Patent Application
20200173700
The object of the present specification is an evaporator for an ice machine, the main and distinctive characteristic of which is based on enabling a greater speed to be achieved in the cooling on the surface thereof, by means of creating a turbulence which improves the exchange and the efficiency.
Currently, diverse evaporators are known in the state of the art, which are generally configured from vertical cylinders (made of stainless steel or similar) connected to an outer jacket through which a refrigerant liquid flows which cools the inner surface of the cylinder, and wherein a water-feeding system using communicating tanks will maintain the level of liquid inside said cylinder, the ice being produced on the inner wall of the evaporator.
In said evaporator, a thermal exchange is carried out between the primary liquid (refrigerant) and the secondary liquid (water), and wherein the improvement in the global transmission coefficient thereof of the evaporator will directly affect the energy efficiency of the equipment.
There are mainly two types of systems which define the chamber of the primary or refrigerant fluid, a first one, by means of the flooded evaporator, wherein the chamber is diaphanous and the refrigerant liquid is injected through the lower portion of the evaporator, such that the jacket stays flooded, and wherein the refrigerant will evaporate with the thermal exchange of the inner tube and is drawn through the upper portion.
And a second type of system wherein the refrigerant liquid circulates through a helical channel that runs through the chamber of the primary fluid and in the path thereof it exchanges heat, evaporates and at the end of the circuit it has completely transformed into gas.
The applicant is also the holder of Spanish patent ES 2 451 539 which describes an evaporator for manufacturing ice, made up of a module having molds, and a series of ducts therein, through which the refrigerant gas circulates; the modules are joined together by means of a series of joining flanges; the ducts of the different modules are joined by means of joining reels; joining elbows join the different ducts of one same module, and closing the circuit through which the refrigerant gas circulates; fastening flanges fasten the joining elbows, as well as the inlet terminal and the outlet terminal to the module.
The technical problem solved by the present invention is achieving an evaporator which improves the heat exchange and the efficiency thereof compared to other solutions known in the state of the art. To do so, the evaporator for an ice machine, object of the present specification, is characterized in that it comprises a tube on which a second outer tube with a larger diameter is placed, creating a cylindrical chamber, and wherein supplementary rings are located on the upper and lower ends thereof which seal the assembly; and that is characterized in that the tube incorporates a plurality of mechanized grooves therein, favoring the outlet of the ice.
Due to the design thereof, the evaporator contemplated herein will favor the vertical outlet of the ice due to the presence of a plurality of mechanized grooves which decrease the effort necessary for said operation and therefore the noise generated during the same.
The presence of a steel spring inside the evaporator enables a helical circuit to be configured through which the refrigerant liquid flows in forced circulation, creating turbulence on the surface thereof which improves the heat exchange and therefore, the efficiency of the assembly.
What follows is a very brief description of a series of drawings that aid in better understanding the invention and which are expressly related to an embodiment of said invention that is presented by way of a non-limiting example of the same.
The attached figures show a preferred embodiment of the invention. More specifically, the evaporator for an ice machine, object of the present specification, is characterized in that it comprises a tube (1) which has, internally mechanized, a plurality of grooves (1a) favoring the vertical outlet of the ice, decreasing the effort necessary for said operation and therefore the noise generated.
The tube (1) will be manufactured from stainless steel or a material with equivalent mechanical characteristics.
On said tube (1), a second outer tube (2) with a larger diameter is placed, creating a cylindrical chamber, and wherein supplementary rings (3) are located on the upper and lower ends thereof which seal the assembly, improving the performance thereof with the pressure.
In a preferred embodiment, in both the lower and upper portions of the assembly made up of the tubes (1,2), a series of connections (4) are located for the inlet and/or outlet of the refrigerant liquid.
Between both tubes (1, 2), located on the first tube (1), a steel spring (5) is located which perfectly adjusts to the two diameters of the cylindrical chamber, in order to prevent the by-pass of the refrigerant liquid between coils, making up a helical circuit which forces the circulation of the refrigerant liquid.
In a preferred embodiment, the spring (5) will have a smaller passage (5a) at the beginning thereof, and a larger passage (5b) at the end thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18382865.6 | Nov 2018 | EP | regional |
