US2656686A - Ice-making machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 27, 1953 J. R. BAYSTON ,6 6,6

ICE-MAKING MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. Jar/v min raw/s4 J. R. BAYSTON ICE-MAKING MACHINE Qct. 27, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 4, 1951 Oct. 27, 1953 J. R. BAYSTON ICE-MAKING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 4, 1951 INVEN T012. fo/r/v 76.31923700/ Oct. 27, 1953 J. R. BAYSTON ICE-MAKING MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Jamv R 3/7): ro/v.

Patented Oct. 27, 1953 ICE-MAKING MACHINE John R. Bayston, Van Nuys, Calif., assignor to John R. Bayston, as trustee, Icecrafter (Liquidating) Trust, Van Nuys, Calif.

Application August 4, 1951, Serial No. 240,394

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an ice making machine for manufacturing and delivering ice cubes automatically wherein a number of individual ice cubes are simultaneously frozen and thereupon automatically released from the freezing cells for discharge into an ice receptacle or bin as generally disclosed in my Letters Patent No. 2,542,892, granted February 20, 1951, entitled Machine for Making Ice.

It is the object of this invention to provide a structure and mechanism applicable to a machine of this general type wherein the ice is caused to be formed in a series of open bottom cells subjected to alternate freezing and thawing or defrosting cycles through the discharge of a stream of the liquid sprayed upwardly into the cells for building up and forming ice cubes therein While the unfrozen portion of the liquid freely flows therefrom. Whereas this principle of ice forming, as more particularly shown in Figs. 7 and 10 of said Letters Patent, is employed, the invention herein contemplates the use of no movable parts, such as a platen or closure mem her for the cells.

Herein there is provided a stationary water shed type of structure positioned immediately below the group of open bottom cells in the evaporator, associated with a reservoir containing the liquid to be frozen, and a pressure pump such as to discharge streams of hot liquid upwardly therefrom into each of the individual cells; diverting the unfrozen liquid back into the reser voir, and the formed ice cubes into a suitable receptacle.

Other features of the invention will be more particularly set forth and described in the following specifications and claims.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the ice forming machine and cabinet with portions thereof broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with portions broken away.

Fig. 3 is a central vertical section through the evaporator and cells illustrative of the liquid distribution and associated parts.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the ice making unit with portions thereof shown in section and broken away.

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram of theelectrlc control.

In the drawings there is shown a cabinet housing the ice machine and ice cube receptacle or bin including a frame structure [0 embracing a lower section I I an intermediate section housing the ice cube receiving compartment 12 provided with a removable door l3; and an upper section providing a compartment l4 housing the ice making unit for producing and discharging into the ice receptacle I2 the ice cubes 15.

The ice making unit housed in the upper compartment l4 includes an enclosed casing I8. Within the casing, as shown in Fig. 3, there is suspended from an evaporator cover I! an evaporator or ice cell unit l8. Said unit includes a series of ice cube forming cells I9 open at the bottom and closed at the top. The evaporator is suspended from the top panel by the bolts 20 having spacers 2|. Said cells are formed with the lower portion of the cell walls extending parallel to one another, as indicated at 22, thus preventing a refrigerant, such as Freon from contacting the cell walls near the bottom. This minimizes the ice deposit below the walls of the cells with the resultant fin of ice between the adjoining cubes. It will be further noted that the walls forming the cells taper inwardly from their lower parallel adjoining portions 22, and upwardly in spaced separated relation to provide refrigerant channels 23 therebetween. Such upwardly and inwardly tapering of the walls also more readily permits the formed ice cubes to drop by gravity from their respective cells during the defrosting cycle. The respective cells I9 are se cured together within the evaporator cover plate having a skirt portion 24 extending downwardly to embrace the group or unit of cells, and a top portion formed with a series of dimples 25, each dimple attaching to an adjacent corner of each of four cells I 9, at the top corner location of each cell. A refrigerant passage 23 extends between, and over the top of, each cell I9.

