Refrigeration – Processes – Congealing flowable material – e.g. – ice making
Patent
1992-01-21
1993-04-06
Tapolcai, William E.
Refrigeration
Processes
Congealing flowable material, e.g., ice making
62138, 62353, F25C 508
Patent
active
051992701
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a process for making ice cubes, comprising moving a tank with water into an uppermost position around downward directed protruding parts, refrigerating the protruding parts, when the tank is in said uppermost position so that ice is formed around said protruding parts, moving said tank from its uppermost position to a lowermost position by supplying water to it, after sufficient ice has been formed around said protruding parts and, slightly or partially defrosting the ice around said protruding parts so that said ice falls off, after sufficient ice has been formed around said protruding parts.
BACKGROUND ART
A process of this type is described in BE-A-892 262 of Feb. 25, 1982 of the applicant. In this known process an agitator is found in the water tank, in its highest position. When this agitator experiences resistance from the ice that is formed in the tank, the motor of an agitator device will rotate in relation to the frame and this motor thereby turns an electrical switch which is part of organs which control the refrigeration mechanism and the aforementioned means.
The turning of this microswitch has as a consequence that means for opening and closing the water supply pipe open this pipe. Through the water supplied, the tank becomes heavy enough to move from its uppermost position to its lowest position. But before this tank has reached its lowest position, the protruding parts are heated by heating fluid so that the ice cubes come free from these protruding parts. The refrigeration mechanism no longer cools the protruding parts in the meantime.
The filled tank, in its lowest position, allows water to flow away through an opening. After sufficient water has flowed away through the opening, the tank with its contents will have become sufficiently light to rotate upwards again. During this upward movement the defrosting is terminated and cooling fluid is again sent through the evaporator. But before the tank has reached its uppermost position a small amount of water is again allowed into the tank, however, not sufficient to prevent the upward movement of the tank.
This known process is indeed very simple but still presents the risk that during the defrosting one or more ice cubes remain hanging on the protruding parts. Through the deposit of scale on the protruding parts they can become rough through which this risk increases. During the following cycle, when the tank is again situated at the top, and cooling occurs again the agitator in the tank will very quickly be slowed down by the cube that has remained hanging, even before sufficient ice is formed around the protruding parts. Cooling will therefore be stopped too early and the defrosting start too quickly. Larger and smaller ice cubes are obtained and through the decreased cooling cycle and therefore the frequent defrosting periods the production of ice is reduced.
The invention has the purpose of remedying these disadvantages and to provide a process for making ice cubes of the above mentioned type whereby the ice cubes have almost the same size and the reduction of the production of ice as a result of ice cubes which remain hanging on the protruding parts is avoided, regardless of the manner in which the thickness of the ice formed and therefore the stopping of the cooling and starting of the defrosting is determined.
For this purpose an upper grid hingedly mounted around a horizontal axis is pushed up, by the movement of the tank from said lowermost position to said uppermost position, into an uppermost position in which position it is located between the protruding parts so that, when the ice is formed around said parts the grid is retained by said ice and cannot go down as long a all ice has not fallen off, and in that the defrosting is only stopped and subsequently the refrigerating of the protruding parts restarted after said grid has hinged downwards from its uppermost position and thus after all the ice has fallen off.
The control that all ice cubes have fallen off is effected in a very simple
REFERENCES:
patent: 2718125 (1955-09-01), Horvay
patent: 3027731 (1962-04-01), Lindenberg et al.
patent: 3418823 (1968-12-01), Vivai
patent: 4199956 (1980-04-01), Lunde
patent: 4207750 (1980-06-01), Simkens
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