JPS6045784B2 - Ice maker and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ice maker for making ice cubes and a method for manufacturing the same, and particularly to an ice maker in which the ice making capacity of an ice making plate can be easily changed and selected.

BACKGROUND ART Various types of ice makers, such as a plate type and a cell type, have been known as ice making machines for making ice cubes.

However, all conventional ice-making plates have an integrated ice-making plate, so when changing the ice-making capacity, for example, changing the size of ice cubes or the number of ice cubes, a dedicated ice-making plate is required. It is necessary to form a new ice-making plate using a mold, which is not versatile and requires the preparation of a variety of specialized molds. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and
By assembling the ice-making plate by alternately stacking the ice-making plate itself and the spacer, each of which has a height and width equivalent to the height of one cell (ice cube ice-making chamber), the specified ice-making capacity can be achieved. To provide an ice-making machine in which ice-making plates can be freely obtained and the ice-making capacity of the ice-making plates can be easily changed and selected.

That is, the present invention provides a substrate whose surface is an ice-making surface, a plurality of vertical partition plates vertically protruding from the front side of the substrate at intervals equal to the width of ice cubes, and vertically protruding from the back side of the substrate. A plurality of cylindrical hollow bodies are integrally formed, and an ice making plate main body having a height and width corresponding to the vertical width of the ice cube, and an ice making plate main body having a planar shape having a size corresponding to the ice making plate main body and the above-mentioned phase. Spacers having horizontal partition plates protruding in the horizontal direction at positions corresponding to the spaces between adjacent vertical partition plates are stacked alternately, and are placed in the hollow part of the hollow cylindrical body of each of the ice-making plate bodies. A series of cooling pipes are inserted and fitted to form an assembled ice-making plate, and the ice-making plate has a predetermined size defined by the base plate, vertical partition plates, and horizontal partition plates. It is characterized in that an ice making chamber is formed for each size and number of ice cubes. Further, in the present invention, the ice-making plate main body, which is composed of the substrate, the vertical partition plate, and the cylindrical hollow body, is integrally molded using a drawn material, and then cut into a height and width corresponding to the vertical width of the ice cube. The ice-making plate main body and the spacer are stacked alternately, and cooling pipes are inserted vertically into the hollow part of the cylindrical hollow body of each ice-making plate main body and are fitted and fixed by expanding the pipe. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an ice making machine, which is characterized by assembling an ice making plate having a predetermined size and number of ice cube making chambers.

Here, in the present invention, providing a vertical gap passing through the hollow part at the outer end of the cylindrical hollow body of the ice making plate main body means that a cooling pipe is fitted into the hollow part of the cylindrical hollow body. This is preferable because it improves adhesion when molded, improves heat conduction efficiency, and facilitates molding of the ice-making plate body using a drawn material.

Furthermore, by making the vertical partition plate of the ice-making plate body hollow and providing a vertical gap at the outer end thereof through which the hollow part passes, molding using a drawn material can be easily performed, as described above. preferable. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 5 show an ice making machine equipped with an ice making plate according to the present invention, in which A is a cylindrical vertical ice making plate, and the ice making plate A has a plurality of short cylindrical ice making plates. Ice making plate body B・
......and multiple annular spacers C...
・and are assembled by stacking them alternately so that the ice making plate main body B is sandwiched between the spacers C and C.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ice-making plate main body B includes a substrate 1 having a surface 1a as an ice-making surface, and a width W1 of ice cubes on the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 1 on the surface 1a side. A plurality of vertical partition plates 2 protruding vertically at intervals with a height h...
and a plurality of hollow cylindrical bodies 3 provided vertically protruding on the inner circumferential surface of the back side of the substrate 1 at a position corresponding to the center between the adjacent vertical partition plates 2, 2. . . . are integrally formed by a drawn material made of a thermally conductive material such as aluminum, and the height of the ice making plate main body B is formed to have a height and width corresponding to the vertical width W2 of the ice cube. It is something.

