ES1094183U - Automatic ice cube dryer (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Automatic ice cube dryer characterized in that it consists of: - an ice cube receiver hopper (1), with a sensor for the presence of ice cubes or the start of ice cube discharge (2). - a freezer tank (4), comprising: - a drain tray (3) coupled to the top of one of the doors. - an automatic mechanism for opening one of the doors and the hopper (5). - a drying container (6) inside, with a mechanism for unloading the ice cubes (8), and in the lower part has a vibrating motor (7), the drying container (6) is coupled to a tray (9), which has elements that absorb vibrations (10). - a store of dry cubes that has a filling sensor (12).- a programmable element (14), connected to the presence sensor (2), to the opening mechanism (5), to the vibrating motor (7), to the mechanism of discharge (8), to the filling sensor (12) and to a pilot. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention falls within the field of ice cube dryers used in the hospitality industry, specifically an automatic ice cube dryer, which is placed under the ice cube maker, dries them and stores them automatically and Dry with each other.

Background

There are several ice cube drying equipment on the market, which are mainly used by ice cube manufacturers to dry several tons a day and in the hotel industry few establishments use manual dryers since they involve a lot of work and attention. the waiters in the drying cycles and depending on the presence of the waiter to perform these drying cycles.

Like all ice cube makers, they are released from the molds by defrosting, they fall into the warehouse or wet silos in their outer layer. This added to the fact that the warehouses or silos of the ice cube makers are not refrigerated, (because if they were they would stick some cubes with others), which makes much of the production of ice cubes lost, because some cubes disintegrate completely or losing much of their size, and the water from defrosting the cubes comes out of the warehouse or silo drain.

When these wet cubes are stored in bulk or in bags in the freezers, the ice cubes stick with each other when the water they have in their outer layer solidifies, forming even blocks of ice that the waiters have to hit them before they can be used, producing a great loss of time in the moments of more customer demand and causing the breakage of many ice cubes.

By optimizing the automatic dryer to the maximum with the production of the ice cube makers, water and light are saved by taking advantage of all the ice cubes that are manufactured without loss. And offering the waiters an ice cube of unbeatable quality, dry, homogeneous and loose with each other, with which they can work much faster.

Automatic ice cube dryer.

Description of the invention

The invention relates to an automatic ice cube dryer, which has a receiver hopper for the ice cubes given off by the manufacturers and which is placed on top of a freezer tank, where the ice cube drying equipment and the warehouse where ice cubes that have already been dried are stored.

Automatic drying equipment includes:

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An ice cube receiving hopper produced by the manufacturer that may be refrigerated to lengthen the defrosting of the cubes.

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A freezer tank that inside is a drying equipment consisting of a tray that rests on the bottom of the tank, with elements that absorb vibrations. Where the remains of ice cubes or drops of water accumulate that are detached from the drying process of ice cubes.

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On this tray there is an ice cube dryer container, which has a mechanism to unload the dry ice cubes to the freezer store. This dryer vessel has a sealed vibrating motor at its bottom.

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A storage area where the ice cube dryer container automatically dumps them once the drying cycle has finished.

The equipment also has automatic opening and closing mechanisms, for the ice cube receiving hopper, for the freezer tank door and for the ice cube dryer container.

It also has ice detectors both from the receiving hopper and from the warehouse of the freezer tank, which are those that indicate the beginning and end of the drying cycles.

All these mechanisms, sensors, vibrating motor and thermostat of the freezer tank, are operated and controlled by a programmable relay, automaton or similar equipment.

With this team:

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We store ice cubes with the same size and with the same quality that leave the ice cube maker, without letting them deteriorate and thaw in the warehouse or silo of the manufacturer and preventing the carelessness of the operators from influencing the quality of the dried cubes that arrive at the warehouse of the freezer tank.

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A production is obtained 24 hours a day, since the equipment works automatically without the need of any operator, even in the hours or days that the establishment is closed. Keeping all the cubes loose, dry and perfectly stored for as long as the hotelier wishes.

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Maximum water and electricity savings, since only the ice cubes that the hotel establishment needs to consume are manufactured, without depending on the operator taking the ice cubes from the warehouse or silo in due time. Extending the life of the ice cube maker by making only the necessary ice cubes.

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By optimizing drying with production automatically, depending on the production capacity of the ice cube maker. We obtain a warehouse of ice cubes completely homogeneous in size, dry and loose with each other. Improving the image of the establishment and expediting the work of the waiters.

