inclined piece portion 64a, and a cutout portion 64b is further provided in the central portion of the inclined piece portion 64a.
Round holes 64c provided on the horizontal planes above and below 4a
It is attached to the cover 50 by utilizing. The spout pipe 61 is fitted into the cutout portion 64b to set the positioning and the angle, and is fixed to the pipe bracket 64 by a convex or the like. Therefore, the spout pipe 6
The inclination angle of 1 is easily set when the spout pipe 61 is assembled. The inclination angle of the pouring pipe 61 set by the pipe bracket 64 is formed so that the tip direction of the pouring pipe 61 matches the tip direction of the ice piece chute 40 on the receiving surface of the receiving container 8 such as a cup. Has been done.

The ice piece chute 40 is attached by the screw hole 47 corresponding to the U-shaped notch 51 of the cover 50.
The decorative screw 53 is loosely attached in advance to the ice piece chute 40, and the ice piece chute 40 is sequentially lifted upward from below the cover 50 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. At this time, since the arcuate notch 48 is provided in the receiving portion 42 of the ice piece chute 40, it is possible to avoid contact with the pouring pipe 61.

Then, before the lower end of the ice piece chute 40 coincides with the lower end of the side wall of the cover 50, the ice piece chute 40 is
It is confirmed by touching the hand that the upper end of the is fitted into the frame piece 30. This fitting can be easily performed by providing the expanding portion 49 at the upper end of the side wall of the ice piece chute 40. Further, the gap between the lower end rear wall of the ice piece chute 40 and the decorative screw 53 is fitted into the U-shaped notch 51. And
The lower end of the ice piece chute 40 is adjusted so as to coincide with the lower end of the side wall or the rear wall of the cover 50. When the adjustment is performed in this manner, the decorative screw 53 and the screw hole 47 are aligned with each other, so that the decorative screw 53 is narrowed here. After that, a decorative screw 53 is fitted into the left round hole 52 and screwed into the screw hole 47. As described above, in order to mount the ice piece chute 40, one of the holes of the cover 50 is the U-shaped notch 51 and the other is the round hole 52, so that the mounting is simple and
It will be securely attached.

When removing the ice piece chute 40, it can be easily removed by loosening the left and right decorative screws 53 and pulling the ice piece chute 40 downward. Further, the decorative screw 53 is screwed from the back side as described above, but since the position is the lower end portion of the cover 50, the tightening can be easily performed.

In the ice dispenser constructed as described above, the ice making switch S2 and the safety breaker S3 are turned on.
By doing so, the ice making operation is started. When a predetermined amount of ice pieces made by the ice making device (auger type ice making machine) 1 is stored in the ice stocker 4, the ice storage switch S5 is activated and the ice making operation is stopped. When the ice water switch S1 is set to "ice water", the ice piece and water are released by pushing the discharge switch S4 while holding the receiving container 8 such as a cup. Also, by setting the ice water selector switch S1 to "ice" and pressing the discharge switch S4, only ice pieces are discharged, and by setting the ice water selector switch to "water" and pressing the discharge switch S4, only water is discharged. To be done.

When the ice pieces are released by the above operation, the solenoid device 10 is excited and the plunger 12 is
Is raised. Along with this, the interlocking mechanism 13 rotates the movable shaft 27 about the fixed shaft 28 so as to pull it up in the front direction. 12 and 13 illustrate that the solenoid device 10 and the interlocking mechanism 13 are omitted, but the door 20 rotates about the fixed shaft 28 in the clockwise direction in the drawing and is opened.

In this way, the door 20 is opened for a predetermined time. At the same time when the door 20 is opened, the agitator 4b is rotated and the ice pieces are scraped out from the ice piece discharge port 7. And
The ice pieces pass through the frame piece 30, are guided to the outside through the ice piece chute 40, and are discharged. At this time, the passage from the ice piece discharge port 7 to the outlet of the ice piece chute 40 has a substantially smooth and almost uniform cross section, and further, no pouring pipe is arranged in this passage. As a result, ice pieces do not get stuck on the way. Further, since there is no protrusion in the ice piece discharge passage, the ice pieces are not scattered and discharged. Moreover, since the pouring pipe 61 is not inserted into the ice piece chute 40 but is formed outside the ice piece chute 40, the inside of the ice piece chute 40 is not contaminated with impurities such as scaly water of tap water. When the door 20 is opened and a predetermined time has elapsed, the solenoid device 10 is demagnetized, and the door 20 is closed by the spring member included in the interlocking mechanism 13.

