Refrigeration – Means producing shaped or modified congealed product – Thawing means
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-11
2004-06-01
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Means producing shaped or modified congealed product
Thawing means
C062S353000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06742351
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 reducing the amount of water to be frozen from being wasted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An ice-making machine is used for freezing water to form pieces of ice. One proposal is for an ice-making machine capable of preventing opacification, which occurs as air bubbles inside the water are frozen.
FIGS. 1 through 3
are views showing a conventional ice-making machine, such as that disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No.5,425,243.
As shown in
FIGS. 1 through 3
, a conventional ice-making machine includes a housing
10
, a freezing unit
20
, an air-removing means
30
, and a detecting means
40
for detecting completion of the ice formation operation.
The housing
10
has an ice bin
11
for storing therein ice pieces formed in the freezing unit
20
. Under the ice bin
11
are disposed a compressor
12
and a condenser
13
, together comprising a freezing system.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the freezing unit
20
includes a water tray
21
, a freezing base plate
22
having a lower surface, and an evaporator
23
. The water tray
21
is filled with the water to be frozen. A plurality of freezing fingers
24
are formed on the lower surface of the freezing base plate
22
to be dipped into the water in the water tray
21
. At a side of the water tray
21
is provided a pivoting means
25
to discharge unfrozen water in the water tray
21
by tilting the water tray
21
. The evaporator
23
is disposed on the upper surface of the freezing base plate
22
and is connected to a freezing system
12
,
13
. As the refrigerant flows inside the evaporator
23
, the freezing base plate
22
and the freezing fingers
24
are cooled utilizing heat exchange of the refrigerant.
The air-removing means
30
removes the air bubbles inside the water to be frozen, thereby preventing opacification from occurring during ice formation. The air-removing means
30
includes a rocking plate
31
vertically rocking inside the water tray
21
and a rocking motor
32
for driving the rocking plate
31
. An engagement piece
33
disposed adjacent the rocking motor
32
pushes an engagement pin
34
upwardly of the rocking plate
31
to thereby move the rocking plate
31
. Due to the rocking movement of the rocking plate
31
, the air bubbles float upwardly and outside the water and thus are removed from the frozen ice pieces.
The detecting means
40
for detecting completion of the ice forming operation, as shown in
FIG. 3
, includes a forefinger switch
41
, on which a lever
42
is disposed, and an actuation piece
44
, disposed on a metal fitting
43
to which the rocking motor
32
is attached. When the rocking plate
31
collides with the ice pieces being gradually formed around the freezing fingers
24
, the shock of the rocking plate
31
is transferred to the rocking motor
32
through the engagement piece
33
. At this time, the metal fitting
43
is rotated on a supporting pivot shaft
45
, so that the actuation piece
44
, disposed at the metal fitting
43
, presses the lever
42
to thus operate the forefinger switch
41
.
The conventional ice-making machine further includes a water supply pipe
14
, a pivotal shaft
26
, a water chute
27
, and a water collecting section
15
, all of which are not further described herein as they are known in the conventional devices.
Hereinafter, the operation of the conventional ice-making machine is described.
When water to be frozen is supplied to the water tray
21
through the water supply pipe
14
, to thus immerse the freezing fingers
24
dipped in the water, the water starts to be frozen around the freezing fingers
24
that are cooled at the temperature of 0° C. or lower by the heat exchange of the refrigerant flowing inside the evaporator
23
. At the same time, the rocking motor
32
is activated to vertically rock the rocking plate
31
immersed in the water. Accordingly, the water is vertically rocked and thus the air bubbles inside the water are removed by floating upwardly. As a result, clear ice pieces are formed around the freezing fingers
24
.
The ice pieces are gradually formed around the freezing fingers
24
to have a predetermined size, and the rocking plate
31
collides with the ice pieces so that the shock of the rocking plate
31
is transferred to the rocking motor
32
via the engagement piece
33
. At this time, the metal fitting
43
to which the rocking motor
32
is attached is rotated on the supporting shaft
45
in a clockwise direction so that the actuation piece
44
presses the lever
42
of the forefinger switch
41
. Accordingly, the time of completion of the ice forming operation is detected. When the ice formation is completed, the rocking plate
31
stops being rocked, hot gas is discharged from the compressor
12
and is supplied directly to the evaporator
23
without passing through the condenser
13
to temporarily heat the freezing fingers
24
, and the water tray
21
pivots on the pivotal shaft
26
by the pivoting means
25
to thus be tilted. Accordingly, the formed ice pieces are separated from the freezing fingers
24
and are dropped into the ice bin
11
. The unfrozen water that remains in the water tray
21
is guided by the water chute
27
and is discharged to the water collecting section
15
.
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.
Moreover, since the freezing fingers
24
cool not only the water around the freezing fingers
24
but also cool all of the water in the water tray
21
, excessive energy is consumed and the growth rate of the ice pieces formed around the freezing fingers
24
is unnecessarily reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been developed in order to solve the above problems of the prior, art conventional ice-making machines. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice-making machine reducing the amount of water to be frozen that is cooled by supplying a predetermined amount of water into a plurality of freezing chambers having a predetermined size, and shortening the time required to form ice pieces by increasing the freezing rate.
The above object is 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 receiving water to be frozen, a freezing base plate on which the evaporator is disposed, the freezing base plate having a lower surface and freezing fingers formed thereon to be dipped into the water supplied to the freezing cells, and an air-removing means for rocking the base frame to remove air bubbles from the water to be frozen.
Preferably, the air-removing means comprises a supporting frame for movably supporting the base frame and enabling it to rock upward and downward, a spring interposed between the base frame and the supporting frame, and a pressing means for repeatedly pressing the base frame, and the base frame being capable of rocking upward and downward due to the elastic recovering force of the spring and the pressure of the pressing means so that the water in the freezing cells are applied to the freezing fingers repeatedly.
Also, it is preferred that the pressing means comprises a cam disposed for contact with the base frame and a cam motor for rotating the cam.
Also, it is preferred that the base frame has a sliding bar for being inserted into a sliding hole formed in the supporting frame.
Also, the ice making machine further comprises a detecting means for detecting completion of the ice forming operation by detecting a variation in the distance within which the base frame is being rocked, the variation depending on the sizes of the ice pieces formed around the freezing fingers.
Preferably, the detecting means comprises a magne
Kim Oh-bok
Nakajo Hideo
Ali Mohammad M.
Samsung Gwangju Electronics Co. Ltd.
Tapolcai William E.
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