Patent Application
20210396440
There is a need to cost effectively mass produce clear ice cubes for drinking. To accomplish this people are using clear ice making machines for sculpture artist and cutting each cube. A Clinebell CB 300 makes about two 300-pound solid blocks of clear ice every 3 to 5 days. A bin is filled with water. The water is frozen from the n bottom of the bin to the top of the bin. A water pump is placed in the water and moves the water while the water is freezing. The water pump needs to be adjusted upwards periodically as the water in the bin freezes. The water pump agitates the water reducing cloudiness and bubbles in the water as it freezes. These ice makers simulate water moving under ice in a river. When the water is frozen up to the water pump the water pump is removed. Excess water is removed from the bin. Because of the water pump action the finished block of ice generally has high spots and low spots and not flat across as with the present invention after frozen. Then a hoist generally moves the large block of ice to a staging area where it is tempered so it does not shatter when cut. The block is then cut into smaller pieces with a chainsaw. With a bandsaw a person manually cuts thousands of small ice cubes. The cubes are then generally put on large freezing trays and refrozen in a walk-in freezer in a position so they do not refreeze together. These ice cubes are then usually packaged and expensively shipped in trucks with freezers to various venues.
There further are clear ice cube making molds consumers can buy for home use. Usually warm water is placed in these molds that are made from thick rubber. These molds are placed in a freezer and warm water is frozen from the top down by cold air. The cloudiness moves out of the cube mold to another branch area of the mold. Then the branch area is manually trimmed of the cloudiness from the cubes. So they can make clear cubes but the cubes still need to be cut. It only takes a freezing temperature to freeze the cubes with this method as the freezing is done through air from the top down. The combination of the warm water, thick rubber mold, freezing from the top down by air in a freezer, and trimming the branch area, appears to be how these devices work. These devices are not effective for mass production, are messy to use, and labor intense.
Seo; Kook-jeong; et al, Feb. 16, 2006, 20060032262, discloses an ice tray that has a vibrator attached directly to the tray to “undulate” the water. Seo discloses his device moves the water up and down. Seo gives no explanation whatsoever how to calibrate the vibration frequency to make clear ice having no cloudiness in their center. Seo does not disclose why it is necessary the vibration frequency needs to be calibrated to raise a bubble in water and not sink it. If the frequency is too high bubbles can sink trapping the bubbles causing cloudy ice. If the frequency is too low the bubbles will not raise trapping the bubbles causing cloudy ice. Seo does not disclose a user can periodically adjust the frequency for different water masses and differing atmospheric conditions found in and outside refrigerators or for the varying water conditions around the globe. If the amount or type water in each of Seo's tray cavities are not the same each time, it may require a different so frequency to raise a bubble in the water and not sink it.
The present invention discloses what constitutes the proper vibration frequency to make clear ice cubes with zero cloudiness in their centers. The present invention further is the first clear ice cube invention that discloses how to calibrate a vibrator to what constitutes the proper frequency and then how to deliver that proper frequency needed for each water mass inside each of the multiple cavities of a mold to simultaneously produce multiple clear ice cubes having zero cloudiness in their center. Without knowing what constitutes the proper frequency, and then determining if you achieved it, and then properly applying it to the water in each mold cavity numbering one or two hundred, making multiple clear ice cubes with zero cloudiness in their center with vibration is by chance.
One embodiment of the present invention utilizes the method of freezing water in a mold from the bottom of the mold to the top of the mold through a freezing surface under the mold. Freezing water from the top or the sides of the mold by freezing air can create cloudy cubes by trapping a great deal of bubbles. As a result a total metal ice cube mold would freeze water from all sides causing cloudiness due to how cold transfers through the metal sidewalls if the transfer is not offset through other means. A standard ice cube tray freezes water from the top down trapping the air bubbles resulting in cloudy ice cubes. Therefore the material composition of the molds is important for making clear ice cubes. One embodiment of the present invention is configured so it does not freeze the water from the sides of the mold or from the top of the mold to the bottom of the mold.
As water freezes in one embodiment of the present inventions mold, a little at a time, from the bottom of the mold, to the top of the mold, the water is vibrated at a frequency to move an air bubble in the water to the surface of the water. If the frequency is to high the bubbles can sink in the water mass trapping the bubbles causing cloudy cubes. If the frequency is to low the bubbles can stay in the middle of the water mass trapping the bubbles causing cloudy cubes. The cloudiness is generally caused from numerous bubbles being trapped together. The cloudiness is not caused by only some bubbles trapped in the cube. Hard water and soft water also have different properties, altitude and numerous other conditions can affect the freezing water conditions may require a different frequency to raise a bubble.
Making clear ice cubes with zero cloudiness in its center requires the proper vibration calibration for a given water mass and the given conditions. One embodiment of the present invention utilizes a gas bubble sensor that tracks movement of air in a liquid to determine the proper vibration frequency to raise a bubble in the water mass and not sink it and this is a visual means. Another embodiment of the present invention utilizes visual magnification. A person watches a bubble raise to the surface of the water through various visual means, this is another visual means. One could use the preferred method, a high power magnification microscope or any other visual means that uses just eyesight. When the bubble raises the vibration frequency is noted on a digital readout on the vibrator and logged. This is one way to calibrate the proper frequency to make clear ice cubes with zero cloudiness in their center. All means functioning through visual observation or otherwise to determine if a bubble raises in water in multiple cavities is contemplated by the present invention and falls into the scope of the present invention. The present invention contemplates all ways to calibrate the frequency and all ways fall into the scope of the present invention. The present invention further discloses embodiments that distribute the proper frequency to too raise a bubble in multiple cavities. They include but are not limited to a freezing tot surface area or bin configured with vibration springs or an impact vibrator that impacts each cavity at the same time at about the same rate.
