Patent Publication Number: US-2012024000-A1

Title: Ice making machine

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0073043 (filed on Jul. 28, 2010), and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0006520(filed on Jan. 21, 2011), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to an ice making machine. 
     Ice making machines quickly produce a large amount of ice. Ice making machines may be classified into horizontal ones and vertical ones according to methods of installing an ice making grid plate, and the vertical ice making machines are widely used. 
     Such a vertical ice making machine includes an ice making grid plate that is vertically disposed. Water flows down along a grid from the upper side of the ice making grid plate, and is frozen by refrigerant circulating through an ice making coil disposed on the rear surface of the ice making grid plate, and thus, pieces of ice are made and grown in the inner space of the grid. 
     When the pieces of ice are grown to have a predetermined size in the inner space of the grind, that is, in cells of the grid, a sensor senses the size of the ice to stop an ice making operation. At this point, when high pressure gas is directly introduced to the ice making coil to heat the grid and the ice making grid plate, the boundaries of the pieces of ice contacting the grid are melted, and the pieces of ice, which have a plate shape, are dropped from the cells, and are stored in a collecting barrel. 
     Such an ice making machine typically includes a machine compartment that accommodates a freezing cycle device on its lower rear surface. The machine compartment further accommodates a compressor, a condenser, and a condenser fan for cooling the condenser. The condenser fan blows air to the condenser to dissipate heat of condensation, thereby improving cooling efficiency for the condenser. 
     However, when indoor air is in a high or closed space, circulation of the indoor air may be difficult. Thus, dissipation of heat from the condenser by the condenser fan, which is an air-cooling type fan, may be difficult, and the cooling efficiency for the condenser may be degraded. To address these limitations, a so-called water-cooling type condenser, which is cooled with water, is introduced. However, in this case, it is required to continually supply water on the condenser, and thus, water consumption is increased. In addition, since the condenser is cooled only with water, cooling efficiency for the condenser is not high. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, an ice making machine includes: an ice making compartment accommodating an ice making unit for making ice, and storing the ice; a machine compartment disposed under the ice making compartment, and accommodating a cool air generating unit including a compressor, a condenser, and a blower fan; a water collecting plate disposed between the ice making compartment and the machine compartment, and collecting water generated from ice melted in the ice making compartment; a sprinkling barrel disposed over the condenser, and communicating with the water collecting plate to sprinkle cooling water to the condenser; and the blower fan forcibly moving air for cooling the condenser. 
     The water collecting plate may be provided with a discharge tube for discharging water collected in the sprinkling barrel, and the discharge tube may be provided with a valve for selectively discharging the collected water. 
     The sprinkling barrel may be provided with a level sensor that measures a level of water in the sprinkling barrel to open and close the valve. 
     A water collecting barrel may be disposed under the condenser to store water flowing along an outer surface of the condenser. 
     The water collecting barrel may be provided with a discharge tube for discharging the stored water. 
     The water collecting barrel may be provided with a level sensor, and the discharge tube may be provided with a valve that is opened and closed by the level sensor to selectively discharge the water from the water collecting barrel. 
     The water collecting barrel may be connected to the sprinkling barrel through a circulation tube, and the circulation tube may be provided with a circulation pump. 
     The sprinkling barrel may have a length corresponding to a width of the condenser, and be disposed on a vertical upper side of the condenser. 
     The sprinkling barrel may include holes that are arrayed in a width direction of the condenser to sprinkle water to an outer surface of the condenser. 
     The blower fan may operate when the valve is opened. 
     The sprinkling barrel may be disposed at a position that is horizontally spaced apart from a vertical upper side of the condenser. 
     The sprinkling barrel may be opposite to the blower fan with respect to the condenser. 
     The condenser may include a refrigerant tube that has a vertical long oval shape in a cross-section thereof. 
     The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an ice making machine according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a control unit controlling the configuration of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to another embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view illustrating the configuration of  FIG. 4 , with a cross-sectional view illustrating refrigerant tubes of the condenser of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a graph showing a relationship between power consumption and a distance between a sprinkling barrel and a condenser according to another embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an ice making machine according to an embodiment.  FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to the current embodiment.  FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a control unit controlling the configuration of  FIG. 2 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the ice making machine including a cooling device for the condenser also includes a main body  1  having a hexahedron shape, and a door  2  opening and closing an ice dispensing opening of the main body  1 . 
