Refrigeration – Means producing shaped or modified congealed product – Thawing means
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-22
2004-02-10
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Means producing shaped or modified congealed product
Thawing means
C062S068000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688130
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an ice-making machine, and more particularly, to an ice-making machine reducing ice making time and preventing wastage or loss of water to be frozen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An ice-making machine is used for freezing water to thus form ice pieces. There has already been proposed an ice-making machine capable of preventing opacification, which occurs as air bubbles inside the water are frozen.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show a conventional ice-making machine, which was disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,243.
As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the conventional ice-making machine includes a housing
10
, a freezing unit
20
, and an air-removing means
40
.
The housing
10
has an ice bin
11
for storing ice pieces formed in the freezing unit
20
. Under the ice bin
11
are disposed a compressor
12
and a condenser
13
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the freezing unit
20
includes a water tray
21
, a freezing base plate
23
, and an evaporator
30
. The water tray
21
is filled with water to be frozen. A plurality of freezing fingers
22
are disposed on the lower surface of the freezing base plate
23
to be dipped in the water. One side of the water tray
21
is provided with a pivoting means for tilting the water tray
21
to allow unfrozen water to be discharged. The evaporator
30
is disposed on the upper surface of the freezing base plate
23
and is connected to a freezing system. As the refrigerant flows inside the evaporator
30
, the freezing base plate
23
and the freezing fingers
22
are cooled by the heat exchange of the refrigerant within the evaporator
30
.
The air-removing means
40
is for removing air bubbles inside the water to prevent opacification occurring during ice formation. The air-removing means
40
includes a rocking plate
41
rocking upward and downward inside the water tray
21
and a rocking motor
42
for driving the rocking plate
41
. An engagement piece
43
disposed at the rocking motor
42
upwardly pushes an engagement pin
44
of the rocking plate
41
to move the rocking plate
41
. The rocking movement of the rocking plate
41
causes the air bubbles to float upwardly and outside the water to be frozen, thereby removing the air bubbles.
The freezing unit
20
further includes a water supply pipe
14
, a pivotal shaft
25
, a water chute
26
, and a water collecting section
15
.
Hereinafter, the operation of the conventional ice-making machine is described.
The water to be frozen is supplied to the water tray
21
through the water supply pipe
14
and then the freezing fingers
22
are dipped into the water, the water starts to freeze around the freezing fingers
22
that are cooled to a temperature of 0° C. or lower by the heat exchange of the refrigerant flowing inside the evaporator
30
. At the same time, the rocking motor
42
is activated to vertically rock the rocking plate
41
that is immersed in the water. Accordingly, the water is rocked and thus the air bubbles inside the water are removed. As a result, clear ice pieces are formed around the freezing fingers
22
.
The ice pieces are gradually formed around the freezing fingers
22
to a predetermined size, and when the process is completed, the rocking plate
41
stops being rocked. Hot gas is discharged from the compressor
12
without passing through the condenser
13
and is directly supplied into the evaporator
30
to temporarily heat the freezing fingers
22
, and then the water tray
21
pivots on the pivotal shaft
25
by the pivoting means
24
to thus be tilted. Accordingly, the formed ice pieces are separated from the freezing fingers
22
and then are dropped into the ice bin
11
, and the unfrozen water that remains in the water tray
21
is guided along the water chute
26
and discharged into the water collecting section
15
(FIG.
1
).
Such conventional ice making machines require an amount of water exceeding what is actually to be frozen as the water tray is designed to hold more than the amount of water necessary to make ice pieces, thereby wasting a lot of water to excess runoff.
Moreover, since the freezing fingers
22
cool not only the water around the freezing fingers
22
but also all of the water in the water tray
21
, too much energy is consumed and the generation rate of the ice pieces formed around the freezing fingers
22
is slow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been developed in order to solve the above-described problems in the prior art. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice-making machine making unnecessary the freezing of waste water by supplying a predetermined amount of water into a plurality of freezing chambers having predetermined sizes, and reducing the time required to form ice pieces by increasing the freezing speed around freezing fingers.
The above objects are achieved by providing an ice making machine comprising a housing, an evaporator connected to a freezing system, a base frame having a plurality of freezing cells for being filled with water to be frozen, a freezing base plate provided with the evaporator and freezing fingers formed on the lower surface of the freezing base plate to be dipped into the water supplied to the freezing cells, and an air removing means for pumping the water into the freezing cells so as to remove air bubbles inside the water, thereby forming clear ice pieces.
It is preferred that the air removing means comprises a water path disposed within the base frame to be connected to the freezing cells, a water pocket connected to the water path and replenished with water, and a pressing means for repeatedly pressing the water pocket to pump the water of the water pocket into each freezing cell.
Preferably, the pressing means comprises a cam disposed in contact with the water pocket and a cam motor for rotating the cam.
Also, it is preferred that at a side of the water pocket is disposed a valve in the water path for forcedly injecting the water into the freezing cells.
Also, it is preferred that the water pocket is made of a soft impermeable material, such as a silicone.
Also, it is preferred that between the cam and the water pocket is interposed a pressing plate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3791166 (1974-02-01), Maleck
patent: 4184339 (1980-01-01), Wessa
patent: 4572785 (1986-02-01), Braaten
patent: 4685304 (1987-08-01), Essig
patent: 5127236 (1992-07-01), von Blanquet
patent: 5187948 (1993-02-01), Frohbieter
Samsung Gwangju Electronics Co. Ltd.
Tapolcai William E.
LandOfFree
Ice making machine does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Ice making machine, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ice making machine will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3332451