초록 ▼

An ice maker with a flexible wall bag supported on a planar cooling surface and having a plurality of water compartments for molding ice cubes. The planar cooling surface is in direct thermal communication with a thermoelectric refrigeration unit for freezing water contained in the ice mold bag. The

An ice maker with a flexible wall bag supported on a planar cooling surface and having a plurality of water compartments for molding ice cubes. The planar cooling surface is in direct thermal communication with a thermoelectric refrigeration unit for freezing water contained in the ice mold bag. The cooling surface may be the bottom of a cooling tray cooperating with an insulated housing to define a freezing chamber for receiving the ice mold bag. The refrigeration unit is mounted on the bottom wall of the cooling tray. The insulated housing includes an insulated door for access into the freezing chamber and may comprise integral front, rear and side walls. The insulated housing and cooling tray are detachably supported within a cabinet for housing the refrigeration unit. The flexible walls of the ice mold bag are of a material that is easily ruptured for removal of individual ice cubes and may include additional means to facilitate wall rupture.

대표청구항 ▼

An ice making apparatus comprising: mold means for holding a plurality of bodies of liquid water each in the shape of an ice cube, said mold means comprising a bag of thin-film plastic material having opposing walls adhered together along areas of adhesion so as to form a plurality of ice compartmen

An ice making apparatus comprising: mold means for holding a plurality of bodies of liquid water each in the shape of an ice cube, said mold means comprising a bag of thin-film plastic material having opposing walls adhered together along areas of adhesion so as to form a plurality of ice compartments each interconnected to at least one other compartment by a water passageway, said bag having an inlet means for introducing water into at least one of said interconnected compartments and closure means for closing said inlet means so as to seal water within said compartments; a cooling member of heat conductive material for supporting said bag and conducting heat away from water within said bag compartments; thermoelectric means for cooling said cooling member so as to freeze at least a portion of said bodies of liquid water and form ice in said bag compartments, said thermoelectric means including thermoelectric modules in thermal communication with a heat exchange assembly for transferring heat from said thermoelectric modules to a heat exchange medium, and fan means for moving said heat exchange medium past heat exchange surfaces of said heat exchange assembly; an insulated housing extending around at least a portion of said cooling member and cooperating with said member to define a freezing chamber for said bag, said housing including means for causing natural convection flow of said heat exchange medium past the heat exchange surfaces of said heat exchange assembly, the capacities of said thermoelectric modules and said heat exchange assembly in the presence of said natural convection flow being sufficient to maintain previously frozen ice in the compartments of said ice bag in a frozen condition without continuous operation of said fan means; and, support means for supporting said cooling member and said insulated housing on a support member.