US2937508A - Refrigeration - Google Patents

Description

May 24, 1960 M. w. GARLAND REFRIGERATION Filed -June 25. 1957 INVENTOR M. W. GARLAND v alia,

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21,931,508 R'FRlonnitTIoN Minen w; Garland; Waynesb'dr"P-fassigm by mes assignments; tn Frick Company, Waynesboro, Pa., a corporation of- Pennsylvania? Filed Junezs, 1951, ser. No; 661,745'

z claims. (1:1.152--13-7)A This invention relates tothe care` andA treatment of commodities ofvarious vkinds in order to retain certain characteristics or qualities thereof. in a definite 4state or condition with minimum change and all brought aboutby the control of temperature andv the arrest or retarde tion of the processes of nature. I

The invention also relates to apparatusv and equipment hy which the above results can` be accomplished and more particularly to apparataus for the production of refrigeration for use in connection withl foods land other things to enhance their' usefulness.

Refrigeration has been used directly to` cool aswell as" to cause water to freeze or' congeal to forni ice andk such ice used for refrigeration purposes. Both water and foods and other things have been cooled by direct con'- t'aot with refrigeratingfcoils and by air' flow' or'convection and byV ow of liquid inr a secondary system. Also ic'e has been produced with one refrigeration system and otherthing'sl have been produced with a separate` and'independent system. Ice reserve chilling tankshavey been' used for the storage of refrigeration inthe'for'm' ofi'fce so that' such refrigeration" could be usedA during" peak load conditions by the melting. of the ice when the power for producing' refrigeration was inadequate.V Installations of this type have been used in various refrigeration processes with relatively high capacity peaks'requi'red over a few hours for the cooling of milklor its'product's, for instance, after heathas been added pasteuriza'tio'n or other treatment.- n

Ice reserve units have corr'rprisdvl one or more tanks containing water with refrigerationl coils thereini on'j the external surface of which ice was formed to a substantial thickness. Such ice has been used during peak load periods. However, plants require ice for other purposes than for actual processing, one such use being the transportation of the product.

The submerged coil ice reserve system has been unsatisfactory because of the expense both to install and maintain, the large space required and its inetiiciency.

It is an object of the invention to provide a refrigeration system in which a reserve of ice may be produced and stored and the refrigeration represented by the ice stored will be available when desired for any purpose, as well as to provide such a system which is relatively simple, the cost of which is relatively low, the maintenance relatively small and the eiiciency great.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigeration system including an ice plant or ice maker, a storage bin or chamber divided into a pair of compartments one for containing water and ice and the other merely for containing ice, and with means for selectively directing ice to the desired compartment; the compartment for containing ice and water having an overflow and means for collecting and using the overflow.

A further object of the invention is to provide suitable controls for causing ice to be produced and supplied to such storage bin or chamber and into the ice and water or other liquid chamber until it is filled whereupon the supplylofticewill'be diyertedinto the other compart- ICC'Hy mentl until it is filled. whereupon tlie'ce production. willl be interruptedl untill such. time as ice is again required.l Other objects and`4 advantages of the invention will be apparenty from thev following description taken inconjuncticn with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective illustrating one applicationl ofi the invention;

and

Fig. 3..` a vertical section?4 at' right" anglestothesection of Fig. 2 on the line 3`-3of Fig. 21

Briey stated, the' present invention" includes an" ice' maker for producing ice,` part ofwliich' can" be' u'sed' and thev remainder storedfons'e when desired or required. A` chamber is" provided into' lwhich the" ice" isdelivered from the' ice maker, such chamber having a'cornpartv ment with a tank' for ic` andwatr or other liquid and' a second compartment for ice alone.v Abu'tteriiy type control' member is located within the chamber for causing the` ice topass into thetiirst mentioned' coiripartment,l as long as there is n'eed fori ice therein and thereafter' the" surplusautomatically' is diverted" by said control mem ber' to the' second or` surplus' ie'e" storage compartment. The ii'rst mentioned or'uscl compartment which is adapted -tocont'ain water or' other liquidlikewisecontains a parti of' circuitV Vthrough which. such; liquidy'c'overed by the ice therein'can pfassto" a spaced loc'atio'n'where` refrig eration" is desredi The' tank is-provrided with" an over-4 ow pipe to accommodate overow of liquid from the' tank" caused by the= supply of icetothe'tank. Theoverflow kfrom the tank is caught a su'inp' and' since the water comprisingisuchpoverow has been reduced in' temperature, for eiciency it is utilized as make-up Waterfor" the ice maker with excessI water returned tothe tankfrom which it overil'owed, This and the selective diversion and control of the ice in' thestor'age' bin'A are important featuresof'thetinventionL With continued reference tothedrawing, the present invention embodies anice' maker 10,V of' any desired character, in which the ice is discharged downwardly onto' space bars I1 whichl separate the-ice from an'y'water producedfbyf the defrosting of! the` ice t'ocause"Y its release from-'1 the: body withf which it isfin contactfwhenzpro# duced. .Ice passes: through orifice? 12. while chilled Water 13 collects in tank 14 and is discharge'd'througtl an overflow line 15.

