Self-cleaning self-sterilizing ice making machine
AssigneeThe Manitowoc Company, Inc.
InventorsCharles E. Schlosser, Lee G. Mueller, Gregory McDougal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automatic self-cleaning self-sterilizing ice making machine is having a coolant/refrigerant system, a water-ice system, a cleaning/sterilizing system and a microprocessor operated control system interconnecting the above systems. Methods for automatically cleaning ice maker water-ice systems and establishing safeguards and monitoring of system readiness and operation are also provided.
Claims29
An automatic microprocessor monitored and controlled ice-making machine comprising:
- a) a coolant/refrigerant system comprising at least one compressor, at least one condenser, at least one evaporator, at least one expansion device, at least one hot gas valve interconnecting hot gases from the compressor to the evaporator, and interconnecting lines therefore;
- b) a water/ice system comprising at least one fresh water inlet, at least one water reservoir, at least one water circulation mechanism, at least one iceforming evaporator plate, and at least one ice collector reservoir, and interconnecting lines therefore;
- c) an automatic cleaning system;
- and
- d) an electronic controlling/monitoring system having both monitoring and control capabilities to monitor, control, and operate the collant/refrigerant system, the water/ice system, and the automatic cleaning system.
An automatic microprocessor controlled self-cleaning self-sterilizing ice making machine comprising:
- a) a coolant/refrigerant system comprising at least one compressor, at least one condenser, at least one evaporator, at least one expansion device, at least one hot gas solenoid value interconnecting hot gases from the compressor to the evaporator, and interconnecting lines therefor;
- b) a water/ice system comprising at least one fresh water inlet, at least one water reservoir, at least one water circulation mechanism, at least one water distribution mechanism, at least one ice forming evaporator plate, and at least one ice collector reservoir, and interconnecting lines thereof;
- c) a self cleaning, self sterilizing system in communication with said water-ice system comprising at least one cleaning/sterilizing solution reservoir, at least one cleaning/sterilizing solution injection mechanism and interconnecting lines in communication with the solution reservoir, the injection mechanism, and the water-ice system;
- and
- d) a control/monitoring system comprising at least one electronic microprocessor capable of activating and monitoring the operation of at least one each of sequence timers, electronic counters, relays and/or switches, solenoid valves, pumps, injection mechanisms, level controllers, ice release mechanisms, flow controllers, and ice thickness probes, said microprocessor programmed to initiate, control, and stop cleaning/sterilizing solution injection times, volumes, rates and circulation times, to initiate, control and stop rinse cycles and rinse times, and to initiate, control, count, and stop freeze-harvest cycles of the ice machine.
A method of automatically initiating the cleaning/sterilizing of the surfaces of a microprocessor monitored and controlled operating ice making machine comprising a coolant/refrigerant system, a water-ice system, a cleaning/sterilizing system, and a controlling/monitoring system;
- which method comprises the automatic microprocessor controlled steps of:
- a) turning off the coolant/refrigerant system;
- b) draining any accumulated water from the water/ice system of the ice making machine;
- c) recharging the water/ice system with fresh water from a water supply to form a first wash water and initiating water circulation thereof;
- d) circulating the first wash water throughout the water/ice system of the ice making system for a period of time sufficient to remove deposits from the surfaces in contact with the first wash water;
- and
- e) stopping the circulation of the first wash water and draining same from the machine, and then;
- f) adding fresh water to the water-ice system, and circulating same for a period of at least 30 seconds thereby forming a first rinse solution by rinsing the surfaces previously cleaned,
- g) draining the first rinse solution from the machine;
- and then
- h) recharging the water/ice system with fresh water and automatically initiating the next freeze cycle of the ice making machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.