ICE MAKER WITH SANITARY EVAPORATOR

Description

FIELD

This disclosure generally pertains to an ice maker with a sanitary evaporator.

BACKGROUND

Conventional ice makers allow for energy losses through the back side of a freeze plate. A particular source of the problem is that airborne moisture will condense as frost on the back side of the freeze plate during ice making cycles. This expends cooling energy that is not invested in creating ice. Moreover, the frost melts during harvest cycles and off cycles, which creates dripping condensate that can contain contaminants. The possibility that liquid condensate might drip off of the back side of a freeze plate also causes the back side of the freeze plate to be considered part of the “food zone,” which means that the back side of the freeze plate (which is not intended to contact ice) must be plated with the same, very expensive food-safe coating (typically an electroless nickel coating) as the operative side of the freeze plate on which ice is formed.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, an ice maker comprises a freeze plate having a front side and back side. The freeze plate is configured to receive water at the front side and to form the water received at the front side into pieces of ice. Refrigerant tubing is thermally coupled to the back side of the freeze plate opposite the front side. An evaporator housing is attached to the freeze plate and defining an enclosed cavity behind the back side of the freeze plate. The evaporator housing contains the refrigerant tubing inside the enclosed cavity. The enclosed cavity is sealed airtight.

Other aspects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an ice maker;

FIG. 2 is a perspective of a freeze plate of the ice maker;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective of the freeze plate;

FIG. 4 is a perspective of a sanitary evaporator of the ice maker;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective of the sanitary evaporator;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation of the sanitary evaporator with a back wall of an evaporator housing removed to reveal internal components;

FIG. 7 is a cross section of the sanitary evaporator taken in the plane of line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross section similar to FIG. 7 of another embodiment of a sanitary evaporator; and

FIG. 9 is a cross section similar to FIGS. 7 and 8 of another embodiment of a sanitary evaporator.

Corresponding parts are given corresponding reference characters throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of an ice maker is generally indicated at reference number 10. As will be explained in further detail below, the ice maker 10 employs a sanitary evaporator that prevents frost from forming on the back side of ice maker's the freeze plate, and thereby eliminates the possibility of the frost melting into an unsanitary liquid that drips into the food safe zone of the ice maker. The sanitary evaporator described herein eliminates the need to plate the back side of the freeze plate with very expensive food safe coating material, e.g., electroless nickel plating. Further, embodiments of the sanitary evaporator disclosed herein do not require the waterproof layer of insulation disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,571,180 and employed in the sanitary evaporators of ice makers currently available from the present assignee. The inventor believes that the sanitary evaporator embodiments disclosed herein have the potential to provide similar sanitation benefits to the evaporator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,571,180 at a reduced bill of materials cost to the manufacturer.

The disclosure begins with an overview of the ice maker 10, before providing a more detailed description of the sanitary evaporator. In general, the ice maker 10 comprises a refrigeration system and a water system that together operate to form and collect pieces of ice from an ice formation device.

Referring FIG. 1, a refrigeration system of the ice maker 10 includes a compressor 12, a heat rejecting heat exchanger 14, a refrigerant expansion device 18 for lowering the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant, a sanitary evaporator assembly 20 (broadly, an ice formation device), and a hot gas valve 24. As shown, the heat rejecting heat exchanger 14 may comprise a condenser for condensing compressed refrigerant vapor discharged from the compressor 12. In other embodiments, for example, in refrigeration systems that utilize carbon dioxide refrigerants where the heat of rejection is trans-critical, the heat rejecting heat exchanger is able to reject heat from the refrigerant without condensing the refrigerant.

The illustrated evaporator assembly 20 comprises a freeze plate 22 and refrigerant tubing 21 thermally coupled to the back side of the freeze plate to form an evaporator that absorbs heat from the freeze plate. An evaporator housing 23 defines an enclosed cavity 26 on the back side of the freeze plate, and the refrigerant tubing 21 is received in the enclosed cavity. As will be explained in further detail below, the evaporator housing 23 and the freeze plate 22 are configured so that the enclosed cavity 26 is sealed airtight. The airtight cavity 26 prevents airborne condensation from reaching on the back side of the freeze plate 22 or the refrigerant tubing 21 and thus eliminates the possibility that frost would form on the back side of the freeze plate 22 or refrigerant tubing 21. This prevents the need for these surfaces to be plated with very expensive food safe coatings. Furthermore, eliminating frost eliminates condensate runoff, which otherwise creates the appearance of an unsanitary ice maker.

