Not Applicable
This invention generally relates to ice making systems, and more particularly to producing on-demand nugget ice in a refrigerator.
Crescent ice is widely available in a refrigerator for home use. The automatic icemaker in a refrigerator produces crescent ice cubes from an ice mold and the ice mold must be installed at a location below freezing temperature. Water is filled in the ice mold and then freezes for about an hour to become solid ice. A heater located at the bottom of the mold is turned on at around 14° F. by a thermostat to separate ice cubes from the mold. Since the ice production is so slow, ice must be produced all the time and stored in an ice bin below freezing temperature for daily use. The other disadvantage includes taking plenty food storage space by the ice bin in the refrigerator.
Different from crescent ice, nugget ice is very popular for commercial use, which is soil and chewable. Nugget ice cools beverages much faster than crescent ice.
Nugget ice is made by compressing and extruding flake ice. Flake ice is produced on a freezing surface and scraped by a rotating auger. Nugget ice can be produced much faster than crescent ice.
Because of complexity stand-alone commercial or residential nugget ice machines are supplied at very expensive prices. If nugget ice can be produced in a refrigerator, it will provide an economical way to produce nugget ice and bring an unprecedented experience to consumers.
In current nugget ice machines, i has to be stored in an insulated ice bin near room temperature for use in high demand. Water produced from melted ice must be drained or reused. However it is neither efficient nor convenient in a refrigerator Furthermore, nugget ice can't be stored below freezing temperature in a refrigerator, otherwise it rill freeze together.
Therefore, a nugget ice making system for particular t s refrigerator which can quickly produce on-demand nugget ice without using an ice storage bin, would be desirable and is not currently available. It is an object of the invention to provide an economical method and apparatus for producing on-demand nugget ice in a refrigerator.
The present invention is to provide an ice making system that can quickly produce on-demand nugget ice in a refrigerator, which includes an auger type icemaker having a flooded cylindrical evaporator and a rotating auger, a gear motor, a chilled water reservoir having a float valve, an ice container and a dedicated refrigerant control device having a 3-way solenoid valve,
The flooded evaporator has double thin-walled stainless steel cylinders including an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder. The space between the two cylinders is filled with −40° F. liquid refrigerant. The evaporator maintains liquid only to have it flooded. The flooded evaporator provides rapid cooling. The rotating auger is located in the center of the inner cylinder and driven by the gear motor.
The chilled water reservoir has an inlet that connects refrigerated water in the refrigerator. It also has an outlet and a vent that connect the inside space of the inner cylinder of the evaporator at the same time to maintain the inner cylinder full of chilled water at all times. Furthermore, the float valve prevents the water reservoir from overfilling. The chilled water achieves quick ice forming.
There is a dedicated refrigerant control device to connect the icemaker evaporator to the refrigeration circuit through a 3-way solenoid valve. The refrigerant control device is optimized for operating at −40° F. evaporating temperature to produce very cold liquid refrigerant. A liquid accumulator is used in the refrigeration circuit to prevent excessive liquid refrigerant from returning to the compressor.
When ice is demanded, the 3-way solenoid valve is open to connect the icemaker evaporator to the refrigeration circuit and disconnect the refrigerator evaporator at the same time. Within 1 minute, a layer of ice will be formed on the inside surface of the inner cylinder of the evaporator. Meanwhile, the auger spins and scrapes ice layer into flake ice and compresses it through an extrusion and delivery tubing to form cylindrical ice. Then cylindrical ice breaks into nugget ice in the tubing and drops in an ice container.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in
As shown in
The inside space of the inner cylinder 105 is water sealed. On one end it is bolted with a shaft bearing seat 101 through flange 108, and on other end it is bolted with a shaft seal seat 102 through flange 109. Both seats 101 and 102 are made of plastic. A shaft bearing (not show inserted in the bearing seat 101 and a shaft seal (not shown) is inserted in the seal seat 102.
The rotating auger 110 is located in the center of the inner cylinder 105 and supported by the shaft bearing seat (101) and the shaft seal seat 102). The auger 105 is driven by the gear motor 200 (shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In the preferred embodiment, when ice is demanded, the 3-way solenoid valve 509 is open to connect the icemaker evaporator 507 to the refrigeration circuit 500 and disconnect the refrigerator evaporator 506 at the same time. Within 1 minute, a layer of ice will be formed on the inside surface of the inner cylinder 105. Meanwhile, the rotating auger 110 spins and scrapes ice layer into flake ice and compresses it through an extrusion and delivery tubing 103 to form cylindrical ice. Furthermore, cylindrical ice breaks into nugget ice the tubing 103 and drops in the ice container 350.
In the preferred embodiment, water from melted ice in the ice container 350 returns to the chilled water reservoir 300 through the holes 351 o the bottom. This prevents water from dripping in the refrigerator.
Therefore, the advantage of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus to produce on-demand nugget ice in a refrigerator using a specially designed auger type icemaker. The preferred embodiment of this invention is particularly suited to a refrigerator in which the refrigeration system already exists. However, it is to be understood that various modifications may be used without departing from the principle of the present invention scope.
Accordingly, the breadth and scope of invention should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.