WO2007099453A2

WO2007099453A2 - Ice-making machine

Info

Publication number: WO2007099453A2
Application number: PCT/IB2007/001026
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giuseppe Celli
Original assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V.
Priority date: 2006-03-01
Filing date: 2007-04-19
Publication date: 2007-09-07
Also published as: WO2007099453A3; WO2007099453A8; ITRA20060014A1

Abstract

An ice-forming machine having, inside a thermally insulated tank (4), a dish (7) containing water; a number of vertical appendixes (6) immersed in the water in the dish (7); a cooling circuit (5) for feeding a refrigerant into the appendixes; a mechanism (9, 10) for rotating the dish into a position in which to pour out the water and allow ice to drop beneath the dish; a raised bottom wall (11) separating a top ice storage section from a bottom water collecting section; and a push device for pushing the ice collected in a channel portion (11B) of the raised bottom wall to a dispenser (14).

Description

ICE-MAKING MACHINE

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a machine for continuously producing and dispensing ice for cooling drinks and other uses .

BACKGROUND ART Operation of currently marketed ice-making machines and refrigerators in general is based on the capacity of certain substances, known as refrigerants, to withdraw heat from a body or space, and to be heated by the heat they absorb. In other words, such substances, the most commonly used of which are Freon and ammonia, evaporate in an evaporator to absorb heat and cool the surrounding environment, and then return to the liquid state in a condenser, by which the heat generated is dispersed.

Ice-making machines currently operate using a number of cylindrical or truncated-cone-shaped appendixes, which, cooled by a Freon or other suitable refrigerant circuit inside them, are immersed in a dish of water for as long as it takes to form ice, which, in this case, is in the form of a particular hood-shaped ice covering.

Once the ice is formed, the water dish in which the ice is formed is removed, and the appendixes are heated to detach the ice, which drops into a bin underneath, from which it is removed manually for use.

Machines for producing ice this way are extremely complex, by involving vertical relative movement of the ice-forming appendixes and the water dish into which they are immersed, combined with horizontal relative movement of the cooling appendixes and the water dish to provide a bin underneath the appendixes, into which the detached ice drops .

Moreover, being also fairly bulky, machines of the above type are normally installed under bar counters or at any rate in positions making it awkward to remove the ice from the bin, which is normally done manually using scoops or other utensils.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks, in particular the complexity of currently marketed ice-making machines and the difficulty posed by manual removal of the ice, especially in view of the frequency with which this is called for in bars and similar.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for direct passage of the ice from the machine into the glass or other vessel containing the drink for cooling_/ so as to eliminate removal of the ice from the bin with bare hands or using scoops, ladles or other utensils of questionable hygiene.

The above aims are achieved by the machine according to the invention, which is mechanically simpler and cheaper than known machines, and provides for continuously producing and automatically dispensing ice untouched by human hands or utensils.

The machine according to the invention comprises an ice-forming device and an ice-dispensing device. The ice- forming device comprises a dish filled with water; and a number of appendixes, which are immersed in the water inside the dish, and are cooled by a Freon circuit to form ice on them. The ice-dispensing device comprises a mechanism for rotating the dish into a position in which to pour out the water and allow the ice detached from the appendixes to drop freely beneath the dish; and an ice- guide mechanism for guiding the ice dropping off the appendixes to an outlet (or dispenser) for use. More specifically, the guide mechanism comprises a sloping surface for feeding the ice by gravity from beneath the dish to a catch channel; and a powered screw, which operates inside the catch channel to expel ice through the outlet on command. The dispensing device also provides for separating the ice from the water poured out of the dish : the water is poured out of the dish onto the sloping surface, and flows into the channel, where it is drained off through holes in the bottom of the channel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred non-limiting embodiment of the invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show a top plan view and a vertical section X-X of an ice-making machine in accordance with the invention; Figures 3 and 4 show two views in perspective of the Figure 1 and 2 machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in the accompanying drawings, the ice- making machine according to the present invention comprises an ice-forming device, in turn comprising a thermally insulated tank 4; a water dish 7 in the top of tank 4; and a number of appendixes 6 extending vertically inside dish 7, and through which flows a cooling fluid (or refrigerant) , typically Freon.

An immersion pump 8 at the bottom of thermally insulated tank 4 provides for filling dish 7 with a predetermined amount of water.

Appendixes 6 define an ice-forming evaporation assembly, and are connected to a conduit 5 of a cooling circuit for feeding refrigerant inside appendixes 6.

The cooling (or Freon) circuit comprises a compressor 1, a condenser 2, and a power fan 3, and has a sensor for commanding inversion of the circuit to heat appendixes 6 and so detach the ice formed on the appendixes.

