Patents Assigned to Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
  • Patent number: 6971245
    Abstract: An auger type ice making machine is provided with a control unit for causing a hot gas valve to open and for causing a heater disposed in the vicinity of ice compression passages to perform heating for a time period longer than the opening period of the hot gas valve, in accordance with a detection result from a rotation detecting sensor which detects rotation of a motor rotating an auger. The opening period of the hot gas valve and the heating period of the heater consist of, respectively: a basic opening period and a basic heating period, each corresponding to a time period during which the rpm of the auger is not higher than a threshold value, and an additional opening period and an additional heating period which are respectively added to the basic opening period and the basic heating period and begin at the time when the auger rpm exceeds the threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2005
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masayuki Kuroyanagi
  • Patent number: 6948329
    Abstract: An auger type ice machine in which the load on a geared motor and an upper bearing is mitigated by detecting the load on an auger. A geared motor (9) disposed below a cylinder (1). A rotor (12) of the geared motor has an output shaft (13). A pulse encoder (14) is provided on the output shaft (13). The geared motor (9) is connected with a geared motor power supply (16) through a relay (15). Similarly, a compressor (3) is connected with a compressor power supply (18) through a relay (17). The relays (15) and (17) are controlled by a control portion (19). The control portion (19) controls the relays (15) and (17) according to a signal inputted from the pulse encoder (14).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomohito Nomura, Hideo Sumikawa
  • Patent number: 6915647
    Abstract: An auger-type ice making machine has an abnormality detecting device which detects a freezing of an ice-scraping auger on the basis of a hunting of current flowing through an auger motor 25. Current flowing through the auger motor 25 is taken out by a current-voltage converter 45, and an instantaneous value of the taken-out voltage,waveform every predetermined time is A/D converted by an A/D converter 52 which is provided at a controller board 50.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2005
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Tsuchikawa, Masanobu Nagira
  • Patent number: 6877334
    Abstract: A cooling unit adapted for use in a freezing mechanism, which is composed a metallic cylindrical evaporator housing and a metallic freezing pipe helically wound on an outer periphery of the evaporator housing for thermal contact with the evaporator housing, wherein the freezing pipe is embedded in a metal layer formed by slip casting of a low melting point alloy such as aluminum alloy, tin alloy or magnesium alloy on the outer periphery of the evaporator housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2005
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinya Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: 6860111
    Abstract: There are disclosed an automatic ice maker and its operating method. A pair of ice making chambers are longitudinally arranged to face each other across a cooling tube. A plurality of ice making compartments are defined in each ice making chamber. On the open side of the ice making chamber, water trays for opening/closing the ice making chamber are arranged in parallel to be laterally moved. The water tray is moved between an ice making position for closing the ice making chamber and an open position for opening the ice making chamber by an opening/closing device. When a deicing operation is carried out, the water tray is laterally moved to the open position while ice cubes are frozen thereto to remove the ice cubes from the ice making compartments, and the cubes are deiced from the water tray in this open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2005
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masao Sanuki, Chiyoshi Toya, Fumio Maruyama
  • Publication number: 20040261427
    Abstract: A method of operating an auger ice-making machine having a refrigeration casing, an auger screw rotatably disposed inside the casing and feeding, while scraping, the ice frozen on an inner wall surface of the casing, a stocker for storing/retaining the ice fed, the stocker being formed with an ice discharge port of the stocker in order to discharge the ice to an exterior of the machine by being opened, and a stored-ice detector for detecting a high level, and a low level, of a quantity of ice stored within the stocker, wherein: when the stored-ice detector detects the high level, a controller is activated to stop ice-making operation, and when the quantity of ice stored decreases below the low level by a required quantity, the controller restarts the ice-making operation; and when the controller judges, during a stopped state of the ice-making operation, that a block of ice has occurred in the stocker, the controller restarts the ice-making operation, provided that the stored-ice detector has detected the low
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2004
    Publication date: December 30, 2004
    Applicant: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Tsuchikawa, Takashi Hibino, Hideyuki Ikari
