Ice forming apparatus
AssigneesBerge A. Dimijian, Beverly Rodeo Development Corporation
InventorBerge A. Dimijian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Ice making apparatus includes a plate forming a plurality of through openings, the plate having an under surface facing downwardly, a plurality of evaporator tips projecting downwardly from said openings, said tips consisting of heat conductive metal; there being downwardly tapering thermal isolators surrounding the tips proximate the plate, first means for supplying refrigerant fluid to extract heat upwardly from at least some of the tips and thereby cool them to ice forming temperature, and second means to spray water onto the under surface of the plate to drain down said isolators onto the tips, whereby ice progressively forms on the tips, and the tips may be subsequently heated to effect release of the ice from the tips to drop downwardly, for harvesting.
Claims10
In ice making apparatus, the combination comprising
- (a) a plate forming a plurality of through openings, the plate having an under surface facing downwardly,
- (b) a plurality of thermal tips projecting downwardly from said openings, said tips consisting of heat conductive metal, and tapering downwardly to provide downwardly tapering outer surfaces,
- (c) there being downwardly extending thermal isolator non-metallic surfaces surrounding upper surfaces of the tips, proximate the plate, said isolator surfaces tapering downwardly toward the tip tapered surfaces to permit water drainage over said isolator surfaces onto downwardly tapering metal surfaces of the tips,
- (d) first means for supplying refrigerant fluid to extract heat from at least some of the tips, via said openings, and thereby cool them to ice forming temperature,
- (e) second means including spray head means to spray water onto said under surface of the plate between the tips to drain down said isolator surfaces onto the tips, whereby ice progressively forms on the tips below the plate, and the tips may be heated to effect release of the ice from the tips to drop downwardly, for harvesting, said second means including water reservoir means, and means to supply water to said reservoir means and to deliver water from the reservoir means to the spray head means, under the control of water level sensor means for sensing water level in the reservoir means.
In ice making apparatus, the combination comprising
- (a) a plate forming a plurality of through openings, the plate having an under surface facing downwardly,
- (b) a plurality of thermal tips projecting downwardly from said openings, said tips consisting of heat conductive metal,
- (c) there being downwardly extending thermal isolator surfaces surrounding the tips proximate the plate,
- (d) first means for supplying refrigerant fluid to extract heat from at least some of the tips and thereby cool them to ice forming temperature,
- (e) and second means to spray water onto said under surface of the plate to drain down said isolator surfaces onto the tips, whereby ice progressively forms on the tips below the plate, and the tips may be heated to effect release of the ice from the tips to drop downwardly, for harvesting, said second means comprising a spray head located beneath said plate, and angled to direct the spray laterally and upwardly to impinge upon plate extents between the tips,
- (f) said second means including a water reservoir from which water is supplied to the spray head, and including control means to control the amount of water supplied to the reservoir,
- (g) said second means also including a pump to pump water from the reservoir for supply to the spray head, and a water supply valve, the control means including a first sensor to sense water level in the reservoir, to close said supply valve and start said pump when the water level reaches a pre-set upper limit in the reservoir, and to open said supply valve when the water level drops to a pre-set lower limit, the pump continuing to operate to flush water from the reservoir during removal of ice from the tips.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.