The refrigeration system further comprises a hot gas valve 24. The hot gas valve 24 is used, in one or more embodiments, to direct warm refrigerant from the compressor 15 directly to the evaporator 21 to remove or harvest ice cubes from the freeze plate 22 when the ice has reached the desired thickness.

The refrigerant expansion device 18 can be of any suitable type, including a capillary tube, a thermostatic expansion valve or an electronic expansion valve. In certain embodiments, where the refrigerant expansion device 18 is a thermostatic expansion valve or an electronic expansion valve, the ice maker 10 also includes a temperature sensor 26 placed at the outlet of the evaporator tubing 21 to control the refrigerant expansion device 18. In other embodiments, where the refrigerant expansion device 18 is an electronic expansion valve, the ice maker 10 includes a pressure sensor (not shown) placed at the outlet of the evaporator tubing 21 to control the refrigerant expansion device 18 as is known in the art. In certain embodiments that utilize a gaseous cooling medium (e.g., air) to provide condenser cooling, a condenser fan 15 may be positioned to blow the gaseous cooling medium across the condenser 14.

A form of refrigerant cycles through the above-mentioned refrigeration system components via refrigerant lines 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d. As is understood by those skilled in the art, during ice making cycles, heat absorbed from the freeze plate 22 by the refrigerant tubing 21 is rejected from the ice maker by the condenser, whereby the refrigeration system chills the freeze plate 22 to freeze liquid ice into solid pieces of ice.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the water system of the illustrated ice maker 10 includes a sump assembly 60 that comprises a water reservoir or sump 70, a water pump 62, a water line 63, a water distributor 25, and a water level sensor 64. The water system of the ice maker 10 further includes a water supply line (not shown) and a water inlet valve (not shown) for filling sump 70 with water from a water source (not shown).

The illustrated water system further includes drain passaging 78 (broadly, a discharge line) and a drain valve 512 (e.g., purge valve) disposed thereon for draining water from the sump 70. The sump 70 is positioned below the freeze plate 22 to catch water coming off of the freeze plate such that the water may be recirculated by the water pump 62. The water line 63 fluidly connects the water pump 62 to the water distributor 25. During an ice making cycle, the pump 62 is configured to pump water through the water line 63 and through the distributor 25. The distributor 25 includes water distribution features that distribute the water imparted through the distributor evenly across the front of the freeze plate 22.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the ice maker 10 also includes a controller 80 operatively connected to the refrigeration system and water system for controlling the ice maker to make and collect batches of ice. The controller 80 may include a processor 82 for controlling the operation of the ice maker 10 including the various components of the refrigeration system and the water system. The processor 82 of the controller 80 may include a non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause the processor to perform a process. The processor 82 may be, for example, a commercially available microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a combination of ASICs, which are designed to achieve one or more specific functions, or enable one or more specific devices or applications. In certain embodiments, the controller 80 may be an analog or digital circuit, or a combination of multiple circuits. The controller 80 may also include one or more memory components (not shown) for storing data in a form retrievable by the controller. The controller 80 can store data in or retrieve data from the one or more memory components.

In various embodiments, the controller 80 may also comprise input/output (I/O) components (not shown) to communicate with and/or control the various components of ice maker 10. In certain embodiments, for example, the controller 80 may receive inputs such as, for example, one or more indications, signals, messages, commands, data, and/or any other information, from the water level sensor 64, a harvest sensor for determining when ice has been harvested (not shown), an electrical power source (not shown), an ice level sensor (not shown), and/or a variety of sensors and/or switches including, but not limited to, pressure transducers, temperature sensors, acoustic sensors, etc. In various embodiments, based on those inputs, the controller 80 controls the compressor 12, the condenser fan 15, the refrigerant expansion device 18, the hot gas valve 24, the water inlet valve (not shown), the drain valve 512, and/or the water pump 62, for example, by sending, one or more indications, signals, messages, commands, data, and/or any other information to such components.

