Ice maker

Abstract

This design allows for appropriate cooling operation based on the state of the ice inside the ice maker / storage unit, without requiring a temperature sensor for cooling operation within the unit itself. [Solution] The ice maker 10 is controlled to perform an ice-making operation in ice-making mode, where ice-making water is frozen in the ice-making section 21 cooled by the refrigeration device 30 to produce ice to be stored in the ice-making storage compartment 12. When the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice-making storage compartment 12 is full of ice, the ice maker is controlled to enter standby mode and wait without producing ice to be stored in the ice-making storage compartment 12. During standby mode, the operation of the refrigeration device 30 is controlled to cool the ice-making section 21, thereby enabling a cooling operation to be performed to cool the inside of the ice-making storage compartment 12. The time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 no longer detects that the ice-making storage compartment 12 is full of ice is measured, and the cooling operation is controlled based on this measured time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an ice maker that produces ice in an ice-making unit provided in an ice-making and ice-storing refrigerator. When the ice-making and ice-storing refrigerator is filled with ice, the ice-making unit waits for ice production, and the ice-making unit is cooled by a refrigeration device to execute a cold storage operation for keeping the inside of the ice-making and ice-storing refrigerator cold.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of an ice maker that produces ice in an ice-making unit provided in an ice-making chamber. This ice maker includes an ice-making unit that freezes ice-making water to produce ice, a refrigeration device that cools the ice-making unit with a refrigerant circulated and supplied by a compressor, a water supply means that sends ice-making water to the ice-making unit, an ice-making chamber in which the ice-making unit is disposed, an ice storage chamber that is disposed below the ice-making chamber and stores the ice produced by the ice-making unit, and an ice storage detector that detects that the ice storage chamber is filled with ice.

[0003] In this ice maker, an ice-making operation in which ice-making water is sent out by the water supply means and frozen in the ice-making unit cooled by the refrigeration device to produce ice, and a defrosting operation in which hot gas is sent from the refrigeration device to the ice-making unit to detach ice from the ice-making unit are alternately executed to produce ice stored in the ice storage chamber. When the ice storage detector does not detect that the ice storage chamber is filled with ice, the ice-making operation and the defrosting operation are alternately executed as an ice-making mode to control the production of ice stored in the ice storage chamber. When the ice storage detector detects that the ice storage chamber is filled with ice, the ice-making operation and the defrosting operation are not executed as an ice storage mode (standby mode), and the ice maker waits without producing ice stored in the ice storage chamber.

[0004] This ice maker can execute a cold storage operation for suppressing an increase in the temperature inside the ice storage chamber during the ice storage mode. An ice storage chamber temperature sensor is provided in the ice storage chamber. When it is in the ice storage mode, the operation of the refrigeration device is controlled based on the detected temperature of the ice storage chamber temperature sensor, and the inside of the ice storage chamber is cooled by the ice-making unit to suppress an increase in temperature.

[0005] Patent Document 2 discloses an invention for an ice maker that produces ice in an ice-making section located within an ice-making chamber. This ice maker comprises an ice-making section that freezes ice-making water to produce ice, a refrigeration device that cools the ice-making section with a refrigerant circulated and supplied by a compressor, a water supply means that delivers ice-making water to the ice-making section, an ice-making chamber in which the ice-making section is located, an ice storage chamber located below the ice-making chamber for storing the ice produced in the ice-making section, and an ice storage detector that detects when the ice storage chamber is filled with ice.

[0006] In this ice maker, ice is produced for storage in the ice storage chamber by alternately performing two operations: an ice-making operation, which involves sending ice-making water through a water supply means to an ice-making section cooled by a refrigeration device and freezing it; and a de-icing operation, which involves sending hot gas from the refrigeration device to the ice-making section to separate the ice from the ice-making section. When the ice storage detector does not detect that the ice storage chamber is full, the machine is controlled to alternately perform ice-making and de-icing operations to produce ice for storage in the ice storage chamber. When the ice storage detector detects that the ice storage chamber is full, the machine is controlled to remain in storage mode (standby mode), not performing ice-making or de-icing operations, and does not produce ice for storage in the ice storage chamber.