The machine also comprises an ice-dispensing device, in turn comprising a mechanism 10 for rotating dish 7 about a horizontal axis to allow the ice to drop down; and an ice-guide mechanism 11, 12 for guiding the ice to a dispenser 14.

Dish 7 is more or less rectangular, is of a length substantially equal to the inside width of tank 4, and is hinged by its two short sides to two parallel walls of tank 4. The rotation mechanism of dish 7 comprises an electric motor reducer 10 for rotating dish 7 from the ice-forming position shown by the bold line in Figure 2, to the ice-dispensing position shown by the dash line in Figure 2.

The ice guide mechanism comprises a raised bottom wall 11, which, inside thermally insulated tank 4, separates a top ice forming and storage section from a bottom section where the water is collected and pumped back for reuse. Raised bottom wall 11 comprises a sloping portion HA, which slopes downwards from beneath dish 7 to a semicircular-cross-section channel portion HB.

Channel portion HB houses a screw 12, and, in the centre, i.e. at its lowest portion, has a row of water drain holes HC. Screw 12 is powered by an electric motor reducer 13 controlled by a straightforward on-off switch, and provides for dispensing ice through a dispenser 14 defined by an outlet 14, which projects sufficiently outwards of tank 4 to position a glass or other vessel for the ice directly underneath.

In actual use, dish 7 is filled with water, and the Freon cooling circuit circulates Freon along conduit 5 and, therefore, through appendixes 6 immersed in the water, to form the ice. Once the ice is formed, electric motor reducer 10 rotates dish 7 about the horizontal axis through pins 9 into the position shown by the dash line in Figure 2, so as to pour out, and separate the ice from, the remaining water. In this position, dish 7 also allows the ice to drop freely from the forming section to the storage and dispensing section. In other words, the ice falls by gravity beneath dish 7, and is accompanied partway by the sloping portion HA of raised bottom wall 11.

More specifically, when the sensor commands inversion of the Freon circuit to heat cylindrical appendixes 6, the ice formed on appendixes 6 is detached automatically, drops onto the highest part of sloping portion HA of raised bottom wall 11, and slides by gravity down to channel portion HB.

Inside channel portion HB, screw 12, powered by motor reducer 13, feeds the ice to outlet 14, while the water poured out periodically by rotation of dish 7, and any water formed by the stored ice not yet withdrawn, is drained through holes HC into the bottom of thermally insulated tank 4, where it is pumped back to the ice- forming dish by immersion pump 8.

Inside tank 4, a known sensor maintains the correct operating water level of the machine by opening, when necessary, an inlet valve controlling water supply from the mains or a storage tank.

Another known level sensor continually monitors the amount of ice in the storage section, to automatically regulate production in relation to consumption.

Clearly, without altering the main characteristics described and illustrated relative to rotation of the ice-forming dish and the way in which the ice is dispensed, changes may be made to the machine described without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1) An ice-making machine comprising a dish (7) containing water; a number of appendixes (6) immersed in the water in the dish (7); and a cooling circuit (5) for feeding a refrigerant into the appendixes to form ice on the appendixes immersed in the water; the machine being characterized by comprising a dish rotating mechanism (9, 10) for rotating the dish into a position in which to pour out the water and allow the ice to drop beneath the dish.

2) A machine as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by- comprising a thermally insulated tank (4) ; and in that the dish (7) is housed in a raised position inside the tank.

3) A machine as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that the dish has two opposite walls hinged to respective walls of the tank.

4) A machine as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by comprising a raised bottom wall (11) located inside the thermally insulated tank (4) to separate a top storage section, for storing the ice dropping off the appendixes (6), from a bottom water-collecting section.

5) A machine as claimed in Claim 4, characterized in that the raised bottom wall (11) comprises a sloping portion (HA)₇ and an ice collecting portion (HB); and wherein the sloping portion slopes downwards from beneath the dish (7) to the collecting portion, and the collecting portion defines a channel.

6) A machine as claimed in Claim 5, characterized in that said collecting portion has a semicircular cross section, and comprises a number of water drain holes (HC).

7) A machine as claimed in Claim 5 or 6, characterized in that said collecting portion communicates with a dispenser (14); and by comprising a push device (12) for pushing the ice along the collecting portion to the dispenser.

8) A machine as claimed in Claim 7 , characterized in that the push device (12) comprises a powered screw inside the collecting portion.

9) A machine as claimed in Claim 2, characterized by comprising an immersion pump (8) located at the bottom of the tank (4) to pump the ice-forming water into the dish (7).

10) A machine as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized by comprising a level sensor for monitoring the amount of ice inside the collecting portion to automatically regulate ice production accordingly.

11) A machine as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that the cooling circuit comprises a sensor for commanding inversion of the circuit to heat the appendixes (6).