JPH10267479A - Operating method for auger type ice making machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compress and solidify an ice scraped from the inner surface of an ice making tube surely in a compression path formed at the upper part of the ice making tube by driving an auger after the compressor in a refrigeration cycle is driven and starting to drive the auger when the temperature in the ice making tube is at a set temperature or below. SOLUTION: A solenoid valve 5 for water supply is opened to supply ice making water into a water storage tank 3 and when a float switch 4 outputs an ON signal, a compressor 7 is started. Consequently, a refrigerant is fed through a condenser 8, a dryer 9 and a temperature type expansion valve 10 to a cooling tube 6 and thereby an ice making tube 1 is cooled and the water is frozen on the inner surface thereof. If the temperature of the ice making tube 1 measured by a temperature detector 20 reaches a set temperature in a memory 22, a controller 21 decides that an ice of specified thickness is formed on the inner surface, of the ice making tube 1 and delivers a start signal to a geared motor 14. Consequently, an auger 11 is turned to scrape the ice formed on the inner surface of the ice making tube 1 and the ice is fed through a compression path at the upper part of the ice making tube 1 to a stocker 18 where it is stocked.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of operating an auger ice maker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an auger type ice making machine has a structure as shown in FIG. 7, and one end of a water supply pipe 2 is connected to a lower portion of an ice making cylinder 1 having a substantially cylindrical shape. The water supply pipe 2 is for supplying water for making ice (hereinafter referred to as ice making water) into the ice making cylinder 1, and the other end of the water supply pipe 2 is connected to the bottom of the water storage tank 3. The water storage tank 3 is provided with a float switch 4, and when the water level in the water storage tank 3 reaches a specified water level, the signal output of the float switch 4 is turned off, for example.
From ON to ON. When the signal output of the float switch 4 is switched from OFF to ON, the water supply solenoid valve 5 provided on the upper part of the water storage tank 3 is turned on.
Is closed, and the water supply to the water storage tank 3 is automatically stopped.

The ice making cylinder 1 is made of stainless steel or the like, and a cooling pipe 6 is spirally wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 1. The cooling pipe 6 constitutes the evaporator of the refrigeration circuit shown in FIG. 8, and the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 6 is compressed by the compressor 7 and then the condenser 8, the dryer 9 and the temperature type expansion valve 10 And is supplied to the cooling pipe 6 again. On the other hand, an auger 11 is rotatably provided inside the ice making cylinder 1. The auger 11 has a rotating shaft 12 at the center of the ice making cylinder 1, and an output shaft of a geared motor 14 is connected to a lower end of the rotating shaft 12 via a spline joint 13. The auger 11 has a spiral rotary blade 15 on the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 12. Ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 is scraped off by the rotary blade 15 and transferred to the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1. It has become so.

A fixed blade 1 serving also as an upper bearing for rotatably supporting a rotating shaft 12 of an auger 11 is provided in an upper part in the ice making cylinder 1.
6 are provided. The fixed blade 16 has a compression passage 17 therein, and the ice transferred to the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1 by the rotary blade 15 of the auger 11 is pushed into the compression passage 17 and is compressed and solidified in the compression passage 17. It has become. Then, the ice compressed and solidified in the compression passage 17 is pushed out of the compression passage 17 by ice pushed in later,
It is stored in a stocker 18 provided at the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1. The stocker 18 has a snowboard 18a inside.
The ice pushed out from the compression passage 17 is stored on the saw blade 18a. Further, the stocker 18 is provided with an ice storage switch 19, and when the amount of ice stored in the stocker 18 becomes smaller than a prescribed amount, the ice storage switch 19 switches from, for example, an OFF state to an ON state. Then, when the ice storage switch 19 is switched from the OFF state to the ON state, the compressor 6 and the auger 11 are automatically driven. Although not shown, the ice making cylinder 1 and the stocker 18 are covered with a heat insulating material such as urethane foam.

Incidentally, such an auger-type ice maker drives the auger 11 as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-79676 when starting an ice making operation based on a signal from the ice storage switch 19. Thereafter, the compressor 7 is driven to start the ice making operation.

[0006]

