Automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes

Abstract: The automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes comprises a supporting frame (2) for cube-forming elements (3) having a plurality of mutually aligned cups (4) associated with an evaporator (5) and arranged opposite to means (6) for spraying water to be frozen, compressing and condensing means (7,8) detection means (9) associated with the forming elements for reversing the refrigeration cycle to separate the cubes from the cups, and comprising means (9) for controlling the forming of at least one specimen cube (10) to vary the refrigeration time of the water adapted to form the cubes and of the defrosting time thereof to separate them from the cups.

Description: The present invention relates to an automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes. As is known, devices adapted to produce ice cubes form said cubes by using for this purpose a thermostat capable of measuring the evaporation temperature of the evaporator, according to which a useful time for the complete forming of the cube is preset. The cube forming time may be increased by an additional time period which is adjusted by means of a timer and exclusively performs the function of ensuring the forming of the current cube. In these ice-cube forming devices, the thermostat installed therein is affected by the variations of the temperature of the environment and of the particular climate occurring in the area where the device is located, especially in large-size devices. In this situation, the thermostat of the device considerably increases the cube-forming time in the presence of a high external or room temperature, even if said cube is already formed. On the contrary, if the external or room temperature is relatively low, the thermostat automatically reduces the cube-forming times, and said cube is sometimes extracted from said device before it is completely formed. The above described function performed by the timer, i.e. to increase the cube-forming time when required, is very often insufficient to fully compensate the anomalies in the forming of the ice cube consequent to the different temperatures of the environments and locations where the device is placed after being sold. In order to obviate these disadvantages, known devices must be adjusted and set every time they are installed, according to the climate and to the temperature of the environment in which they are located, or said operations must be performed at least at every change of season. In order to obviate at least partially the costs arising from the above described disadvantages, pre-adjustments and pre-settings are sometimes performed before storing the machines in stock, so as to subsequently reduce their installation costs. This solution entails enormous difficulties in stock management, besides providing no useful effect, since during storage the location to which the device will be shipped to is sometimes unknown. FR-A-2456922 discloses an apparatus for producing ice cubes as defined in the pre-characterising part of claim 1. The monitoring means disclosed in said patent application do not have two optical probes arranged coaxially on opposite sides with respect to at least one cup which has at least two portions made of transparent material. Given this situation, the aim of the present invention is to obviate the above described disadvantages of the known art. Within the scope of this aim, an important object of the invention is to provide an automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes, wherein adjustments and settings according to the temperature of the environment, whether seasonal when the machine is already installed or preventive during its installation, are not required. Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes which can be stored in a very simple manner without divisions into batches according to the country or region where it is to be sent. Not least object of the invention is to provide an automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes which allows to save labor and technical assistance costs, during its installation and during its seasonal operating periods, since it requires no pre-settings or pre-adjustments according to the installation environment and installation site. This aim and these objects are achieved by an automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes, as disclosed in claim 1 Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes according to the invention, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 is a perspective cutout view of an apparatus according to the invention; figure 2 is a schematic view of the operation of the apparatus of Figure 1, illustrating the function performed by the electronic board; and figure 3 is a schematic perspective lateral elevation view of the particular configuration of the cup and of the two optical probes adapted to detect the forming of the ice cube. With reference to the above described figures, the automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes, generally indicated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a supporting frame 2 for cube-forming elements, which are generally indicated by the reference numeral 3 and composed of a plurality of cups, each indicated by 4, which are mutually aligned and associated with an evaporator 5. Means 6 for spraying water are accommodated opposite to said cups 4 inside the apparatus and are adapted to strike with said water the interior of said cups 4 so as to form therein the ice-cubes to be obtained. Merely by way of example, it should be specified that the apparatus comprises compressing means 7 and condensing means 8 adapted for its operation, which are furthermore clearly interconnected with the condenser 5 by means of ducts, not illustrated in the drawings. The apparatus is furthermore conveniently provided with detection means which are associated with the cups 4 so that once the ice-cube is formed inside said cups they can reverse the refrigeration cycle to separate the cubes from the cups. More in detail, the detection means comprise means 9 for monitoring the forming of at least one specimen cube 10 so as to vary the refrigeration time of the water adapted to form the ice cubes and said cubes' defrosting time so as achieve the separation from the cup of a completely formed ice cube in preset and optimum times. The monitoring means furthermore comprise electronic analysis elements defined by at least one electronic board 11 equipped with a microprocessor-based