U.S. patent number RE34,465 [Application Number 08/003,445] was granted by the patent office on 1993-12-07 for cold plate system for ice dispenser.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Remcor Products Company. Invention is credited to Robert M. Koeneman, Albert L. Schafer.
United States Patent |
RE34,465 |
Koeneman , et al. |
December 7, 1993 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Cold plate system for ice dispenser
Abstract
A cold plate system for an ice dispenser is characterized by an
ice pan in communication with a potable ice hopper through an ice
feed conduit. A cold plate is in the ice pan, and the arrangement
is such that ice in the hopper is transported through the conduit
to the ice pan to surround the cold plate. This maintains the ice
in the hopper free from any contamination by the cold plate and in
a sterile condition for dispensing into beverages, yet ensures that
the cold plate will be continuously surrounded by ice, without
manual intervention, to properly cool beverages flowing
therethrough.
Inventors: |
Koeneman; Robert M. (Oak Brook,
IL), Schafer; Albert L. (Chicago, IL) |
Assignee: |
Remcor Products Company
(Glendale Hts., IL)
|
Family
ID: |
22062253 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/003,445 |
Filed: |
January 12, 1993 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
065372 |
Aug 9, 1979 |
04300359 |
Nov 17, 1981 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
62/379; 62/344;
62/398; 62/400 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D
31/002 (20130101); F25C 5/18 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F25C
5/18 (20060101); F25C 5/00 (20060101); F25D
31/00 (20060101); F25D 003/02 (); F25C 005/18 ();
B67D 005/62 () |
Field of
Search: |
;62/399,400,344,354,331,396,398,379 ;222/146.6 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tapolcai; William E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Juettner Pyle & Lloyd
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In combination with an ice dispenser of a type having a hopper
for storage of a mass of small particles of ice and means for
dispensing ice from said hopper, a container for holding a quantity
of ice, a cold plate in said container, and means extending between
said hopper and said container for automatically conveying ice from
said hopper to said container to maintain a supply of ice in said
container in contact with said cold plate, wherein .Iadd.said
container is beneath said hopper and said ice conveying means
comprises a conduit through which particles of ice gravitate from
said hopper to said container and .Iaddend.said ice dispenser
includes an agitator in said hopper for maintaining the mass of ice
in free flowing form and for facilitating entry of ice into said
conduit for gravitation to said container. .[.2. The combination as
in claim 1, wherein said container is beneath said hopper and said
ice conveying means comprises a conduit through which particles of
ice
gravitate from said hopper to said container..]. 3. The combination
as in claim .[.2.]..Iadd.1.Iaddend., said conduit comprising a
vertically extending tube communicating at an upper end with an
opening in a bottom
wall of said hopper and at the lower end with said container. 4. In
combination with an ice dispenser of a type having a hopper for
storage of a mass of small particles of ice, an agitator in said
hopper for moving the mass of ice, an ice maker for manufacturing
ice and for introducing the ice into said hopper, and means for
dispensing ice from said hopper, an ice pan for holding a quantity
of ice, a cold plate in said ice pan, and means extending between
said hopper and said ice pan for conveying ice from said hopper to
said ice pan to maintain a supply of ice in said ice
pan in contact with said cold plate. 5. The combination as in claim
4, wherein said ice pan is beneath said hopper and said ice
conveying means comprises a conduit communicating at an upper end
with an opening to said hopper and at a lower end with an opening
to said ice pan so that particles of ice gravitate through said
conduit from said hopper to said ice pan, said agitator maintaining
the mass of ice in free flowing form
and facilitating entry of ice into said conduit from said hopper.
6. The combination as in claim 5, said hopper having an annular
trough and said upper end of said conduit communicating with an
opening in a bottom wall
of said trough. 7. The combination as in claim 5, said conduit
extending
in a vertical run between said hopper and said ice pan. 8. The
combination as in claim 5, including a cover for said ice pan, said
conduit
communicating at its lower end with an opening in said cover. 9. In
combination, an ice dispenser of a type having a hopper for storage
of a mass of small particles of ice, an agitator in the hopper for
moving the mass of ice, an icemaker for manufacturing and
introducing ice into the hopper, outlet means for dispensing ice
from said hopper, a container for holding a quantity of ice, a cold
place in said container, and means responsive to a decrease in the
amount of ice in said container for automatically conveying ice
from said hopper to said container to maintain a supply of ice in
said container in contact with said cold plate.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cold plate system for a potable
ice dispenser which maintains a supply of ice in a hopper free from
any contamination by a cold plate and in a sterile condition, yet
ensures that the cold plate is continually cooled by ice from the
hopper without manual intervention.