However, when the compressor 7 is driven after driving the auger 11, if the ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 does not grow sufficiently, the auger 1 will not move.
It is difficult to generate ice of a predetermined thickness on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 because it is scraped off by the one rotary blade 15. Further, if the ice formed on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 is shaved by the rotary blade 15 of the auger 11 before the ice is sufficiently grown, the shaved ice is not solidified even if it is transferred to the compression passage 17 even if the shaved ice is transferred to the compression passage 17. When such ice is discharged to the stocker 18, the ice stored in the stocker 18 is externally supplied to serve as a bridge for connecting the normal ice stored in the stocker 18 to each other. When attempting to release the ice, the ice may be caught at the discharge port of the stocker 18 and the ice stored in the stocker 18 may not be released to the outside.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can reliably compress and solidify ice shaved from the inner surface of an ice making cylinder in a compression passage formed in an upper part of the ice making cylinder. It is an object of the present invention to provide an operation method of an auger ice maker.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a refrigerant discharged from a compressor is supplied through a condenser to a cooling pipe wound around the outer peripheral surface of an ice making cylinder. Then, while cooling the ice making cylinder with the refrigerant flowing in the cooling pipe, the auger rotatably provided in the ice making cylinder was driven to scrape off the ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder, and the ice was cut off. An operation method of an auger-type ice maker that transfers ice to a compression passage formed in an upper part of the ice making cylinder and compresses and solidifies the ice, wherein the compressor and the auger are driven after driving the compressor. The auger is driven, and before the auger is driven, the temperature of the ice making cylinder is measured, and the auger is driven when the measured value falls below a predetermined set temperature. The invention of claim 2 supplies the refrigerant discharged from the compressor to a cooling pipe wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder through a condenser, and cools the ice making cylinder with the refrigerant flowing in the cooling pipe. Driving an auger rotatably provided in the ice-making cylinder to scrape ice generated on the inner surface of the ice-making cylinder, and transferring the shaved ice to a compression passage formed in an upper portion of the ice-making cylinder. An operation method of an auger type ice making machine for compressing and solidifying, wherein when driving the compressor and the auger, the auger is driven after driving the compressor, and the cooling pipe is driven prior to driving the auger. The auger is driven when the measured value falls below a predetermined set temperature. The invention according to claim 3 supplies the refrigerant discharged from the compressor to a cooling pipe wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder through a condenser, and cools the ice making cylinder with the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe. Driving an auger rotatably provided in the ice-making cylinder to scrape ice generated on the inner surface of the ice-making cylinder, and transferring the shaved ice to a compression passage formed in an upper portion of the ice-making cylinder. An operation method of an auger type ice making machine that compresses and solidifies, wherein when driving the compressor and the auger, the auger is driven after driving the compressor, and the compressor is driven prior to driving the auger. ,
The auger is driven when a low pressure of a refrigeration circuit constituted by the condenser and the cooling pipe is measured and the measured value becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined set pressure.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same parts as those shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the overlapping parts will be omitted. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an auger-type ice maker according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The auger ice maker according to the first embodiment has a temperature detector 20.
It has. The temperature detector 20 is for detecting the upper temperature of the ice making cylinder 1, and a signal output from the temperature detector 20 is taken into the control device 21. The control device 21 controls the water supply solenoid valve 4, the compressor 7, the condenser 8, and the geared motor 14 according to a predetermined control sequence.
In addition to the signal output from the temperature detector 20, the output signal of the float switch 4 and the ice storage switch 19 is taken into 1. The control device 21 has a memory 22 in which a temperature (for example, −5 ° C.) slightly lower than the freezing point (0 ° C.) of the ice making water is stored as the set temperature Ts ₁ .

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation method of the auger type ice making machine shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, in the first embodiment, the signal output of the ice storage switch 19 is changed from OFF to ON. Then, the water supply solenoid valve 5 is opened and the ice making water is supplied to the water storage tank 3. When the ice making water is supplied to the water storage tank 3, the water level in the ice making cylinder 1 rises, and when the water level in the ice making cylinder 1 reaches the specified water level, the signal output of the float switch 4 is turned on from OFF.

When the signal output of the float switch 4 changes from OFF to ON, the compressor 7 starts, and the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 7 passes through the condenser 8, the dryer 9 and the temperature type expansion valve 10 to the cooling pipe 6. Supplied. Then, when the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 7 is supplied to the cooling pipe 6 through the condenser 8, the dryer 9, and the temperature type expansion valve 10, the temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 becomes longer as shown by a curve A in FIG. Decrease over time. Note that a curve B in FIG. 3 shows a temperature change of the cooling pipe 6.

When the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 7 is supplied to the cooling pipe 6 through the condenser 8, the dryer 9 and the thermal expansion valve 10, the control device 21 takes in the output signal of the temperature detector 20. It is determined whether the temperature Ti of the ice making cylinder 1 has reached the set temperature Ts ₁ stored in the memory 22. If the temperature Ti of the ice making cylinder 1 has not reached the set temperature Ts ₁ stored in the memory 22, the control device 21 determines that the ice generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 has not grown sufficiently. And the driving of the auger 11 is forgotten. Further, when the temperature Ti of the ice-making cylinder 1 reaches the set temperature Ts ₁ is
The control device 21 determines that ice of a predetermined thickness has been generated on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 and sends a start signal to the geared motor 14. As a result, the geared motor 14 is driven, and the auger 11 is rotated by the driving force of the geared motor 14.