The vertical partition plate 2 has two plate walls 2a and 2b facing each other in a U-shape with a gap 2c remaining at each outer end thereof to form a hollow portion 2.
The inner surface of the vertical partition plate 2 (i.e., the plate walls 2a, 2b) is formed into a tapered surface extending outward. Further, the hollow cylindrical body 3
has two bay-shaped walls 3a and 3b with a gap 3c at their outer ends.
are configured to remain and face each other to form a cylindrical hollow portion 3d into which a cooling pipe 4, which will be described later, is inserted. On the other hand, the spacers C are formed of a heat insulating material such as plastic into an annular shape with a size corresponding to the planar shape of the ice making plate main body B, and a plurality of spacers C correspond to the vertical partition plates 2 of the ice making plate main body B (7). A hollow member 5 in the shape of a hollow body, and a plurality of holes that connect the hollow members 5, 5 and protrude in the circumferential direction (horizontal direction) at a height lower than the height h of the vertical partition plate 2. It consists of a hollow horizontal partition plate 6.

The hollow part 2d of the vertical partition plate 2 is located at the upper and lower parts of the hollow body 5.
A protrusion 5a that fits into the stack when stacking is provided correspondingly. Further, the hollow portion 6d of the horizontal partition plate 6 has a hollow body 5,
It communicates with the hollow part of No. 5 to allow water to flow during ice removal.
Further, the upper and lower surfaces 6a and 6b are formed into flat tapered surfaces that extend outward. Further, reference numeral 4 denotes a cooling pipe through which a refrigerant flows, and the cooling pipe 4 is inserted and fitted into the hollow part 3d of the hollow cylindrical body 3 of the ice-making plate main body B, and the cooling pipe 4 is inserted into the hollow part 3d of the hollow cylindrical body 3 of the ice-making plate main body B and the spacer C. are stacked alternately in multiple stages with the ice-making plate body B sandwiched between the spacers C and C, and by expanding the cooling pipes 4 inserted through the hollow 3d of each hollow cylindrical body 3. At the same time, the intermediate spacers C excluding the lowermost spacers Cl and C2 are fixed integrally between the ice-making plate bodies B and B. Can be assembled.

And this ice making plate body B... and the spacer C...
. . . The uppermost spacer C1 is fixed to the upper part with screws 7, and the lower part thereof is fixed to the support member 8 with the lowermost spacer C2 sandwiched between them by screws 7. , and are fixed to the body 9 via the support members 8, . . . . As described above, the vertical ice-making plate A that is erected almost vertically on the body 9 is configured, and the substrate surface 1a of the ice-making plate main body B is
(ice making surface) and the inner surface of the vertical partition plate 2 (plate walls 2a, 2b)
and the inner surface (upper and lower surfaces 6a, 6b) of the horizontal partition plate 6 of the spacer C form a large number of ice cube making chambers 10 of a predetermined size and number in the vertical and horizontal directions. Note that 11 is a connecting pipe for the cooling pipe 4, and 12 is a U-shaped pipe that connects the upper and lower ends of the adjacent cooling pipes 4, 4. In addition, D is ice making plate A
a watering tank disposed above the watering tank D;
has concentric double inner and outer annular watering chambers 13 and 14,
The outer water sprinkling chamber 13 is supplied with water from a water supply pipe 15, and the inner water sprinkling chamber 14 corresponds to a position above the ice making plate A. Reference numeral 16 denotes water pipes attached to the outside of each spacer C at vertically corresponding positions and communicating with the hollow portion of each spacer C via side pipes 16a for flowing water during ice removal. Each water pipe 16 is connected via a ground 17, and the upper end of the water pipe 16 of the spacer C1 at the uppermost end is connected to a water sprinkling port 13a formed in the bottom surface of the outer water sprinkling chamber 13 of the water tank D. The lower end of the water pipe 16 of the spacer C2 at the lowest end faces a water tank 18 disposed below the ice-making plate A so as to be able to flow down to the water tank 18. After water is made to flow into the hollow portion of each spacer C through the water pipe 16, it is configured to flow down into the water tank 18. Furthermore, the water tank 18
A water suction pipe 19 is connected through a pump P, and the upper end of the water suction pipe 19 communicates with the inner water sprinkling chamber 14 through a funnel-shaped water suction port 20 provided at the center of the water sprinkling tank D. Water that has been sucked up from the tank 18, overflows from the periphery of the water intake port 20, and flows into the inner water sprinkling chamber 14 is transferred to a large number of small water sprinkling holes 14a drilled in the bottom surface of the inner water sprinkling chamber 14. Water is uniformly sprinkled onto the ice-making plate A from ... and flows vertically through each ice cube ice-making chamber 10 of the ice-making plate A to make ice. Next, to explain the operation of the above embodiment, when making ice cubes, first, a liquid refrigerant is made to flow through the cooling pipe 4, and the ice cube ice making compartment in the ice making plate body B is
0... The substrate surface 1a and the plate walls 2a, 2b of the vertical partition plate 2 are cooled.