[0007] This ice maker is capable of performing a cooling operation to suppress the rise in temperature inside the ice-making chamber during ice storage mode. An ice-making chamber temperature sensor is installed inside the ice-making chamber, and when in ice storage mode, the operation of the refrigeration system is controlled based on the temperature detected by the ice-making chamber temperature sensor, and the ice-making chamber is cooled by the ice-making unit to suppress the rise in temperature. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-032062 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2024-054945 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] In the ice maker described in Patent Document 1, the operation of the refrigeration system is controlled based on an ice storage room temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside the ice storage room (ice making storage compartment), and the ice storage room temperature sensor is located inside the ice storage room. In the ice maker described in Patent Document 2, the operation of the refrigeration system is controlled based on an ice making room temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside the ice making room (ice making storage compartment), and the ice making room temperature sensor is located inside the ice making compartment. In the ice makers described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, not only are temperature sensors separately provided in the ice storage room or ice making compartment to perform the cooling operation, but the temperature sensors provided for the cooling operation are located in places where ice making water or melted ice water may adhere to them, such as the ice storage room or ice making compartment. Therefore, the temperature sensors need to be waterproof or drip-proof, which may increase costs. The present invention aims to enable the appropriate cooling operation to be performed according to the state of the ice inside the ice making storage compartment without using a temperature sensor for the cooling operation in the ice making storage compartment. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To solve the above problems, the present invention comprises an ice-making unit that freezes ice-making water to produce ice, an ice-making storage unit that is positioned above the ice-making unit and forms a space for storing the ice produced in the ice-making unit, a refrigeration device for cooling the ice-making unit, and an ice storage detector that detects when the ice-making storage unit is full of ice. When the ice storage detector does not detect that the ice-making storage unit is full of ice, the system controls the ice-making operation to be performed in ice-making mode, in which the ice-making unit cooled by the refrigeration device freezes the ice-making water to produce ice, thereby producing ice to be stored in the ice-making storage unit. This ice maker is characterized in that, when an intelligent device detects that the ice-making storage compartment is full of ice, it is controlled to enter a standby mode and not perform ice-making operations, remaining in standby mode without producing ice to store in the ice-making storage compartment, and during standby mode, the operation of the refrigeration device is controlled to cool the ice-making section, thereby enabling a cooling operation to cool the ice-making storage compartment. The ice maker measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice-storage detector no longer detects that the ice-making storage compartment is full of ice, and controls the cooling operation based on this measured time.

[0011] In the ice maker configured as described above, the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector no longer detects that the ice storage compartment is full of ice is measured, and the cooling operation is controlled based on this measured time. When the temperature inside the ice storage compartment is kept low, the ice inside the compartment does not melt easily for a long time, and the system does not switch from standby mode to ice-making mode in a short time. Conversely, when the temperature inside the ice storage compartment is not kept low, the time it takes for the ice inside the compartment to melt is short, and the system switches from standby mode to ice-making mode in a short time. The system measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector no longer detects that the ice maker / storage compartment is full of ice. If this measurement time is long, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice maker / storage compartment is being kept low, so the frequency of cooling operation is reduced (cooling operation is not performed). If this measurement time is short, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice maker / storage compartment is not being kept low, so the frequency of cooling operation is increased. By doing so, the ice maker / storage compartment can be kept at an appropriate temperature without using a temperature sensor for cooling operation.

[0012] In an ice maker configured as described above, it is preferable to be able to change the length of the cooling operation according to the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector stops detecting that the ice storage compartment is filled with ice during standby mode. If the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector stops detecting that the ice storage compartment is filled with ice is low, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice storage compartment is maintained at a low level, and therefore the ice storage compartment can be kept at an appropriate temperature even if the length of the cooling operation is shortened. On the other hand, if the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector stops detecting that the ice storage compartment is filled with ice is high, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice storage compartment is not maintained at a low level, and therefore the ice storage compartment can be kept at an appropriate temperature by lengthening the length of the cooling operation. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of the ice maker of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of the ice maker of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram showing the ice-making section and water tray. [Figure 4] This is a block diagram of the control device. [Figure 5] This is a time chart for the ice-making mode and the initial standby mode. [Figure 6] This is a time chart of the standby mode when the unit is controlled to perform ice-making mode and cooling operation. [Figure 7] This is a time chart for the standby mode when the ice-making mode and cooling operation are controlled not to be performed. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0014] An embodiment of the ice maker of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the ice maker 10 of the present invention is a so-called closed-cell type ice maker, and is equipped with an ice-making storage compartment 12 and a machine room 17 within a housing 11. The ice-making storage compartment 12 is equipped with an ice-making chamber 13 at the top where the ice-making mechanism 20 and the ice-making unit 21 are located to produce ice, and an ice-storage chamber 14 below the ice-making chamber 13 for storing the ice produced by the ice-making unit 21. The inside of the ice-making storage compartment 12 is partitioned by a drain pan (partition) 15 to allow ice and cold air to pass through. An insulating member (not shown) is provided on the outer surface of the ice-making storage compartment 12, and the ice-making storage compartment 12 is covered in an insulating state by the insulating member.

