JPS6152382B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an auger-type ice maker, and in particular, it facilitates ice guidance by heating the ice compression passage of the pusher head and reduces the load on the drive motor and the pusher head. The present invention relates to new improvements for reducing noise and preventing abnormal noises and malfunctions.

b. Prior Art In this type of auger ice maker that has been used in the past, various methods have been developed and used to facilitate the passage of ice through the ice compression passage, reduce the load on the drive motor, and prevent abnormal noise. It is being That is, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 12969/1983, a heater is provided below the pressing head,
There is a structure in which the surface of the ice is slightly melted and then re-frozen to improve the quality of the ice, and as disclosed in JP-A-57-79371 and JP-A-58-76072, a pressing head is used. A configuration is used in which a heater is disposed around the outer periphery of a refrigeration casing corresponding to the above, and is energized for a certain period of time when the ice making operation is stopped (when ice storage is detected), thereby solving problems during drainage and water supply.

However, in the conventional configuration described above, scale (water scale) such as silica and calcium may increase due to load fluctuations during ice-making operation, or scale (water scale) such as silica and calcium may be formed on the surface of the ice compression passage consisting of the press head and the inner wall of the refrigeration casing. If it adheres, it is impossible to prevent malfunctions such as ice clogging and noise generation due to increased ice passage resistance.

As an effective means to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present applicant has provided a heater around the outer periphery of the pressing head,
A configuration is used in which the heater is energized during operation of the drive motor (see specification of Utility Model Application No. 127428/1983).
The contact area with ice in the ice compression passage is
Since the press head is about three times larger than the frozen casing, direct heating of the press head is more effective in eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks. Moreover, it is more efficient to heat the inside of the press head rather than the outside of the press head, but conventional press heads were made of metal, so it was technically extremely difficult to incorporate a heater. It was hot.

c. Object of the Invention The object of the present invention is to provide extremely effective means for promptly eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks.

d.Structure of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention specifically molds the entire pressing head with ceramic material, and also incorporates a resistor as a heater inside the pressing head to directly heat the surface of the ice compression passage to prevent ice from passing through. It is characterized by a configuration that makes it extremely easy.

e. Embodiments Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the auger ice maker according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates a freezing casing having a cylindrical overall shape and constituting a cylinder. Inside the freezing casing 1, a screw 3 having screw blades 2 is rotatably provided. is formed with an upper shaft portion 3a and a lower shaft portion 3b, respectively, and the upper shaft portion 3a is fitted into a bearing hole 5a of a bearing ring 5b of a pressing head 5 fixed to the upper end of the refrigeration casing 1 by a fixing bolt 4. A lower shaft part 3b is rotatably held in a bearing hole 6a of a bearing part 6 provided at the lower part of the refrigeration casing 1.

The pressing head 5 has been particularly developed in accordance with the present invention, and is entirely molded from ceramic material. Inside the pressing head 5, as shown in the drawing, a resistor 7 constituting a heater is made of ceramic material. A plurality of groove-shaped ice compression passages 8 are formed in the outer peripheral surface of the pressing head 5 in the axial direction thereof.
A resistor 7 is arranged along and within the surface defining the . The resistor 7 as a whole has a pressing head 5
It is formed into an annular shape along the circumferential shape of the ice compressor, and has a portion 7a that hangs down in the axial direction, that is, vertically, along each ice compression passage 8, and both ends of the resistor 7 extend outward from the outer periphery of the pressing head 5. Power line 9 for power supply led out to
It is connected to the.

A cutter assembly 10 is attached to the upper shaft part 3a passing through the bearing hole 5a of the bearing ring 5b of the pressing head 5 with a bolt 10a so that it can rotate together with the upper shaft part 3a. The compressed ice sent out from the ice compression passage 8 of No. 5 is cut into a certain length by the cutter 10b of the cutter assembly 10, and the release cover 11 is fixedly attached to the upper end of the freezing casing 1 via bolts 1a. The configuration is such that it is sent to the outside via

A cooling pipe 12 is spirally wound around the outer side 1b of the refrigeration casing 1, and the cooling pipe 12 is connected to the compressor CM to receive refrigerant supply.

Furthermore, a drive motor 13 consisting of a geared motor is attached to a housing 14 at the lower end of the refrigeration casing 1.
The output shaft 15 of the drive motor 13
is connected to the lower shaft portion 3b, and the screw blade 2 and the screw 3 can be rotated by a drive motor 13. An ice-making water supply pipe 16 provided adjacent to the drive motor 13 is connected to the inside of the freezing casing 1. water for ice making.