     The main body  1  may be divided into an ice making compartment in the upper portion thereof, and a storing compartment in the lower portion thereof. The ice making compartment may communicate with the storing compartment. An ice making unit  3  for making ice is disposed in the upper portion of the ice making compartment. A water supply unit (hereinafter, a first water supply unit) (not shown) may be disposed at the upper side of the ice making unit  3  to supply water to the ice making unit  3 . 
     A machine compartment may be disposed at the lower side of the storing compartment, that is, in the lower rear portion of the main body  1 , and a cool air generating unit  10  may be disposed in the machine compartment to supply cool air to the ice making unit  3 . 
     The cool air generating unit  10  includes a compressor  11  for compressing refrigerant, a condenser  12  for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor  11 , and a blower fan  13  for dissipating heat from the condenser  12 . The cool air generating unit  10  further includes a cooling water supply unit  20  (hereinafter, a second water supply unit) that collects meltwater from the storing compartment to sprinkle the meltwater to the condenser  12 . 
     The compressor  11 , the condenser  12 , and the blower fan  13  may be arrayed along a lateral line. 
     A water collecting plate  5  is disposed between the ice making compartment and the machine compartment to collect water from ice melted in the ice making compartment, and includes a discharge tube  6  for discharging collected water. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the lower end of the discharge tube  6  communicates with a sprinkling barrel  21  to be described later, and the sprinkling barrel  21  is disposed between the lower end of the discharge tube  6  and the upper end of the condenser  12 . 
     Sprinkling holes (not shown) are arrayed in the sprinkling barrel  21  in a width direction of the condenser  12  to sprinkle meltwater collected by the water collecting plate  5  to the condenser  12 . 
     The sprinkling barrel  21  may be provided with a first level sensor  22  for detecting a level of collected meltwater in real time. The discharge tube  6  may be provided with a first valve  23  for selectively discharging meltwater collected in the sprinkling barrel  21 . 
     A water collecting barrel  24  is disposed under the condenser  12  to collect water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser  12 . The water collecting barrel  24  may be connected to a discharge tube  25  for discharging the collected water out of the ice making machine. 
     The water collecting barrel  24  may be provided with a second level sensor  26  for detecting a level of water collected in the water collecting barrel  24 . The discharge tube  25  may be provided with a second valve  27  for selectively discharging water. 
     A circulation tube  28  may connect the water collecting barrel  24  and the sprinkling barrel  21  to each other. The circulation tube  28  may be provided with a circulation pump  29  for pumping water from the water collecting barrel  24  to the sprinkling barrel  21 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the blower fan  13 , the first level sensor  22 , the first valve  23 , the second level sensor  26 , the second valve  27 , and the circulation pump  29  may be electrically connected to a control unit  30  to operate in conjunction with one another. 
     Operations and effects of a cooling device for a condenser of an ice making machine as described above will now be disposed. 
     That is, after the ice making unit  3  makes ice, the ice is dropped and stored in the storing compartment of the main body  1 . Over time, the ice stored in the storing compartment is melted to form meltwater. 
     Then, the meltwater collected in the bottom of the storing compartment is collected in the water collecting plate  5  at the lower side of the storing compartment. The meltwater collected in the water collecting plate  5  is collected in the sprinkling barrel  21  through the discharge tube  6 . When the sprinkling barrel  21  overflows, or cooling of the condenser  12  is unnecessary, the first valve  23  provided to the discharge tube  6  prevents the meltwater collected in the water collecting plate  5  from moving to the sprinkling barrel  21 . 
     When cooling of the condenser  12  is necessary, the first valve  23  is opened to sprinkle the meltwater collected in the sprinkling barrel  21  to the upper portion of the condenser  12  through the sprinkling holes (not shown). At this point, the control unit  30  operates the blower fan  13  to supply air to the condenser  12 . 
     Then, the water sprinkled from the sprinkling barrel  21  and flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser  12  is evaporated by the air supplied by the blower fan  13  and absorbs heat of vaporization from the condenser  12 , thereby cooling the condenser  12 . After the evaporation, the rest of the water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser  12  is collected in the water collecting barrel  24  under the condenser  12 . 