Referring to FIGS. 2-3, an exemplary embodiment of the freeze plate 22 will now be described. The freeze plate 22 defines a plurality of molds 150 in which the ice maker 10 is configured to form ice. The freeze plate 22 has a front side defining open front ends of the molds 150, a back side defining enclosed rear ends of the molds, a top portion and a bottom portion spaced apart along a height HF, and a right side portion (broadly, a first side portion) and a left side portion (broadly, a second side portion) spaced apart along a width WF.

Throughout this disclosure, when the terms “front,” “back,” “rear,” “forward,” “rearward,” and the like are used in reference to any part of the evaporator assembly 20, the relative positions of the open front ends and enclosed rear ends of the freeze plate molds 150 provide the spatial frame of reference. For instance, the front of the freeze plate 22 that defines the open front ends of the molds 150 is spaced apart from the rear of the freeze plate in a forward direction, and the back of the freeze plate that extends along the enclosed rear ends of the molds is spaced apart from the front of the freeze plate in a rearward direction. In the illustrated embodiment, the freeze plate 22 is configured to be oriented vertically in the ice maker 10 such that the forward and backward directions of the evaporator assembly 20 run horizontally. But in other embodiments, the freeze plate could be oriented other ways (e.g., generally horizontally), in which case the forward and backward directions may not be horizontal.

In the illustrated embodiment, the freeze plate 22 comprises a pan 152 having a back wall 154 that defines the back side of the freeze plate. The pan 152 further comprises a perimeter wall 156 that extends forward from the back wall 154. The perimeter wall 156 includes a top wall portion, a bottom wall portion, a right side wall portion (broadly, a first side wall portion), and a left side wall portion (broadly, a second side wall portion). The side wall portions of the perimeter wall 156 define the opposite sides of the freeze plate 22, and the top and bottom wall portions of the perimeter wall define the top and bottom ends of the freeze plate. The perimeter wall 156 could be formed from one or more discrete pieces that are joined to the back wall 154 or the pan 152, or the entire pan could be formed from a single monolithic piece of material in one or more embodiments. Regardless of how the pan 152 is formed, the perimeter wall 156 can be sealed to the back wall 154 so that water flowing down the freeze plate 22 does not leak through the back of the freeze plate. The pan 152 provides an airtight barrier between the ice molds 150 and the enclosed cavity 26 on the back side of the freeze plate 22.

A plurality of heightwise and widthwise divider plates 160, 162 are secured to the pan to form a lattice of the ice cube molds 150. In an exemplary embodiment, each heightwise divider plate 160 and each widthwise divider plate 162 is formed from a single piece of monolithic material. The heightwise divider plates 162 extend from lower ends that are connected to the bottom wall portion of the perimeter wall 156 to upper ends that are connected to the top wall portion of the perimeter wall. The plurality of widthwise divider plates 160 similarly extend from first ends connected to the right side wall portion of the perimeter wall 156 to second ends connected to the left side wall portion of the perimeter wall.

Generally, the heightwise divider plates 160 and the widthwise divider plates 162 are interconnected in such a way as to define a plurality of ice molds 150 within the perimeter wall 156. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the plates 160, 162 interlock via interlocking slots 164, 166 to form a lattice within the perimeter wall 165 of the evaporator pan. The ice molds 150 are defined by spaces within this lattice inside the perimeter wall 156.

Suitably, the entire freeze plate 22 is formed from an electrically conductive metal (e.g., copper) and the surfaces of the freeze plate 22 that define the ice molds 150 are plated with a food-safe coating, e.g., an electroless nickel food-safe coating applied in a vapor deposition process. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the front side of the pan 152, the interior sides of the perimeter wall 156, and the divider plates 160, 162 are plated with electroless nickel food-safe material, but the back side of the pan (and optionally exterior sides of the perimeter wall 156) is non-plated. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, leaving the back side of the freeze plate non-plated realizes substantial cost savings in the manufacture of the ice maker 10. As will be explained in further detail below, the evaporator assembly 20 is kept sanitary, despite the lack of food safe coating on the back side, because the airtight cavity 26 on the back side of the freeze plate prevents airborne condensation from forming as frost on any surface of the evaporator assembly that does is not configured to directly contact ice as it is made by the ice maker 10.