On the other hand, the multiple water sprinkling holes 14 of the inner peripheral water sprinkling chamber 14 of the water sprinkling tank D
Water is uniformly sprinkled on the upper circumferential surface of the spacer C1 at the uppermost end, and the outer end surface 6 of the upper surface 6a1 of the horizontal partition plate 6 of the spacer C1 is
c. Ice cubes are made in each ice cube chamber 10 by leaking and flowing down each surface sequentially along the surface from the lower surface 6b to the substrate surface 1a of the ice making plate main body B. Ru. After ice cubes are made, hot refrigerant gas is flowed through the cooling pipe 4 to heat the substrate surface 1a and the plate walls 2a and 2b of the vertical partition plate 2, and the water sprinkling port 13a of the outer water sprinkling chamber 13 of the water sprinkling tank D is heated.
By flowing water from . . . to the hollow part of each spacer C through the water pipe 16, each ice cube ice making chamber 10 . . .
The ice cubes are released from ...... and naturally fall into the ice storage room at the bottom where they are stored. In that case, the ice cube ice making chamber 10 includes a spacer including an ice making plate main body B including a base plate 1 and a vertical partition plate 2 and having a height and width corresponding to the vertical width W2 of the ice cubes and a horizontal partition plate 6. C
The ice-making plate body B can be stacked alternately to create a desired size by changing the height and width of the ice-making plate main body B. The desired number of ice cubes can be formed by changing the number of stacking stages, and the ice cubes can be easily made into a predetermined size and number of ice cubes. It is easy to select changes.

In addition, at that time, since the horizontal partition plate 6 facing the direction in which water flows is made of a heat insulating material such as plastic,
Since an ice-making plate is not placed on the outer end surface 6c of the horizontal partition plate 6, the ice cubes in the upper and lower ice-cube ice-making chambers 10, 10 are not connected vertically, and each ice-cube ice-making chamber 10... Ice cubes can be made independently in ..., and there is no need to crush the ice cubes after ice making.

Furthermore, the ice cubes can be removed well, which is effective. Furthermore, a vertical partition plate 2 constituting the ice cube ice making plate 10
Since the inner surface (plate wall 2a92b) and the inner surface (upper and lower surfaces 6a, 6b) of the horizontal partition plate 6 are formed into straight tapered surfaces, the above-mentioned water separation can be performed more easily. Further, a hollow portion 3 is provided at the outer end of the hollow cylindrical body 3 of the ice making plate main body B.
By providing the vertical gap 3c that passes through the hollow 3d, when the cooling pipe 4 is inserted and fitted into the hollow 3d, the elastic action of the split mold improves the adhesion between the two, and the heat is removed. Conductive performance is improved, ice making efficiency can be improved, and the ice making plate A can be assembled more firmly and reliably.

Next, I will explain the manufacturing method of the ice making plate A mentioned above.
First, the ice making plate main body B consisting of the substrate 1 and the hollow cylindrical body 3 of the vertical partition plate 2 is formed into a saw body using a drawn material, and then cut into a height and width corresponding to the vertical width W2 of the ice cube. form.