The ice maker is refrigerated through a low pressure line 16, from a controlV valve or otherl mechanism 17, on the other or high side of which valve is a receiver 18 supplied with refrigerant through a pipe line 19 from a condenser 20 in which refrigerant is liquied. The condenser 20 is supplied with refrigerant-in gaseous form through a line 21 from a compressor 22' connected by a suction line 23 with the low pressure -side of the ice `maker 10.

Ice from the ice maker is discharged by gravity through the orifice 12 and passes beneath the insulating cover 24, through the inlet 25 of chamber 26 defined by the insulating walls 27. Ice discharged from the ice maker 10 through the opening 25 into the chamber 26 gravitates downwardly and the chamber is provided with a partition 28 dividing it into compartments 29 and 30. 1

Compartment 29 is adapted to'contain water'or other liquid 40 and compartment 30 is adapted merely to contain ice, Control means is employed, as for example a buttery valve control member 31 mounted on a pivot 32 directly above the partition 28. Pivot 32 extends through the wall of chamber 26 and has fixed thereon a gear 33 meshing with a gear 34 and driven by a motor 35, mounted on a shelf 36 supported by a bracket 37 and actuated through a line 38 from a control 39 (Figs. 1 and A Ptented May. 24,l 1960.

Fig. 2', a vertical" section onV the line `2'-2 of Fig. 1;`

3) suspended within the chamber 29. The motor 35 v When ice from ice maker is supplied to compart-` ment 29, containing liquid 40, the ice will rise or ac cumulate until it influences the control 39, causing motor 35 to rotate the buttery valve control member 31 upon its pivot 32 until the member 31 rests in the position shown by dotted line in Fig. 2, whereupon the supply of ice from 'the ice maker will be deected by said member 31 into the compartment 30.

Compartment 30 is also provided with a thermostatic control 41 connected by line 42 with the motor compressor 22 of the refrigeration system. After chamber 30 is lled with ice it will inuence the control 41 and cause the ice maker to stop its production of ice.

l The level of the liquid 40 in the compartment 29 is controlled by an overow pipe 43 which discharges into a sump 44 in which one end of a pipe line 45 is disposed. Through said pipe linc 45 liquid may be used in any desired manner, as for example as make-up water in the ice maker 10.

A pump 46 is driven by a motor 47 to move the liquid through the pipe line 45. Liquid 40 in chamber 29 will be refrigerated and used to produce cooling at another location, by movement of the liquid through a pipe line 48, leading from the compartment 29 and including pump 49 driven by a motor 50. The pump 49 is mounted on a bracket 51 and the motor 50 is mounted on a shelf 52 supported by a bracket 53. The pipe line 48 leads to a space or area within wall structure 54 and a return line 55 leads back to the liquid chamber 29 thereby serving to complete the circuit. The inlet to the lines 43 and 48 is shielded from ice particles by means of a tilter 58 including a screen 57.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that ice from the ice maker, when it is in operation, will be discharged into the ice chamber 29 until the ice influences the control 39 whereupon the motor 35 will rotate the pivot 32 and the control valve 31 to cause the ice to be supplied to the chamber 30 until it influences the control 41 to discontinue the operation of the ice maker or shut down the refrigeration system until such time as ice is again required. Y

Liquid within the chamber 29 will overow through the pipe 43 into the sump 44, and by means of the pump 46 driven by the motor 47 the liquid will be forced through the pipe line 45. Liquid 40 within the chamber 29 will be pumped through the line 48 by means of the pump 49 and motor 50 to the space within the wall structure 54, such circulation being likewise subject to a control 56, return from the space to be refrigerated being provided through the pipe 55.

lt is understood, of course, that only one embodiment of the invention is illustrated. The control 41, as pointed out, is for the purpose of governing operation of the ice maker 10 and may obviously control either a refrigeration system element, such as a compressor, or may control the supply of refrigerant to the ice maker without necessarily shutting down the refrigeration system. Furthermore, the refrigeration elements 16v-21 are merely illustrative, and it is`contemplated that a system such as that described in my application VSerial Number 531,017, entitled Ice-Making Apparatus, may be used for the production of ice.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that var- 7 ious changes may be made in the invention without dcparting from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, but.

only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is: l. A refrigeration system comprising' an ice maker, wall structure defining a chamber into which icc fromY said ice maker is discharged, said chamber having a liquid compartment and an ice storage compartment, means for circulating overow liquid from said liquid compartment to said ice maker, means responsive to the accumulation of ice in said liquid compartment for selectively directing ice from said ice maker into either of said compartments, and means responsive to the accumulation of ice in said ice storage compartment for controlling the operation of said ice maker.

2. yA refrigeration system as defined in claim 1, and means for circulating liquid from said liquid compartment to a heat load for refrigeration of the latter and for returning said liquid to the liquid compartment.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,966,150 Tamm July 10, 1934 2,449,132 Lucia Sept. 14, 1948 2,672,016 Muliy Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 569,071 Germany Jan. 30. 1933

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