Ice-making device
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsHiroshi Tatsui, Tadashi Adachi, Mitoko Ishita, Toyoshi Kamisako
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compact ice-making device is provided for making ice chips of varied shapes for use in glasses of whiskey and water, and the like purposes. Ice is made using an ice-making vessel (13) for making a plank-like block of ice with a shaft (18) inserted in advance in the vessel, the shaft (18) having ribs (18A) extending substantially radially from a rotating axis. Upon completion of the ice making, a gear unit (20) connected to the shaft (18) is driven by a motor to rotate the shaft (18), which cracks and divides the plank-like ice block into ice chips of varied shapes.
Claims44
An ice-making device comprising:
- an ice-making unit provided with an ice-making vessel for making a plank-shaped block of ice;
- cracking means for cracking the plank-shaped block of ice produced in the ice-making unit into a plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips within the ice-making unit;
- a drive unit for driving the cracking means;
- a water supply unit for supplying water to the ice-making vessel;
- a turning unit for turning the ice-making unit upside down;
- and
- an ice storage box for storing the plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips, wherein
- the cracking means is disposed to a bottom side of the ice-making vessel, and
- the turning unit turns the ice-making vessel and the cracking means upside down upon completion of the ice making to allow the ice chips in the ice-making vessel to fall into the ice storage box.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.