Here, the ice-making plate main body B has a complicated shape that integrates a substrate 1, a vertical partition plate 2 on its front surface, and a hollow cylindrical body 3 on its back surface. Since both the plate 2 and the hollow cylindrical body 3 protruding from the back surface are provided in the vertical direction, this is the pulling direction! As a result, it can be integrally molded using a pultruded material, and after this molding, it can be manufactured by cutting it into a predetermined width, making it easy to manufacture.

In particular, a vertical gap 3c is provided at the outer end of the hollow cylindrical body 3 to pass through the hollow part 3d, and the vertical partition plate 2 is
When the hollow body is formed into a hollow body and a vertical gap 2c is provided at the outer end of the hollow body to pass through the hollow portion 2d, the above-mentioned drawing process becomes easier in manufacturing the ice making plate main body B, and the hollow body during the drawing process becomes easier. The accuracy of the diameters of the portions 2d and 3d is improved, and the extrusion die itself requires only an inner die and an outer die, making it easier to manufacture the extrusion die itself. Next, after the ice-making plate main body B formed as described above and the spacer C having the horizontal partition plate 6 are stacked alternately in multiple stages, each ice-making plate main body B is formed into a hollow cylindrical shape. body 3
The ice making plate A is assembled by vertically inserting the cooling pipe 4 into the hollow part 3d and fitting and fixing it by expanding the pipe. Here, not only is the cooling tube 4 fixed to the ice-making plate main body B by expanding the cooling tube 4 inserted into the hollow portion 3d, but also the spacer C is sandwiched between the ice-making plate main bodies B and B. Since it is fixed, the ice making plate A can be easily assembled all at once.

In addition, the spacers Cl and C2 at the top and bottom ends are screws 7...
It is fixed to the composition by . The ice-making plate A manufactured in this manner has a significantly low manufacturing cost due to the ease of manufacturing and assembly work, and the ice-making capacity can be improved by changing the size and number of ice cubes 10. The workability is extremely good even when changing the amount.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the case of the cylindrical vertical ice-making plate A was explained, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the ice-making plate may be plate-shaped.

