Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Nobutoshi Migishima

Hajime Erikawa

Hiroshi Yamamoto

Naoto Fukushima

Yukihiro Takano

Takashi Uzawa

Yasuhiko Miyata

Naoki Inoshita

Tomoya Miyakoshi

Koji Takiguchi

Yoshiyuki Kato

Yasutaka Sanuki

Shusuke Saito

An ice making device includes: an ice making part in which an evaporator is incorporated; a refrigerating circuit for ice making including a compressor, a condenser, an electronic expansion valve, and the evaporator, the refrigerating circuit being configured to circulate a refrigerant through the compressor, the condenser, the electronic expansion valve, and the evaporator in this order to produce ice in the ice making part; and a controller configured to increase a circulation amount of the refrigerant in the refrigerating circuit and then reduce the circulation amount in accordance with reduction in a cooling load in the ice making part when receiving an ice making command, and adjust the circulation amount such that a degree of superheat is equal to or lower than 2&#xb0; C.

Ice making device

An electronic expansion valve () includes a small hole () that expands a refrigerant, a valve body () that opens and closes the small hole, an elastic member () that urges the valve body to close the small hole, and a solenoid () that suctions the valve body to open the small hole, and expands the refrigerant by opening and closing the valve body. The elastic member is a disc spring in which a plurality of slits () formed in a spiral form is provided at mutually equal pitches on the perimeter. Therefore, there is no need for a guide, the occurrence of sludge due to sliding is suppressed, and the electronic expansion valve operates stably over a long period.

Electronic expansion valve

Cups stored in the automatic vending machine are released and dropped from a cup supply unit to a cup holding unit one at a time and drink is injected thereinto as selected by a customer. The cup holding unit holding the cup filled with drink is transported approximately horizontally by a front/back cup transport unit to a vertical cup transport unit. As the vertical cup transport unit lifts the cup upward, the vending door is opened to expose to the customer the upper portion of the cup out of the cup outlet, as if the cup were sitting on a counter table in the front of the vending machine.

Cup type automatic vending machine

Growing community of inventors

Fukuya, Japan

Nobutoshi Migishima