Mounted directly below the evaporator and cells, sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit formed ice cubes to drop freely, there is provided a stationary water shed type of distributor comprising oppositely sloping plates 26 extending throughout and beyond the downwardly projected area of the evaporator. Said plates are joined at a central apex 21 and supported by bracket plates 28 mounted inwardly from the side walls 29. The lower outer edges of each of the plates 26 terminate just short of'the side walls 29 to provide a water trap passage 30 therebetween. Extending longitudinally of each of the plates 26 there isprovided a distributor head- H or 3| within which there is provided a series of longitudinally extending distributing tubes 32.

ing from the discharge side of a force pump 36. The inlet side of said pump is connected with a laterally-extending flow pipe 31. The liquid is drawn into the inlet of the pump through the flow pipe from the-longitudinal reservoirs 3t, 39 into which return liquid accumulates through the water trap passages 30. The

reservoir 39 carries a float 40. therein and is provided with an overflow conduit 41 above. the.

normal operating liquid level leading to a drain pipe 42. Mounted at each side of the water shed and extending longitudinally thereof there is a flexible bafiie 43. Each of said baffiesis suspended from the evaporator cover ll extending closely adjacent the upper surface of the respective plates 25 for preventing splash of the liquid and directing it into the water trap passages 39, while suihcientlyflexible to permit ice cubes to deflect them and slide over the walls 25 to drop into the ice bin [21 In operation, upon closing a master switch indicated at 44 in Fig. 1, the force pump 35" is operated through an electric motor 45 having a shaft connection therewith, which motor is mounted on a bracket 46 carried by a supporting cross strut 41. The condenser and condenser fan (not shown) are placed in operation. The pump 36 draws liquid from the reservoir 38, 39, forcing the liquid into the headers 3! and thence into the distributing tubes 32. The liquid under pressure from said pump is then sprayed upwardly through the respective nozzles 33 into the approximate center of the top of the corresponding cells l9. The cell walls, by reason of the refrigerant passing thereabout through the refrigerant passages 23, are sufficiently cooled to cause the film of ice to be formed therein and build up into an ice cube as. the streams of liquid continue to be discharged therein. This action continues until the individual ice cubes are fully formed. The excess liquid of each spray over that which is frozen returns onto the water shed and back into the reservoirs and to the pump.

This action continues until the thermostat control bulb 48 mechanically attached to the suction line from the evaporator reaches a predetermined low temperature. Said bulb is connected by a line 4. 9 with the thermostat control contained in the housing, as indicated at 59 (Fig. 1). Said thermostat is of such structure that it will thereupon trip the control switch to the pump motor 45 through line m and to the condenser fan, discontinuing further discharge of liquid 'into the cells. At the same time the thermostat mechanism will close the circuit 5! to a hot valve 52. This increases the pressure in the evaporator 24 by supplying hot gases from the compressor in the compartment I I, not shown, to the condenser through a line 53. This action causes the surface of the cubes of ice nearest the cell walls to melt slightly or defrost, and as the cell walls are tapered the cubes will readily drop by gravity onto the water shed plates 26 over which they will slide against the baflles 4 43, deflect it, and enter the ice bin I2 through the ice bin throat indicated at 54.

When the pressure pump is thus stopped, the liquid in the cell chambers 3|, 32 and will return to the reservoirs 38, 39, causing them to fill to a point above the overflow outlet 4|. This allows some of the liquid that is heavily concentrated with minerals,,to. be eliminated at the end of each freezing cycle. This is a self cleaning feature and insures sufliciently fresh water for each cycle and eliminates the manual cleaning of the reservoirs in order to maintain clear cube production. The baflies 43 also prevent warmer air from contacting the evaporator through the ice bin throat 54 when the ice bin dooris open. It. may be here noted that no insulation is required on the evaporator proper, as: the enclosing casing It may be made of a material having a low heat conduction (K) fac tor, such as a plastic material. The water shed plates 26 may also be made of a low (K) factor material for preventing the liquid from freezing in the distributing system, and at the same time prevent solids from forming or caking on the surface of the system, particularly in the openings of the spray nozzles 33, thus reducing their size.

In this connection actual tests show that there is no afiinity between plastics and water solids, and, as the water concentrate left at the endof each freezing cycle where water comprises the liquid to be frozen, ispartiallyeliminated through the overflow pipe 4| and the supply pipe to maintain a predetermined liquid level in the reservoirs. Such predetermined liquid level is maintained in the reservoirs by a fresh water or liquid line 55 leading to the upper portion of the reservoir 39 from any suitable source of supply. Said reservoir is provided with an inspection and service cover 39a (Fig. 1). The float serves to, maintain a predetermined water level in the reservoirs, and to that end controls the water supply of the line through the medium of a float actuated valve in the housing, indicated at 56.