[0015] As shown in Figure 1, the front of the ice storage chamber 14 of the ice-making and ice storage unit 12 has two outlets 12a and 12b, which are openings used for taking out ice, and the outlets 12a and 12b are closed by a door 16 that can be opened and closed. In this embodiment, the door 16 has a first door 16a that can be opened and closed to close the upper outlet 12a, and a second door 16b that can be opened and closed to close the lower outlet 12b. The first door 16a uses two sliding doors and is supported on the upper front of the ice storage chamber 14 so as to be movable from side to side. The second door 16b uses a hinged door and its lower end is supported on the lower front of the ice storage chamber 14 so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis. The machine room 17 is located on the upper part of the housing 11, adjacent to the ice-making chamber 13 in the horizontal direction, and contains mechanical parts such as the refrigeration device 30, excluding the evaporator 34 of the ice-making mechanism 20. In Figure 1, the ice in the ice storage chamber 14 is shown by a dashed line.

[0016] As shown in Figure 2, the ice maker 10 is equipped with an ice-making mechanism 20 that produces ice. The ice-making mechanism 20 includes an ice-making unit 21 that freezes ice-making water to produce ice, a refrigeration device 30 capable of cooling and heating the ice-making unit 21, and a water supply means 22 that supplies ice-making water to the ice-making unit 21. The ice-making unit 21 is located inside the ice-making chamber 13 and is a shallow, box-shaped structure with an open bottom. A grid-like partition member is provided inside the box to form multiple ice-making compartments 21a that open to the bottom. Ice-making water is sprayed into each ice-making compartment 21a from below, and block-shaped ice is formed inside each ice-making compartment 21a as the ice-making water freezes.

[0017] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, an evaporator 34, which constitutes the refrigeration system 30, is located on the upper surface of the ice-making unit 21. The refrigeration system 30 is capable of cooling or heating the ice-making unit 21 through cooling and heating operations, and is located in the machine room 17, except for the evaporator 34 which is located above the ice-making unit 21 in the ice-making chamber 13. As shown in Figure 2, the refrigeration system 30 includes a compressor 31 that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser 32 that cools and liquefies the refrigerant pumped from the compressor 31, an expansion valve 33 that expands the liquefied refrigerant liquefied in the condenser 32 to produce low-pressure liquefied refrigerant, and an evaporator 34 that vaporizes the liquefied refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve 33 to cool the ice-making unit 21. The refrigeration system 30 is configured as a refrigeration circuit by connecting the compressor 31, condenser 32, expansion valve 33, and evaporator 34 in a ring shape with refrigerant pipes. When the refrigeration unit 30 is put into cooling operation, the refrigerant pumped from the compressor 31 is cooled in the condenser 32 to become liquefied refrigerant. The liquefied refrigerant then becomes low-pressure liquefied refrigerant in the expansion valve 33, and the heat of vaporization generated when the low-pressure liquefied refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator 34 cools the ice-making unit 21.

[0018] In order to prevent the compressor 31 from repeatedly starting and stopping (operating and stopping operation) in a short period of time, a minimum operating time (3 minutes in this embodiment) and a minimum stop time (3 minutes in this embodiment) are set. Therefore, in the cold storage operation described later, based on the minimum operating time and the minimum stop time of the compressor 31, a cold storage operation time for cooling and storing the refrigeration device 30 by operating the refrigeration device 30 and a cold storage standby time for waiting without operating the refrigeration device 30 are set. A condenser fan 32a is provided in the condenser 32, and the refrigerant passing through the condenser 32 is cooled by the air blown by the condenser fan 32a. A condenser temperature sensor 32b is provided in the condenser 32, and the condenser temperature sensor 32b is used to detect the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the condenser 32. The evaporator 34 uses a pipe member with high thermal conductivity and is arranged in a meandering shape above the ice making section 21.

