Refrigeration – Means producing shaped or modified congealed product – With raw material projector – e.g. – spray
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-12
2003-01-07
Tapoloai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Means producing shaped or modified congealed product
With raw material projector, e.g., spray
C249S081000, C249S119000, C249S160000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06502416
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Illustrated in
FIG. 8
is a conventional automatic ice maker of the open-cell type which includes a box type housing
1
composed of a pair of side walls
1
a
connected to each other by means of rear and front walls
1
b
and
1
c
, a water storage tank
2
mounted to a bottom portion of housing
1
, a sprinkler
3
provided with a plurality of nozzles
3
a
and mounted on the water storage tank
2
, an ice making dish plate
4
a
mounted within an ice making chamber
4
formed in an upper portion of housing
1
, a plurality of cup-shaped ice making cell casings
4
b
coupled with the corresponding holes of the dish plate
4
a
and welded in place, and an inclined ice chute
6
in the form of a lattice located under the ice making cell casings
4
b
and mounted to the side walls
1
a
of housing
1
. The ice making cell casings
4
b
are arranged to open downward. In addition, a shutter
7
is suspended from the front wall
1
c
of housing
1
and is normally closed by weight. During the defrost cycle in operation of the ice maker, fresh water is supplied to the dish plate
4
a
by means of a water supply conduit
8
. When the defrost cycle in operation of the ice maker finishes, the water is discharged from a drain passage (not shown).
A cooling pipe
5
fixedly mounted on the ice making cell casings
4
b
as shown in FIGS.
9
(
a
) and
9
(
b
) is connected to a refrigerant conduit
10
to be supplied with cooled refrigerant from a freezing circuit including a compressor
11
, a condenser
12
cooled by a cooling fan
13
, a dehydrator
14
and an expansion valve
15
. In the freezing circuit, a hot-gas valve
16
is provided in parallel with the condenser
14
, dehydrator
14
and expansion valve
15
. When the freezing circuit is activated in a closed condition of the hot-gas valve
16
, the ice making chamber
4
is cooled by the refrigerant supplied from the freezing circuit. When the hot-gas valve
16
is opened in a closed condition of expansion valve
15
, the refrigerant is compressed by the compressor
11
and supplied as a hot-gas to the cooling pipe
5
.
Ice making water W in water tank
2
is supplied into the sprinkler
3
and spouted upward from the nozzles
3
a
of sprinkler
3
. The water is spouted across openings of the ice chute
6
into each interior of ice making cell casings
4
b
cooled by the refrigerant and frozen in the ice making cell casings
4
b
, and a remainder of the water is returned into the water tank
2
. Ice cubes formed in the ice making cells
4
b
are enlarged in the course of lapse of a time. When the ice making cell casings
4
b
are filled with the ice cubes, the water for defrost is supplied to the dish plate
4
a
, and the hot-gas is supplied to the cooling pipe
5
to release the ice cubes from the ice making cell casings
4
b
. The ice cubes are received by the ice chute
6
and slip on the ice chute to open the shutter
7
. Thus, the ice cubes are delivered into an ice storage cabinet (not shown) through the shutter
7
.
In the ice maker, as shown in FIGS.
9
(
a
) and
9
(
b
), the cooling pipe
5
is secured in contact with the ice making cell casings
4
b
and is partly separated from the ice making cell casings at each space therebetween. Accordingly, at an ice making cycle in operation, heat transfer of the refrigerant is effected only at a portion of the cooling pipe
5
in contact with the ice making cell casings
4
b
, while the cooling pipe
5
does not effect heat transfer of the refrigerant at a portion separated from the ice making cell casings
4
b
. This results in a decrease of heat exchange efficiency of the cooling pipe
5
, causing a decrease of ice making performance of the ice maker.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type the cooling performance of which is enhanced in a simple construction.
According to the present invention, the object is accomplished by providing an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type which includes a box-type housing, a plurality of spaced ice making cell casings arranged on a horizontal plane in an upper portion of the housing and opened downward, a cooling pipe mounted on the cell casings to be supplied with refrigerant from a freezing circuit and a sprinkler mounted within a bottom portion of the housing and placed under the cell casings to spout ice making water into the respective cell casings, wherein a base plate is mounted within the upper portion of the housing to form an ice making chamber, and wherein the ice making cell casings are secured to a bottom surface of the base plate, while the cooling pipe is mounted on the base plate along positions located above the cell casings and welded to an upper surface of the base plate.
In a practical embodiment of the present invention, the ice making cell casings each are in the form of a cylindrical body welded at one end thereof to the bottom surface of the base plate. Alternatively, the ice making cell casings each are in the form of a cup-shaped casing welded at its bottom to the bottom surface of the base plate by braze welding.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the ice making cell casings each are in the form of a cylindrical body formed at one end thereof with a plurality of projections which are inserted into the corresponding mounting holes formed in the base plate and folded in a condition wherein the one end of the cylindrical body is retained in contact with the bottom surface of the base plate.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the base plate is formed with a plurality of mounting holes located at positions corresponding with the ice making cell casings, wherein the ice making cell casings each are in the form of a cup-shaped casing formed at its bottom with an annular flange which is coupled with the respective mounting holes of the base plate and welded to the base plate in a condition where the bottom of the cup-shaped casing coincides with the upper surface of the base, and wherein the cooling pipe is welded to the upper surface of the base plate in its entire length.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the ice making cell casings are integrally formed with the bottom surface of the base plate, while the cooling pipe is mounted on the base plate along positions located above the cell casings and welded to the upper surface of the base plate. In this embodiment, it is preferable that the base plate is formed thereon with a support portion along positions located above the cell casings, and that the cooling pipe is positioned in engagement with the support portion of the base plate and welded to the base plate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5304904 (1994-04-01), Sakai
patent: 5329780 (1994-07-01), Broadbent
patent: 5722244 (1998-03-01), Shelton
patent: 5941091 (1999-08-01), Broadbent
patent: 6062036 (2000-05-01), Hobelsberger
Hayakawa Shinsaku
Kawasumi Masaaki
Kodani Masahiro
Nagasawa Shinichi
Nishimura Kiyoharu
Ali Mohammad M.
Arent Fox Kintner & Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC
Hoshizaki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
Tapoloai William E.
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