Claims
- 1. An ice maker, comprising:
a mold including at least one cavity for containing water therein for freezing into ice, each said cavity having a plurality of side walls; an ice removal device at least partly within said at least one mold cavity; and a fill tube positioned in association with said at least one mold cavity, said fill tube including an outlet from which water is expelled at an impingement angle against at least one said side wall of at least one said cavity, said impingement angle being between about 10° and 60° relative to a horizontal reference.
- 2. The ice maker of claim 1, said impingement angle being between about 25° and 35° relative to said horizontal reference.
- 3. The ice maker of claim 2, said impingement angle being about 30° relative to said horizontal reference.
- 4. The ice maker of claim 1, further including a pressure source for providing pressurized water to said fill tube, said fill tube being structured and arranged, dependent upon a pressure of water from said pressure source, to provide water from said outlet at a flow velocity of between about 0.1 and 10 feet per second.
- 5. The ice maker of claim 4, said fill tube being structured and arranged to provide water from said outlet at a flow velocity of between about 0.5 and 2 feet per second.
- 6. The ice maker of claim 5, said fill tube being structured and arranged to provide water from said outlet at a flow velocity of about 1 foot per second.
- 7. The ice maker of claim 1, each said side wall being disposed at a draft angle of between about 0° and 5° relative to a vertical reference.
- 8. The ice maker of claim 7, each said side wall being disposed at a draft angle of about 2° relative to said vertical reference.
- 9. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein said ice removal device comprises an auger, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet between said auger and one said side wall.
- 10. The ice maker of claim 9, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at a clearance distance of between about 1 and 3 millimeters from each of said auger and said one side wall.
- 11. The ice maker of claim 10, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at a clearance distance of about 2 millimeters from each of said auger and said one side wall.
- 12. The ice maker of claim 1, each said side wall having a top, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at an impingement location against said at least one side wall which is between about 1 and 20 millimeters from said top of said at least one side wall.
- 13. The ice maker of claim 12, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at an impingement location against said at least one side wall which is between about 5 and 15 millimeters from said top of said at least one side wall.
- 14. The ice maker of claim 13, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at an impingement location against said at least one side wall which is about 8 millimeters from said top of said at least one side wall.
- 15. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein said mold includes a plurality of openings, and further including a plurality of fasteners coupling said fill tube with said mold, each said fastener having at least one barb retained within a corresponding said opening.
- 16. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein said fill tube is configured to inhibit heat transfer with said mold.
- 17. A freezer, comprising:
an ice maker, including:
a mold including at least one cavity for containing water therein for freezing into ice, each said cavity having a plurality of side walls; an ice removal device at least partly within said at least one mold cavity; and a fill tube positioned in association with said at least one mold cavity, said fill tube including an outlet from which water is expelled at an impingement angle against at least one said side wall of at least one said cavity, said impingement angle being between 10° and 60° relative to a horizontal reference.
- 18. The freezer of claim 17, said impingement angle being between about 25° and 35° relative to said horizontal reference.
- 19. The freezer of claim 18, said impingement angle being about 30° relative to said horizontal reference.
- 20. The freezer of claim 17, wherein said ice removal device comprises an auger, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet between said auger and one said side wall.
- 21. The freezer of claim 20, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at a clearance distance of between about 1 and 3 millimeters from each of said auger and said one side wall.
- 22. The freezer of claim 21, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at a clearance distance of about 2 millimeters from each of said auger and said one side wall.
- 23. The freezer of claim 17, each said side wall having a top, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at an impingement location against said at least one side wall which is between about 1 and 20 millimeters from said top of said at least one side wall.
- 24. The freezer of claim 23, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at an impingement location against said at least one side wall which is between about 5 and 15 millimeters from said top of said at least one side wall.
- 25. The freezer of claim 24, said fill tube being positioned to expel water from said outlet at an impingement location against said at least one side wall which is about 8 millimeters from said top of said at least one side wall.
- 26. A method of making ice in an automatic ice maker, comprising the steps of:
providing a mold including at least one cavity, each said cavity having a plurality of side walls; positioning an ice removal device at least partly within said at least one mold cavity; coupling a fill tube with said at least one mold cavity, said fill tube having an outlet; and expelling water from said outlet at an impingement angle against at least one said side wall of at least one said cavity, said impingement angle being between 10° and 60° relative to a horizontal reference.
- 27. The method of claim 26, said expelling step being carried out such that the water is expelled at said outlet at a flow velocity of between about 0.1 and 10 feet per second, and such that the water jet expelled from said outlet impinges against said at least one side wall at an impingement location which is between about 5 and 15 millimeters from a top of said at least one side wall.
- 28. The method of claim 26, wherein said that ice removal device comprises an auger.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/499,011, entitled “ICE MAKER”, filed Feb. 4, 2000, which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/285,283, entitled “ICE MAKER”, filed Apr. 2, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,121.
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09499011 |
Feb 2000 |
US |
Child |
09780047 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
Parent |
09285283 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Child |
09499011 |
Feb 2000 |
US |