Furthermore, the resistor 7 as a heater built into the pressing head 5 made of ceramic material has no water absorption properties, so there is no problem with insulation when voltage is applied; The voltage is set to a low voltage of approximately 30 V or less using a transformer (not shown) to prevent accidents such as electric shock in the unlikely event that the resistor 7 is heated. In addition to controlling the temperature with a POSISTOR (not shown) so that the temperature does not exceed a certain value due to an increase in the value, safety measures can be taken using a fuse or the like.

That is, FIG. 4 shows the electric control circuit 17 of the auger ice maker according to the present invention, in which the electromagnetic switch MS is connected to the drive motor 13, and the compressor
A second relay _X2 is connected to the CM. Further, the float switch FS is connected to the first relay X ₁ , and the electromagnetic switch MS is connected to thermal timers TM ₁ and TM ₂ ,
includes resistor 7, fuse F and thermostat.
Th is connected.

In the above configuration, the case where the auger type ice maker according to the present invention is operated is as follows.
First, water supply starts when the power is turned on, and the first relay
The water valve WV opens via the normally closed contact X ₁₁ of X ₁ to supply ice-making water to the ice-making water tank.
When the float switch FS detects a predetermined amount of ice-making water in the ice-making water tank (not shown), water supply is complete and energizes the first relay _X1 , which closes its normally open contact _{X12 .} The thermal timer is self-retained by the closure of the normally open contact X ₁₃ .
TM ₂ is energized, and after a predetermined time, its contact TM ₂₁ closes, and the electromagnetic switch MS operates to close its contact MS ₁ and drive the drive motor 13, while the thermostat Th detects an appropriate temperature and the resistor 7 turns on. On the other hand, the contacts of thermal timer TM ₁
TM ₁₁ enters with a delay in the contact operation of thermal timer TM ₂ , fan motor FM starts operating, and the normally open contact X ₂₁ of second relay X ₂ closes, compressor CM turns on and starts operating. . When ice making is started by the above-mentioned operation, ice grows on the inner surface of the freezer casing 1, and the shearbed-shaped ice scraped off by the screw blade 2 is fed into the ice compression passage 8 of the pressing head 5 and compressed into a rod-like shape. The ice becomes ice, which is cut by the cutter 10b, sent into the ice discharge cover 11, and led out to the outside. In this case, since the resistor 7 is energized in conjunction with the operation of the drive motor 13, the entire surface of the ice compression passage 8 is heated, and the surface of the bar-shaped ice is melted and softened, making it extremely easy to feed the ice. This makes it possible to reduce the load on the drive motor 13 and the bearing portion of the pressing head during ice compression.

f. Effects of the Invention Since the auger-type ice maker according to the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it is possible to suitably heat the surface of the ice compression passage of the pressing head formed of ceramic material, and to By heating the ice generated at the outlet to slightly soften and melt it, it is possible to greatly reduce the load on the drive system and the generation of abnormal noise when compressing the ice at the pressing head.

In addition, the ceramic press head has high wear resistance,
Since it also serves as a bearing for the screw blade, the reliability of the bearing structure can be greatly improved.

In this embodiment, a case has been described in which the resistor 7 is provided only on the pressing head 5, but as shown in FIG. 18 is installed and used in combination, it is possible to easily discharge compressed ice even more effectively.

In this embodiment, the case where the bearing ring 5b is provided on the pressing head 5 has been described, but although not shown, there is a case where the bearing hole 5a is directly formed in the center of the pressing head 5 without providing the bearing ring 5b. has the same effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an auger-type ice maker according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram with a cross section, Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the main parts of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the pressing head. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an electric control circuit section, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment. 1 is a freezing casing, 2 is a screw blade, 3 is a screw, 3a and 3b are upper and lower shaft parts, 4 is a fixing bolt, 5 is a pressing head, 5a is a bearing hole, 6 is a bearing part, 6a is a bearing hole, 7 is a resistor 8 is an ice compression passage, 9 is a power line, 10 is a cutter assembly, 10a is a bolt, 10b is a cutter, 11 is a discharge cover,
12 is a cooling pipe, 13 is a drive motor, 14 is a housing, 15 is an output shaft, 16 is an ice-making water supply pipe, 18 is an external heater, CM is a compressor, MS is an electromagnetic switch, and Th is a thermostat.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A screw blade 2 rotatably provided inside the cylindrical refrigeration casing 1 to guide the ice upward while scraping off ice frozen on the inner wall surface of the cylindrical refrigeration casing 1; A press head 5 having an ice compression passage 8 and entirely made of ceramic, a drive motor 13 disposed below the refrigeration casing 1 for rotating the screw blade 2, A resistor 7 is provided near the ice compression passage 8 and a cooling pipe 12 is provided outside the refrigeration casing. An auger-type ice maker characterized by being configured to heat.