Devices for producing clear ice products and related methods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ice manufacturing techniques often result in cloudy or unclear ice due to trapped air bubbles, water impurities, and improper freezing methods, which are unsuitable for the craft cocktail industry's demand for clear ice.
Innovation Solution
A device with elongate troughs and a controlled fluid flow system that uses a cooling source to produce clear ice by ensuring a constant flow of water, which helps in removing air bubbles and impurities, and allows for the embedding of inclusions like fruits or flowers within the ice.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If water is frozen using conventional methods, then ice blocks are produced, but the ice contains trapped air bubbles and impurities resulting in cloudy appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts harmful air bubbles from the freezing water by maintaining continuous fluid flow through the freezing chamber. The flowing water carries dissolved gases away from the freezing interface, preventing bubble formation and incorporation into the ice structure, thereby producing clear ice.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary deaeration of water before freezing by maintaining continuous flow through the chamber. This preliminary action removes dissolved gases from the water before they can be trapped during the freezing process, ensuring clear ice formation from the outset.
2Manufacturing precision
If large blocks of clear ice are produced, then ice clarity is improved, but the ice blocks are unwieldly and require cutting down to cocktail sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ice production process by creating multiple smaller ice blocks simultaneously in parallel freezing chambers, rather than producing one large block. Each chamber produces an individual cocktail-sized ice block, eliminating the need for post-freezing cutting while maintaining clear ice quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from producing ice in a single large dimension to producing multiple smaller ice blocks in parallel. By arranging multiple freezing chambers side-by-side, the system generates ice blocks in quantities and sizes appropriate for individual cocktails without requiring subsequent mechanical cutting.
3Productivity
If conventional ice machines are used, then ice is produced quickly, but the ice contains cracks and cloudiness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains continuous fluid flow through the freezing chambers throughout the freezing process. This continuous action prevents bubble formation and ensures uniform freezing without cracks or cloudiness, achieving both high production speed and excellent ice quality simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the freezing parameters by maintaining continuous water flow at controlled rates through the freezing chambers. This parameter modification allows rapid freezing while preventing defect formation, producing clear, crack-free ice blocks at high production speeds.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device efficiently produces clear ice with improved clarity and quality, reducing the time and effort required to produce ice suitable for cocktails, while allowing for the creation of aesthetically pleasing ice shapes and inclusions.
Implementation Method 1
the at least a portion of each of the at least two flume surface walls is in thermal communication with a cooling source
Implementation Method 2
the at least one fluid intake and the at least one drain are configured to provide a substantially constant flow of fluid to the at least two elongate troughs during a freezing operation
Implementation Method 3
as water turns to ice, and the remaining water reaches saturation level for dissolved gases, the dissolved gas comes out of solution
Implementation Method 4
The gas bubbles stick to the ice-water interface due to surface adhesion
Implementation Method 5
Water crystallizes around nucleation sites. The ice then grows from this point forming a near perfect lattice structure, given the proper environment
Implementation Method 6
Unclear ice may result from super cooling
Data Source
AI summary
A device for producing an elongate ingot of clear ice comprises a housing comprising at least one flume surface wall that defines at least one elongate trough; at least one fluid intake disposed to provide a flow of liquid into the at least one elongate trough; at least one drain disposed to drain liquid from at least one elongate trough; wherein the at least a portion of the at least one flume surface wall is in thermal communication with a cooling source; and wherein the at least one fluid intake and the at least one drain are adapted to provide a substantially constant flow of fluid to the at least one elongate trough during a freezing operation of the device. The cooling source can be an internal cooling cavity.