US2967408A - Automatic ice maker - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 10, 1961 J. 1.. KNIGHT AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 18, 1959 INVENTOR KN I cm :rAMEs H IS ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1961 Filed May 18, 1959 J. L. KNIGHT AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIC-2.2

INVENTOR JAMES L. KNIGHT H [S ATTORNEY F'IG.4

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AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER Filed May 18, 1959, Ser. No. 813,788

2 Claims. (Cl. 62-351) The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker adapted to be incorporated in a domestic or household refrigerator.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a new and improved domestic or household ice maker in which ice pieces released by the application of heat from a mold having an arcuate contour are thereafter automatically transferred out of the mold for discharge into a storage receptacle by means of rotatable discs mounted above the mold and having portions extending into the mold and frozen into contact with the ice pieces.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an ice maker comprising an ice mold having fixed transverse partitions dividing the mold into a plurality of adjacent compartments in which water is frozen into ice pieces and heating means for warming the mold to loosen the ice pieces from the walls defining the compartments. The mold is of arcuate contour so that each of the compartments formed by the partitions are of the same semi-circular shape transversely of the mold. In order to remove the ice pieces from the mold, there is provided a transfer mechanism comprising a shaft extending longitudinally above the mold on which are mounted a plurality of circular discs having peripheral edge portions extending into the compartments short of the armate walls defining the compartments. Ice pieces formed in the individual compartments are frozen into engagement with the discs contained therein so that upon rotation of the shaft and the discs mounted thereon, the individual ice pieces are carried by the discs out of the mold and into engagement with bumpers or fingers positioned above the mold and in the path of the transferred ice pieces, engagment of the ice pieces by these bumpers and fingers serving to release the ice pieces from the revolving discs for discharge into a suitable receptacle.

Preferably, these discs, particularly their peripheral edge portions, are composed of a plastic or rubber-like material to which the ice pieces will readily adhere but from which they can be peeled by the application of mechanical pressure.

These and additional features of the present invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the ice maker of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the ice maker shown in Fig. 1',

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the ice maker taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram for an electrical control system which can be employed for the automatic operation of the ice maker of the present invention.

As shown in .Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing, the

States Patent 2,967,408 Patented Jan. 10, 1961 illustrated embodiment of the ice maker of the present invention is designed to be suspended from the top wall 1 of the low temperature or freezing compartment 2 of a household refrigerator. The contents of the compartment 2 including the ice maker are maintained at temperatures below freezing by air circulated through the compartment from a low temperature evaporator (not shown) so that the ice maker can be mounted in the compartment independently of any evaporator unit. Also positioned within the compartment and below the ice maker is a receptacle or bin 3 in which ice pieces 4 discharged from the ice maker are stored at temperatures below freezing.

The ice maker includes an ice mold 5 in the form of an elongated or generally rectangular structure preferably composed of a metal such as aluminum. The interior of the mold has a generally arcuate contour in transverse cross-section as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing and is divided into a plurality of compartments 8 by transverse dividers or partitions 6 which are formed integrally with the mold. In order that water may flow from one compartment to the other during filling of the mold, each of the transverse dividers 6 is provided with a slot 7 adjacent one end thereof extending below the normal water level in the mold.

For the purpose of warming the mold to release ice pieces formed in the compartments 8 from the mold and divider surfaces, there is provided an electric heating element 9 in the form of a loop extending along thesides 10 and 11 of the mold and along the one end wall 14. Upon energization of this heating element, the mold, including its partitions 6, becomes sufficiently warm to melt the bond between the mold surfaces and the ice pieces so that the ice pieces can be removed from the compartments.

-In accordance with the present invention, means for removing the released ice pieces are provided in the form of discs 15 secured to a shaft 16 extending longitudinally along the mold at or below the center of curvature of the arcuate surface forming the interior of the mold. One disc 15 is provided for each of the compartments 8 and as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing, each of the discs extends into its compartment so that a portion of the peripheral edge thereof is below the normal water level or in other words in a position to be frozen into the ice pieces 4. With the ice pieces 4 frozen into engagement with a portion of the disc 15, it will be seen that rotation of the discs will sweep the ice pieces in a circular path 4 upwardly and out of the mold.

Preferably the discs are formed of an organic material such as a plastic or rubber-like material both for the purpose of obtaining good adhesion of the ice to the surface of the discs and also for the purpose of facilitating mechanical release of the pieces from the discs during rotation thereof.