The automatic drying equipment described provides the following advantages to existing drying equipment:

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It prevents the ice cubes from deteriorating in the warehouse or silo of the manufacturers, due to the carelessness of the workers or in the hours or on the days that the establishment is closed, taking advantage of one hundred percent of the manufactured cubes.

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An identical quality of the ice cubes given off by the manufacturer, and those obtained in the warehouse of the freezer tank.

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It automatically performs multiple drying cycles 24 hours a day, until it fills the warehouse of the freezer tank, even in the hours or on the days that the establishment is closed.

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By automatically synchronizing by cycles the production capacity of the ice cube maker and the capacity of the drying equipment, (without the need for any kind of handling by the waiters). It frees the waiters from having to intervene in the drying cycles, freeing them from that cumbersome work and avoiding carelessness that is what causes the waste of light and water and the losses in the quality of the ice cubes stored.

Brief description of the drawings

Next, a drawing that helps to better understand the invention and that is expressly related to an embodiment of said inversion is presented very briefly and is presented as a non-limiting example of this.

Figure 1 shows the automatic ice cube dryer, where a series of references are indicated that correspond to the elements indicated below, without implying any limitation whatsoever:

1 - Ice cube receiving hopper.

2 - Ice presence sensor.

3 - Drain tray.

4 - Freezer tank.

5 - Automatic opening mechanism of one of the freezer tank doors.

6 - Ice cube dryer container.

7 - Vibrating motor.

8 -Automatic mechanism for opening the ice cube dryer container.

9-Tray.

10 -Elements that absorb vibrations.

11-Separator wall of the dry ice cube store in the drying area.

12 -Filling sensor of the freezer tank warehouse.

13-Warehouse of the freezer tank.

14 -Programmable relay or similar.

15-Buzzer pilot.

16 -Compressor.

17 - Ice cube maker.

Detailed description of one embodiment

Figure 1 shows an ice cube maker (17) being able to manufacture any size and format of ice cubes. Below the manufacturer (17) is the drying equipment of the invention comprising:

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 An ice cube receiving hopper (1), which in its lower part has an ice cubes presence sensor (2), which is the one that indicates the start of the ice cube discharge of the manufacturer (17) with which begins the automatic drying process.

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 Under the hopper (1) there is a drain pan (3) placed above one of the freezer tank doors (4), the activation of the presence sensor (2) causes the automatic door opening mechanism to be activated and from the hopper (5), unload the ice cubes in the ice cube dryer container (6), which after closing the mechanism (5) automatically starts the drying cycle, by the timed activation of the vibrating motor (7) that It is fixed to the drying vessel (6).

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 This drying container (6) is fixed to a tray (9) that has elements that absorb vibrations

(10) which are those that rest on the bottom of the freezer tank (4). Once the preset drying time has elapsed or the sensor has been activated again (2), the automatic emptying mechanism (8) of the drying container (6) opens and discharges the ice cubes in the freezer tank storage (4) with the help of the activation of the vibrating motor (7) for a preset time. Once this time is over, the emptying mechanism (8) is closed and another drying cycle begins again. Drying cycles occur automatically until the ice cube filling sensor (12) in the freezer store (13) is activated. Once the sensor (12) is activated, the buzzer pilot (15) is also activated, which is the one that warns the operators that the warehouse (13) is full and simultaneously stops the ice cube maker (17), until the operator unloads the ice cube store from the freezer tank (13) and releases the filling sensor (12), activating the entire process again.

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 The automatic ice cube drying equipment also comprises a programmable relay (14) or the like, a compressor (16) and a panel (11) that separates the drying zone from the dry ice cube store.

Claims (3)

1. Automatic ice cube dryer characterized by:

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an ice cube receiving hopper (1), with an ice cubes presence sensor or ice cube discharge start (2).

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A freezer tank (4), comprising: º a drain pan (3) coupled to the top of one of the doors. º an automatic mechanism for opening one of the doors and the hopper (5). º a drying container (6) inside, with an ice cube discharge mechanism (8), and

In the lower part it has a vibrating motor (7), the drying container (6) is coupled to a tray (9), which has elements that absorb vibrations (10). º A dry cube store that has a filling sensor (12).

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A programmable element (14), connected to the presence sensor (2), the opening mechanism (5), the vibrating motor (7), the unloading mechanism (8), the filling sensor (12) and a pilot.

2.

 Automatic ice cube dryer according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises a pilot light buzzer (15) indicating the filling of the dry cube store (13) of the freezer tank (4) or any equipment anomaly.

3.

 Automatic ice cube dryer according to previous claims for the dry cube store

(13) can be divided into several compartments by the separating elements (11).