Compact ice making machine with cool vapor defrost

An ice making apparatus in which an evaporator is located remotely from a compressor and a condenser comprising:

• a) a condensing unit comprising said condenser and said compressor;
• b) an ice making unit comprising
• i) a water system including a pump, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefor;
• and
• ii) a portion of a refrigeration system including said evaporator in thermal contact with said ice-forming mold, a plurality of receivers and a thermal expansion device;
• and
• c) two refrigerant lines running between the condensing unit and the ice making unit comprising a suction line and a feed line, the suction line returning refrigerant to the compressor and the feed line supplying refrigerant to the ice making unit;
• d) wherein the receivers each have an inlet, a liquid outlet and a vapor outlet, the inlet being connected to the feed line, the liquid outlet being connected to the expansion device, which in turn is connected to the evaporator, and the vapor outlet being connected by a valved passageway directly to the evaporator, and wherein the ice making unit is contained in a cabinet having a depth of less than 18 inches.

An ice making apparatus in which an evaporator is located remotely from a compressor and a condenser comprising:

• a) a condensing unit comprising said condenser and said compressor;
• b) an ice making unit comprising
• i) a cabinet having a depth of less than 18 inches;
• ii) a water system including a pump, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefor inside said cabinet;
• and
• iii) a portion of a refrigeration system including said evaporator in thermal contact with said ice-forming mold, at least one receiver and a thermal expansion device inside said cabinet;
• and
• c) two refrigerant lines running between the condensing unit and the ice making unit comprising a suction line and a feed line, the suction line returning refrigerant to the compressor and the feed line supplying refrigerant to the ice making unit;
• d) wherein the at least one receiver has an inlet, a liquid outlet and a vapor outlet, the inlet being connected to the feed line, the liquid outlet being connected to the expansion device, which in turn is connected to the evaporator, and the vapor outlet being connected by a valved passageway directly to the evaporator, and further wherein the ice making unit produces at least 500 pounds of ice per day under ARI standard rating conditions of 90° F. ambient temperature and 70° F. ambient inlet water temperature.

A combination of an ice making unit and an ice and beverage dispenser comprising:

• a) an ice and beverage dispenser having an ice storage bin in the top thereof with an internal bin depth;
• and
• b) an ice making unit housed in a cabinet placed on top of the ice storage bin, the cabinet having a depth, the depth of the ice making unit being at least 8 inches less than the internal depth of the ice storage bin, the ice making unit cabinet housing i) a water system including a water pump, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefore;
• and ii) a portion of a refrigeration system including an evaporator in thermal contact with the ice-forming mold, a thermal expansion device and two receivers connected together with a receiver equalizing line.

A compact ice making unit comprising:

• a) a cabinet;
• b) a water system inside the cabinet, including a water pump, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefore;
• and
• c) a portion of a refrigeration system including an evaporator in thermal contact with the ice-forming mold, at least one receiver and a thermal expansion device;
• d) wherein the cabinet occupies a volume and wherein the ice making unit produces cubed ice at a rated capacity of 2500 pounds of ice per day or less under ARI standard test conditions of 90° F. ambient temperature and 70° F. ambient inlet water temperature, and wherein the ratio of ice production rate to cabinet volume is at least 125 pounds of ice/day/ft3.

An ice making unit comprising:

• a) a cabinet having a front panel covering a front panel opening, a water compartment behind the front panel, a mechanical compartment and a divider between the mechanical compartment and the water compartment;
• b) a water system inside the cabinet including a pump assembly, an ice-forming mold, a water reservoir, and interconnecting lines therefore;
• and
• c) a portion of a refrigeration system including an evaporation in thermal contact with said ice-forming mold, at least one receiver and a thermal expansion device inside the cabinet;
• d) the pump assembly comprising a motor and a pump housing, the pump assembly extending through the divider such that the pump motor is in the mechanical compartment and the pump housing is in the water compartment, and wherein the pump assembly can be removed through the front panel opening and replaced without the use of tools.

An ice making apparatus in which an evaporator is located remotely from a compressor and a condenser comprising:

• a) an ice making unit comprising
• i) a cabinet having a depth of less than 18 inches;
• ii) a water system including a pump, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefor inside said cabinet;
• and
• iii) a portion of a refrigeration system including said evaporator in thermal contact with said ice-forming mold and a thermal expansion device inside said cabinet, and at least one receiver;
• and
• b) refrigerant lines running between the compressor, condenser and the ice making unit comprising a suction line and a feed line, the suction line returning refrigerant from the evaporator to the compressor and the feed line supplying refrigerant from the compressor to the ice making unit;
• c) wherein the at least one receiver has an inlet, a liquid outlet and a vapor outlet, the inlet being connected to the feed line, the liquid outlet being connected to the expansion device, which in turn is connected to the evaporator, and the vapor outlet being connected by a valved passageway to the evaporator, and further wherein the ice making unit produces at least 500 pounds of ice per day under ARI standard rating conditions of 90° F. ambient temperature and 70° F. ambient inlet water temperature.

A combination of an ice making unit and an ice and beverage dispenser comprising:

• a) an ice and beverage dispenser having an ice storage bin in the top thereof with an internal bin depth;
• and
• b) an ice making unit housed in a cabinet placed on top of the ice storage bin, the cabinet having a depth, the depth of the ice making unit being at least 8 inches less than the internal depth of the ice storage bin, the ice making unit comprising:
• i) a water system including a pump, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefor inside said cabinet;
• and
• ii) a portion of a refrigeration system including said evaporator in thermal contact with said ice-forming mold and a thermal expansion device inside said cabinet;
• c) wherein the refrigeration system further comprises a receiver having an inlet, a liquid outlet and a vapor outlet, the inlet being connected to a feed line, the liquid outlet being connected to the expansion device, which in turn is connected to the evaporator, and the vapor outlet being connected by a valved passageway to the evaporator, and wherein when the ice making unit is in a harvest mode, refrigerant vapor is directed from the receiver vapor outlet to the evaporator and is used to harvest ice from the ice forming mold.

A compact ice making unit comprising:

• a) a cabinet;
• b) a water system inside the cabinet, including a water pump, a water distributor, an ice-forming mold and interconnecting lines therefore;
• and
• c) a portion of a refrigeration system including an evaporator in thermal contact with the ice-forming mold and a thermal expansion device inside the cabinet;
• d) wherein the cabinet occupies a volume and wherein the ice making unit produces cubed ice at a rated capacity of 2500 pounds of ice per day or less under ARI standard test conditions of 90° F. ambient temperature and 70° F. ambient inlet water temperature, and wherein the ratio of ice production rate to cabinet volume is at least 125 pounds of ice/day/ft3;
• and
• e) wherein during a harvest mode the evaporator receives refrigerant vapor drawn off of a receiver.