A compact ice-making device is provided for making ice chips of varied shapes for use in glasses of whiskey and water, and the like purposes. Ice is made using an ice-making vessel (13) for making a plank-like block of ice with a shaft (18) inserted in advance in the vessel, the shaft (18) having r
A compact ice-making device is provided for making ice chips of varied shapes for use in glasses of whiskey and water, and the like purposes. Ice is made using an ice-making vessel (13) for making a plank-like block of ice with a shaft (18) inserted in advance in the vessel, the shaft (18) having ribs (18A) extending substantially radially from a rotating axis. Upon completion of the ice making, a gear unit (20) connected to the shaft (18) is driven by a motor to rotate the shaft (18), which cracks and divides the plank-like ice block into ice chips of varied shapes.
대표청구항▼
The invention claimed is: 1. An ice-making device comprising: an ice-making unit provided with an ice-making vessel for making a plank-shaped block of ice; cracking means for cracking the plank-shaped block of ice produced in the ice-making unit into a plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips with
The invention claimed is: 1. An ice-making device comprising: an ice-making unit provided with an ice-making vessel for making a plank-shaped block of ice; cracking means for cracking the plank-shaped block of ice produced in the ice-making unit into a plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips within the ice-making unit; a drive unit for driving the cracking means; a water supply unit for supplying water to the ice-making vessel; a turning unit for turning the ice-making unit upside down; and an ice storage box for storing the plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips, wherein the cracking means is disposed to a bottom side of the ice-making vessel, and the turning unit turns the ice-making vessel and the cracking means upside down upon completion of the ice making to allow the ice chips in the ice-making vessel to fall into the ice storage box. 2. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein the cracking means cracks the plank-shaped block of ice by providing a stress internally thereon. 3. The ice-making device according to claim 1 further comprising a drive unit for driving the cracking means, and the cracking means comprises a shaft driven and rotated by the drive unit. 4. The ice-making device according to claim 3, wherein the shaft is provided with a plurality of ribs extending generally radially from a rotating axis of the shaft. 5. The ice-making device according to claim 4, wherein the ribs are formed in a manner that a protruding length in the radial direction is longer at the bottom side is than a length at the upper side. 6. The ice-making device according to claim 3, wherein the shaft is inserted in advance in the ice-making vessel before the water inside the ice-making vessel freezes. 7. The ice-making device according to claim 6, wherein a height of the shaft in horizontal plane is taller than a height of the ice made in the ice-making vessel. 8. The ice-making device according to claim 6, wherein a height of the shaft in horizontal plane is shorter than a height of the ice made in the ice-making vessel. 9. The ice-making device according to claim 3, wherein the shaft is inserted through the bottom of the ice-making vessel. 10. The ice-making device according to claim 9, wherein the shaft is placed over outer periphery of a cylindrical post mounted to the bottom of the ice-making vessel, and connected with the drive unit through the interior of the cylindrical post. 11. The ice-making device according to claim 3, wherein the cracking means is provided with a plurality of shafts, and the drive unit rotates the plurality of shafts simultaneously. 12. The ice-making device according to claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of shafts has a rib formed substantially in alignment with another along a line connecting a rotating axes of the adjoining shafts, and the plurality of shafts are driven in the same rotating direction. 13. The ice-making device according to claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of shafts has a rib formed substantially in alignment with another along a line connecting a rotating axes of the adjoining shafts, and the plurality of shafts are driven in different rotating directions with respect to one another. 14. The ice-making device according to claim 3, wherein the shaft is formed of a metal. 15. The ice-making device according to claim 3, wherein the shaft is formed of a polymeric resin. 16. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein the ice-making unit is fixed to the cracking means, and the ice-making unit and the cracking means swing around a horizontal turning shaft when ice is being made. 17. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein the ice-making vessel has sidewalls sloped in a direction to make a top plane larger in area than an area of a bottom plane. 18. The ice-making device according to claim 1 further comprising a turning unit for turning the ice-making unit upside down, wherein the cracking means is driven to crack the plank-shaped block of ice into the plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips after the ice-making is completed and the ice-making unit is turned upside down. 19. The ice-making device according to claim 18, wherein the cracking means is driven further for a predetermined time duration while the ice-making unit is in the upside-down position. 