Claims
- 1. An ice cream making system, comprising:
an evaporator having a first refrigerant input, a second refrigerant input, and a first refrigerant output and a second refrigerant output, the evaporator having an exterior surface and an interior surface, the interior surface defining an interior cooling chamber, the interior cooling chamber having an ice cream input and an ice cream output; and a compressor system having a compressor input assembly and a compressor output assembly, the compressor input assembly being coupled to the first refrigerant output and the second refrigerant output, the compressor output assembly being coupled to the first refrigerant input and the second refrigerant input.
- 2. The ice cream making system of claim 1, wherein the evaporator includes an auxiliary evaporator means between the first refrigerant output and the compressor input assembly for minimizing accumulation of vapor around the interior cooling chamber by collecting refrigerant in a vapor form.
- 3. The ice cream making system of claim 1, wherein the compressor system includes a primary compressor having a primary compressor input as part of the compressor input assembly and a primary compressor output as part of the compressor output assembly, wherein the primary compressor input is coupled to the first refrigerant input and the primary compressor output is coupled to the second refrigerant input.
- 4. The ice cream making system of claim 3, wherein the compressor system includes a secondary compressor having a secondary compressor input as part of the compressor input assembly and a secondary compressor output as part of the compressor output assembly, the secondary compressor input being coupled to the second refrigerant output and the secondary compressor output being coupled to the second refrigerant input.
- 5. The ice cream making system of claim 1, further comprising a gate at the ice cream output and a valve at the ice cream input, wherein the gate and the valve are controlled so that the valve is opened in a relationship with the opening of the gate.
- 6. The ice cream making system of claim 5, wherein input valve is maintained opened after the gate is opened until an appropriate level of product is achieved in the cooling chamber.
- 7. The ice cream making system of claim 1, wherein the evaporator includes a primary evaporator chamber and a secondary evaporator chamber, the primary evaporator chamber being provided about the interior cooling chamber and the secondary evaporator chamber being provided about the primary evaporator chamber.
- 8. The ice cream making system of claim 1, wherein the evaporator further includes a primary evaporator chamber about the interior cooling chamber and a copper tube provided about the primary evaporator chamber, the copper tube having a first end associated with the second refrigerant input and a second end associated with the second refrigerant output.
- 9. An evaporator for an ice cream making system, the evaporator comprising:
an interior surface defining a cooling chamber for chilling a product; an evaporator chamber surrounding the cooling chamber; and a secondary evaporator surrounding the evaporator chamber.
- 10. The evaporator of claim 9, further comprising an auxiliary evaporator for collecting vapor refrigerant exiting the evaporator chamber.
- 11. The evaporator of claim 10, wherein the cooling chamber is defined by a first cylinder and the evaporator chamber is defined by a space between the first cylinder and a second cylinder, the second cylinder being about the first cylinder.
- 12. The evaporator system of claim 11, wherein the secondary evaporator is a copper tube.
- 13. The evaporator of claim 12, wherein the copper tube is wrapped around the second cylinder.
- 14. The evaporator of claim 11, wherein the secondary evaporator is a chamber defined by the second cylinder and a third cylinder, the third cylinder being about the second cylinder.
- 15. The evaporator of claim 9, further comprising an auxiliary evaporator tank coupled to the evaporator chamber.
- 16. A method of manufacturing ice cream, the method utilizing an ice cream machine having a cooling chamber, an evaporator chamber, and a secondary evaporator chamber, the method comprising:
providing liquid ice cream contents into the cooling chamber; cooling the liquid ice cream contents via the evaporator chamber; removing frozen ice cream from the cooling chamber; and entering a non-production mode when the frozen ice cream is not being removed from the cooling chamber, wherein the secondary evaporator maintains a temperature within the cooling chamber when the ice cream machine is in a hold mode.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the hold mode is a period of low sales of the frozen ice cream.
- 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the frozen ice cream is removed through a gate, the gate being opened and closed in coordination with a valve allowing liquid ice cream contents into the cooling chamber.
- 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the secondary evaporator is a coiled tube.
- 20. The method of claim 16 wherein the secondary evaporator surrounds the evaporator chamber.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/639,062 filed Aug. 15, 2000 entitled, “Batch Process and Apparatus Optimized to Efficiently and Evenly Freeze Ice Cream”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/234,970, filed by Ross on Jan. 21, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,472, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/083,340, filed by Ross on May 22, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,834, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/869,040, filed Jun. 4, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,106, which was a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/602,302, filed Feb. 16, 1996, abandoned. The above-referenced U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/639,062, U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,834, U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,472, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,106 are incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] The present application is also related to U.S. application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Ice Cream Machine Including a Controlled Input to the Freezing Chamber” (Attorney Docket No. 71402/109) filed on an even date herewith and assigned to the assignee of the present application.