Apparatus for producing ice cream utilizing the Peltier effect

An ice cream making machine, comprising:

• a container for the ice cream;
• a stirrer located within the container;
• means for rotating the stirrer, and
• a refrigeration unit including heat dissipation means and a plurality of Peltier effect thermo-elements, each of said thermo-elements having a flat side in contact with a wall of the container and an opposite flat side in contact with said heat dissipation means,
• wherein the improvement consist in:
• the Peltier effect thermo-elements are located between a lower surface of a bottom wall of the container and said heat dissipation means;
• the lower surface of the bottom wall of the container has a plurality of raised flat surface portions, in correspondence with the Peltier effect thermo-elements,
• the heat dissipation means includes a member which provides a surface having a plurality of flat zones in contact with the Peltier effect thermo-elements, each of said raised flat surface portions and each of said flat contact zones having respective surface areas at least equal to the surface area of each side of each Peltier effect thermo-element,
• the heat dissipation member is connected to the container and is slidable in a direction perpendicular to the bottom wall of the container, and
• resilient means for urging the heat dissipation member against the bottom wall of the container to clamp said Peltier effect thermo-elements respectively between said raised flat surface portions and said flat contact zones of the heat dissipation member.