[0019] Further, the refrigeration device 30 includes a hot gas pipe (hot gas path) 35 that supplies hot gas to the evaporator 34. The hot gas pipe 35 connects the downstream of the compressor 31 and the upstream of the evaporator 34 and guides the hot gas from the compressor 31 to the evaporator 34. A hot gas valve 36 is interposed in the hot gas pipe 35, and the hot gas valve 36 enables the hot gas pipe 35 to be opened and closed. When the refrigeration device 30 is operated for heating, the hot gas sent out from the compressor 31 is guided to the evaporator 34 by the opening of the hot gas valve 36, and the hot gas heats the ice making section 21 when passing through the evaporator 34. Thus, the ice making section 21 is cooled by the evaporation of the refrigerant circulating by the cooling operation of the refrigeration device 30 in the evaporator 34, and is heated by the hot gas sent from the compressor 31 to the evaporator 34 by the heating operation of the refrigeration device 30.

[0020] As shown in Fig. 2, a water delivery means 22 for delivering ice-making water is provided below the ice-making section 21. The water delivery means 22 includes a water tray 23 that closes the lower side of the ice-making chamber 21a of the ice-making section 21 in an openable and closable manner, a tank 24 that stores ice-making water below the water tray 23, and a water delivery pump 25 that delivers the ice-making water in the tank 24 to the ice-making section 21. The water tray 23, the tank 24, and the water delivery pump 25 are disposed in the ice-making chamber 13 in the same manner as the ice-making section 21. The water tray 23 is pivotally supported so as to be tiltable about a horizontal axis between a closed position (shown by a solid line in Fig. 2) that closes the lower side of the ice-making chamber 21a and an open position (shown by a two-dot chain line in Fig. 2) that opens the lower side of the ice-making chamber 21a. An opening and closing mechanism 26 is provided on the water tray 23, and the water tray 23 tilts between the closed position and the open position by the drive of the actuator motor 26a of the opening and closing mechanism 26 to open and close the lower side of the ice-making chamber 21a. As shown in Fig. 3, an ice-making water passage 23a for sending the ice-making water sent from the tank 24 to each ice-making chamber 21a is formed in the water tray 23, and injection holes 23b for injecting the ice-making water from the ice-making water passage 23a into each ice-making chamber 21a are formed on the upper surface of the water tray 23.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 2, the ice-making mechanism section 20 includes a water supply means 27 for supplying water to the tank 24. The water supply means 27 includes a water supply pipe 27a for supplying water from a water supply source such as a water supply as ice-making water, and a water supply valve 27b interposed in the water supply pipe 27a. The water supply port at the tip of the water supply pipe 27a is disposed above the water tray 23, and the water from the water supply source is sent above the water tray 23 and sent into the tank 24 through a return port (not shown) formed in the water tray 23. The ice-making water in the tank 24 is sent by the water delivery pump 25 to the ice-making water passage 23a of the water tray 23, and the ice-making water sent to the ice-making water passage 23a is injected from the injection holes 23b into the ice-making chamber 21a. The injected ice-making water is cooled in the ice-making chamber 21a and then returns to the tank 24 through the return port. The ice-making water is cooled while circulating between the tank 24 and the ice-making chamber 21a and freezes in the ice-making chamber 21a to become ice.

[0022] As shown in Figure 2, a drain pan 15 is provided on the lower side of the tank 24. The drain pan 15 prevents dripping water from the ice-making mechanism 20 from falling into the ice storage chamber and also receives the ice-making water remaining in the tank 24 after ice-making operation. A drain pipe (not shown) is connected to the drain pan 15, and the ice-making water received in the drain pan 15 is discharged to the outside of the housing 11 through the drain pipe. The drain pan 15 also covers the lower side of the ice-making unit 21 and the water supply means 22, and functions as a partition separating the ice-making chamber 13 and the ice storage chamber 14, with a discharge port 15a for discharging ice produced by the ice-making unit 21 into the ice storage chamber 14. The discharge port 15a is an opening formed in the drain pan 15, and in this embodiment, it is formed at a position to the right of the center of the ice-making chamber 13 in the left-right direction, and spaced apart from the front and rear of the ice-making chamber 13.

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, the ice-making unit 21 is equipped with an ice-making unit temperature sensor 41, which detects the temperature of the ice-making unit 21, thereby enabling detection of the completion of ice-making during the ice-making operation and the completion of ice-removal during the ice-removal operation, as described later. The ice storage chamber 14 of the ice-making storage unit 12 is equipped with an ice storage detector 42 that detects when it is filled with ice. The ice storage detector 42 is positioned to extend from the ice-making chamber 13 to the ice storage chamber 14, straddling the discharge port 15a, and detects the ice accumulated in the upper part of the ice storage chamber 14 below the discharge port 15a, thereby detecting when the ice storage chamber 14 is filled with ice.