For the purpose of mechanically breaking the bond between the individual ice pleces 4 and the rotating discs 15, after the ice pieces have reached an inverted position above the mold, there is provided a series of bumpers 18 overlying the partitions 5 and of a sufficient width so that the bumpers 18 will contact the edges of the ice pieces after they are removed from the mold by the rotating discs. As is shown more clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawing each of these bumpers 18, which are supported on the side walls of the mold 5, has a curved ice contacting surface 19 extending over the adjacent mold compartments and terminating above the shaft 16 so that an ice piece engages the bumper only after the disc has rotated the ice piece somewhat over to a point at which the ice piece is traveling downwardly at the time it engages the bumper for release and discharge into the bin 3 provided below the mold. In other words each of the ice pieces has rotated about the shaft past the inverted position before contact with a bumper so that as it rides onto the bumper, it is mechanically lifted from the disc in a radial direction and slides downwardly over the bumper into the receptacle 3.

In order to definitely assure transfer of the ice pieces 4 from the mold by the rotating discs, the peripheral edges of the discs are preferably provided with spaced serrations or notches 21 as illustrated in Fig. 3 which serve to lock the ice pieces to the peripheral edges of the discs during the freezing cycle thereby positively preventing rotation of the discs 15 relative to the ice pieces 4. Since the releasing pressure applied to the ice pieces by the bumpers 13 include a force component extending radially of the disc 15, these slots 21 do not interfere with the mechanical peeling of the ice pieces from the discs.

The invention claimed in this application relates broadly to an ice maker comprising the above-described ice harvesting arrangement wherein rotatable discs extending to a mold of arcuate contour are employed to transfer the heat released ice pieces from the mold into engagement with bumper means for separating the pieces from the discs. In addition to means for rotating the shaft 16 and energizing the heater 9, the automatic operation of the ice maker requires additional components and controls such as those which will now be described. These components and controls, apart from the combination with the ice harvesting arrangement claimed herein, are not part of the present invention but are more completely disclosed and are claimed in the copending application of Harold P. Harle, Stephen Balogh and Henry I. Loewenthal, Serial No. 813,790, filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

The illustrated control and power mechanism for the operation of the ice maker is generally housed within a housing 25 secured to one end of the mold 5. The power mechanism includes a motor 26 diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the motor and a suitable speed reducing gear train forming a drive mechanism 27 generally shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The shaft 16 is rotatably mounted in bearings adjacent the mold end wall 14 and in the front wall 29 of the housing 25.

Water supply means for the mold includes a supply line 34 connected through a solenoid valve 31 to a suitable source of water supply. When the solenoid valve 31 is opened, water from the supply line 30 flows into a filler tube 32 having its lower or discharge end disposed adjacent one end wall of the mold. The charge of water thus introduced into the mold flows from compartment to compartment through the slots or grooves 7.

in order to initiate the ice harvesting cycle when the water charge in the mold has frozen into ice, there is employed a control circuit including a temperature responsive switch 35 extending through a mold wall as indicated in Fig. 2 to sense freezing temperatures within one of the compartments 8. Preferably this temperature sensing switch 35 is located near the filler spout 32 so that it will be warmed by each new charge of water for reset purposes.

For the purpose of stopping operation of the ice maker when the receptacle 3 is full of ice, there is provided a switch 36 actuated by a feeler arm 37 pivotally mounted along the side 11 of the mold. Normally, this feeler arm hangs downwardly into the receptacle 3 in a position in which it will contact the ice when the receptacle 3 is approximately full of ice. In order that the arm will measure the stored ice after each additional charge of ice is delivered to the receptacle, means are provided for raising the feeler arm out of the receptacle during each ice harvesting cycle so that when it returns to its normal position within the receptacle, it will rest on top of the added amount of ice if the receptacle is full of ice. In order to raise the feeler arm 37 during each barvesting cycle, the arm is provided with an actuating arm 38 within the housing 25 which rides on a cam member 39 carried by the shaft 16. During each rotation of the shaft 16, the cam is arranged to raise the feeler arm 37 out of the receptacle during the first part of the cycle and return it to the receptacle after a new batch of ice pieces has been discharged into the receptacle. The actuating arm 38 is also arranged to open the normally closed switch 36 when the feeler arm is in the elevated position and to close this switch when the arm returns to its normal position within the receptacle. Switch 36 is connected into a control circuit in such a manner that if the feeler arm is prevented from returning to its normal position by the accumulation of ice in the receptacle, the ice making cycle is interrupted.

