Ice making machine, method and evaporator assemblies
US7540161B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 4, 2006 |
| Grant date | Jun 2, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 17, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF25C2600/04
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Ice making machine that uses PETD harvest technology, evaporators, ice molds and cooling system. One evaporator makes thin layers of ice that are laminated to form a larger ice piece. Other evaporators include an ice forming surface on a material that has good thermal conductivity for forming ice in a freeze mode and good electrical conductivity to serve as a resistive heater during a harvest mode. One evaporator has a plate and an array of freezing sites that extend above a surface thereof. Another evaporator has a plate that is divided into strips of good and poor thermal conductivity by. Another evaporator has a refrigerant tube that is sandwiched between a pair of corrugated sheets that have ice forming surfaces. Another evaporator has a waffle style pan that is constructed of a dielectric layer sandwiched between a pair of copper layers. Another evaporator forms an ice slab on an inclined flat surface, which after harvest is diced into cubes with a wire grid. A cooling system uses an evaporator to provide a cooling air to an ice mold to form ice and uses PETD energy to harvest the ice and defrost the evaporator.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.