  • Publication number: 20040252424
    Abstract: A protecting device of an auger ice-making machine which enables obtaining high responsiveness to detection of an abnormality, and identification of abnormal/normal stops.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Publication date: December 16, 2004
    Applicant: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tomohito Nomura
  • Publication number: 20040237567
    Abstract: An automatic ice making machine stably injects water to be frozen to freezing cells to produce high-quality ice pieces which are uniform in shape and size, and has a freezing section defining a plurality of freezing cells opening downward and arranged horizontally, and a water tank located under the freezing section. A water spraying member tilted at a predetermined angle in the flow direction is disposed on the water tank, and a plurality of nozzles protrude from the upper surface of a distributor pipe constituting the member. The water to be frozen supplied to the water spraying member by a water circulation pump is adapted to be injected into each freezing cell through a water injection hole of each nozzle under the same pressure. Further, the water to be frozen injected from each water injection hole diagonally forward is designed to be supplied to an opposed freezing cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2003
    Publication date: December 2, 2004
    Applicant: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Nagasawa, Masaaki Kawasumi, Kenji Takahashi, Masahiro Kodani, Chiyoshi Toya
  • Patent number: 6821362
    Abstract: An auger composed of an auger body integrally formed with a spiral blade and at its opposite ends with a pair of shaft portions is manufactured by the steps of forming annular recesses on the shaft portions in a cutting process, building up an anti-abrasive and anti-corrosive alloy by plasma-arc welding in the annular recesses of the shaft portions and finishing each built-up portion of the alloy in a grinding process to form a journal portion on the respective shaft portions of the auger, wherein precipitation hardening stainless steel used as a base metal of the auger body is preheated for a predetermined time prior to the steps of plasma-arc welding of the alloy. In this manner, the stainless steel body is subjected to an aging heat treatment caused by (a) the preheating and (b) the subsequent welding heat generated during the plasma-arc welding process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akihiro Satou
  • Publication number: 20040226311
    Abstract: An ice-making water tank 54 capable of improving ice-making efficiency by suppressing increases in concentrations of the impurities contained in ice-making water is divided into a circulating tank section 58 and a retention tank section 60 by a partition plate 62. The ice-making water stored within the circulating tank section 58 and the ice-making water stored within the retention tank section 60 are made movable between each other by a communication hole 64. A capacity of the retention tank section 60 is set to have a capacity greater than that of the circulating tank section 58. Above the retention tank section 60 is covered with a guide 52c of a mechanical base 52, and the un-iced water cooled during ice-making operation is collected only into the circulating tank section 58 via an opening 52d opening downward above the circulating tank section 58.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2004
    Publication date: November 18, 2004
    Applicant: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kunihiko Ishitomi, Masaaki Kawasumi, Kenji Takahashi, Shizuma Kadowaki, Shinichi Nagasawa, Tadaharu Hosogi
  • Patent number: 6807814
    Abstract: A pair of claw portions that may be elastically deformed are formed at both ends of a top surface of a base body of a detecting plate base. A circular arc portion and a switch holding portion are formed between the pair of claw portions. A recessed portion is formed on the lower surface side of the base body by the circular arc portion so that a detecting plate, which is mounted on the detecting plate base, may be rotated. A lead switch is attachably and detachably mounted on the switch holding portion. An apparatus for detecting an amount of stored ice is attachably and detachably fitted from the interior of the ice storing chamber to an opening portion formed in the top plate of the ice storing chamber by the claw portions of the detecting plate base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Teruhiko Otani, Masayuki Kuroyanagi, Motohiro Kawachi, Takashi Hibino
  • Patent number: 6777006
    Abstract: Water used for extracting coffee ingredient from roasted coffee beans in the form of electrolyzed alkaline water of pH 8 to pH 11.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Aki Watanuki, Koichi Takinami
  • Publication number: 20040093878
    Abstract: There are disclosed an automatic ice maker and its operating method. A pair of ice making chambers are longitudinally arranged to face each other across a cooling tube. A plurality of ice making compartments are defined in each ice making chamber. On the open side of the ice making chamber, water trays for opening/closing the ice making chamber are arranged in parallel to be laterally moved. The water tray is moved between an ice making position for closing the ice making chamber and an open position for opening the ice making chamber by an opening/closing device. When a deicing operation is carried out, the water tray is laterally moved to the open position while ice cubes are frozen thereto to remove the ice cubes from the ice making compartments, and the cubes are deiced from the water tray in this open position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2003