After the surface of the ice cubes has been defrosted sufliciently for them to be released from the cells, the temperature of the suction line gasses through the suction line 51 will rise, and as the temperature responsive bulb 43 is mechanically attached thereto it will activate the thermostat 5n and cause the contacts therein to change, thus activating the water valve, the water pump and condenser fan (not shown) said fan being inactivated during the defrosting cycle so that increased temperatures will develop in the compressor, hastening the dropping of the cubes from the cells, thus increasing the ice production of the machine.

When the ice bin I2 has been filled with ice, the bin control switch 58 automatically operates in the following manner to shut off the entire mechanism. Said switch is mounted on a sup.- porting rod 59 that floats through an opening an in the top of the ice bin and is held in place by a pin 6| at one end. The other end of said rod slides through a tube 62 extending transe versely across the top of the bin and attached to the bin end and the rod 59, at the plate 62a, as shown in Fig. 4. The rod 59 is made of a low expansion material, while the tube 62 is made of a high expansion material, such as copper.

When the ice in the bin reaches such a height that it touches the tube 52, it causes contraction thereof which allows the spring loaded switch plunger 63 to move a switch arm 64 on its fulcrum 65, and, as the end 66 of the tube 62 becomes shortened by contraction, the circuitin the bin switch 58 will be broken and the entire mechanism will cease to operate until some of the ice has been removed from the bin. Upon sufficient ice being removed, to drop the level, the temperature of the tube 62 will rise, expand and close the contacts in the switch 58 through the switch arm 64.

The amount of refrigerant admitted to the passages 23 in the evaporator is controlled by a control bulb t1 connected to a thermostatic expansion valve 68. A drier as is placed in the refrigerant line to remove moisture and foreign particles from the refrigerant.

Further, in connection with the system there is provided a hot pipe H leading from the evaporator to the hot valve 52, the hot pipe 53 leading from the hot valve 52 to the condenser coil and condenser outlet.

As shown in the wiring diagram, Fig. 5, the condenser motor above referred to is indicated at T2 and the fan above referred to, but not shown, is indicated at T3. The main lines of the circuit 13a, 13b, are connected with a source of electric power indicated at S.

From the foregoing it will be observed that without any moving parts other than the pump. motors and control switches, the ice cubes are formed and harvested alternately and automatically to maintain a supply of cubes in the bin. Thus, the usual platen or closure plate of the character shown in the above-mentioned patent and the mechanical system by which it is operat ed is eliminated, resulting in a minimum of mechanical maintenance and cost of production.

The invention claimed is:

i. In an ice making machine, the combination with an evaporator unit including a series of closely associated inverted freezing cells having interior wall surfaces and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrigerate the wall surfaces of said cells to cool the liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of ice cubes, means for defrosting said wall surfaces for freeing the frozen ice cubes to drop therefrom by gravity, a stationary diverter having a pair of oppositely inclined plates positioned directly under said evaporator and plates therefrom to receive and divert the freed ice cubes to an ice bin, a series of spaced nozzles mounted in said plates positioned to discharge a forced stream of liquid directly upwardly into the central top of said cells respectively, pressure tubes associated with said nozzles, a header mounted on the under side of said plates communicating with said tubes, a reservoir positioned below the lower edges of said plates for receiving freed liquid shed thereby, an overflow pipe for said reservoir, a flow connection therebetween, and a pressure pump having its intake communicating with said flow connection and discharging into said headers.

2. In an ice making machine, the combination with an evaporator unit including a series of closely associated inverted freezing cells having interior wall surfaces and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrigerate the wall surfaces of said cells to cool the liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of ice cubes, means for d frosting said wall surfaces for freeing the frozen ice cubes to drop therefrom by gravity, a stationary diverter positioned directly under said evaporator and spaced therefrom to receive and divert the freed ice cubes to an ice bin, said diverter having a series of discharge apertures each positioned below the center of one of said cells, a liquid reservoir associated with said diverter, a pressure pump having its intake communicating with said reservoir and its outlet with said apertures for forcing a stream of liquid into the central portion of each cell to cause a portion thereof to be frozen on the wall surfaces and the residue returned by said diverter to said reservoir, :1. thermostatic control associated with said evaporator unit and connected with said pump for effecting operation of said pump during the freezing cycle and discontinuing its operation during the defrosting cycle.