In the case of a plate shape, there are cases where the cylindrical shape is expanded into a plate shape, and cases where this is rotated by 90 degrees. The former case is the same as the cylindrical one which will be explained in detail soon, so the explanation will be omitted, and the latter case, which is rotated 90 degrees, will be explained. As shown in Fig. 8, the ice making plate body B and The spacers C are arranged alternately in parallel in the vertical direction, and the ice making plate main body B and the spacers C are assembled and fixed when they are fitted and fixed by expanding the cooling pipes 4 in the horizontal direction. In this case, the plate wall 2 of the ice making plate main body B (7) vertical partition plate 2 (in this case, becomes a horizontal partition plate)
A seat 21 made of a heat insulating material such as plastic is fitted into the gap 2c between the outer ends of the outer ends a and 2b. In addition, when making ice according to this example, a low-pressure liquid refrigerant is passed through the cooling pipe 4,
On the other hand, water is dripped upward from each side pipe 22a of the water pipe 22 to the upper side of each partition plate 2, and water is sequentially leaked through the plate wall 2a1 of each partition plate 2, each surface of the plate wall 2b, and the surface 1a of the substrate 1 to make each ice cube. Ice cubes are made in the chamber 10, and after ice making, hot gas is supplied to the cooling pipe 4, and water is made to flow through the hollow portion of each spacer C through each side pipe 16a of the water pipe 16, and the ice cubes are made in the same manner as described above. There is something to separate water from chamber 10. As described above, according to the ice-making machine of the present invention, the ice-making plate has an ice-making plate main body that integrates a substrate, a vertical partition plate, and a hollow cylindrical body, and a spacer having a horizontal partition plate, which are stacked alternately. Since it is assembled and configured to form an ice cube making compartment of a predetermined size and number by the base plate, vertical partition plate, and horizontal partition plate, the height and width of the ice making plate main body can be changed. The ice cube making capacity can be easily changed by changing the number of stacking stages between the ice making plate body and the spacer, making it possible to easily change the ice cube making capacity. It is something that can be obtained. Furthermore, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, the ice making plate body can be formed extremely easily by integral molding and cutting using a drawn material, and it is possible to use aluminum, which is cheaper than copper, as a material, and it is possible to make it multi-purpose. Even if they are stacked, the workability is improved by repeating the assembly by expanding the tubes, which reduces the cost.Also, since most of the assembly is done by expanding the cooling tubes, the overall workability is significantly improved and the overall manufacturing cost is reduced. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the cost. Moreover, it also has the advantage that it does not require a particularly large mold or a jig.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view, FIG. 2 is a vertical side view, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an ice-making plate, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ of Figure 3, Figure 5 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the main part of Figure 2, Figures 6 and 7 are a plan view and side view of the ice making plate body, respectively, and Figure 8 FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modification of the ice-making plate. A: Ice making plate, B: Ice making plate body, C
......Cylindrical spacer, 1......Substrate, 1a...
...Surface, 2... Vertical partition plate, 2c...
・Gap, 2d...Hollow part, 3...Hollow cylindrical body, 3c...Gap, 3d...Hollow part, 4...Cooling Pipe, 6...Horizontal partition plate, 10
・・・・・・Ice cube ice maker.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A substrate 1 whose surface 1a is an ice-making surface, and a plurality of vertical partition plates 2 protruding from the surface of the substrate 1 in the vertical direction at intervals of the width of ice cubes.
. . . and a plurality of hollow cylindrical bodies 3 . an ice-making plate main body B having a height and width corresponding to the ice-making plate main body B; A spacer C having a horizontal partition plate 6 provided therein,
The ice-making plate bodies B are stacked alternately, and each of the ice-making plate bodies B...
Hollow part 3d of hollow cylindrical body 3...
The ice making plate A is assembled by inserting and fitting the cooling pipes 4 into the ice making plate A, and the ice making plate A has the substrate 1 attached thereto.
and vertical partition plate 2...and horizontal partition plate 6...
. . . An ice maker characterized in that an ice cube chamber 10 of a predetermined size and number defined by . . . is formed. 2. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein a vertical gap 3c communicating with the hollow portion 3d is formed at the outer end of the hollow cylindrical body 3. 3. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the vertical partition plate 2 is a hollow body, and a vertical gap 2c communicating with the hollow part 2d is formed at the outer end of the hollow body. 4. A substrate 1 whose surface 1a is an ice-making surface, and a plurality of vertical partition plates 2 protruding from the surface of the substrate 1 in the vertical direction at intervals of the width of ice cubes.
. . . and a plurality of hollow cylindrical bodies 3 vertically protruding from the back side of the substrate 1. After integrally molding the ice cubes, the ice cubes are cut into a height and width corresponding to the vertical width of the ice cubes, and the ice cubes are formed to have a planar shape corresponding to the size of the ice cube body B and are adjacent to each other. Spacers C having a horizontal partition plate 6 protruding in the horizontal direction at a portion corresponding to between the vertical partition plates 2 and 2 are stacked alternately, and each ice making plate body B... Hollow cylindrical body 3...Hollow cylindrical body 3...
By inserting the cooling pipe 4 vertically through the hollow portion 3d and fitting and fixing it by expanding the tube, the substrate 1 and the vertical partition plate 2 are connected. ...and horizontal partition plate 6
An ice-making method characterized by assembling an ice-making plate A having a predetermined size and number of ice-cube ice-making chambers 10 defined by... Machine manufacturing method. 5. The method for manufacturing an ice maker according to claim 4, wherein a vertical gap 3c is provided at the outer end of the hollow cylindrical body 3, communicating with the hollow portion 3d. 6. The method for manufacturing an ice maker according to claim 4, wherein the vertical partition plate 2 is a hollow body, and a vertical gap 2c communicating with the hollow portion 2d is provided at the outer end of the hollow body.