[0024] The ice maker 10 is equipped with a control device 50, which, as shown in Figure 4, is connected to the water supply pump 25, the actuator motor 26a of the opening / closing mechanism 26, the water supply valve 27b, the compressor 31, the condenser fan 32a, the condenser temperature sensor 32b, the hot gas valve 36, the ice making section temperature sensor 41, and the ice storage detector 42. The control device 50 has a microcomputer (not shown), which includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, and timer (all not shown) connected via a bus. The control device 50 has an ice making program that alternately and repeatedly executes an ice making operation, in which the ice making section 21 freezes the ice making water to produce ice, and a de-icing operation, in which the ice frozen in the ice making section 21 is detached and removed.

[0025] As shown in Figure 5, when the ice storage detector 42 does not detect that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12 is filled with ice, the control device 50 operates an ice-making program that alternately repeats ice-making and de-icing operations to produce ice for storage in the ice storage compartment 14. When the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice, the control device 50 operates in standby mode without executing the ice-making program that alternates between ice-making and de-icing operations. As shown in Figure 6, during this standby mode, the control device 50 controls the operation of the refrigeration unit 30 to enable a cooling operation that cools the inside of the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12.

[0026] The purpose of the cooling operation is to maintain a low temperature inside the ice-making chamber 13 of the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12 to suppress the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, and to prevent the ice from melting while preventing arching, which occurs when multiple ice cubes stored in the ice-storage chamber 14 of the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12 freeze and fuse together. The cooling operation cools the ice-making unit 21 by the cooling operation (activation) of the refrigeration unit 30, and the cooled ice-making unit 21 cools the ice-making chamber 13 and the ice-storage chamber 14 of the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12. By performing the cooling operation, the inside of the ice-making chamber 13 is cooled by the ice-making unit 21 cooled by the cooling operation of the refrigeration unit 30, and further, the inside of the ice-storage chamber 14 is cooled by the flow of cold air from inside the ice-making chamber 13. The ice-making chamber 13 is kept at a low temperature by the cooled ice-making unit 21, suppressing the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms and ensuring hygiene. In the ice storage chamber 14, the cold air flowing down from the ice-making chamber 13 through the discharge port 15a prevents the ice from melting. However, if the cooling operation is performed continuously during standby mode, the ice-making and ice storage compartment 12 may be excessively cooled, potentially causing arching, where multiple ice blocks stored in the ice storage chamber 14 freeze and fuse together. For this reason, the system is controlled to perform the cooling operation intermittently during standby mode. Specifically, during standby mode, the system performs a cooling operation of the refrigeration unit 30 for 3 to 5 minutes, and then repeatedly performs a cooling standby period of 250 to 500 minutes without operating the refrigeration unit 30.

[0027] The temperature inside the ice-making storage compartment 12 is easily affected by the ambient temperature of the location where the ice maker 10 is installed. If the ice-making storage compartment 12 is not sufficiently cooled during standby mode, it may not only make it difficult to maintain hygiene inside the ice-making compartment 13, but it may also cause the ice in the ice storage compartment 14 to melt more easily. Furthermore, if the ice-making storage compartment 12 is excessively cooled during standby mode, it may maintain hygiene inside the ice-making compartment 13, but it may cause arching, where multiple ice cubes stored in the ice storage compartment 14 freeze and fuse together.

[0028] As shown in Figure 5, in this ice maker 10, in order to determine whether or not a cooling operation is necessary to be performed during standby mode and the duration of the cooling operation, when the machine transitions from ice-making mode to standby mode for the first time, a timer measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice-making storage cabinet 12 is filled with ice. Based on the time measured by the timer, the machine controls the cooling operation to be performed during subsequent standby modes.

[0029] If the temperature inside the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12 is not low enough, the ice in the ice-storage compartment 14 will melt easily, and the time from the start of standby mode to the transition to ice-making mode will be shortened. Therefore, if the ice-storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice-storage compartment 14 is full of ice after a short time (for example, less than 2 hours) from the start of standby mode, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12 is not being maintained at a low level. In such cases, as shown in Figure 6, the system is controlled to perform the cooling operation from the next standby mode. On the other hand, if the ice-storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice-storage compartment 14 is full of ice after a long time (for example, more than 2 hours) from the start of standby mode, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice-making and ice-storage unit 12 is being maintained at a low level. In such cases, as shown in Figure 7, the system is controlled not to perform the cooling operation from the next standby mode.

