JP6966925B2 - Ice machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ice maker that employs an electronic expansion valve whose opening degree is controlled by a control device as an expansion valve of a refrigerating device that cools an ice making section.

Patent Document 1 discloses an ice maker that produces ice in an ice making section. The ice machine of Patent Document 1 has an ice making section that freezes ice making water to produce ice, an ice making water tank that stores ice making water that is circulated and supplied between the ice making sections, and an ice making section that produces ice water in the ice making water tank. It is equipped with a water supply pump that sends the ice to the ice, a refrigeration device that cools the ice making section, and a control device that controls the operation of the refrigeration device and the water supply pump. The refrigerating device of this ice maker includes a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that cools and liquefies the refrigerant pumped from the compressor, and an electronic expansion valve that expands the liquefied refrigerant liquefied by the condenser. It has an evaporator that evaporates the liquefied refrigerant expanded by the electronic expansion valve to cool the ice making part, and expands the liquefied refrigerant that is pumped from the compressor and liquefied by the condenser by the electronic expansion valve. The ice making section is cooled by the heat of vaporization of the liquefied refrigerant vaporized by the evaporator. Further, an inlet temperature sensor and an outlet temperature sensor are provided at each of the inlet and outlet of the refrigerant of the evaporator in the ice making section, and the control device is the inlet temperature sensor and the outlet temperature sensor. The opening degree of the electronic expansion valve is controlled from the difference between the two detected temperatures. In this ice making machine, the ice making water in the ice making water tank is jetted and sent to the ice making section cooled by the refrigerating device by a water pump, and the sent ice making water is cooled while circulating between the ice making water tank and the ice making section. , The ice-making water freezes in the ice-making part and becomes ice.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-339533

In the above-mentioned ice maker of Patent Document 1, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve is controlled based on the difference between the detected temperatures of the inlet temperature sensor and the outlet temperature sensor. When the load fluctuation is large, such as when the ice making water in the ice making water tank is sent to the ice making part at the start of the ice making operation, the opening of the electronic expansion valve is controlled based on the temperature difference between the detected temperatures of both temperature sensors. There was a risk that the responsiveness of the opening of the electronic expansion valve could not be controlled well. The present invention is an ice maker in which the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve of the refrigerating device for cooling the ice making section is controlled by a control device, when the ice making water in the ice making water tank is started to be sent to the ice making section by a water supply pump. The purpose is to make it possible to send a large amount of refrigerant with good responsiveness to the ice making part.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has an ice making section that freezes ice making water to produce ice, an ice making water tank that stores ice making water that is circulated and supplied between the ice making sections, and an ice making water in the ice making water tank. A water pump that sends out to the ice making section, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the ice making section, a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that cools and liquefies the refrigerant pumped from the compressor, and liquefaction by the condenser. A refrigerating device having an electronic expansion valve for expanding the liquefied refrigerant that has been inflated, an evaporator that vaporizes the liquefied refrigerant expanded by the electronic expansion valve to cool the ice making section, and controls the operation of the water supply pump and the refrigerating device. In the ice making operation, which is equipped with a control device and ice is manufactured in the ice making section, the opening degree of the liquefied refrigerant pumped from the compressor and liquefied by the condenser is controlled by the control device based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor. The ice-making part is cooled by the heat of vaporization of the expanded liquefied refrigerant that has been expanded by the electronic expansion valve and vaporized by the evaporator, and the ice-making water delivered by the water supply pump is cooled by the cooled ice-making part and unfrozen. It is an ice making machine that collects the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank and gradually freezes the ice-making water in the ice-making part to produce ice. , The opening of the electronic expansion valve is larger than the opening of the electronic expansion valve that is controlled when the temperature of the ice making part becomes 0 ° C or less when the ice making operation is performed without based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor. It provides an ice maker characterized by being controlled so as to be.

In the ice maker configured as described above, the temperature sensor detects when the load fluctuation when cooling the ice maker is large, such as when the ice maker in the ice maker tank is sent to the ice maker by the water pump. The opening of the electronic expansion valve is controlled to be larger than the opening of the electronic expansion valve that is controlled when the temperature of the ice making section becomes 0 ° C or lower when the ice making operation is performed without being based on the temperature. since the, will be able to deliver a good many of the refrigerant responsive to the ice making unit, the time of the ice-making operation, in particular, it is made to the time required for ice-making water to cool not unnecessarily long did it.