     Then, the circulation pump  29  installed on the circulation tube  28  between the water collecting barrel  24  and the sprinkling barrel  21  pumps the water from the water collecting barrel  24  to the sprinkling barrel  21 , to thereby reuse it. At this point, since the water collecting barrel  24  is connected to the discharge tube  25 , and the second valve  27  is installed on the discharge tube  25 , when the sprinkling barrel  21  or the water collecting barrel  24  overflows, or cooling of the condenser  12  is unnecessary, the water collected in the water collecting plate  24  may be discharged out of the ice making machine, instead of pumping the water to the sprinkling barrel  21 . 
     As such, water and air are simultaneously supplied to the surface of the condenser  12 , and heat of vaporization absorbed during evaporation of the water is used, thereby maximizing cooling performance on the condenser  12  just with a small amount of water. In addition, power consumption for operating the blower fan  13 , and a noise from the blower fan  13  can be decreased. In addition, since cool water generated from ice stored in the storing compartment is sprinkled to the condenser  12 , the condenser  12  can be more effectively cooled. In addition, since meltwater is used, water consumption for cooling can be significantly reduced. 
     An ice making machine according to the present disclosure may be described according to various embodiments. An ice making machine according to another embodiment will now be described. 
     In the current embodiment, a water supply unit is disposed at an opposite side of a condenser to a blower fan, and is spaced apart from the condenser. 
     Thus, since the rest parts of the current embodiment except for the position of the water supply unit are the same as those of the previous embodiment, a description thereof will be omitted, and like reference numeral denote like elements. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to the current embodiment.  FIG. 5  is a side view illustrating the configuration of  FIG. 4 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a second water supply unit  20  according to the current embodiment includes a sprinkling barrel  121 , a first level sensor  22 , a first valve  23 , a water collecting barrel  24 , a discharge tube  25 , a second level sensor  26 , a second valve  27 , a circulation tube  28 , and a circulation pump  29 . 
     The sprinkling barrel  121  is disposed under the discharge tube  6 . The sprinkling barrel  121  is spaced a distance L from the upper end of a condenser  12 , and thus is disposed at the front upper side of the condenser  12 . That is, the sprinkling barrel  121  is disposed over the condenser  12  at a position horizontally spaced apart from the condenser  12 . For example, the sprinkling barrel  121  may be disposed in front of the condenser  12  as illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
     The lower end of the discharge tube  6  communicates with the sprinkling barrel  121 . Water collected in the water collecting plate  5  is discharged to the sprinkling barrel  121  through the discharge tube  6 . One or more discharge holes (not shown) are arrayed in the sprinkling barrel  121  in a width direction of the condenser  12 . Water collected in the sprinkling barrel  121  is sprinkled through the discharge holes. At this point, the water is sprinkled in a direction parallel to the front surface of the condenser  12 . The discharge holes are disposed out of a region that vertically overlaps the condenser  12 . 
     The first level sensor  22  may be provided to the sprinkling barrel  121  to detect the level of water in the sprinkling barrel  121 . 
     The water collecting barrel  24  is disposed under the condenser  12 . Water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser  12  may be stored in the water collecting barrel  24 . Water, which is discharged from the sprinkling barrel  121  and does not arrive at the condenser  12 , may be dropped and stored in the water collecting barrel  24 . That is, the water collecting barrel  24  may be disposed at the vertical low side of the sprinkling barrel  121 . 
     The water collecting barrel  24  may be connected to the discharge tube  25  for discharging water from the water collecting barrel  24  to the outside of the ice making machine. 
     The water collecting barrel  24  may be provided with the second level sensor  26  for detecting the level of water collected in the water collecting barrel  24 . 
     The discharge tube  25  may be provided with the second valve  27  for selectively discharging water collected in the water collecting barrel  24 . 
     The water collecting barrel  24  is connected to the sprinkling barrel  121  through the circulation tube  28 . The circulation tube  28  may be provided with the circulation pump  29  for pumping water from the water collecting barrel  24  to the sprinkling barrel  121 . 
     The blower fan  13  is disposed behind the condenser  12 . The blower fan  13  sucks air from the front side thereof, and blows the air to the rear side thereof. That is, air flows from the condenser  12  to the blower fan  13 . Water sprinkled to the front side of the condenser  12  is moved to the condenser  12  by an air flow, and contacts the outer surface of the condenser  12 . That is, the sprinkling barrel  121  is disposed at a side of the condenser  12  with respect to a vertical center line C of the condenser  12 , and the blower fan  13  is disposed at the other side of the condenser  12  with respect to the vertical center line C. In other words, the sprinkling barrel  121  is opposite to the blower fan  13  with respect to the condenser  12 . 
