JPS6142054Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an ice making tray in a fountain type ice making machine which supplies ice making water into an ice making cup using a fountain device to make ice in the ice making cup.

b. Prior Art Typical fountain-type ice makers include:
Conventionally, as shown in FIG.
A large number of ice making cups 34 are attached to the ice making cup 34, and a cooling pipe 35 is fixed to each ice making cup 34, and a water supply pipe 11 for supplying water used as ice making water or deicing water is guided inside the ice making tray 31. be. Below the ice making tray 31, there is an inclined plate 13 for receiving ice cubes that have fallen from the ice making cup 34 during deicing and for receiving unfrozen water during ice making operation.
is installed. An ice making cup 34 is provided in the ice making water tank 14 which receives ice making water flowing down on the inclined plate 13 through a water recovery hole 12 provided in the inclined plate 13.
A water sprinkler 16 for spraying water inside is provided. Ice-making water in the tank is injected from a water sprinkler 16 via a pipe 17 by a circulation pump 15. Ice that falls from the ice making cup 34 during deicing is removed from the slope plate 1.
3 and fall into the ice storage 10 through the hole 14a of the ice-making water tank 14.

In an ice maker having the above configuration,
The structure of the ice tray is to (1) separate and grow ice cubes one by one, (2) make ice cubes with the best possible shape, and (3) increase ice making capacity by shortening deicing time as much as possible. The important points are:

On the other hand, as an ice tray, there is one having a structure as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,006,605. In this structure, as shown in FIG. 6, a large number of openings 42 are formed in the bottom 41a of an ice tray base 41 which is generally dish-shaped and made of a thermally poor conductor such as resin. At the first opening end 42a of each opening 42, an upright peripheral wall 43 is formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape and projects substantially vertically toward the inside of the ice tray base 41. Upright peripheral wall portion 4
An end 44a of an ice making cup 44 made of a good thermal conductor such as copper and drawn into an inverted cup shape as a whole is fitted into the second opening end 43a of the third opening. The first flange portion 44b and the second flange portion 43b formed at the second opening end portion 43a are in contact with each other.

Furthermore, a cooling pipe 45 is joined to the top surface 44c of each ice making cup 44 by a low melting point metal, and a U-shaped space is formed between the bottom 41a of the ice making tray base 41 and the lower surface of the cooling pipe 45. A spacer 45a is inserted. Since the height of the spacer 45a is configured to be slightly longer than the distance between the bottom 41a of the ice tray base 41 and the lower surface of the cooling pipe 45, the height of the spacer 45a is slightly longer than the distance between the bottom 41a of the ice tray base 41 and the lower surface of the cooling pipe 45. As the force acts, this force causes the first and second flange portions 44b to
and 43b are configured to be tightly fitted together.

Furthermore, FIG. 7 shows an assembly mode when the ice making tray base 41 and the ice making cup 44 are fitted together. It is mated to

However, in the conventional configuration as described above, a holding jig is required, and the spacer is used to hold the ice cup on the ice tray base by the force of pushing the ice tray base and the ice cup apart. Since the vertical dimension needs to be slightly longer,
The cooling pipe had to be welded to the ice cup with a slight gap between the pipe and the ice cup, which made the work difficult.

In addition, the ice tray base tends to be distorted by the force of the spacer trying to push it apart, and if the presser jig is not pressed properly during welding, the ice cup may tilt or may not fit properly into the opening. It may not match,
There were many cases in which the entire ice tray was defective due to welding with insufficient fit.

Furthermore, although each of the flanges can be brought into close contact with each other by pushing them apart, the joining surfaces of each flange must be completely flat and the ice-making cup must fit into the opening without tilting. Complete waterproofing cannot be achieved. However, in reality, it has been impossible to completely flatten the joint surfaces and prevent the ice cup from tilting when mated.

If water leaks from each flange due to the above reasons, the water supplied during deicing will melt the ice in the ice making cup, resulting in irregularly shaped ice with jagged edges, and the ice melting will reduce the amount of ice made. Not only that, but the weight of each ice cube decreases, making it difficult for the ice to fall under its own weight during deicing, which lengthens the deicing time, increases the amount of ice melted, and reduces ice-making capacity. There was a significant decline in the number of

Another problem in the assembly process was that the cooling pipe and ice cup had to be welded together while forces were acting on the flanges trying to push them apart, and although a cooling means was used to prevent the plastic ice tray base from melting, even the slightest operational error during welding would melt the flanges of the ice tray base, requiring highly skilled assembly techniques.

