Abstract:
A water sprinkling apparatus for an ice making machine. The sprinkling apparatus includes a spray tube formed by two snap fit parts from which water flows over onto vertical evaporator plates in the ice making machine. The open top channel body permits the water to flow easily as well as having the apparatus cleaned in a simpler and more efficient manner. Furthermore, particle buildup as well as clogging of apertures is eliminated, thereby maintaining continuity of flow and simplifying maintenance.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the invention 
     This invention relates to a water sprinkling apparatus for commercial ice manufacturing machines having a flow-down evaporator that continuously supplies water throughout the ice making process. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Typically, in a water flow-down type ice making machine, a pair of ice making plates are vertically disposed in a back-to-back relation to each other with a refrigerating pipe positioned between the pair of ice making plates. The refrigerating pipe essentially comprises the evaporator in which a coolant is evaporated and the pipe is placed in intimate contact with the ice making plates to cool icing water that is scattered from a water sprinkling apparatus positioned above the ice making plates. The scattered water flows downward along the exposed surfaces of the ice making plates during the ice making operation. 
     After the ice making operation is performed, a high-temperature gas that is not condensed is forced through the refrigerating pipe to heat the ice making plates in order to melt the ice formed and adhering to the surfaces of the ice making plates. Thus, the formed ice is separated from the ice making, plates and is discharged from the ice making machine. The ice water sprinkling apparatus supplies a predetermined level of water flow to facilitate discharge of the ice from the ice making plates. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, an ice water sprinkler  11  feature of a known water sprinkling apparatus  10  is illustrated. The ice water sprinkler  11  includes a pair of elongated water scattering cylinders  12 , each having a substantially rectangular cross section with a broad width. The water scattering cylinders  12  are joined together by a coupling portion  14 . A water supply joint  15  projects from the coupling portion  14 . Also, stoppers  13  are integrally formed with the icing water scattering cylinders  12  at respective outer shoulder portions thereof. 
     Turning to FIG. 2, a bottom view of the ice water sprinkler  11  is illustrated. A plurality of water scattering holes  16  are formed in a bottom wall of each of the ice water scattering cylinders  12  and are in communication with an ice water passage (not shown) defined within the scattering cylinders  12 . A longitudinal recess  17  is integrally formed within the bottom surface of each of the ice water scattering cylinders  12 . Each recess  17  is designed to snugly fit or receive a protrusion  18   a  of a deicing water sprinkler  18  that is used in conjunction with the ice water sprinkler  11  in a well-known manner. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of the ice making machine in which the water sprinkling apparatus  10  is assembled to include the ice water sprinkler  11  and the deicing water sprinkler  18 . A pair of ice making plates  21  and  22  are positioned in a back-to-back opposite relation with an evaporator or refrigeration pipe  23  through which a coolant flows is disposed between the ice making plates  21  and  22 . A lower half of the deicing water sprinkler  18  extends between the ice making plates  21  and  22 . 
     A pair of water guide plates  19  and  20  are mounted at upper portions of the ice making plates  21  and  22 , respectively, substantially in a V-like design to deflect the water scattered from the water scattering holes  16  of the ice water sprinkler  11  toward the surfaces of the ice making plates  21  and  22  so that the ice making process can be carried out. 
     This known water sprinkling apparatus can be assembled from a plurality of individual parts, thereby requiring a substantial amount of time for machining or molded from a die. Unfortunately, the assembly of parts requires a test for leakage. As such, most conventional water sprinkling apparatuses are both time consuming to manufacture, as well as difficult to clean. Furthermore, the water scattering holes  16  within the ice water sprinkler  11  may clog over time, thereby rendering the ice making machine inefficient. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the object of this invention to overcome the above-described drawbacks of the conventional ice water sprinkler. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide an ice water sprinkler wherein water flows through the center portion of a channel after the water level reaches a point of overflowing through an opening in a top surface of the channel body, the water flows over the side of the channel body onto the water guide plates below. 
     The ice water sprinkler of this invention comprises two distinct interfitting pieces that are easy to form, clean and maintain. As the channel body contains no apertures to be clogged, there is very little likelihood for down time due to a clogged water supply pipe. Furthermore, the amount of time necessary to manufacture the ice water sprinklers is decreased as verification of holes being formed in the channel body are not necessary due to the structure of this invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings with like reference numerals indicating corresponding parts throughout, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the ice water sprinkler feature of a conventional ice water sprinkling apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the icing water sprinkler of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating operation of the conventional water sprinkling apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ice water sprinkler according to this invention; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the spray tube; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the insert placed within the channel body of the spray tube illustrated in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of the circled portion of the spray tube illustrated in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the spray tube of this invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the spray tube according to this invention as taken along section line  9 — 9  of FIG. 7; and 
     FIG. 10 is a partial fragmented view of the assembled ice water sprinkler positioned on top of the vertically positioned water guide plates of an ice making machine. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the ice water sprinkler  20  of this invention. As in the conventional ice water sprinkler  11  described above in FIGS. 1-3, the ice water sprinkler  20  of this invention includes at least two water scattering cylinders or spray tubes  30  connected by a coupling portion  14  with a water supply joint  15  extending therefrom. Furthermore, it should be noted that the components discussed below and herein are manufactured from any suitable material, such as, for example only, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) or other National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) approved plastic that can withstand an injection molding process. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 5, each spray tube  30  includes an open top channel body  31  having an insert  32  positioned therein. The channel body  31  is substantially cylindrical in shape and has an opening formed therein to receive the insert  32 , which has a substantially semi-cylindrical shape. However, it should be noted that the geometric shape of the channel body  31  and insert  32  are not limited to cylindrical and semi-cylindrical, respectfully, but that it is within the scope of this invention to have any suitable geometric shape, i.e., rectangular, triangular, trapezoidal, etc., so long as the body  31  has an open top that can receive a correspondingly shaped insert  32 . 