     The condenser  12  includes refrigerant tubes  120  that have a vertical long oval shape in a cross-section thereof. In this case, since an area of the oval shape contacting water is greater than that of a circular shape in a cross-section thereof, the amount of water evaporated from the outer surface of the refrigerant tube  120  can be increased. Accordingly, since water flowing along the outer surface of the refrigerant tube  120  absorbs more heat from the refrigerant tube  120 , the condenser  12  can be more efficiently cooled. 
     The blower fan  13 , the first level sensor  22 , the first valve  23 , the second level sensor  26 , the second valve  27 , and the circulation pump  29  may be electrically connected to a control unit (not shown)  30  to operate in conjunction with one another. 
       FIG. 6  is a graph showing a relationship between power consumption and a distance between a sprinkling barrel and a condenser according to another embodiment. 
     The sprinkling barrel  121  is spaced the distance L from the upper end of the condenser  12 , and thus is disposed at the front upper side of the condenser  12 . The distance L may be determined to minimize power consumption of a cooling device for the condenser  12 . 
     When the blower fan  13  is rotated with a motor of about 60 W, a relationship between the distance L and power consumption of the cooling device is shown in  FIG. 6 . When the distance L is about 15 mm, the power consumption is about 5.01 kWh that is the minimum. Thus, when the distance L is maintained at about 15 mm, the power consumption can be minimized. As such, the distance L may be determined according to a condition of the cooling device such as the type of a motor included in the cooling device. 
     Operations and effects of a cooling device for a condenser of an ice making machine as described above will now be disposed. 
     Ice made in the ice making unit  3  is stored in the storing compartment of the main body  1 . Over time, the ice stored in the storing compartment is melted to water. The water is collected in the water collecting plate  5  disposed in the storing compartment. The water collected in the water collecting plate  5  is discharged to the sprinkling barrel  121  through the discharge tube  6 . The first valve  23  provided to the discharge tube  6  is opened or closed to selectively discharge the water. That is, when the sprinkling barrel  121  overflows, or cooling of the condenser  12  is unnecessary, the first valve  23  is closed to prevent the water collected in the water collecting plate  5  from being discharged to the sprinkling barrel  121 . 
     When cooling of the condenser  12  is necessary, the first valve  23  is opened. The water collected in the sprinkling barrel  21  is sprinkled to the front side of the condenser  12  through the discharge holes (not shown). At this point, the blower fan  13  sucks air from the condenser  12 . The water sprinkled to the front side of the condenser  12  is moved by a flow of the sucked air, and contacts the condenser  12 . The water contacting the condenser  12  flows down along the outer surface of the condenser  12 , and is evaporated by the sucked air. The water absorbs heat of vaporization from the condenser  12 , thereby cooling the condenser  12 . 
     After the evaporation, the rest of the water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser  12  is collected in the water collecting barrel  24  under the condenser  12 . The water collected in the water collecting barrel  24  may be pumped to the sprinkling barrel  121  through the circulation tube  28  by the circulation pump  29 . The water pumped to the sprinkling barrel  121  may be reused to cool the condenser  12 . 
     The water collected in the water collecting barrel  24  may be discharged through the discharge tube  25 . The second valve  27  installed on the discharge tube  25  may be opened and closed to selectively discharge the water from the water collecting barrel  24  to the outside of the ice making machine, instead of pumping the water to the sprinkling barrel  121 . When the sprinkling barrel  121  or the water collecting barrel  24  overflows, or cooling of the condenser  12  is unnecessary, the second valve  27  is opened to discharge the water collected in the water collecting barrel  24  through the discharge tube  25 . 
     As described above, cooling efficiency for a condenser may be improved by an air flow and heat of vaporization during evaporation of water. In addition, since power consumption for operating a blower fan can be reduced, a noise from the blower fan can be decreased. In addition, cool water generated from ice melted in a storing compartment is sprinkled to the condenser to thereby further improve the cooling efficiency for the condenser. In addition, since meltwater and water collected in a water collecting barrel are reused, water consumption for cooling can be significantly reduced. 
     Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.