When water is discharged, the spout pipe 61 is inclined toward the opening surface of the receiving container 8 such as a cup, so that it does not scatter around. Also,
In this case, since the cover 50 and the ice piece chute 40 are attached with a space therebetween, the cover 50
Is not cooled. The outer surface of the cover 50 is not clean because it is touched by the hand or directly exposed to the outside atmosphere. Therefore, if dew adheres to this outer surface, there is a possibility that unclean dew will fall into the receiving container 8 such as a cup for receiving ice pieces or water, but there is no such concern. Further, since the ice piece chute 40 is surrounded by the cover 50, the emission sound at the time of ice piece emission is reduced.

[0037]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. According to the invention described in claim 1, the ice pieces are not clogged in the ice piece chute,
The ice pieces are smoothly released from the ice piece shoot into a cup or the like. Further, since tap water does not scatter into the ice piece chute from the pouring pipe, the inner surface of the ice piece chute is not contaminated with impurities such as scaly water of the tap water. Also, ice chips
Room and spout pipe are spaced in the cover.
Cover is not cooled and the outer surface of the cover
No dew on the surface. Therefore, on the outside of the cover
Do not allow unsanitary dew to get into a container such as a cup.
It is clean and clean. In addition, the cover emits less ice flakes.
Become

[0038]

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the pouring pipe is inclined toward the outlet of the ice piece chute, drinking water and the like can be kept clean without splashing.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the ice piece chute can be fitted into the ice piece discharge port from the lower opening end of the cover, and the ice piece chute can be attached on the back side of the cover. The ice chip chute can be easily removed and cleaned. Further, since the ice chute attachment is not conspicuous, the product design can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram around an ice piece chute according to an essential part of the present invention, a part of which is shown in cross section.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the ice dispenser of the present invention,
Part of the front panel is cut open to show the arrangement from the front around the ice piece chute which is the main part of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged side sectional view of the ice dispenser shown in FIG. 2, showing an enlarged side view of an arrangement around an ice piece chute, which is a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of the periphery of an ice piece chute, which is an essential part of the present invention.

5 is a view taken along the line VV in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a frame piece portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of an ice piece chute portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of an ice piece chute according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a pipe bracket for mounting a water injection pipe according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the pipe bracket of FIG.

11 is a bottom view of the pipe bracket of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a portion from an ice piece discharge port to an ice piece chute of an ice stocker, which is a main part of the present invention, showing a state in which a door for opening and closing the ice piece discharge port is closed.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a portion from an ice piece discharge port to an ice piece chute of an ice stocker, which is an essential part of the present invention, showing a state in which a door for opening and closing the ice piece discharge port is opened.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of mounting the ice piece chute according to the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Ice making device (auger type ice making machine), 2 ... Box body, 4 ... Ice stocker, 7 ... Ice piece discharge port, 10 ... Solenoid device, 12 ... Plunger, 13 ... Interlocking mechanism, 20 ... Door Two
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lid plate, 30 ... Frame piece, 40 ... Ice piece chute, 44 ... Bending part, 45 ... Arc part, 46 ... Mounting member, 47 &#9;
Screw hole, 50 ... cover, 51 ... U-shaped notch, 52 ... round hole, 53 &#9; decorative screw, 60 ... water valve, 61 ...
Spout pipe, 64 ... Pipe bracket, 64b ... Notch.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25C 1/24 301 F25C 5/00 302 G07F 13/00-15/12

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ice making device, an ice stocker that stores ice made by the ice making device, and an ice stocker in which an ice piece discharge port closed by a door is opened on a side wall front surface; Equipped with an ice piece chute that guides the ice pieces discharged from the ice piece discharge port to the outside, and a pouring pipe for pouring out beverage, the ice pieces in the ice stocker are discharged through the ice piece chute by opening the door. in ice dispenser and as is, the pre-Symbol pouring pipe disposed outside the vicinity of the ice pieces chute, the box the tip of the ice chips chute and the spout pipe
Outside the lower part of the front panel of the body, outside the box
When it is possible to receive ice chips and beverages in cups etc.
Both of the ice piece shoes led out from the box body
And the tip of the spout pipe with a separate cover
An ice dispenser characterized by being placed and surrounded . 2. A tip of the pouring pipe is attached to the ice piece shroud.
A tilt is made in the direction of the tip of the table.
1. Ice dispenser according to 1. 3. A circumference of an ice piece discharge port of the ice stocker
A frame piece that stands upright on the side wall of the ice stocker.
The ice piece chute from the open end side below the cover.
The ice piece chute and connect it to the ice piece outlet.
In addition, place the ice piece on the bottom edge of the back wall of the cover.
A contract characterized in that the kit can be detachably fixed.
The ice dispenser according to claim 1.