JP2002350018A - Control method of ice container production system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method of an ice container production system for producing a transparent ice container. SOLUTION: In an ice container production system comprising a brine cooling unit, an ice making container being immersed into brine, and a stirrer for stirring water in the ice making container, brine temperature is sustained in the vicinity of freeze point while stirring the water in the ice making container weakly until it is frozen (step S11), an ice making timer is started (step S13) at a moment of time when the water in the ice making container begins to freeze (step S12) and, at the same time, freezing is progressed by stirring the water in the ice making container strongly thereby lowering the brine temperature abruptly (step S14). The ice making timer is ended upon elapsing a time set according to a matrix prestored in a memory (step S15) to stop operation of the cooling unit and then the brine temperature is raised again to the vicinity of freezing point (step S16) and the fact is informed to a user (step S17) before completing ice making.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling an ice container manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a transparent ice container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When offering dishes such as tastings, salads, desserts, etc. at weddings and banquets, a method of gorgeously producing dishes by placing them in a transparent and cool ice container. Have been done. A technique for manufacturing such an ice container is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-186173.

According to the publication, predetermined water is put into an ice making container, immersed in a brine tank, and the water in the ice making container is stirred by a stirring blade. Alternatively, frozen ice having a predetermined thickness is formed on the inner wall of the ice making container while stirring the water by blowing air. Next, after the unfrozen water is taken out of the ice making container with a vacuum pump or the like, the ice making container is left in a brine tank for a few minutes with the frozen ice adhered to make the ice temperature distribution within the wall thickness uniform. Then, the ice container is left at room temperature for several minutes, and then the ice container is removed from the ice container.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional method, it is necessary to constantly monitor the thickness of the ice formed in the ice making container. It was necessary to remove the unfrozen water with a vacuum pump. Then I had to wait a few minutes while still in the brine tank. As described above, since each process relies on human eyes and manual work, there is a problem in the manufacture of ice containers that a person must be constantly present at the manufacturing apparatus and other work cannot be performed.

The present invention solves the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling an ice container manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a transparent ice container.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems Claim 1 of the present invention provides:
A cooling unit that cools the brine filled in the heat insulating tank, and an ice making container immersed in the brine of the heat insulating tank,
In an ice container manufacturing apparatus having a stirrer for stirring the water supplied into the ice making container, the water in the ice making container is weakly stirred until the water freezes, and the brine temperature is maintained near the freezing point, At the time when the water in the ice-making container starts freezing, the water in the ice-making container is vigorously stirred, the brine temperature is rapidly lowered to promote freezing, and at the same time, the water in the ice-making container starts freezing. An ice making timer set according to the outside air temperature so as to start when the ice in the ice making container has grown to a predetermined thickness in advance, and to operate the cooling unit after the ice making timer ends. Was stopped and the agitation was weakened to increase the brine temperature to maintain the brine temperature near the freezing point, to inform the user of the completion of ice making, and to shake the water during the initial cooling operation. Ri suppresses the production of icing is not in cotton ice, ice timer grown to a predetermined thickness, crack ice is prevented occur by equalizing the temperature of the ice after the growth during release of ice.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a predetermined thickness is set in an ice-making container by an ice-making timer in which a set time is determined according to a matrix of time set according to an outside air temperature or the like stored in a storage device in advance. As a result, ice of a certain thickness can be made regardless of the outside temperature.

[0008] A third aspect of the present invention provides a stirrer,
Since pre-cooled air is used, the ice that is stirring the water is not heated and melted by the air.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, as a stirring device,
By changing the rotation speed of the stirring blades or changing the air blowing rate, increasing the agitation when refrigeration is required and weakening the agitation when the temperature is not desired to increase The resulting ice layer is kept optimal.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a support for detachably supporting an ice-making container is mounted on the heat-insulating tank so that the ice-making container can be easily replaced and the size and shape of the ice container can be formed to a desired shape. Like that.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an ice container manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view of a large ice making container support of the present invention, and (b). FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a small ice making container support of the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an ice container manufacturing apparatus. The ice container manufacturing apparatus includes a cooling unit 2 having a built-in cooling means, an ice making unit 3 to which a cooling medium is supplied from the cooling unit to actually make ice, and a control unit for controlling them. Control unit 4
It is composed of