In the ice making machine constructed as described above, the ice-making water in manufacturing ice within the tank from the start delivered to the ice making unit by the water supply pump to the detected temperature rise of the temperature sensor is stopped, a predetermined opening degree of the electronic expansion valve It is preferable to control the opening degree to be equal to or larger than the above.

It is a schematic diagram of the ice making machine by this invention. It is a block diagram of a control device.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the ice machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, in the ice making machine 10, a large number of downwardly open ice making chambers 13 provided in the ice making portion 11 are closed by a water pan 22 so as to be openable and closable, and ice is made from the water pan 22 to each ice making chamber 13. It is a so-called closed cell type ice maker that ejects water to produce ice. The ice making machine 10 alternately executes an ice making operation in which the ice making water is frozen in the ice making unit 11 and an ice removing operation in which the ice frozen in the ice making unit 11 is removed from the ice making unit 11 to produce ice. An electronic expansion valve 33 whose opening degree can be adjusted by the control of the control device 40 is adopted as the expansion valve of the refrigerating device 30 that cools and heats the ice making unit 11.

The ice making section 11 has a shallow box shape with a horizontally arranged lower surface open, and a large number of ice making small chambers 13 are formed by the partition members 12. Further, below the ice making section 11, an ice storage 14 for storing ice produced in each ice making small chamber 13 is provided.

The ice making machine 10 includes a water feeding unit 20 that sends out ice making water to the ice making unit 11. The water supply unit 20 is provided with a water dish 22 having an ice making water tank 21 integrally provided at the lower portion. The ice-making water tank 21 stores ice-making water that is circulated and supplied to the ice-making unit 11. The water dish 22 is tiltably supported between a closed position where the ice making chamber 13 is closed by approaching the lower side of the ice making portion 11 and an open position where the ice making chamber 13 is opened away from the lower side of the ice making portion 11. Has been done. The water dish 22 is provided with an opening / closing mechanism 23 that tilts between the closed position and the open position, and the water dish 22 opens / closes the ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11 by the opening / closing mechanism 23. The opening / closing mechanism 23 includes an actuator motor 23a, and the water pan 22 is tilted between the closed position and the open position by driving the actuator motor 23a.

The water supply unit 20 is provided with a water supply means 24 for supplying ice-making water to the ice-making water tank 21, and a water-feeding pump 25 for injecting and sending the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 to the ice-making chamber 13. The water supply means 24 includes a water supply pipe 24a connected to the ice making water tank 21 and a water supply valve 24b interposed in the water supply pipe 24a, and the ice making water sent from the water supply pipe 24a is an ice making water tank by opening the water supply valve 24b. It is supplied to 21. The ice-making water supplied to the ice-making water tank 21 is jetted and sent out to the ice-making chamber 13 by the water supply pump 25.

The ice machine 10 includes a refrigerating device 30 that cools and heats the ice making unit 11. The refrigerating device 30 expands a compressor 31 that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser 32 that cools and liquefies the refrigerant pumped from the compressor 31, and a liquefied refrigerant liquefied by the condenser 32 to liquefy the low pressure. It includes an electronic expansion valve 33 as a refrigerant and an evaporator 34 that vaporizes the liquefied refrigerant expanded by the electronic expansion valve 33 to cool the ice making unit 11. In the refrigerating apparatus 30, a compressor 31, a condenser 32, an electronic expansion valve 33, and an evaporator 34 are connected in an annular shape by a refrigerant pipe to form a refrigerating circuit. The electronic expansion valve 33 is an expansion valve (electric expansion valve) whose opening degree can be adjusted by a control signal of a control device 40 described later. The evaporator 34 is spirally arranged on the upper surface of the ice making section 11, and the ice making section 11 is cooled by the heat of vaporization when the liquefied refrigerant passing through the evaporator 34 is vaporized.

Further, the refrigerating device 30 includes a hot gas pipe (hot gas path) 35 that supplies hot gas to the evaporator 34 during the deicing operation. The hot gas pipe 35 connects the downstream of the compressor 31 and the upstream of the evaporator 34 so that the hot gas from the compressor 31 is guided to the evaporator 34. A hot gas valve 36 is interposed in the hot gas pipe 35, and the hot gas sent from the compressor 31 is guided to the evaporator 34 through the hot gas pipe 35 by opening the hot gas valve 36. When the hot gas is guided to the evaporator 34 by opening the hot gas valve 36 during the deicing operation, the inside of the ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11 is heated by the hot gas, and the frozen ice in the ice making chamber 13 is deiced. Will be done.