In the food and beverage service industries it is desirable to
provide means for expeditiously dispensing a quantity of ice, for
example into a glass to facilitate service of ice water and cold
beverages to customers. Conventionally, the means comprises an ice
dispenser, which for commercial application usually includes a
hopper for storing a quantity of crushed, cracked, flaked or cubed
ice, an ice maker for manufacturing ice for the hopper, a
thermostat on the hopper in proximity to the point of entry of ice
for sensing the level of ice, and an agitator for the mass of ice
to prevent congealing or agglomeration in order to maintain the ice
particles in discrete, free flowing form. An opening at the bottom
of the hopper enables ice to be removed from the hopper, for
example by a dispensing unit which automatically dispenses a
measured quantity of ice.
In order to precool a beverage before dispensing so that it is not
excessively diluted by melt down of added ice, or in the event that
customer desires his beverage without ice, the beverage may
conveniently be made to flow through a cold plate prior to
dispensing. A cold plate usually consists of a cast aluminum plate
of rectangular shape and in which is embedded stainless steel
tubing through which the beverage is flowed. Cold plates
conventionally are installed either in separate ice pans or in the
bottom of potable ice bins, and are maintained covered with ice to
cool the cold plate itself and therefore a beverage flowing
therethrough. Should the cold plate be in a separate ice pan, it is
then necessary to continuously monitor the quantity of ice in the
pan and to manually add ice as necessary. In the case where the
cold plate is in the bottom of a potable ice bin for an ice
dispenser, an ice maker associated with the dispenser maintains the
cold plate immersed in ice, so that operator supervision and
intervention is not required. A difficulty that arises in the
latter situation, however, concerns the questionable cleanability
of the cold plate surfaces and within the junctures between the
cold plate and the ice bin, which can lead to contamination of the
ice and violations of health and sanitation codes. In addition, ice
bins are ordinarily of round and/or irregular configuration, which
makes installation of cold plates in the bottom of ice bins
extremely difficult, if not impossible.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a cold plate
system for an ice dispenser in which potable ice in a dispenser
hopper is maintained free from contamination by the cold plate, and
yet the cold plate is automatically and continuously immersed in
ice from the hopper.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a system wherein
the cold plate is maintained in an ice pan separate from the
potable ice hopper and wherein the ice pan and hopper are
interconnected by an ice feed conduit through which ice from the
hopper flows at necessary to maintain ice in the ice pan and around
the cold plate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, in combination with an
ice dispenser of a type having a hopper for storage of a mass of
small particles of ice and means for dispensing ice from said
hopper, there is provided a container for holding a quantity of
ice, a cold plate in the container, and means extending between
said hopper and said container for conveying ice from said hopper
to said container to maintain a supply of ice in said container in
contact with said cold plate.
Preferably, the ice dispenser includes an agitator in said hopper
for the mass of ice and an ice maker for manufacturing ice and
introducing the ice into said hopper, and the container comprises
an ice pan for holding a quantity of ice. Said ice pan is beneath
said hopper, and said means extending between said hopper and said
ice pan comprises a conduit communicating at an upper end with an
opening in said hopper and at a lower end with an opening in said
ice pan, so that particles of ice gravitate through said conduit
from said hopper to said ice pan.