[0030] Furthermore, when transitioning from ice-making mode to the initial standby mode, the timer measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice-making and ice storage unit 12 is filled with ice. In addition, for example, at each predetermined number of transitions to standby mode (for example, every 10 times), the timer measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice-making and ice storage unit 12 is filled with ice. Based on the time measured by the timer, the cooling operation to be performed during subsequent standby modes may be controlled. Furthermore, after transitioning from ice-making mode to the initial standby mode, for example, after 720 to 1000 hours have elapsed, the timer measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice-making storage unit 12 is full of ice. By controlling the cooling operation to be performed during subsequent standby modes based on the timer measurement time, the cooling operation control can be reviewed at intervals of approximately 1 to 1.5 months, and the cooling operation control can be reviewed on a monthly or seasonal basis. In this way, by periodically reviewing the cooling operation control to be performed during subsequent standby modes based on the timer measurement time, the ice maker 10 can keep up with changes in the outside temperature of the installation location. Note that if the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice-making storage unit 12 is full of ice within a short period of time (for example, within 1 hour), it is assumed that the user has removed ice from the ice storage compartment 14, and in this case, it may be excluded from the timer measurement time. Similarly, door open detectors (not shown) are provided at the outlets 12a and 12b of the ice maker / ice storage unit 12 to detect when the doors 16 (doors 16a and 16b) are opened. When the door open detector detects that the door 16 is open, or when the door open detector detects that the door 16 is open for a short time and the ice storage detector 42 no longer detects that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice maker / ice storage unit 12 is filled with ice, these times may be excluded from the timer's measurement time. Furthermore, the time period used by the user of the ice maker 10 may be set, and the timer's measurement during that time period may be excluded.

[0031] If the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice many times per day, it is assumed that the outside temperature at the installation location of the ice maker 10 is high, and the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is likely to be high as well. In this case, the cooling operation time during standby mode is increased, or the cooling standby time is decreased. Conversely, if the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice few times per day, it is assumed that the outside temperature at the installation location of the ice maker 10 is low, and the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is unlikely to be high as well. In this case, the cooling operation time during standby mode is decreased, or the cooling standby time is increased.

[0032] Furthermore, when the door 16 is opened and ice is removed from the outlets 12a and 12b, the amount of ice stored in the ice storage compartment 14 decreases, and the ice storage detector 42 no longer detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is full of ice. If the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is full of ice within a short time after starting standby mode, it is highly likely that ice has been removed from the ice storage compartment 14. When the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is full of ice and the system switches back to ice-making mode, the ice-making and ice storage compartment 12 is cooled by the ice-making operation. Therefore, if the system frequently switches from standby mode to ice-making mode in short periods of time, there is no need to perform the cooling operation during standby mode.

[0033] Therefore, when the system is controlled to enable cooling operation during standby mode, if the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice within a short time (e.g., within 1 hour) after the start of standby mode, the system is controlled not to perform cooling operation during standby mode. The system monitors the interval between when the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice, over a predetermined monitoring period (e.g., 8 hours) from the start of standby mode. If the interval between when the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice becomes longer than 1 hour, it is considered that the frequency of removing ice from the ice storage compartment 14 has decreased, and the system is controlled to enable cooling operation during standby mode.

[0034] Next, the ice-making program executed during ice-making mode will be described. As shown in Figure 5, when the control device 50 executes the ice-making program during ice-making mode, the ice-making unit 21 repeatedly performs ice-making and de-icing operations alternately. When the control device 50 performs ice-making operation, it cools the refrigeration unit 30, causing the refrigerant pumped from the compressor 31 to be liquefied in the condenser 32, which then expands in the expansion valve 33 to become low-pressure liquefied refrigerant. This low-pressure liquefied refrigerant vaporizes in the evaporator 34 and returns to the compressor 31, and the ice-making unit 21 is cooled by the vaporization of the liquefied refrigerant in the evaporator 34. In addition, the control device 50 tilts the water tray 23 to the closed position using the actuator motor 26a of the opening / closing mechanism 26, and opens the water supply valve 27b for a predetermined time according to the capacity of the tank 24, thereby storing the amount of ice-making water necessary to form ice in the ice-making unit 21 in the tank 24.

[0035] When the control device 50 operates the water supply pump 25 while the refrigeration unit 30 is in cooling operation, the ice-making water in the tank 24 is sprayed into each ice-making chamber 21a of the ice-making unit 21 by the operation of the water supply pump 25. The sprayed ice-making water is cooled in each ice-making chamber 21a and returns to the tank 24, and as the ice-making water circulates between the tank 24 and each ice-making chamber 21a, it is cooled and gradually freezes in each ice-making chamber 21a. When the amount of ice-making water in the tank 24 decreases and the ice-making water freezes in each ice-making chamber 21a to form block-shaped ice, and the temperature detected by the ice-making unit temperature sensor 41 falls below the ice-making completion temperature, the control device 50 terminates the ice-making operation and starts the de-icing operation.