The ice making section 11 is provided with a temperature sensor 37, and the temperature sensor 37 detects the temperature of the ice making section 11. The temperature sensor 37 is mainly used not only for controlling the adjustment of the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 during the ice making operation, but also for the completion of ice making during the ice making operation and the completion of deicing during the deicing operation. Is used to detect. In this embodiment, the temperature sensor 37 is provided in the central portion of the ice making section 11, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the temperature sensor 37 is provided at the inlet portion of the refrigerant of the evaporator 34 of the ice making section 11 and the inlet portion of the refrigerant. / Or it may be provided at the outlet portion, or a temperature sensor 37 is provided in the ice making water tank 21 so as to indirectly detect the temperature of the ice making portion 11 from the temperature of the ice making water. May be.

The ice maker 10 includes a control device 40, and as shown in FIG. 2, the control device 40 includes an actuator motor 23a of the opening / closing mechanism 23, a water supply valve 24b, a water pump 25, and a compressor 31 of the refrigerating device 30. , Is connected to the hot gas valve 36 and the temperature sensor 37. The control device 40 has a microcomputer (not shown), and the microcomputer includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and a timer (all of which are not shown) connected via a bus. The control device 40 repeatedly executes an ice making operation in which the ice making water is frozen in the ice making unit 11 to produce ice and an ice removing operation in which the ice frozen in the ice making unit 11 is removed by the ice making operation. Have.

Next, the ice making program of the ice making machine 10 will be described. When the ice making machine 10 is started, the ice removing operation is preliminarily executed so that no ice remains in the ice making chamber 13 of the ice making unit 11. In the deicing operation, the hot gas valve 36 is opened while the compressor 31 is operated, and the water pan 22 is tilted to the open position by the actuator motor 23a of the opening / closing mechanism 23. The hot gas sent from the compressor 31 is guided to the evaporator 34 through the hot gas pipe 35 to heat each ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11. When the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 becomes 5 ° C. or higher as a predetermined temperature for detecting that the deicing is completed, the control device 40 has no ice left in the ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11, that is, the deicing is completed. The hot gas valve 36 is closed. When the hot gas valve 36 is closed, the refrigerant pressure-fed from the compressor 31 does not pass through the hot gas pipe 35 and is sent to the condenser 32, and the liquefied refrigerant liquefied by the condenser 32 undergoes electronic expansion. The valve 33 expands to become a low-pressure liquefied refrigerant, and the low-pressure liquefied refrigerant is vaporized by the evaporator 34 to cool the ice making section 11. Further, the control device 40 tilts the water pan 22 to the closed position by the actuator motor 23a of the opening / closing mechanism 23, and supplies ice-making water to the ice-making water tank 21 by opening the water supply valve 24b. When the ice making water tank 21 reaches a predetermined water level, the control device 40 closes the water supply valve 24b to end the water supply.

After the ice making operation is executed in advance in the ice making unit 11, the control device 40 repeatedly executes the ice making operation and the ice removing operation in the ice making unit 11. As described above, when the hot gas valve 36 is closed, the refrigerant pumped from the compressor 31 is liquefied by the condenser 32 to become a liquefied refrigerant, and the liquefied refrigerant expands by the electronic expansion valve 33 to become a low-pressure liquefied refrigerant. It is sent to the evaporator 34 of the ice making unit 11. At this time, since it is not necessary to cool the ice-making water until the ice-making water is sent to the ice-making unit 11 by the water pump 25, the load required for cooling the ice-making unit 11 is small, and the control device 40 is electronically expanded. The opening degree of the valve 33 is smaller than the middle between the maximum and the minimum, and specifically, the opening degree is equivalent to the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 controlled when the temperature of the ice making section 11 becomes 0 ° C. or lower. It is controlled to be. In this way, when the load required to cool the ice making section 11 is small, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is narrowed down to make it smaller, and the ice making section 11 is quickly cooled by a low-temperature refrigerant. ..