20. The ice-making device according to claim 18, wherein the cracking means is for driving a shaft to rotate in one direction when cracking the block of ice, and the cracking means drive the shaft in the same direction as that for cracking the ice for a predetermined time duration after the cracking but before supplying water to the ice-making unit. 21. The ice-making device according to claim 18, wherein the ice-making unit is turned upside down and the cracking means is driven after the ice-making is completed and the bottom surface of the ice-making vessel is heated. 22. The ice-making device according to claim 18, wherein the bottom surface of the ice-making vessel is cooled to a predetermined temperature following completion of releasing the ice chips from the ice-making vessel but before starting the supply of water. 23. The ice-making device according to claim 18, wherein an ice storage box is disposed under the ice-making unit for storing ice chips, and further wherein the ice-making unit is turned upside down and the shaft is driven, after the ice-making is completed and an amount of the ice chips in the ice storage box is determined and found less than a predetermined level. 24. The ice-making device according to claim 23, wherein a temperature of the ice-making vessel is controlled to be 0 deg-C. or below when an amount of the ice chips in the ice storage box is found to satisfy the predetermined level. 25. The ice-making device according to claim 1 further comprising a turning unit for turning the ice-making unit upside down, wherein the ice-making unit is turned upside down after the ice-making is completed and the cracking means is driven to crack the plank-shaped block of ice into the plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips. 26. The ice-making device according to claim 1 further comprising a turning unit for turning the ice-making unit upside down, wherein the cracking means is driven to crack the plank-shaped block of ice into the plurality of irregularly-shaped ice chips when the ice-making is completed, while turning the ice-making unit upside down. 27. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein the plank-shaped block of ice made by the ice-making unit has a high clarity. 28. The ice-making device according to claim 27 further comprising a swinging mechanism for swinging the ice-making vessel during ice-making, wherein the swinging mechanism causes the water to flow while being frozen into the plank-shaped block of ice. 29. The ice-making device according to claim 28, wherein the swinging is carried out at a frequency of 3 to 10 cycles per minute from the start to the completion of ice-making. 30. The ice-making device according to claim 28, wherein an angle of the swinging is in a range of ��10 degrees and ��20 degrees. 31. The ice-making device according to claim 28, wherein the swinging is paused for a duration of 3 to 7 seconds at a point of the largest swinging angle. 32. The ice-making device according to claim 27, wherein the water supply unit supplies the water to the ice-making vessel intermittently in a plural number of times using intermittent water supply means. 33. The ice-making device according to claim 27 further comprising heating means under the ice-making vessel, wherein the heating means heats a bottom surface of the ice-making vessel to a predetermined temperature following completion of releasing the ice chips but before starting the supply of water. 34. The ice-making device according to claim 27, wherein the ice-making vessel has sidewalls sloped in a direction to make a top plane larger in area than an area of a bottom plane, and the sloped surfaces have any angle between 10 and 39 degrees. 35. The ice-making device according to claim 34, wherein the sidewalls of the ice-making vessel are partly bent inward. 36. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein a temperature of a bottom surface of the ice-making vessel is regulated using temperature detection means mounted to the ice-making unit in a manner to gradually decrease from the start of ice-making. 37. The ice-making device according to claim 1 further having a cooling plate formed of a metal of good thermal conductivity for cooling the ice-making vessel. 38. The ice-making device according to claim 37, wherein a surface temperature of the cooling plate is regulated using temperature detection means mounted to the ice-making unit in a manner to decrease the temperature of the cooling plate gradually from the start of ice-making. 39. The ice-making device according to claim 38 further having a control unit for power supply to the Peltier device, wherein a polarity of voltage applied to the Peltier device is reversed to switch between cooling and heating when a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of ice-making. 40. The ice-making device according to claim 37, wherein the cooling plate is cooled by using a Peltier device. 41. The ice-making device according to claim 37, wherein the cooling plate is provided with a heater for controlling an ambient temperature of the ice-making vessel. 42. The ice-making device according to claim 1 further provided with heating means for controlling an ambient temperature of the ice-making vessel. 43. The ice-making device according to claim 1, wherein the ice-making unit is provided with a heater for heating. 44. The ice-making device according to claim 43, wherein the heater comprises a flat-type heater for generating substantially uniform heat throughout a surface thereof.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (1)
Shoukyuu,Masatoshi; Onishi,Ichiro, Drive device of automatic ice machine.
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