Icemakers and methods of making ice

An ice making apparatus, comprising a plurality of generally straight evaporator tubes;

• drive means located adjacent said evaporator tubes;
• means for supplying water to the exterior surfaces of said evaporator tubes;
• means for supplying refrigerant to the interiors of said evaporator tubes, so that evaporation takes place within said tubes to cause the freezing of tubes of ice on exterior surfaces of said evaporator tubes;
• means for heating said evaporator tubes above the freezing point of water to free the ice tubes from their bonds to said evaporator tubes following discontinuation of supply of refrigerant to and evaporation of refrigerant within said evaporator tubes;
• means for operating said drive means to move the ice tubes along and off of said evporator tubes;
• and means for fracturing the leading ends of the ice tubes into smaller ice pieces as the ice tubes move off of said evaporator tubes, wherein said evaporator tubes are in parallel relationship and said means for fracturing the ice tubes includes extensions at one each of each of said evaporator tubes that extend out of parallel relationship with said evaporator tubes.

An ice making appartus, comprising a plurality of generally straight evaporator tubes;

• drive means located adjacent said evaporator tubes;
• means for supplying water to the exterior surfaces of said evaporator tubes;
• means for supplying refrigerant to the interiors of said evaporator tubes, so that evaporation takes place within said tubes to cause the freezing of tubes of ice on exterior surfaces of said evaporator tubes;
• means for heating said evaporator tubes above the freezing point of water to free the ice tubes from their bonds to said evaporator tubes following discontinuation of supply of refrigerant to and evaporation of refrigerant within said evaporator tubes;
• means for operating said drive means to move the ice tubes along and off of said evaporator tubes;
• and means for fracturing the leading ends of the ice tubes into smaller ice pieces as the ice tubes move off of said evaporator tubes, wherein said evaporator tubes are arranged in parallel on and around the circumference of a circle, and said drive means includes a rotatable shaft located coaxially with the circle and parallel to said evaporator tubes and a helical ramp extending around and along said shaft for engaging the interiors of the ice tubes, and said means for operating rotates said shaft and ramp to move the ice tubes along and off of said evaporator tubes.

A method of making ice, comprising the steps of supplying refrigerant to the interiors of a plurality of generally straight evaporator tubes;

• supplying water to the exteriors of the evaporator tubes, the refrigerant being at a temperature such that the freezing of tubes of ice occurs on the exterior surfaces of the evaporator tubes;
• heating the evaporator tubes above the freezing point of water to free the ice tubes from their bonds to the evaporator tubes following discontinuation of supply of refrigerant thereto;
• moving the ice tubes along and off of the evaporator tubes;
• and fracturing the leading ends of the ice tubes into smaller ice pieces as the ice tubes move off of the evaporator tubes.

A method of making ice, comprising the steps of supplying refrigerant to the interiors of a plurality of generally straight evaporator tubes;

• supplying water to the exteriors of the evaporator tubes, the refrigerant being at a temperature such that the freezing of tubes of ice occurs on the exterior surfaces of the evaporator tubes;
• heating the evaporator tubes above the freezing point of water to free the ice tubes from their bonds to the evaporator tubes following discontinuation of supply of refrigerant thereto;
• moving the ice tubes along and off of the evaporator tubes;
• and fracturing the leading ends of the ice tubes into smaller ice pieces as the ice tubes move off of the evaporator tubes, wherein said evaporator tubes are in parallel relationship, and said moving step comprises pushing against one end of the ice tubes to move the same along and off of the evaporator tubes, and said fracturing step comprises forcing the leading ends of the ice tubes to try to follow paths that are out of parallelism with the evaporator tubes.

A method of making ice, comprising the steps of supplying refrigerant to the interiors of a plurality of generally straight evaporator tubes;

• supplying water to the exteriors of the evaporator tubes, the refrigerant being at a temperature such that the freezing of tubes of ice occurs on the exterior surfaces of the evaporator tubes;
• heating the evaporator tubes above the freezing point of water to free the ice tubes from their bonds to the evaporator tubes following discontinuation of supply of refrigerant thereto;
• moving the ice tubes along and off of the evaporator tubes;
• and fracturing the leading ends of the ice tubes into smaller ice pieces as the ice tubes move off of the evaporator tubes, wherein said evaporator tubes are arranged in parallel on and around the circumference of a circle, and said moving step comprises engaging the ice tubes with a helical ramp extending coaxial to the circle, and rotating the ramp about its axis to move the ice tubes along and off of the evaporator tubes.