In the ice making operation, with the ice making section 11 sufficiently cooled as described above, the ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 is started to be sent to each ice making small chamber 13 of the ice making section 11 by the water pump 25. Since the temperature of the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 is not low because it is before circulating between the ice-making part 11 and the ice-making part 11, the load for cooling the ice-making water in the ice-making part 11 is high. When the ice making water is started to be sent to the ice making section 11, the refrigerant is sent to the ice making section 11 with an opening similar to the opening of the electronic expansion valve 33 that is controlled when the temperature of the ice making section 11 becomes 0 ° C. or lower. , There is a possibility that the refrigerant required for cooling cannot be delivered to the entire ice making section 11. Further, even though it is necessary to send a large amount of refrigerant to the ice making section 11, if the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is controlled based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 can be responsively improved. It may be out of control. Therefore, the control device 40 of the ice making machine 10 determines the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 when the ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 is started to be sent to each ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11 by the water pump 25. The opening degree of the ice making unit 11 is controlled to be larger than the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 which is controlled when the temperature of the ice making unit 11 becomes 0 ° C. or lower. As a result, when the ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 is started to be sent to each ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11 by the water pump 25, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is sufficient without being based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37. It has become possible to deliver a large amount of refrigerant with good responsiveness to the ice making unit 11 by controlling the opening degree at which a large amount of refrigerant can be delivered.

Further, as described above, the electronic expansion valve 33 has a predetermined opening degree from the start of sending the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 to the ice-making unit 11 by the water supply pump 25 until the rise of the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 stops. Under the above control, the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 is cooled by sending a large amount of refrigerant with good responsiveness to the ice-making unit 11 until the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 is sufficiently cooled. I try to shorten the time that is done. Further, the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 circulates between the ice-making unit 11 and is gradually cooled, and in order to freeze the ice-making water in the ice-making chamber 13 of the ice-making unit 11, the evaporator 34 of the ice-making unit 11 is used. It is necessary to increase the degree of superheating by suppressing the flow rate of the transmitted refrigerant to lower the temperature of the ice making unit 11. Therefore, when the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 is cooled to some extent and the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 starts to decrease, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is controlled to be reduced. After that, the control device 40 controls to gradually reduce the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37, and freezes the ice making water in the ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11. Let me. In particular, when the detection temperature of the ice making section 11 detected by the temperature sensor 37 becomes 0 ° C. or lower, the load for cooling the ice making water in the ice making section 11 is small, so that the control device 40 is the electronic expansion valve 33. By reducing the opening degree to a small extent, the ice making unit 11 is cooled so that the ice making water is frozen by the refrigerant whose opening degree is reduced and the temperature is lowered.

The ice making section 11 is cooled in a state where the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is controlled based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37, and the ice making water jetted and sent out from the ice making water tank 21 is gradually frozen in the ice making chamber 13. , The ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 gradually decreases. At this time, if the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is controlled so that the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 is −5 ° C. to −15 ° C., highly transparent ice with few cracks can be produced. The detection of the completion of ice making based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 is a unit which is the product of the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 37 detected every unit time from the time when the temperature of the ice making unit 11 reaches 0 ° C. and the unit time. When the total value obtained by obtaining the integrated value and sequentially adding these unit integrated values becomes the target integrated value, the control device 40 detects that block-shaped ice is formed in the ice making chamber 13 and the ice making is completed. The drive of the water supply pump 25 is stopped to end the ice making operation. By increasing the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 from the timing immediately before the completion of ice making, it is possible to prevent the frozen ice from clinging to each ice making chamber 13.

In the deicing operation after the ice making operation, the control device 40 opens the hot gas valve 36 with the compressor 31 operated, and tilts the water dish 22 to the open position by the actuator motor 23a of the opening / closing mechanism 23. The hot gas sent from the compressor 31 is guided to the evaporator 34 through the hot gas pipe 35 to heat each ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11. The temperature of the ice making section 11 at the completion of ice making is about −20 ° C., but the ice is separated from the inside of the ice making chamber 13 while the temperature of the ice making section 11 gradually rises. When the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 becomes 5 ° C. or higher as a predetermined temperature for detecting that the deicing is completed, the control device 40 has no ice left in the ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11, that is, the deicing is completed. The hot gas valve 36 is closed to end the deicing operation, and the ice making operation is executed again as described above. In this way, by repeatedly executing the ice making operation and the deicing operation by the control device 40, the ice making unit 11 continuously produces block-shaped ice.

In the ice making machine 10 configured as described above, the ice making section 11 is provided with a temperature sensor 37, and the ice making section 11 is provided with an electronic expansion valve 33 whose opening degree is controlled based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37. It is cooled by the device 30. The ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 circulates between the ice-making unit 11 cooled by the freezing device 30 and is cooled, and the ice-making water is gradually frozen in the ice-making chamber 13 of the ice-making unit 11 to become ice.