The cooling unit 2 includes a compressor 5, a condenser 6,
It comprises a condenser fan 7, a fan motor 7a, a dehydrator 8, and an expansion valve 9. In addition, a suction pipe 10 formed in a loop shape, an air chamber 11 accommodating the pipe, and a blower 12 of a variable air volume for blowing air into the air chamber are provided.

In the ice making unit 3, the heat insulating tank 3A is formed by the heat insulating container 13 and the heat insulating lid 14, and the cooling pipe 15 is wound in the heat insulating container and the brine 16 is stored therein. . The cooling pipe 15 is connected to the cooling unit 2 via an inlet pipe 17 and an outlet pipe 18.
In one corner of the insulated container 13 filled with the brine 16,
A brine temperature sensor 19 is mounted to detect brine temperature.

Further, an ice making container support 20 is suspended inside the heat insulating container 13 and an ice making container 21 is mounted. The ice making container 21 is made of a stainless steel ball or the like, and includes a large ice making container 21a and a small ice making container 21b. Each ice making container support 20a, 20b has a hole 22a, 2 corresponding to each ice making container 21a, 21b.
2b is open, each ice container is dropped, and the flange 23 is placed on the upper end surface of the heat insulating container 13 to support each ice container in the brine 16.

The ice making container 21 is filled with water 24 such as tap water suitable for drinking. Water temperature sensor 2
5. The air tube 26 and the stirring blade 27 are immersed, and the upper surface is covered with the middle pig 28. The stirring blade 27 is driven by a stirring motor 29. The rotation speed of the stirring motor 29 can be changed. Then, the stirring motor 29 is connected to the heat insulating lid 14.
Mounted on top of. Further, a hole of an air vent 30 is formed in the heat insulating lid 14. In addition, a plurality of air tubes 2
6 is connected to the air chamber 11 via the air pipe 31.

The control unit 4 includes the brine temperature sensor 1
9. Based on the temperature detected by the water temperature sensor 25 and the outside air temperature sensor 34, based on a built-in storage device (not shown), the compressor 5,
The fan motor 7a, the blower 12, and the stirring motor 29 are controlled.

The operation during the ice making operation in the ice container manufacturing apparatus thus configured will be described. A brine 1 such as sodium chloride solution or calcium chloride solution
6 is prepared and poured into the heat insulating container 13. Next, the empty ice-making container 21 is dropped into the ice-making container support 20, and inserted into the heat-insulating container 13 as it is. Water 24 such as tap water is poured into the empty ice-making container 21. In addition, water 2
The order of water injection may be reversed. In the water 24, a water temperature sensor 25, an air tube 26, and the stirring blade 2
7, cover with medium pig 28, and further insulate lid 14.
To complete the ice making unit 3. Cooling pipe 1
Since the air tube 5 and the air tube 26 are already assembled with the cooling unit, there is no need to connect them again.

When a switch (not shown) of the control unit 4 is turned on, the compressor 5 and the fan motor 7a of the cooling unit 2 start rotating, and a cooling operation is performed. Further, the blower 12 and the stirring motor 29 also start operating (step S1).
0).