[0036] During the de-icing operation after the ice-making operation, the control device 50 opens the hot gas valve 36 while the compressor 31 is operating, causing the refrigeration unit 30 to heat up, and the actuator motor 26a of the opening / closing mechanism 26 tilts the water tray 23 to the open position. When the refrigeration unit 30 is heated, the hot gas sent from the compressor 31 is guided through the hot gas pipe 35 to the evaporator 34, heating each of the ice-making compartments 21a of the ice-making unit 21. The temperature of the ice-making unit 21 gradually rises due to the hot gas introduced into the evaporator 34, and the ice frozen in each of the ice-making compartments 21a detaches, slides down the top surface of the water tray 23, and falls into the ice storage chamber 14 through the discharge port 15a. As the ice-making unit 21 gradually rises as the ice detaches, the control device 50 detects that there is no ice remaining in the ice-making chamber 21a of the ice-making unit 21, i.e., that de-icing is complete, and closes the hot gas valve 36 to end the de-icing operation. If the ice storage detector 42 has not detected that the ice storage chamber 14 is filled with ice, the control device 50 restarts the ice-making program which alternates between ice-making and de-icing operations as described above. In this way, the control device 50 controls the ice-making program to alternate between ice-making and de-icing operations in ice-making mode until the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage chamber 14 is filled with ice.

[0037] When the system is controlled to execute an ice-making program that alternates between ice-making and de-icing operations, the ice-making compartment 14 of the ice-making storage unit 12 will be filled with ice produced by the ice-making unit 21. When the ice-storage detector 42 detects that the ice-storage compartment 14 is full of ice (when the ice-storage detector 42 turns ON (full) in Figure 5), the control device 50 terminates the ice-making mode and switches to standby mode, controlling the system to remain in standby mode without executing the ice-making program that alternates between ice-making and de-icing operations.

[0038] As shown in Figure 5, in the initial standby mode, no cooling operation is performed. Instead, a timer measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice maker / ice storage unit 12 is filled with ice. Based on the time measured by the timer, the system controls the cooling operation to be performed during subsequent standby modes. If the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice in less than two hours from the start of standby mode, it is considered that the environment inside the ice maker / ice storage unit 12 is prone to high temperatures, and the system controls the system to perform the cooling operation from the next standby mode, as shown in Figure 6. Conversely, if the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice after two hours or more from the start of standby mode, it is considered that the environment inside the ice maker / ice storage unit 12 is not prone to high temperatures, and the system controls the system not to perform the cooling operation from the next standby mode, as shown in Figure 7.

[0039] When the user frequently removes ice from the ice storage compartment 14 through the outlets 12a and 12b by opening the door 16, the system will quickly switch back to ice-making mode even after transitioning from ice-making mode to standby mode. As a result, the ice-making compartment 12 is cooled by the ice-making operation during the ice-making mode, reducing the need to perform a cooling operation during standby mode. In contrast, when the user does not frequently remove ice from the ice storage compartment 14, the system is less likely to switch back to ice-making mode after transitioning from ice-making mode to standby mode. Therefore, it is necessary to control the system to enable a cooling operation during standby mode to properly maintain the temperature inside the ice-making compartment 12.

[0040] Therefore, if the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 14 is full of ice within one hour of starting the standby mode, which is controlled to enable cooling operation, it is highly likely that ice has been removed from the ice storage compartment 14. In this case, it is highly likely that ice will be removed from the ice storage compartment 14 frequently, and the ice-making and ice storage compartment 12 will be cooled by performing ice-making operations during the ice-making mode. From this point onward, the system is controlled not to perform cooling operation during standby mode, and the interval between detections of ice filling the ice storage compartment 14 by the ice storage detector 42 within the 8-hour monitoring period from the start of standby mode is monitored. If the interval between detections of ice filling the ice storage compartment 14 by the ice storage detector 42 is one hour or longer, it is considered that the frequency of removing ice from the ice storage compartment 14 has decreased, and the system is controlled to enable cooling operation during standby mode.