When the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 is started to be sent to each ice-making chamber 13 of the ice-making unit 11 by the water supply pump 25, the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 has a temperature for before circulating between the ice-making unit 11 and the ice-making unit 11. Since it is not low, it is newly learned that it is necessary to send a large amount of refrigerant to the evaporator 34 of the ice making unit 11. Therefore, in the ice making machine 10, when the control device 40 starts sending the ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 to each ice making chamber 13 of the ice making section 11 by the water pump 25, the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 is opened. Is set to a predetermined opening degree, and the opening degree is controlled to be larger than the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve 33 which is controlled when the temperature of the ice making portion 11 becomes 0 ° C. or lower. As a result, when the ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 is started to be sent to the ice making section 11 by the water supply pump 25, a large amount of refrigerant can be sent to the ice making section 11 with good responsiveness, and the ice making operation can be performed. The time, especially the time required to cool the ice-making water, could not be unnecessarily long.

Further, as described in Reference 1, in an ice maker that controls the opening degree of an electronic expansion valve by using two temperature sensors that detect the temperature of the inlet portion and the outlet portion of the ice making section, two temperatures are used. Not only is the cost required for the parts increased by using the sensor, but also when the load fluctuation of the ice making part is large, when trying to finely control the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve based on the temperature difference between these two temperature sensors. , Expensive control devices had to be used, and the cost required for the parts was even higher. On the other hand, in this ice making machine 10, even when the load fluctuation of the ice making section 11 is large, such as when the ice making water is started to be sent to the ice making section 11, the responsiveness to the ice making section 11 is not based on the detection of the temperature sensor. Since a large amount of refrigerant can be delivered well, it was possible to reduce the cost.

Further, as described above, the electronic expansion valve 33 has a predetermined opening degree from the start of sending the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank 21 to the ice-making unit 11 by the water supply pump 25 until the rise of the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 37 stops. Since the above control is performed, it is possible to send a large amount of refrigerant with good responsiveness to the ice making section 11 until the ice making water in the ice making water tank 21 is sufficiently cooled.

In the ice making machine of this embodiment, a large number of downwardly open ice making chambers 13 provided in the ice making portion 11 are closed by the water tray 22 so as to be openable and closable, and ice making water is jetted and supplied from the water tray 22 to each ice making chamber 13. This is a so-called closed cell type ice maker that produces ice, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is a so-called open cell type ice maker that jets and supplies ice making water with the ice making chamber open. It may be a flow-down type ice making machine in which the ice making chamber is opened in the horizontal direction and the ice making water is allowed to flow down into the ice making chamber, or the ice making water is allowed to flow down to the ice making plate which is vertically erected. May be good.

10 ... Ice maker, 11 ... Ice making section, 21 ... Ice making water tank, 25 ... Water pump, 31 ... Compressor, 32 ... Condenser, 33 ... Electronic expansion valve, 34 ... Evaporator, 37 ... Temperature sensor, 40 ... Control Device.

Claims (2)

The ice making department that freezes ice making water to make ice,
An ice-making water tank that stores ice-making water that is circulated and supplied to and from the ice-making part,
A water pump that sends the ice-making water in the ice-making water tank to the ice-making part,
A temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the ice making part and
A compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that cools and liquefies the refrigerant pumped from the compressor, an electronic expansion valve that expands the liquefied refrigerant liquefied by the condenser, and an electronic expansion valve that expands. A refrigerating device having an evaporator that vaporizes the liquefied refrigerant and cools the ice making section.
A control device for controlling the operation of the water pump and the refrigerating device is provided.
In the ice making operation of producing ice in the ice making section, the opening degree of the liquefied refrigerant pumped from the compressor and liquefied by the condenser is controlled by the control device based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor. The ice making section is cooled by the heat of vaporization of the expanded liquefied refrigerant that has been expanded by the electronic expansion valve and vaporized by the evaporator.
Ice making that unfrozen ice making water is collected in the ice making water tank while cooling the ice making water sent by the water feed pump in the cooled ice making section, and the ice making water is gradually frozen in the ice making section to produce ice. It ’s a machine,
When the ice making water in the ice making water tank is started to be sent to the ice making section by the water supply pump, the ice making operation is performed by adjusting the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve without being based on the detection temperature of the temperature sensor. An ice maker, characterized in that the opening degree is controlled to be larger than the opening degree of the electronic expansion valve, which is controlled when the temperature of the portion becomes 0 ° C. or lower. In the ice machine according to claim 1,
The opening degree of the electronic expansion valve is set to be equal to or larger than the predetermined opening degree from the start of sending the ice making water in the ice making water tank to the ice making portion by the water pump until the rise of the detection temperature of the temperature sensor stops. An ice maker characterized by being controlled to be.

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