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US 11,674,731 B2Granted
Ice maker
AssigneeTrue Manufacturing Co., Inc.
InventorKevin Knatt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A commercial ice maker purges water from a sump via a passive drain valve instead of an active drain pump. The ice maker uses a large freeze plate, but still can accommodate the passive drain valve within a standard enclosure footprint. A bottom wall of the ice maker has a drain passaging groove formed in an upper surface. The drain valve is supported above the bottom wall and drain tube is at least partially received in the drain passaging groove. The drain valve can include a valve body that has a valve seat and a movable valve member that opens and closes a valve passage through the valve seat. The valve member radially overlaps the valve seat along a longitudinal axis when the valve member is closed.
Claims21
An ice maker comprising:
- an enclosure having a bottom, wherein the ice maker is configured to mount on an ice receptacle such that the bottom of the enclosure is above the ice receptacle and so that ice made by the ice maker is received in the ice receptacle, the enclosure having a perimeter wall extending upward from the bottom;
- an evaporator assembly supported in the enclosure, the evaporator assembly comprising a freeze plate defining a plurality of molds in which the evaporator assembly is configured to form pieces of ice and an evaporator, the evaporator assembly having a bottom;
- a distributor configured to distribute water imparted through the distributor over the freeze plate so that the water forms into ice on the freeze plate;
- a sump supported in the enclosure below the freeze plate and configured to collect water flowing off of the bottom of the freeze plate;
- a pump configured to pump water in the sump through the distributor;
- and
- drain passaging in the enclosure, the drain passaging having an inlet below the sump and an outlet accessible through the perimeter wall of the enclosure above the bottom of the enclosure, the drain passaging including a drain valve, the drain valve being configured to be selectively opened to drain all of the water from the sump through the drain passaging by gravity;
- wherein the bottom of the evaporator assembly is spaced apart from the bottom of the enclosure by a height of less than 12 inches.
5 more elements
An ice maker comprising:
- an enclosure having a bottom, a top, and a height extending from the bottom to the top, wherein the ice maker is configured to mount on an ice receptacle such that the bottom of the enclosure is above the ice receptacle and so that ice made by the ice maker is received in the ice receptacle, the enclosure having a perimeter wall extending upward from the bottom;
- an evaporator assembly supported in the enclosure, the evaporator assembly comprising a freeze plate defining a plurality of molds in which the evaporator assembly is configured to form pieces of ice and an evaporator, the evaporator assembly having a bottom, the freeze plate having a top, and the evaporator assembly having a height extending from the bottom of the evaporator assembly to the top of the freeze plate;
- a distributor supported in the enclosure adjacent the top of the freeze plate, the distributor being configured to distribute water imparted through the distributor over the freeze plate so that the water forms into ice in the molds;
- a sump supported in the enclosure below the freeze plate and configured to collect water flowing off of the bottom of the freeze plate;
- a pump configured to pump water in the sump through the distributor;
- and
- drain passaging in the enclosure, the drain passaging having an inlet below the sump and an outlet accessible through the perimeter wall of the enclosure above the bottom of the enclosure, the drain passaging including a drain valve, the drain valve being configured to be selectively opened to drain all of the water from the sump through the drain passaging by gravity;
- wherein the height of the enclosure is less than 24 inches and the height extending from the bottom of the evaporator assembly to the top of the freeze plate is greater than 10 inches.
5 more elements
An ice maker comprising:
- a bottom wall, the bottom wall having a drain passaging groove formed in an upper surface of the bottom wall;
- an ice formation device supported above the bottom wall;
- a water reservoir for holding water used by the ice formation device, the water reservoir being supported above the bottom wall;
- a drain valve supported above the wall, the drain valve being configured to be selectively opened to drain all of the water from the water reservoir by gravity;
- and
- a drain tube supported on the bottom wall and being at least partially received in the drain passaging groove;
- wherein the drain passaging groove slopes downward at a slope angle in an inclusive range of from 1° to 10°.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.