[0041] Furthermore, if the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice many times per day, it is considered that the outside temperature at the installation location of the ice maker 10 is high, and the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is likely to be high as well. In this case, it is considered that the ice inside the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice storage compartment 12 is likely to melt easily. Therefore, the cooling operation time during standby mode is increased, or the cooling standby time is increased. Conversely, if the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is filled with ice few times per day, it is considered that the outside temperature at the installation location of the ice maker 10 is low, and the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is unlikely to be high. In this case, it is considered that the ice inside the ice storage compartment 14 of the ice storage compartment 12 is likely to melt easily. Therefore, the cooling operation time during standby mode is increased, or the cooling standby time is increased.

[0042] In the ice maker 10 configured as described above, the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 12 is full of ice is measured, and the cooling operation is controlled based on this measured time. When the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is kept low, the ice inside the ice storage compartment 12 does not melt easily for a long time, and the system does not switch from standby mode to ice-making mode in a short time. On the other hand, when the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is not kept low, the time it takes for the ice inside the ice storage compartment 12 to melt is short, and the system switches from standby mode to ice-making mode in a short time. The system measures the time from the start of standby mode until the ice storage detector 42 no longer detects that the ice maker / storage compartment 12 is filled with ice. When this measurement time is long, it means that the temperature inside the ice maker / storage compartment 12 is being kept low, so the frequency of cooling operation is reduced (cooling operation is not performed). When this measurement time is short, it means that the temperature inside the ice maker / storage compartment 12 is not being kept low, so the frequency of cooling operation is increased. In this way, the ice maker / storage compartment 12 can be kept at an appropriate temperature without using a temperature sensor for cooling operation.

[0043] In the ice maker 10 configured as described above, the length of the cooling operation can be changed according to the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment is full of ice during standby mode (transitioning to ice-making mode). If the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 12 is full of ice is low, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is maintained at a low level, and therefore the ice storage compartment 12 can be kept at an appropriate temperature even if the length of the cooling operation is shortened. On the other hand, if the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector 42 stops detecting that the ice storage compartment 12 is full of ice (transitioning to ice-making mode) is high, it is considered that the temperature inside the ice storage compartment 12 is not maintained at a low level, and therefore the ice storage compartment 12 can be kept at an appropriate temperature by lengthening the length of the cooling operation.

[0044] The ice maker 10 in this embodiment is a so-called closed-cell type ice maker, but is not limited to this. The invention can also be applied to other ice makers, such as so-called open-cell type ice makers or vertical type ice makers that flow ice-making water down into a horizontally opening ice-making compartment, as long as the ice maker controls itself to perform ice-making operation in ice-making mode when the ice storage detector 42 does not detect that the ice storage compartment 14 is full of ice, and does not perform ice-making operation in standby mode when the ice storage detector 42 detects that the ice storage compartment 14 is full of ice. In this embodiment of the ice maker 10, the ice-making storage compartment 12 is partitioned by a drain pan 15 to allow ice and cold air to pass between the ice-making compartment 13 and the ice storage compartment 14, but is not limited to this, and may not be partitioned by a drain pan 15. Furthermore, the descriptions of temperature and time in this embodiment are examples, and the present invention is not limited to these descriptions of temperature and time. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0045] 10...Ice maker, 11...Housing, 12...Ice storage unit, 21...Ice making section, 30...Refrigeration system, 42...Ice storage detector.

Claims

1. The ice-making section freezes ice-making water to produce ice, An ice-making storage cabinet is provided, in which the ice-making unit is located at the top and a space is formed in which ice produced by the ice-making unit can be stored. A refrigeration device for cooling the ice-making section, The system includes an ice storage detector that detects when the ice storage compartment is filled with ice, When the ice storage detector does not detect that the ice-making storage compartment is filled with ice, the system controls the ice-making operation to produce ice by freezing the ice-making water in the ice-making section cooled by the refrigeration device, thereby producing ice to be stored in the ice-making storage compartment. When the ice storage detector detects that the ice-making storage compartment is filled with ice, it controls the system to enter standby mode and does not perform the ice-making operation, remaining in standby mode without producing ice to store in the ice-making storage compartment. An ice maker capable of performing a cooling operation to cool the inside of the ice storage compartment by controlling the operation of the refrigeration device during the standby mode to cool the ice making section, An ice maker characterized by measuring the time from the start of the standby mode until the ice storage detector no longer detects that the ice-making storage compartment is filled with ice, and controlling the cooling operation based on this measured time.

2. In the ice maker according to claim 1, An ice maker characterized in that the length of the cooling operation can be changed according to the detection frequency at which the ice storage detector stops detecting that the ice storage compartment is filled with ice during the standby mode.

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