     A top edge  33  of the channel body  31  is flat and substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis L of the spray tube  30 . It should be noted that the outer surface S of a circumference of the channel body  31  is relatively smooth and includes a plurality of grooves  34  formed thereon. The grooves  34  are configured to be depressions in the surface S of the channel body to provide a flow path for the water which will be described in further detail below. 
     Furthermore, it should be noted that cut out portions  33   a  of the top edge  33  corresponding to the grooves  34  are not parallel to the longitudinal axis L. Rather, the cut out portions  33   a  are closer to the longitudinal axis L of the spray tube  30  than the remaining portion of the top edge  33  in a vertical direction. Thus, water W entering the spray tube  30  will flow over the cut out portions  33   a  and downward along the grooves  34  after reaching a predetermined water level within the channel body  34 . The water W flowing over the cut out portions  33   a  and along the grooves  34  is then directed onto the guide plates  21  and  22  positioned below. 
     The insert  32  comprises a longitudinal central rib  35  that extends coaxial to the longitudinal axis L of the channel body  31 . A plurality of collars  36  extend from the longitudinal central rib  35  of the insert  32  in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis L of the channel body  31 . The collars  36  are designed to snap fit onto the channel body  31 . As shown in FIG. 6, the collars  36  have a slot  37  formed on each side so that the smooth portion S of the channel body  31  can slide therein. Because the water fills to the top of the channel body  31  and then flows down outside of the channel body  31  to the evaporator surface, the water is prevented from traveling up slot  37  and leaking below. Also, slot  37  allows for separation of the individual water streams via insert  32  (collar  36 ). Each collar  36  also includes a pair of spring arms  38  that clamp onto the smooth surface S of the channel body  31  when the insert is snap fit thereon. 
     The number of collars  36  is determined by the number of grooves  34  present on the channel body  31 . For example only, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the channel body  31  is provided with five grooves  34 . Therefore, a collar  36  is positioned between a pair of neighboring grooves  34  such that the insert  32  is provided with four collars  36 . 
     Next, the snap fitting of the insert  32  onto the channel body  31  will be described. The insert  32  is lowered into the open portion of the channel body  31  as indicated by the arrows A. See FIG.  5 . As the insert  32  is being lowered, the spring arms  38  of each collar  32  are separated away from the channel body  31  in a radial direction relative to the longitudinal axis L of the channel body  32  as indicated by arrows R in FIG. 6, thereby permitting the smooth portions S of the channel body  31  to slide into the slots  37 . When the top edge  33  of the smooth portions S reaches the deepest point of the slots  27 , the spring arms  38  are released whereupon they snap fit onto the channel body  32 . 
     Turning to FIG. 7, which is a top view of the spray tube  30  with the insert  32  snap fit onto the channel body  31 , it can be seen that the insert  32  also includes a wing  39  partially spanning the open portion of the channel body  31 . The longitudinal central rib  35  and transverse collars  36  are attached to a top surface of the wing  39 . The shape of the wing  39  may be any suitable configuration, but the critical feature of the wing  39  is that the wing  39  partially spans the open portion of the channel body  31  such that a gap G results between a distal end  39   a  of the wing  39  and each side face  33   b  of the channel body  31 . 
     Looking at FIG. 9, which is a cross-section of the assembled spray tube  30 , it can be understood that as the channel body  31  of the spray tube  30  is filled with water W, the water W rises within the channel body  31 . The water W will then flow over the cut out portions  33   a  of the top edge  33  and pass through the gaps G. After passing through the gaps G, the water W overflows the channel body  31  and flows downward along the grooves  34 , see FIG. 8, and is then directed to the water guide plates  21  and  22  upon which the collars  36  are situated. 
     From the above detailed explanation, it is clear that the snap fit relationship of the channel body  31  and insert  32  provides an ice water sprinkler  20  that is easy to form, clean and maintain. Furthermore, as the resulting ice water sprinkler  20  contains no apertures that can get clogged, but rather uses the gaps G between the channel body  31  and insert  32  to direct the water W onto the water guide plates  21  and  22 , the possibility of there being any down time of the ice manufacturing machine due to clogging is very unlikely. Also, the amount of time needed to manufacture the spray tubes  30  is substantially decreased as the step of verification of the holes being formed properly in the tube is eliminated due to the inventive structure of the resulting spray tubes. 
     While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the specific embodiment of the invention as set forth herein is intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.