Refrigeration – Means producing shaped or modified congealed product – With product receiving and storing means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-28
2001-05-22
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Means producing shaped or modified congealed product
With product receiving and storing means
C312S406000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233964
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to ice making machines and specifically to ice making machines that can be installed beneath a standard height counter top.
2. Background
Ice making machines are well known in the art and typically include an ice cube making mechanism located in an insulated bin for retaining a volume of ice cubes produced thereby. Ice makers designed for installation below the level of a countertop are also known. The below countertop positioning has the advantages of not taking up valuable countertop space and not blocking vision of a particular area. A problem with ice makers positioned beneath a counter top concerns the ease of serviceability thereof. The refrigeration components, such as, the compressor and condenser are required to be located beneath the bin. Thus, removal or servicing of such components requires that the ice maker be removed from underneath the counter and that the bin then be removed. Various strategies have been proposed to facilitate this type of servicing requirement. However, there remains a need to provide for ease of serviceability in under counter ice machines in a manner that the ice maker can also be relatively low in cost.
A further problem frequently encountered in ice makers of all types is the need for service calls. Oftentimes a service call results where the machine fails to operate to produce ice because of some transient effect but not because there is anything mechanically wrong with its components. Thus, for example, the condenser temperature can become too high because a vent path has become inadvertently but temporarily blocked. If the machine goes into permanent shut down, a service person will need to make the call only to find that the machine starts to run normally when reset because the object blocking normal cooling air flow has been removed. Many such situations occur for which a service call would not be required. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a control for an ice making machine that could reduce the number of service calls required as the result of transient problems not resulting from actual mechanical problems with the ice maker.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a low height ice maker designed primarily for use in under counter applications. An ice retaining bin includes a top end opening covered in part by a top panel and the remaining part by an ice access door. The access door is retained at an angle in its closed position, and can be slid underneath the top panel in a horizontal orientation in its open position. The access panel can be removed by releasable retaining means, such as screws or the like. The bin is secured to a base, the base retaining certain components of a refrigeration system including; a condenser, a compressor, an expansion valve and a hot gas defrost valve. The base also retains a water dump valve, the electronic control for the ice maker and the condenser fan. When the bin is secured to the base, front and rear access areas are defined which areas can be opened by removing releasably securable panels. The control electronics and the condenser fan are positioned adjacent the front access. The expansion valve, hot gas defrost valve and the dump valve are positioned adjacent the rear access.
An ice cube forming evaporator assembly is secured to an interior surface of the bin. The assembly includes a frame, and secured thereto; an ice forming evaporator, a water distribution tube, a water tray, a re-circulating water pump, a float operated water valve, and an ice drop detector. The water distribution tube, the water pump, the float valve and the ice detector are secured to the assembly frame with hand operable quick releasing means, such as wing nuts and the like.
The bin includes a vertical recess area along a back side thereof. A pair of refrigerant lines, low and high pressure, extend within the vertical recess between the evaporator and the compressor and condenser. A slot in the bin back side within the vertical recess permits connection of the two refrigerant lines to the evaporator positioned within the bin interior.
It can be appreciated by those of skill that the ice maker herein provides for ease of serviceability whereby, after removal of the ice maker from underneath a counter, the access panels can be removed from the front and rear access areas. At that point, all the refrigeration components can be accessed for replacement with the exception of the compressor and condenser. The evaporator assembly can also be easily reached by opening the access door and/or by also removing the top panel. All the major components thereof can also be accessed or removed, generally without the need for hand tools. Thus, the present invention provides for ease of serviceability without the need for removal of the bin from the base. However, the bin can be easily removed from the base for replacement of the compressor or condenser.
In operation, the ice maker herein works in the conventional manner wherein the refrigeration system provides for cooling of the evaporator. Ice is formed thereon as water is pumped by the re-circulating pump to flow from the water distribution tube over the surface thereof A temperature sensor in the evaporator suction line provides for signaling the electronic control that the ice is of sufficient thickness to harvest. The control then operates the hot gas defrost valve to route high pressure refrigerant to the evaporator to slightly melt the ice so that it can fall from the evaporator into the ice retaining area within the bin. The ice drop sensor includes a small flange that is positioned adjacent the surface of the evaporator. As the ice falls it hits the flange which causes a magnet attached thereto to move away from a proximity switch. The proximity switch signals the control that ice has been successfully harvested and a further ice making cycle can be initiated. In addition to this standard mode of operation, the control of the present invention also includes programmed routines for helping to differentiate between transient failures to make ice that are not the result of mechanical failure of any of the components of the ice maker and those that are the result of an component failure.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4180297 (1979-12-01), Abrams
patent: 4706466 (1987-11-01), Yingst et al.
patent: 4715512 (1987-12-01), Buchser
patent: 5131234 (1992-07-01), Furukawa et al.
patent: 5245841 (1993-09-01), Paul et al.
patent: 5787724 (1998-08-01), Pohl et al.
Ethington Thomas E.
Huang Minjun
Lu Qiao
Pannhoff Donald G.
Hakanson Sten Erik
IMI Cornelius Inc.
Tapolcai William E.
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