Patent ID: 7540161

Claim:
An ice making machine comprising: a water supply, a cooling system, an electrical energy source, and an evaporator assembly, wherein said evaporator assembly comprises at least one thermally conductive surface disposed in thermal transfer with an electrically conductive and thermally conductive layer, and wherein said layer is connected in circuit with said electrical energy source; and a controller that during a freeze mode operates said water supply and said cooling system to form ice on said electrically conductive and thermally conductive layer and during a harvest mode operates said electrical energy source to apply electrical pulse energy to said electrically conductive and thermally conductive layer to melt an interfacial layer of said ice such that it is freed from said layer, wherein said electrically conductive and thermally conductive layer is part of an array of thermally conductive surfaces, wherein said evaporator assembly further comprises a base portion that includes said array of thermally conductive surfaces, and wherein said thermally conductive surfaces are separated from one another by spaces over which ice is not formed during said freeze mode.