Archimedes' Principle states that the buoyant force on an object submerged in water is given by: |F˜|=ρV g (6) which states that the upward force on a submerged object is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. This arises from a difference in pressure between the upper and lower ends of a body in fluids. The lower end will have a higher pressure and will accelerate the body upwards. After combining the various forces associated with this motion and inserting the model parameters into Newton's Second Law, the governing equation of the bubble system is given by: (m+matt)“x+⋅mattx⋅=−F(⋅x)+(m−ρV (t))(Aω2 sin(⋅ωt)+g) (19) matt is the attached mass of the bubble, ⋅mattx⋅ is the term associated with the variation of the attached mass, −F(⋅x) represents the drag force, and the last term is associated with the buoyancy force and the pressure fluctuations in the vibrating liquid. Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention the vibration frequency varies over the freezing time to compensate for the varying pressures changes as the water freezes to keep a bubble raising.
It takes different vibration frequencies to properly raise a bubble in water depending on the water freeze rate, as determined by the direction the water freezes in the mold, the water mass, if the molds have lids, if the molds are insulated, if it is soft water or hard water, the altitude, etc. Therefore one embodiment of the present invention has an adjustable vibrator that a user can vary the frequency for the given conditions.
In one embodiment of the present invention the freezing surface the mold sits on is −10/−25 degrees Fahrenheit, or lower. It takes a great deal of concentrated cold to freeze a standard size clear ice cube measuring 2 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches, or any cube for that matter, from the bottom of a mold to the top of the mold from a freezing surface underneath the mold. Everyday refrigerators with freezer compartments generally are not configured to have temperatures below about −4 degrees Fahrenheit (F) and most certainly do not have a freezing surface of −10 degrees F. a mold can sit upon. Therefore, proper freezing temperature is an important aspect of one embodiment of the present invention to make clear ice cubes and may not be considered a range or obvious just because there are medical devices and high end commercial freezers that provide extremely cold temperatures, or someone has claimed a clear cube device in combination with a generic refrigerator. In one embodiment of the present invention the rate of freezing is a determining factor on the quality of ice produced and in that embodiment it takes a minimum of 5 hours to freeze a single clear ice cube having a water mass measuring 2 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches. A freezer in a home refrigerator would generally not freeze a water mass measuring 2 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches in less than three hours. Therefore slow freezing is one aspect of one embodiment of the present invention.
Prior to the present invention, mass produced clear ice cube shapes were limited to what can be cut from a large block of ice. Generally a 2 inch×2 inch×2 inch cube which as of 2020 represents the most popular clear ice cube shape and size. The present invention produces round shapes, initials A, B, C, etc., and many other shapes without needing to cut them and can make different shapes at the same time. Making multiple shapes of clear ice cubes where the centers have zero cloudiness at the same time through vibration, should not be considered obvious because of the need to apply a frequency to raise a bubble to the top of the surface of the water in each shape having differing water masses, simultaneously.
All embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of example and not limitation. There are many embodiments of the present invention and they are not limited to what is described herein. All refrigerants are envisioned by the present invention. All configurations of cabinets or piping or bins or refrigeration systems, and the way each or a multiple of each are configured, or how they are configured in relationship to each other, and all methods to reduce freezing times in the production of clear ice cubes with zero cloudiness in their center is contemplated by the present invention and all fall into the scope of the present invention. All shapes and configurations for a surface to freeze water are contemplated by the present invention and fall into the scope of the present invention. All vibration means to deliver a frequency to water to raise a bubble in water is contemplated by the present invention. All electronics, including but not limited to a microprocessor and software to operate the present invention or operate any portion thereof are contemplated by the present invention. The present invention contemplates all embodiments and all embodiments fall into the scope of the present invention and all embodiments are incorporated herein by reference.
The term “clear ice cubes” in a disclosure is ambiguous if not defined in the disclosure and that definition claimed. The term clear ice cubes is subjective, e.g., is it totally clear or partially clear? Is the clear cube cloudy in the center and perfectly clear elsewhere? Does it have a few visible bubbles or none? There is no national standard or uniform legal definition for what constitutes a clear ice cube. The only accurate and legal definition of what constitutes a clear ice cube is what is claimed. Therefore even if a disclosure states clear cubes with a “zero cloudiness center” can be produced, unless claimed, in these circumstances, it should not be considered obvious to the present invention. The present invention narrowly defines and narrowly claims what type of clear ice cubes it makes.
The term “cube” herein means any shaped ice for drinking, it does not just constitute a cube shape. The term “clear ice” or “clear ice cube” herein means, ice or an ice cube that has some visible bubbles or zero visible bubbles and zero visual cloudiness in its center.
The term “zero cloudiness” or “zero visible cloudiness” herein means a person with 20/20 vision cannot see cloudiness in the center of the cube.
The term “cloudiness” herein means the visual cloudiness found in the center of an ice cube produced in a standard metal ice cube tray and is made in the home refrigerator freezer compartment.
This utility patent application claims the benefits of provisional application 63/102,512 filed Jun. 19, 2020.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63102512 | Jun 2020 | US |
