Portable Ice Making Apparatus Having a Bypass Tube

Abstract

This invention relates to a portable onsite ice making apparatus having a bypass tube, which includes a compressor equipped with a condenser having heat removal capacity of about 2,400˜2,600 BTU / hr; an expansion valve; an evaporator being in heat exchange relationship with an ice making tray; a bypass tube for the refrigerant to bypass the condenser and the expansion valve; and a switching means selectively changing the flow of the refrigerant from the compressor to the condenser or from the compressor to the bypass tube. The portable ice making apparatus has heat removal capacity to cool the ice making tray to −27° C.˜−26° C. within 3 minutes and heating capacity to heat the ice making tray from about −27° C.˜−26° C. to about 50° C.˜−60° C. within 30 seconds. The area of the capillary tube in the bypass tube to the area of the first discharging tube is about 1 / 25˜ 1 / 10.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to a portable ice making apparatus having a bypass tube and more particularly to a portable onsite ice making apparatus having a bypass tube to switch between freezing and heating modes for quickly manufacturing ice products such as ice creams, sherbets, or ice cakes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]A variety of ice making apparatuses have been proposed and disclosed and, among such apparatuses, a particular ice making apparatus was introduced so that ices can be manufactured onsite to meet the need of a customer for sherbets, ice creams or ice cakes.[0003]A conventional apparatus for manufacturing ice via rapid ice facture and rapid ice thaw was proposed, as described in FIG. 1 and disclosed in the PCT / KR2005 / 001365. Such apparatus controls the thawing process through a bypass line so that the flow of refrigerant can by-pass the condenser without having to go though the normal process of ice making through the condenser. The bypass ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a portable onsite ice making apparatus that is more efficient and has faster freezing and heating operations. It uses a switching means to control the flow of refrigerant and allows only one flow direction. The apparatus also has a bypass tube with a capillary tube to increase the temperature of the gas and a precise heat control sensor to shut down the compressor when the temperature is too high or too low. The coolant pipe is designed in a circular coil shape to allow for faster and more even heat distribution on the ice making tray. The technical effects of the invention are more efficient, faster, and more precise heat control and distribution.

Problems solved by technology

Furthermore, when there is an additional valve, controlling two separately valves may cause some problems if the two valves fail to work cooperatively.

Besides, the conventional apparatus does not have a separator to collect liquefied refrigerant from the pipe which connects the evaporator to the condenser.

The liquefied refrigerant in the pipe may cause damages to the compressor.

Due to this gradual change of flow, it takes a little more time to change from the freezing mode into the heating mode and the heating operation is not optimal.

Furthermore, repeated and continued operation of freezing and thawing processes may overload the compressor.

If the bypass line is open for too long, ice cream may become thawed beyond the intended state and this may cause a problem.

Another drawback of the conventional instrument is in the method of which the coolant dissipates to the evaporation dish where ice creams are being manipulated.

As a result, it takes longer time for the coolant to be spread throughout the evaporation dish and results in initial uneven temperatures throughout the evaporation dish.

This effect will slow down the freezing process of the ice cream mixtures, making it hard to provide “express” ice cream to customers.

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