Additional switch means and control circuitry for the automatic operation of the ice maker will be described in the following description of the ice maker operation and with particular reference to Fig. 4 of the drawing.

During freezing of a charge of water in the mold 5, the temperature sensed by the thermal switch 35 gradually decreases. After all of the water in the mold has become frozen, the switch 35 is designed so that its switch arm 40 moves into contact with a cold contact 41, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing. Closing of the switch contact 41 completes a circuit between supply conductors 42 and 43 to energize the motor 26 and the mold heater 9. This circuit includes the normally closed feeler arm switch 35 and the normally closed switch 44 constituting one of three switches operated by the motor driven cam 45. After a few degrees of motor rotation, the cam 45 closes a cam operated holding switch 46 to establish a first heater holding circuit for energizing the heater and a first motor holding circuit which includes cam operated switch 44. Both of these circuits bypass the feeler arm switch 36 and the control switch 35. The switch 46 remains closed regardless of the operation of the feeler arm or the control switch until the end of the cycle or in other words through approximately one complete revolution of the shaft 16 and cam 45.

Since the discs 15 are frozen solidly into the ice pieces formed in the mold compartments, the drive motor stalls until sufiicient heat has been applied by the heater 9 to melt the bond between the ice pieces and the mold walls. At this point, the motor again rotates so that the ice pieces adhering to the discs move in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3 to a point where these pieces engage the bumpers 18. Further rotation of the shaft 16 causes the ice pieces to be peeled or lifted from the discs so that they can drop into the storage container 3.

After removal of the ice pieces 4 from the mold, continued energization of the heater 9 causes the temperature of the mold to increase thereby increasing the temperature sensed by the switch 35. The switch arm 40 moves to its warmer position to engage the warm contact 49. When this occurs, a second holding circuit for energizing only the motor is completed through the closed holding switch 46 and the warm contact 49 of switch 35. Unless this motor circuit through the contact 49 is established before further rotation of the switch cam 45 opens the switch 44 to break the first circuit to the motor, further rotation of the motor will be prevented until such action does take place.

After opening of switch 44, further rotation of the switch cam 45 then closes the switch contacts 50 to energize the solenoid valve 31 for a predetermined time so that a measure charge of water will be introduced into the mold through the spout 32. Thereafter and during the final few degrees of rotation of the motor and switch cam 45, the switches 44, 46 and 50 are returned to their normal or starting positions and reset for a subsequent ice harvesting cycle, the opening of the switch 46 deenergizing the mold heater 9 and also breaking the circuit incuding the switch contact 49 to de-energize the motor 26.

Unless the receptacle 3 is filled with ice, the feeler arm 37 will also return to its normal position within the receptacle thereby closing the feeler arm switch 36 so that when the switch arm 40 again moves into engagement with the cold contact 41 of switch 35 another ice harvesting cycle is initiated. If on the other hand, the ice receptacle is full of ice, the feeler arm will be held in raised position by the accumulated ice pieces and switch 36 will remain open. With switch 36 held open the motor and heater cannot again be energized to start a subsequent harvesting operation regardless of the position of switch 35.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of the present invention it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An elongated ice mold having a transverse arcuate contour and including a plurality of transverse dividers dividing said mold into a plurality of compartments in which a charge of water is frozen into ice pieces, a shaft rotatably supported above said mold and extending longitudinally thereof, discs mounted on said shaft and having peripheral edge portions immersed in the charge of water in said compartments whereby ice pieces formed in said compartments freeze into engagement with said disc, means for warming said mold to release the ice pieces therefrom, means for rotating said shaft and discs to remove said ice pieces from said compartment, and means comprising a plurality of fingers extending above said shaft in the path of said ice pieces for releasing said ice pieces from said discs during rotation thereof.

2. An elongated ice mold having a transverse arcuate contour and including a plurality of transverse dividers dividing said mold into a plurality of compartments in which a charge of water is frozen into ice pieces, a shaft rotatably supported above said mold and extending longitudinally thereof, discs mounted on said shaft and having peripheral edge portions immersed in the charge of water in said compartments whereby ice pieces formed in said compartments freeze into engagement with said discs,

means for warming said mold to release the ice pieces therefrom means for rotating said shaft and discs to remove said ice pieces from said compartments, and means contacting said ice pieces after rotation thereof passed an inverted position above said mold for removing said ice pieces from said discs and discharging said pieces outside said mold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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