The refrigerant is discharged from the compressor 5 and is discharged from the condenser 6
And water and dust are filtered off by a dehydrator 8, decompressed by an expansion valve 9, passed through an inlet pipe 17, evaporated to a low temperature by a cooling pipe 15 of the ice making unit 3, and brought into contact with the cooling pipe 15. The brine 16 is gradually cooled. The refrigerant that has passed through the cooling pipe 15 passes through the outlet pipe 18, passes through the suction pipe 10, and passes through the compressor 5.
Is returned to. Since the refrigerant passing through the suction pipe 10 is a low-temperature gas, it is still sufficiently cold. Therefore, the blower 12
Is exchanged in an air chamber 11 containing the suction pipe 10 and cooled. Such a cooling method is economical because a special cooling device for cooling air is not required, and gasification is performed even if unevaporated liquid refrigerant is mixed with the refrigerant returning to the compressor 5. Liquid compression of the machine 5 is also avoided. In one ice making unit 3,
The stirring motor 29 rotates, and the water 24 in the ice making container 21 is stirred by the stirring blades 27, and the air is exhausted from the air tube 26 to form bubbles 32 to stir the water 24. Since the air is cooled, bubbles 24
Is never warmed. When the brine temperature sensor 19 constantly detects the brine temperature, the control unit maintains the brine temperature from -1C to -2C. During this time, the number of revolutions of the stirring motor 29 is reduced, the amount of air blown by the blower 12 is also reduced, and the stirring of the water 24 is reduced. -1 near the freezing point
Since the ice making container 21 is slowly cooled at a brine temperature of ℃ to -2 ℃, and the stirring of water is also slow, the water temperature slowly approaches the freezing temperature. Therefore, the water does not overcool below the freezing point. If the water subcools to -5 ° C to -10 ° C, the whole water freezes instantaneously due to some vibration,
The agitating blade 27 may be damaged, the agitating motor 29 may be locked, or air may be clogged, and the apparatus may be damaged. In the present invention, since the initial temperature of the brine 16 is from -1 ° C to -2 ° C,
The temperature of the water 24 does not cool down below this (step S11).

In step S12, when the temperature of the water 24 drops to the freezing point and the water temperature sensor 25 detects 0 ° C., the process proceeds to the next step S13.

In step S13, an ice making timer (not shown) is started. The ice making timer counts the ice making time according to a matrix stored in a storage device (not shown). A matrix is a table that contains data,
In this table, ice making time data and ice layer 33 thickness data are entered in a list for each outside air temperature. These data are based on test data collected by experiments. These data are stored in the storage device. If the thickness of the ice layer 33 is specified, the ice making time determined from the matrix according to the temperature detection of the outside air temperature sensor 34 is
The ice making timer automatically counts. Simultaneously with the start of the ice making timer, the process proceeds to step S14, in which the compressor 5 and the fan motor 7a are fully rotated, a large amount of refrigerant is circulated, and the brine temperature is reduced to -10C. At the same time, the rotation speed of the stirring motor 29 is increased, and the amount of air blown by the blower 12 is increased. Since the water 24 is not supercooled, the whole does not become cotton ice, and starts to freeze from the surface in contact with the ice making container 21, so that the ice layer 33 is generated smoothly. Since the air sent from the blower 12 is cooled in the air chamber 11, the ice layer 33 is not melted by the bubbles 32.

When the time required for the ice layer 33 in the ice making container 21 to reach a predetermined thickness has elapsed, the ice making timer is ended in step S15.

When the ice making timer expires, the operation of the compressor 5 and the fan motor 7a is stopped, the circulation of the refrigerant is stopped, and the brine temperature is gradually raised to -1 ° C to -2 ° C. at the same time,
The rotation speed of the stirring motor 29 is reduced, and the air volume of the blower 12 is reduced to weaken the stirring. By doing so, the ice layer 33 that has been laminated will not be melted and the water remaining in the ice making container 21 will not be frozen, so there is no need to pump out unfrozen water with a vacuum pump or the like. In addition, the reason why the brine temperature is raised to around the freezing temperature is to eliminate a large temperature difference between the inside and outside of the ice layer 33. That is, the temperature of the inner ice in contact with the unfrozen water is 0 ° C., and the temperature of the ice in contact with the ice making container 21 is −10 ° C. When the ice making container 21 is taken out in this state and the ice is peeled off, stress is generated in the ice due to a temperature difference between the inside and the outside, and the ice immediately cracks,
Multiple stripes appear on the transparent ice, which greatly impairs the appearance.
In order to prevent this, the temperature of the ice layer 33 is averaged.