In the ice tray described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 46-26931, a heat insulating packing is fixed to the lower surface of each connecting wall between the ice making cups and the flat wall on the outer periphery of the group of ice making cups. In this case, elastic fins, which are poor thermal conductors, are provided at the edges of each opening of the partition plate forming the ice-making compartment. However, according to experiments conducted by the present inventor, it has been found that when such a heat insulating member such as a heat insulating packing or an elastic fin is provided, ice frozen on the heat insulating member becomes difficult to melt during deicing, and the deicing time becomes longer. Furthermore, Jikko 46-
No. 1881 or Publication No. 43-7489 discloses an ice maker in which a heating member for deicing is provided in a partition forming an ice maker or a grid plate between ice maker cups.
The heating member increases cost and poses safety problems.

c Problems that the invention attempts to solve As mentioned above, in the conventional fountain ice maker equipped with an ice tray, the shape of the ice cubes produced is poor.
In addition, there were various other problems such as a long deicing time, a decrease in ice-making ability, and an increase in the cost of the ice-making tray.

d. Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides that there is a space between each ice-making cup and the opening of the ice-making tray base into which the ice-making cup is inserted. An enclosure made of metal or other heat-resistant material with poor thermal conductivity surrounds the outer periphery of the bottom opening of the ice-making cup from the outside, and has a gap between it and the inner surface of the opening of the ice-making tray base for water to flow down. It is characterized in that it has a.

e Function In the ice tray of the fountain-type ice maker of the present invention having the above-described configuration, ice is formed not only inside the ice cup but also on the outer surface of the enclosure when making ice, but the enclosure is made of a heat-resistant material with poor heat conduction. The amount of ice that forms on the outer surface is small. In addition, ice formed on the outer surface of the enclosure is quickly melted by the deicing water flowing down from the gaps during deicing.

f. Embodiment Next, a preferred embodiment of the ice tray for the fountain ice maker according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, an ice tray base 1 is preferably made of a strong heat-resistant material such as stainless steel, which has poor thermal conductivity and good corrosion resistance compared to metal ice cups 4. 4 to the ice tray base 1, respectively.
have. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the mounting opening 2 has a rectangular central opening 2a for receiving the ice making cup 4, and a flow outlet 2b along the outer center of each side of the ice making cup 4. ing.
The ice making cup 4 is formed by drawing a metal with good thermal conductivity into an inverted cup shape, and has an open bottom portion at the bottom, and a flange portion 4b is provided at the lower end of the side wall portion 4a of the ice making cup.

The skirt 25, which is a rectangular enclosure disposed between the ice tray base portion forming the central opening 2a and the outer circumference of the lower end of the ice cup 4, is heat resistant and has poor thermal conductivity compared to the ice cup 4. It is preferably made of a thin plate made of the same type of heat-resistant material as the heat-resistant material of the ice-making tray base 1, and surrounds and fits into the flange portion 4b of the ice-making cup 4. When the skirt 25 attached to the lower end of the ice-making cup 4 is fixed to the ice-making tray base 1, the upper end of the skirt 25 is slightly above the ice-making tray base 1, and the lower end thereof is, for example, about approximately
It is designed to extend downward by about 10mm.

A cooling pipe 5 for cooling the ice making cup 4 is joined to the top 4c of each ice making cup 4 using a low melting point metal, so that the ice making cup 4 and the cooling pipe 5 are integrated. The ice tray base 1, the ice cup 4, and the skirt 25 constitute an ice tray 60 of the present invention.