When the auger 11 rotates in this manner, the ice formed on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 is scraped off by the rotating blades 15 of the auger 11 to form a compression passage 17 formed in the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1 (FIG. 7). In this case, the ice formed on the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 is thick and hard ice that has grown sufficiently. Therefore, the ice transferred to the compression passage 17 is compressed and solidified in the compression passage 17. Without being pushed out of the compression passage 17. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the ice shaved from the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 can be reliably compressed and solidified in the compression passage 17 formed in the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1, thereby improving the reliability of the auger ice making machine. be able to.

In the first embodiment described above, the temperature of the ice making cylinder 1 is detected by the temperature detector 20 at the start of operation, and the temperature detected by the temperature detector 20 is set to the set temperature Ts.
_The auger 11 is driven when it becomes ₁ or less. However, as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the temperature of the cooling pipe 6 is detected by the temperature detector 23, and the temperature detector 23 temperature detected by it is possible to obtain the same effect as in the first embodiment be driven auger 11 when it becomes a set temperature Ts ₂ below shown in FIG. FIG.
As shown in a third embodiment shown in FIG.
The low pressure of the refrigeration circuit constituted by the temperature type expansion valve 10 and the cooling pipe 6 is detected by a pressure switch 24, and the auger 11 is driven when the pressure detected by the pressure switch 24 becomes lower than a predetermined pressure. It may be. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 6 during the ice making operation is in a saturated state, and the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 6 have a fixed relationship. Therefore, when the low pressure of the refrigeration circuit is measured at the start of the operation and the auger 11 is driven when the measured value falls below a predetermined pressure, the auger 11 is scraped off from the inner surface of the ice making cylinder 1 as in the first embodiment. The frozen ice can be reliably compressed and solidified in the compression passage 17 formed in the upper part of the ice making cylinder 1.

[0015]

As described above, according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, ice shaved from the inner surface of the ice making cylinder is surely compressed and solidified in the compression passage formed in the upper part of the ice making cylinder. An operation method of an auger type ice maker that can perform the operation can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an auger type ice making machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining an operation method of the auger ice maker according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the auger-type ice maker according to the embodiment, and is a diagram showing temperature changes of an ice making cylinder and a cooling pipe at the start of operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an auger type ice making machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an auger ice maker according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a Mollier chart for explaining the operation of the auger type ice maker according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of an auger type ice making machine.

FIG. 8 is a refrigeration circuit of an auger type ice machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ice making cylinder, 2 ... Water supply pipe, 3 ... Water storage tank, 4 ... Float switch, 5 ... Water supply solenoid valve, 6 ... Cooling pipe, 7 ... Compressor, 8 ... Condenser, 10 ... Temperature type expansion valve, 11 …Ogre,
14 ... geared motor, 15 ... rotary blade, 17 ... compression passage, 18 ... stocker, 19 ... ice storage switch, 20 ... temperature detector, 21 ... control device, 23 ... temperature detector, 24 ... pressure switch.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A refrigerant discharged from a compressor is supplied through a condenser to a cooling pipe wound around the outer peripheral surface of an ice making cylinder, and the ice making cylinder is cooled by a refrigerant flowing in the cooling pipe, and An auger rotatably provided in the ice-making cylinder is driven to scrape ice generated on the inner surface of the ice-making cylinder, and the shaved ice is transferred to a compression passage formed in an upper portion of the ice-making cylinder to be compressed and solidified. An operating method of an auger type ice making machine, wherein when driving the compressor and the auger, the auger is driven after driving the compressor, and the temperature of the ice making cylinder is controlled prior to driving the auger. And operating the auger when the measured value falls below a predetermined set temperature. 2. A refrigerant discharged from a compressor is supplied through a condenser to a cooling pipe wound around an outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder, and the ice making cylinder is cooled by a refrigerant flowing in the cooling pipe, and An auger rotatably provided in the ice-making cylinder is driven to scrape ice generated on the inner surface of the ice-making cylinder, and the shaved ice is transferred to a compression passage formed in an upper portion of the ice-making cylinder to be compressed and solidified. An operating method of an auger type ice making machine, comprising: when driving the compressor and the auger, driving the auger after driving the compressor, and controlling the temperature of the cooling pipe prior to driving the auger. And operating the auger when the measured value falls below a predetermined set temperature. 3. A refrigerant discharged from the compressor is supplied through a condenser to a cooling pipe wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder, and the ice making cylinder is cooled by the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe, and An auger rotatably provided in the ice-making cylinder is driven to scrape ice generated on the inner surface of the ice-making cylinder, and the shaved ice is transferred to a compression passage formed in an upper portion of the ice-making cylinder to be compressed and solidified. An operating method of an auger type ice making machine, comprising: when driving the compressor and the auger, driving the auger after driving the compressor; and, prior to driving the auger, the compressor, Measure the low pressure of the refrigeration circuit constituted by the condenser and the cooling pipe,
Operating the auger when the measured value is equal to or less than a predetermined set pressure.