ES358659A1 - Ice making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Ice-making apparatus comprises a mould 13 which is inclined forwardly at an angle of up to 10 degrees to the vertical and has a plurality of compartments formed in its front face, a manifold 39 for causing water to flow downwardly over the front face of the mould and an evaporator 11 for cooling the mould. A trough 29 collects unfrozen water, which is recirculated to manifold 39 by a centrifugal pump 31, and the ice is harvested by flowing water from a further manifold 59 over the rear of the mould under the control of a thermostat 44 having a probe 43 on the mould. Thermostat 44 also stops pump 31 and the refrigerant compressor 3 during harvesting and energizes a solenoid 45 which depresses the float 47 of a valve 49 to admit water into a tank 7. A valve 51 on the float arm closes an overflow 53 when the float is depressed so that the water can rise to the inlet end of a conduit 58 supplying the manifold 59. The water in the tank is heated by the refrigerant condenser 5 and overheating of the water during the ice-forming phase is prevented by a thermostat 55 which operates solenoid 45 to admit fresh water when the temperature sensed by a probe 57 rises to a predetermined value. Thermostat 55 is arranged to de-energize solenoid 45 before the water reaches the end of conduit 58. The water used for harvesting is also collected in trough 29, the excess flowing to waste through drain 33, and the water remaining in the trough after harvesting is used for the next ice-making cycle. The ice blocks formed in the compartments of the mould are interconnected by webs which break when the released ice falls to the bottom of the apparatus. A thermostat 63 shuts down the apparatus when sufficient quantity of ice has been collected. The float 47 may be replaced by a spring or, alternatively, valve 49 is replaced by a solenoid valve capable of supplying water at a rate sufficiently in excess of that flowing through the overflow as to supply conduit 58. The mould compartments may have a semicircular or triangular cross-section, and the condenser may be air-cooled where no pre-heating of the water is necessary.