The ice tray 60 having the above configuration is manufactured as follows. First, the ice cup 4 is manufactured by press drawing, and at the same time the ice tray base 1 is manufactured.
The skirt 25 is also manufactured by pressing in a separate process. Next, the flange part 4 of the ice making cup 4
A receiving portion 25a of the skirt 25 that fits into b.
Insert. Then, the ice making cup 4 with the skirt 25 attached is pushed into the attachment opening 2 of the ice making tray base 1 from below, thereby fixing the ice making cup 4 to the ice making tray base 1. In this case, the fixing method may be just press fitting, but brazing will ensure the fixing. As for brazing, brazing in a furnace is preferred because of its good workability. In this way, the skirt 25 and the ice cup 4 are fixed to the ice tray base 1 to form an ice tray 60.

Next, the function of the ice tray of the fountain ice maker of the present invention will be explained. When ice making water is injected into the ice making cup 4 from below and the ice making cup is cooled by the cooling pipe 5, ice is formed on the inner wall surface of the ice making cup and this ice gradually grows. The ice not only fills the inside of the ice cup 4 but also fills the inside of the ice cup 4.
However, since the skirt 25 is made of a heat-resistant material with poor thermal conductivity, the amount of ice formed on the outer surface of the skirt 25 is small. When the ice reaches a predetermined size, the ice making is completed, and this state is shown in FIG. When the deicing cycle is started, deicing water is supplied into the ice making tray 60 and at the same time hot gas flows into the cooling pipe 5 to warm the ice making cup 4, so that the portion of ice that contacts the inner wall surface of the ice making cup 4 is removed. melt. The deicing water supplied into the ice tray 60 flows down on the outer surface of the skirt 25 through a gap in the ice tray base 1, that is, through the flow opening 2b. As a result, the deicing water melts the ice formed on the outer surface of the skirt, that is, the brim portion of the ice cube, adjusts the shape of the ice cube, and also warms the skirt 25, thereby efficiently deicing. As can be understood from the above description, if the deicing water in the ice tray 60 can be made to flow down onto the outer surface of the skirt, the ice cup 4
A flow outlet may be provided in a portion of the ice making tray base other than the outer central portion of each side of the ice making cup 4 (for example, a portion adjacent to each corner of the ice making cup 4).

If the ice tray is not provided with an outlet for allowing deicing water to flow down onto the outer surface of the skirt, the skirt 25 will be warmed only by heat conduction from the ice cup 4, resulting in a longer deicing time and a raised corner. The shape of the ice becomes very unsightly, but this does not happen with the ice tray of the present invention. The ice cubes that fell from the ice making cup 4 in this way are placed on the inclined plate 1.
The deicing water that slides down on the slope plate 12 and is stored in the ice storage 10 and falls from the outlet 2b passes over the slope plate 12 and is stored in the ice making water tank 14 and used as ice making water.

g. Effects of the invention As described above, according to the ice tray of the fountain ice maker of the invention, the shape of the ice cubes is improved, and the deicing time can be shortened without using a heating element such as a heater, making it possible to make ice. Capacity can be increased. Furthermore, the difficulties in the manufacturing process are eliminated, and ice trays can be manufactured through a consistent pressing and welding process, eliminating the need for highly skilled techniques as in the past, making it possible to mass-produce automatically and at low cost. It became.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the ice tray of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ice tray of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the ice tray shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view of the ice cup in the ice tray shown in Figure 1 when ice making is completed, Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a fountain ice maker, and Figure 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a conventional ice tray.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the assembly process of the ice tray shown in FIG. 6. 1...Ice tray base, 2...Mounting opening, 2a...
Central opening, 2b...flow port (gap), 4...ice cup, 4a...side wall, 4b...flange, 4c...top, 5...cooling pipe, 25...
Enclosure (skirt), 60...ice tray.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An ice tray base 1 which is formed in a concave shape to receive water supply and has a plurality of openings 2, and the openings 2.
In the ice tray of the fountain type ice maker, the ice tray includes a plurality of metal ice cups 4 inserted with the bottom openings facing downward on the ice making water receiving side, each ice cup and the ice tray into which the ice cups are inserted. Opening 2 in base 1
An enclosure 25 formed of a heat-resistant material with poor thermal conductivity compared to the ice-making cup surrounds the outer periphery of the bottom opening of the ice-making cup from the outside, and also surrounds the opening 2 of the ice-making tray base 1. An ice-making tray for a fountain-type ice-making machine, characterized in that it is attached with a gap 2b for water supply flowing down between the ice-making tray and the inner surface of the ice-making machine.