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become
apparent upon a consideration of the following detailed
description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The single drawing FIGURE is a side elevation view, partly in cross
section, illustrating a cold plate system for an ice dispenser in
accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
There is illustrated in the accompanying drawing an embodiment of a
cold plate system for an ice dispenser which is presently
contemplated as the best mode of carrying out the invention. As
shown, an ice dispenser, indicated generally at 10, is
conventionally comprised of a hopper, bin or tank 12 for storing a
large mass of crushed, cracked, flaked or cubed ice, such as 50
pounds, a rotary impeller or agitator 14 driven by an electric
motor 16, and means 18 for accommodating controlled discharge of
ice from the lower end portion of the hopper through a discharge
opening 20. The means 18, although not forming a part of the
present invention, is highly desirable to enable convenient
dispensing of ice in the hopper, and may take the form of any of
the dispensing means disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,165,901,
3,211,338 and 3,217,509, to which reference is made for a more
detailed description.
The hopper 12 is essentially an open top tub, the major part of
which comprises a main upper hopper portion which may be of
circular or other cross section, but preferably is a polygonal
cross section as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,860 to facilitate
maintaining the particles of ice in discrete, free flowing form.
The bottom of the hopper is provided with a circular depression
comprising an annular trough 22 in which the discharge opening 20
is formed. The opening is spaced a short distance above the bottom
of the trough, and the trough is appropriately provided at its
bottom with melt water drain holes (not shown) so that only
discrete particles of relatively dry ice will be discharged through
the opening. The bottom of the hopper is closed by an end wall 24,
so that ice to be discharged gravitates into and is confined within
the trough.
The hopper may be made in any conventional manner, such as by deep
drawing of sheet metal or the molding of plastics, and when
completed is sheated in insulation and provided with a removable
insulated cover, all as is well known in the art.
The bottom wall 24 of the hopper is centrally apertured for upward,
liquid sealed passage therethrough of a shaft 26 of the motor 16,
the motor being suitably mounted on the wall exteriorly of the
hopper. Fastened to the motor shaft within the interior of the
hopper is the impeller 14 which has a plurality of radial arms 28
that generally follow the contour of the bottom wall of the hopper
and extend into the trough and engage the mass of ice in the hopper
to cause the same to rotate. A rod 30 extends from side to side and
top to bottom within the hopper and provides a fixed resistance
against which the rotating mass of ice may be moved to facilitate
agitation and separation thereof into discrete, free flowing
particles. The motor 15 may comprise an electric gear motor coupled
with the discharge means 18, such that the motor is operated for a
short interval of time during operation of the discharge means to
provide a free flow of ice particles therethrough.
To maintain a supply of ice in the hopper and to replenish ice
discharged through the means 18, an ice maker 32 has an ice outlet
or ice discharge spout 34 in communication with the open upper end
of the hopper. The ice maker may be of any conventional type, and
provides crushed, cracked, flaked or cubed ice to the hopper.
Although the ice maker is shown positioned at the upper end of the
hopper, the actual positioning of the ice maker is not critical,
and the ice maker may be mounted in any convenient location, for
example below the hopper with manufactured ice being carried into
the hopper by any convenient means, such as by a spiral drive.
To control operation of the ice maker in order to maintain ice in
the hopper at a selected level, a thermostat 38 is mounted on an
inside wall of the hopper in proximity with the ice spout 34 and at
the level at which the ice is to be maintained, and senses the
presence or absence of ice therearound by means of the surrounding
temperature. Since as ice fills the hopper it tends to build up
higher in the hopper near its point of entry, by positioning the
thermostat thereat overfilling of the hopper is prevented.
The thermostat is connected with a control system 40 for operating
the ice maker and the agitator. The control system may operate in a
conventional manner, so that upon ice occurring around the
thermostat the ice maker is turned off and the agitator motor is
energized for a predetermined period to rotate the agitator and
level the mass of ice within the hopper. If the hopper is less than
completely full, upon leveling the ice drops away from the
thermostat, whereupon the ice maker again operates. Since ice
builds up faster near its point of entry into the hopper, sensing
of ice by the thermostat and cyclic operation of the ice maker and
agitator motor usually occur several times before the overall level
of the ice in the hopper is sufficiently high that ice remains
about the thermostat after agitation, whereupon the ice maker
remains off until enough ice is discharged from the hopper to drop
its level to beneath the thermostat. Preferably, however, the
control system operates as disclosed in copending application Ser.