When the brine temperature is stabilized at -1.degree. C. to -2.degree. C., the process proceeds to step S17, where the user is notified by a buzzer or flashing light, and the ice making container 21 can be taken out at any time. At this point, the user opens the heat-insulating lid 14, takes out the ice-making container support 20, takes out the middle lid 28, drains the unfrozen water, peels off the ice layer 33 from the ice-making container 21, and ends the process. Step S18). Such S1
The operations from 0 to S18 are performed by a microcomputer (not shown) incorporated in the control unit 4.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the ice making unit may be a water-cooled type, and the brine may be circulated. As a method of cooling the air, a separate air cooling device may be used, a refrigerant may be distributed and a part thereof may be borrowed, or electronic cooling of a Peltier device may be used.
Note that a swinging blade may be used instead of the rotary stirring blade. The specific temperature values described above are not strictly limited to this, and it goes without saying that the set temperature can be changed.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an initial cooling operation is performed in the vicinity of the freezing temperature, the thickness of the ice layer is controlled by a timer, and the ice temperature is averaged after lamination. it can. In this way, it is possible to prevent the formation of cotton ice at the time of freezing, to produce an ice container having a constant ice thickness regardless of the outside air temperature, and to manufacture a transparent ice container without cracks. Therefore, the manufacture of the ice container is less labor intensive,
There is an effect that other work can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a predetermined thickness is set in the ice-making container by the ice-making timer in which the set time is determined according to a matrix of the time set according to the outside air temperature or the like stored in the storage device in advance. As a result, ice of a certain thickness can be made regardless of the outside temperature.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the agitation is carried out by using the air bubbles of the cooled air, there is an effect that the temperature of the water can be quickly lowered without adding the residual heat to the water, and that the generation of ice can be performed quickly.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the stirring by the stirring blade or the air is linked with the cooling state,
Ice generation in the ice making container proceeds smoothly. Therefore, the ice layer generated in the ice making container can be kept optimal by increasing the agitation when refrigeration is required and decreasing the agitation when it is not desired to raise the temperature.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since various kinds of ice making containers can be easily replaced, an ice container having a desired size and shape can be used as long as the container is a concave ice making container. It can be manufactured and can provide a variety of food platters.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the ice container manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view of a large ice making container support of the present invention. (B) It is a perspective view of the small ice making container support of this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ice container manufacturing apparatus 2 Cooling unit 3 Ice making unit 4 Control unit 10 Suction pipe 11 Air chamber 12 Blower 13 Insulated container 15 Cooling pipe 16 Brine 19 Brine temperature sensor 20, 20a, 20b Ice container support 21, 21a, 21b Ice container 24 water 25 water temperature sensor 26 air tube 27 stirring blade 32 air bubble 33 ice layer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A cooling unit for cooling brine filled in a heat insulating tank, an ice making container immersed in brine of the heat insulating tank, and a stirring device for stirring water supplied into the ice making container. In the ice container manufacturing apparatus provided, the water in the ice making container is weakly stirred until the water is frozen, the brine temperature is maintained near the freezing point, and when the water in the ice making container starts freezing, the ice making container is frozen. While the water in the ice making container is vigorously agitated, the brine temperature is rapidly lowered to promote freezing, and at the same time, when the water in the ice making container starts freezing, the ice in the ice making container has a predetermined thickness. Further, an ice making timer set according to the outside air temperature is provided so as to end when the growth has been performed in advance, and after the ice making timer ends, the operation of the cooling unit is stopped and the stirring is reduced to reduce the brine temperature. And controlling the brine temperature near the freezing point to notify the user of the completion of ice making. 2. The method for controlling an ice container manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ice making timer determines a set time according to a matrix of time set according to an outside temperature stored in a storage device in advance. 3. The control method for an ice container manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein pre-cooled air is used as said stirring device. 4. The control method for an ice container manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stirring device is configured to change a rotation speed of a stirring blade or change an air blowing amount. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a support for detachably supporting the ice making container is mounted on the heat insulating tank.