3. In an ice making machine, the combination with an evaporator unit including a series of closely associated inverted freezing cells having interior wall surfaces and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrigerate the wall surfaces of said cells to cool the liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of ice cubes, means for defrosting said wall surfaces for freeing the frozen ice cubes to drop therefrom by gravity, a stationary diverter positioned directly under said evaporator and spaced therefrom to receive and divert the freed ice cubes to an ice bin, said diverter having a series of discharge apertures each positioned below the center of one of said cells, a liquid reservoir associated with said diverter, a pressure pump having its intake communicating with said reservoir and its outlet with said apertures for forcing a stream of liquid into the central portion of each cell to cause a portion thereof to be frozen on the wall surfaces and the residue returned by said diverter to said reservoir, and a thermostatic control in said ice bin for discontinuing the operation of said pump and refrigerating means upon a predetermined accumulation of ice in said bin.

4. In an ice making machine, the combination with at least one inverted freezing cell having an interior wall surface and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrigerate the wall surface of said cell to cool liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of an ice cube, means for defrosting said wall surface for freeing the frozen ice cube to drop therefrom by gravity, a stationary diverter plate positioned directly under said cell and spaced therefrom to receive and divert the freed ice cube, said plate having a discharge aperture positioned below the center of said cell, a liquid reservoir associated with said plate, a pressure pump for forcing liquid from said reservoir through said aperture in a stream directed into the central portion of said cell to cause a portion thereof to be frozen on the wall surface and the residue diverted by said plate into said reservoir, and a thermostatic control associated with said. cell to render said pump effective during the freezing cycle and ineffective during the defrosting cycle.

5. In an ice making machine, the combination with at least one inverted freezing cell having an interior wall surface and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrigerate the wall surface of said cell to cool liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of an ice cube, means for defrosting said wall surface for freeing the frozen ice cube to drop therefrom by gravity, a stationary diverter plate positioned. directly. under. said cell and spaced tii rerrernito receive aiidh vrt theffreed ice cube.

into; an ice} bin,'saidfplate, having a discharge aperture, positioned belowjithe center. of said cell, ajliquid reservoir associated withf'said plate, a pressure pump for forcing liquid from said 'res-. ervoir through said aperturein a stream directed into the central portion of said cell to cause a portion thereof to be. frozen on the Wall surface and the residue diverted by said plate into said reservoir, and a thermostatic. control in said ice bin for rendering ineffective said refrigerating means and pump upon a predetermined amount of ice cubes accumulating therein.

6. In an ice mal ring machine, the combination with at least one inverted freezing cell having an interior. wall surface and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrig-w erate the wall surface of said cell to cool liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of an ice cube, means for defrostin said wall surface for freeing the frozen ice cube to drop therefrom by gravity, a, stationary divert'er plate positioned directly under said cell and spaced therefrom to receive and divert the freed ice cube, said plate having a discharge aperture positioned below the center of said cell, a liquid reservoir associated with said plate, a pressure pump for. forcing. liquid from said res: ervoir through said aperture in a stream directed into the central portion of said cell to cause a portion thereof to be frozen on the wall surface and the residue diverted by said plate into said reservoir, a thermostatic control assoe ciated with said cell to render said pump effective during the freezing cycle and ineffective during the defrosting cycle, a thermostatic control in said ice bin forrendering ineffective said re-,

frigerating means, and pump. upon a predetermined amount of ice cubes accumulating there: in, and a flexible deflector curtain confiningv the space between said cell'and plate for preventingv splash of liquid residue while permitting passage thereunder of freed ice cubes.

7. In an ice making machine, the combination with an evaporator unit including aseries of closely associated inverted freezing cells having interior wall surfaces and being closed at the top and open at the bottom, means to refrigerate the wall surfaces of said cells to cool the liquid received therein and produce an ice deposit in the form of ice' cubes, means for de-- frosting said wall surfaces for freeing the frozen ice cubes to drop therefrom by gravity, a stationary diverter having a pair of oppositely inclined plates positioned directly under said evaporator and spaced therefrom to receive and die vert the freed ice cubes to an ice bin, a series of spaced nozzles mounted in said plates positioned to discharge a forced stream of liquid directly upwardly into the central top of said cells respectively, a reservoir positioned below the lower edges of said plates for receiving freed liquid shed thereby, and a pressure pump having its intake communicating with said reservoir connection and discharging into said nozzles.

JOHN R. BAYSTON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,221,694 Potter Nov. 12, 1940 2,340,721 Whitney Feb, 1, 1944 2,526,262 Munshower Oct. 17, 1950

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