No. 928,242 of Benjamin D. Miller, which is assigned to the
assignee of the present invention, such that the ice maker
continuously operates whenever it is necessary to fill the hopper
and until such time as the hopper is completely full. In this
manner, the ice maker is cycled on and off a minimum number of
times, and the operating life of the ice maker is significantly
extended.
In a conventional use of the ice dispenser 10 with a cold plate, to
precool a beverage into which potable ice may be dispensed the cold
plate is either mounted within a separate ice pan or within the
hopper 12. Should the cold plate be in a separate ice pan, then it
is necessary for an operator to monitor the quantity of ice in the
pan to ensure that the cold plate remains covered by ice, and to
replenish the ice as necessary. If the cold plate is in the hopper,
although it is continuously surrounded by ice because of the ice
maker 32, most cold plates are of a standard rectangular
configuration and installation of the same in a round and/or
irregularly shaped hopper is extremely difficult. Further, health
and sanitation codes are becoming stricter in connection with
placement of cold plates within potable ice hoppers due to the
questionable cleanability of cold plate surfaces, and in particular
to the cleanability of the junctures between a cold plate and the
ice hopper, which can lead to contamination of the ice.
In accordance with the present invention, a cold plate system for
an ice dispenser includes an ice pan in which is mounted a cold
plate. The ice pan is connected with the ice dispenser hopper
through an ice feed conduit, and ice in the hopper passes through
the conduit and into the ice pan to surround and cool the cold
plate. Feed of ice through the conduit is automatic, so that the
cold plate is continuously surrounded by ice while at the same time
is separate from the hopper. Thus, there is no contamination of the
ice in the hopper and the invention provides all of the advantages
associated with prior techniques without any of the disadvantages
thereof.
Referring again to the drawing, in accordance with the present
invention a cold plate 42 is in an insulated ice pan 44. The cold
plate, as is conventional, may consist of a cast aluminum plate,
and has at least one pair of fluid connections 46 defining an inlet
to and an outlet from a length of stainless steel tubing embedded
in the plate. In use the cold plate is surrounded by ice and
cooled, so that a beverage flowing through the tubing is cooled.
One or more drains 48 are provided to carry away water produced by
melt down of ice surrounding the cold plate, and the cold plate
preferably is pitched toward the drain to facilitate water
runoff.
The ice pan 44 is provided with an insulated cover or top 50 which
defines with the ice pan a chamber or space 52 for storage of ice
for cooling the ice plate 42, and a removable door 54 in the cover
enables access to the interior of the structure for cleaning. The
upper end of the cover has an opening in communication with one end
of an insulated ice feed means or conduit 56, and an opposite end
of the conduit communicates with the interior of the hopper 12
through an opening in a bottom wall of the trough 22.
In operation, movement of ice in the hopper 12 by the agitator 14
facilitates entry of ice into the upper end of the conduit 56 for
gravitation therethrough and into the ice pan 44 to fill the space
52 and the interior of the conduit until the level of ice rises to
the top of the conduit. When this occurs ice feed to the cold plate
automatically stops, and then later automatically continues upon
depletion of ice in the ice pan through melt down. Thus, the cold
plate is automatically maintained covered by ice, which is a
necessary condition for proper cooling of fluids passed through the
cold plate tubing.
It is understood, of course, that means other than the conduit 56
could be used to transfer potable ice from the hopper to the cold
plate. For example, instead of the conduit a mechanical type of ice
feed could be employed for the transfer of ice from the hopper to
the ice pan, such as a screw feed mechanism. Of course, in use of a
mechanical feed mechanism a separate thermostat would be positioned
within the space 52 to detect the level of ice therein to control
operation of the mechanism.
The invention thus provides all of the advantages of existing cold
plate systems with none of the disadvantages thereof. To this end,
since the cold plate and the ice pan are remote from and out of
contact with potable ice in the hopper, sanitation problems have
been eliminated and the ice hopper cannot become contaminated. At
the same time, however, ice is automatically maintained about the
cold plate without manual intervention, so that there is no
possibility of inadequate or failure of cold plate cooling through
operator neglect.
While embodiments of the invention has been described in detail,
various modifications and other embodiments thereof may be devised
by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *