JPH0131121B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrode structure in an ice thickness detection device, in which the ice surface surrounding the electrode rod is not affected by the presence of the electrode rod, and a signal corresponding to the ice thickness can be detected. The present invention relates to an electrode structure of an ice thickness detection device that is capable of detecting ice formation.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, for example, in a water cooling device called an ice bank, there is a detection device that controls the thickness of ice that grows on the cooling surface to be optimal. Electrically, the electrical conductivity of ice when it freezes is almost zero, so this can be done by detecting the difference between this and the water to be cooled, but the electrodes used for this The rod must always have the ability to follow the ice surface both when the ice is growing and when it is melting. However, for example, in the case of an electrode rod made of a material with good thermal conductivity, such as steel, the cooling surface is cooled to a low temperature when it freezes.
As the electrode rod is cooled from the frozen surface, the cooling water side is quickly cooled and covered with ice, and when the ice melts, heat is conducted from the cooled water side to the frozen side through the electrode rod, and the area surrounding the electrode rod quickly melts. Ice. In this way, the frozen surface surrounding the electrode rod cannot follow the average frozen surface on the cooling surface, making it impossible to accurately detect the frozen surface.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and has a thermal conductivity smaller than that of ice, and is an electrically insulating mandrel. It is a rod and is attached perpendicularly to the cooling surface.

As mentioned above, when a copper material is used as an electrode, such an electrode is inappropriate due to its high thermal conductivity. However, by making this as in the present invention, the axis of the electrode rod The heat conduction in the direction is the sum of the winding pitch of the thin metal wire and the heat conduction in the axial direction of the winding core, and its value can be made small in appearance. By using a material such as stainless steel wire, which has a lower thermal conductivity than the copper wire, it is possible to improve the ability to follow the frozen surface surrounding the electrode.

Furthermore, by forming an electrode rod in which two thin metal wires are wound in a double helical manner in parallel and at equal intervals around the core, the current flowing through the electrode wire can be passed through the cooled water excluding the frozen part between the two electrodes. By measuring this, it is possible to have excellent proportionality characteristics with respect to ice thickness.

This will be explained with reference to the diagram. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the case of mounting an electrode rod on the surface of a cooling pipe, where A is a conventional type, B is a type according to the present invention, and Figure 2 A is an electrode rod wound spirally with a thin metal wire. , B are examples of explanatory diagrams of an electrode rod wrapped with a thin metal wire in a double spiral. In Figures 1 and 2, 1 is a cooling pipe;
2 is a winding core made of an electrically insulating material whose thermal conductivity is smaller than that of ice; 3 is a thin metal wire such as stainless steel with a relatively low thermal conductivity; An electrode rod, 3, in which the thin wire 3 is wound around a mandrel 2 with a winding pitch such that the wires do not touch each other.
Reference numerals 1 and 32 are two thin metal wires wound in parallel and at equal intervals in a double spiral shape, and the electrode holder 4 can be fastened to the cooling pipe 1 with a band. 5 is an electrode conductor, 6 is a core wire of the conductor, 7 is a single-pole output terminal, 71 and 72 are independent two-electrode output terminals, 8 is water to be cooled, 9 is a frozen surface in the process of freezing, and 10 is a melting surface. The freezing surface of the ice process, 2' is the conventional electrode rod, 11 is the early freezing state of the conventional electrode, 12 is its early melting state, 13 is the ground side electrode 14 as the other electrode for the spiral electrode. indicates a regulator.

First, if cooling is performed using the latent heat of vaporization of the refrigerant in the cooling pipe 1, ice will form on the surface of the cooling pipe 1 placed in the water to be cooled 8. In the case of a conventional electrode as shown in FIG. When the ice melts, it will take on a shape like 12 due to early ice melting. Therefore, the current flowing through the cooled water 8 to the electrode rod 2' increases or decreases depending on the frozen surface, but the current value cannot always correspond to the frozen surface, and for this reason, the output current flowing through the electrode is A hysteresis phenomenon occurs when freezing occurs, and the regulator 14 becomes unable to control the thickness of the ice.

In the present invention, the thermal conductivity of the winding core 2 is lower than that of ice, and the electrode rod is constructed by winding a thin metal wire spirally around the outer periphery of the winding core, which has electrical insulation properties. Heat conduction through the spirally wound metal wire occurs in the direction of the outer periphery, and the heat transfer in the axial direction of the electrode is the sum of the winding pitch of the metal wire and the heat conduction of the winding core itself. , the movement of heat along the axis of the electrode is apparently blocked, resulting in an early freezing state 11 as shown in Figure 1A.
This eliminates the occurrence of phenomena such as ice melting and early ice melting state 12.

In other words, the ice surrounding the electrode 3 forms the same surface as the ice in the cooling pipe 1, and the cooled water 8 between it and the ground electrode 13
The current value flowing through the ice cap will always correspond to the frozen surface. This current value can be used to control the amount of refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe, thereby making it possible to reliably control the thickness of the frozen surface.

Next, as shown in Figure 2B, two thin metal wires 3
In the case where electrodes 1 and 32 are wound in parallel in a double helical pattern with equal spacing, current flows through the cooled water between the thin metal wires between the two electrodes 31 and 32, which are close to each other. Since the length of the thin metal wire serving as the electrode is shortened due to freezing, the corresponding current decreases, and the proportional relationship between the thickness of the ice and the current between the electrodes becomes extremely excellent.

Of course, it is also possible to set the apparent heat conduction of the electrode rod to an appropriate value by vapor depositing a semiconductor or other metal on the surface of the core rod as described above, or by other similar methods. Conceptually, such things are also included in the present invention.

Since the present invention has an ice thickness detection electrode having the above-described structure, the ice surface surrounding the electrode always follows the ice thickness on the ice tube surface both during the growth and melting of the ice, which is extremely simple. A high degree of control accuracy and output characteristics can be obtained by using an electrode rod made of a spiral metal wire having a similar structure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the installation of the electrode for detecting ice thickness, where A is the conventional electrode, B is the electrode according to the present invention,
Figure 2 A and B are examples of detailed diagrams of electrodes. 1...Cooling pipe, 2...Winding rod, 3...Monopolar thin metal wire, 4...Electrode holder, 5...Electrode conductor wire, 6...
... Core wire of conductor, 7 ... Unipolar output terminal, 8 ... Water to be cooled, 9 ... Frozen surface in the process of freezing and growth, 10 ... Frozen surface in the process of melting, 2' ... Conventional electrode rod, 11 …
... Conventional early freezing state, 12 ... Conventional early ice melting state, 13 ... Ground side electrode, 14 ... Adjuster, 3
1, 32... spiral metal thin wire, 71, 72... 2
Electrode output terminal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an electrode of an ice thickness detection device that grows on a cooling surface due to the difference in electrical conductivity between ice and water, the thermal conductivity has a smaller value than that of ice, and the electrical conductivity is smaller than that of ice. The electrode rod is made by winding a thin metal wire in a spiral around the outer periphery of a winding core, which has electrically insulating properties, and the water flows between the spiral electrode and other electrodes in the water through the cooled water portion excluding the frozen portion. An electrode structure of an ice thickness detection device characterized by detecting ice thickness using electric current. 2. The ice formation thickness detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the other electrode is formed by winding fine metal wires around the core in a double helical shape parallel to and at equal intervals with respect to the spiral electrode. Electrode structure.