microcomputer which comprises a first probe 12 adapted to measure the temperature of the environment in which the apparatus is located and/or the temperature at the output of the condensing means 8. In this case, in figure 2 the probe 12 is shown in broken lines. A second probe 13, also connected to the electronic board 11, is adapted to measure the temperature of the water which enters the apparatus, is collected in a tank 20 and subsequently sprayed into the cups 4 by sprayer means 6. The first probe's detection of the temperature at the output of the condenser prevents the efficiency of said condenser from affecting the cube forming time due for example to causes related to dirt or to a possible insufficient gas pressure, which would cause a lower performance of said condenser. The electronic board 11 subsequently processes the monitored data and after analyzing them issues, by means of said microprocessors, the commands for setting the optimum refrigeration time for forming said cubes and subsequently issues the optimum defrosting time to cause said cubes to drop from their cups. The electronic board 11 also has a third probe 14 adapted to detect the temperature of a plurality of ice cubes and of the evaporator and co-operates with said first probe 12 so as to send the necessary instructions to the electronic board, which processes them and sends them to the electromechanical components adapted to provide the optimum refrigeration and defrosting of the apparatus. The microcomputer furthermore has information corresponding to the characteristic operating curves of the different models of ice-making device. During the manufacture of the apparatus, the characteristic curve related to the kind of device is selected, so as to co-ordinate the means for monitoring the environment in which the apparatus operates and the electromechanical components, providing the information required for the machine's correct operation. The monitoring means furthermore comprise, in addition to the electronic board, at least two optical probes 17 and 18 conveniently arranged coaxial to one another and on opposite sides with respect to at least one cup 10 which has portions made of transparent material 15 and 16 proximate to each of said probes. The optical probes are conveniently arranged in the part of the cup which has the largest diameter, since the cube will tend to form more slowly in this larger-diameter region. The optical probes 17 and 18 may operate with laser beams or with infrared rays according to the requirements and choices of the manufacturer. In particular, the optical probes arranged in the larger-diameter portion of the cup operate by virtue of a drop in the voltage which varies by approximately 3 times when the ice-cube forms inside the cup. It should be finally specified that the electronic board has a plurality of indicators 21 for checking the machine's components. For example, the checking of the condenser detects if it is dirty or not and therefore has a high or low condensing temperature. It is furthermore possible to check if there is no more water for producing ice cubes in the apparatus. The operation of the apparatus for producing ice according to the invention is evident from what has been described and illustrated. In particular, during the step of refrigeration and therefore of forming of the ice cubes, the compressor, the water pump and the fan are activated, and the optimum cube forming time and their optimum defrosting time for subsequently separating them from their supporting cups are preset by means of the probes 12, 13 and 14. In practice, the materials employed, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and to the state of the art. Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the scope of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims: Automatic apparatus for producing ice cubes, comprising a supporting frame (2) for cube-forming elements (3) having a plurality of aligned cups (4) associated with an evaporator (5) and arranged opposite to means (6) for spraying water to be frozen, compressing and condensing means (7, 8), means associated with said forming elements to reverse the refrigeration cycle to separate said cubes from said cups, monitoring means (9) for varying the refrigeration time of the water adapted to form said cubes and of the defrosting time of said cubes to separate them from said cups, said monitoring means comprising at least one first probe (12) for measuring the temperature of the environment and/or of the output of said condensing means (8) and at least one second probe (13) for measuring the temperature of the water in input to the apparatus characterized in that said monitoring means further comprise at least one electronic board (11) containing a microcomputer which comprises at least two optical probes (17, 18) arranged coaxially on opposite sides with respect to at least one cup (10) which has, proximate to each of said optical probes, at least two portions (15, 16) made of transparent material. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said microcomputer comprises information corresponding to the characteristic operating curves of the different models of ice-making apparatus. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said optical probes (17,18) are laser-beam probes. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said optical probes (17,18) are infrared-ray probes. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said optical probes (17,18) are arranged in a portion of said at least one cup (10) having a substantially larger diameter so as to monitor the forming of the cube in said cup (10) as a function of the voltage drop therebetween. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said optical probes (17, 18) detect the formation of the ice in the thickest portion of at least said cup (10). Process for forming ice cubes in cups by using the automatic apparatus of claim 1, comprising the steps of: detecting, by means of probes (12, 13, 14, 17, 18), the environment temperature and/or the condensation temperature at the output of the condenser simultaneously with the temperature of the water for producing the cubes; processing said detections in order to issue instructions for varying the cooling time of the water in said cups (4) for forming said cubes and the defrosting time for separating said cubes from said cups.

Inventors: LANZANI EMANUELE, LANZANI, EMANUELE
Applicants: FRIMONT SPA, FRIMONT S.P.A.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: F25C1
IPC codes: F25C1, F25D21