    Publication date: May 20, 2004
    Applicant: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masao Sanuki, Chiyoshi Toya, Fumio Maruyama
  • Patent number: 6715641
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for correcting a cock driving device in a beverage dispense. A manipulating lever for a dispensing cock is correctly opened and closed at all times by the cock driving device. The manipulating lever for the dispensing cock is provided with an interlock member which moves back and forth integrally with the lever, and the interlock member is provided with a magnet. A pair of hole elements capable of sensing the magnet are arranged one behind the other, spaced from each other, on a mounting plate arranged on a slider. The magnet is set to face an intermediate position of both hole elements of the slider staying at a standby position, with the dispensing cock staying at a neutral position. A control board moves the slider for correction to a position at which the magnet reaches the intermediate position of the hole elements if the magnet does not face the intermediate position of the pair of hole elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Torimitsu, Akira Ogawa, Sukehide Itou, Naomoto Amano, Shigekazu Kondou, Satoru Kobayashi, Shigeaki Tamaki, Kouji Sutou
  • Patent number: 6702159
    Abstract: A first operation of a lever causes a valve rod to retract axially through a second valve element seated on a second valve seat against a first resilient part, while a first valve element to leave a first valve seat open to pour beer from a beer pouring nozzle through a beer supply channel. A second operation of the lever causes a slider to advance axially against a second resilient part to be spaced away from the valve rod forcing the first valve element to be seated on the first valve seat, while the second valve element to leave the second valve seat open to effect frothing of the beer from a liquid passage and pour the resulting froth through holes defined in a sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Sukehide Itou, Shigekazu Kondou, Fumitaka Saitou, Shunji Tsubouchi, Eiji Hara, Satoru Kobayashi, Kouji Sutou
  • Patent number: 6694752
    Abstract: A bypass passage is provided between a discharge pipe and a suction pipe of a compressor being a component of an auger type refrigeration circuit, for allowing a hot gas on the high-pressure side of the circuit to recirculate back to the low-pressure side. An electromagnetic valve is disposed on the bypass passage, and an ammeter is provided to a geared motor that drives an auger, which detects an overcurrent value indicative of an overload acting on the geared motor. In response to detection of an overcurrent value by the ammeter, the electromagnetic valve operates to allow a hot gas on the high-pressure side to be supplied to the low-pressure side through the bypass passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomohito Nomura, Yasuki Mizutani, Hiroyuki Sugie
  • Patent number: 6637615
    Abstract: A thermal insulation box has upper protrusions and front protrusions formed on the top face and on the front faces of an ice bin, respectively. A step is formed on the upper face of a front panel. The front panel, which has on the rear face holding recesses for admitting the front protrusions formed in the ice bin, is fitted to cover the front protrusions with the holding recesses. A top plate has a reinforcing rib formed integrally therewith circumferentially along the lower edge. With the top plate being attached to the casing body, the front part of the reinforcing rib is fitted to cover the step of the front panel, whereas the side parts of the reinforcing rib are fitted to cover the upper protrusions of the ice bin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaaki Kawasumi, Kunihiko Ishitomi
  • Patent number: 6638559
    Abstract: An activation method of decomposition enzyme contained in a food material, wherein the food material is brought into contact with electrolyzed water to activate the decomposition enzyme thereby to enhance taste of processed foodstuffs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuo Hara, Akemi Katou, Rieko Onishi, Eiko Arai
  • Patent number: 6619067
    Abstract: A cooling unit adapted for use in an auger type ice making machine, a freezing mechanism of an ice cream making machine or the like, composed of a metallic cylindrical evaporator housing and a metallic freezing pipe helically wound around the evaporator housing through a metallic filler for thermal contact with the evaporator housing, the metallic filler being embedded in a space between the evaporator housing and the freezing pipe, wherein the entirety of the freezing pipe is covered with a metallic surface layer membrane formed thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinya Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: D499280
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2004
    Assignee: Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tomihiro Ohtake