In the illustrated embodiment, a series of threaded studs 168 extend outward from the perimeter wall 156 at spaced apart locations around the perimeter of the freeze plate 22. As will be explained in further detail below, the threaded studs 168 are used to secure the freeze plate 22 to an evaporator housing 23 that encloses a cavity 26 on the back side of the freeze plate and seals it airtight.

Referring to FIGS. 4-7, the evaporator housing 23 is attached to the freeze plate 22 to define the enclosed cavity 26 (FIG. 7) along the back side of the freeze plate. Furthermore, the evaporator housing 23 and the freeze plate 22 are configured so that the enclosed cavity 26 is sealed airtight.

In the illustrated embodiment, the evaporator housing 23 is made up of a perimeter assembly 172, 174, 176 that circumscribes the perimeter wall 156 of the evaporator pan 152 and a back wall 178 supported on the perimeter assembly in rearward spaced relation from the back wall 154 of the freeze plate. In one or more embodiments, the perimeter assembly is made up of a plurality of perimeter wall pieces 172, 174, 176 that are mounted on the freeze plate 22 via the studs 168. For example, the studs 168 can be inserted into openings 186 in each perimeter wall piece 172, 174, 176, and the perimeter wall pieces can be tightened onto the freeze plate via threaded nuts (not shown) secured to the studs. The back wall 178 can be mounted on the perimeter wall assembly 172, 174, 176 by fusion (e.g., ultrasonic welding), mechanical fasteners, adhesives, or the like. In the illustrated embodiment, the back wall 178 defines an inlet hole 178A through which the inlet section 21A of the refrigerant tubing 21 passes and an outlet hole 178B through which the outlet section 21B of the refrigerant tubing passes.

In the illustrated evaporator housing 23, which is formed from separate wall pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 that are assembled together around the freeze plate 22, airtight seals are formed at each interface between two individual wall pieces. Any suitable method of making an airtight seal of the interface between two wall pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 can be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, in one or more embodiments, a curable sealant is applied at each interface between two wall pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 and then cured to form cured-in-place seals at each interface. Suitable curable sealants for forming air-tight cured-in-place seals include silicone sealant, polyurethane sealant, epoxy sealant, modified silane polymer sealant, butyl rubber sealant, or acrylic sealant. In another embodiment, preformed compressible gaskets are placed at each interface between two wall pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 and compressed to form airtight seals of the interfaces when the wall pieces are mechanically fastened to the freeze plate 22 and one another. In still other embodiments, airtight seals are formed by fusing two of the wall pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 together at the respective interface (e.g., by ultrasonic welding, heat sealing, laser welding, vibration welding, hot plate welding, radio frequency welding, infrared welding, induction welding, or solvent welding).

In one suitable embodiment, different types of airtight seals are used for sealing the interfaces of the perimeter wall assembly 172, 174, 176 versus the interfaces between the perimeter wall assembly and the back wall. For instance, airtight compressible gaskets are used for sealing the interfaces of the perimeter wall assembly 172, 174, 176 and airtight fusion bonds are used for sealing the interfaces between the perimeter wall assembly and the back wall 178. In one such embodiment, sealant is additionally applied as caulk to the interfaces to form secondary cured-in-place seals for redundancy.

In the embodiments described above, the evaporator housing 23 is formed from multiple housing pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 that are assembled together, but in other embodiments, the evaporator housing can be constructed in other ways without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For instance, in certain embodiments, the evaporator housing can be formed from a single piece of monolithic material that attaches and seals to the freeze plate using adhesive, fusion, press fit, or other suitable form of sealing attachment.

In one or more embodiments, the evaporator housing 23 is formed from one or more pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 of predominantly plastic material. To improve the airtightness of the evaporator housing, vapor barrier enhancements can be applied to the plastic pieces. For example, one or more surfaces (e.g., an interior side surface) of each plastic piece 172, 174, 176, 178 can be coated with a vapor barrier coating, e.g., a metallic coating, a silicon oxide (SiOx) coating, a polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) coating, or an aluminized plastic coating. A vapor barrier laminate layer can also be applied to one or more surfaces (e.g., an interior side surface) of each plastic piece 172, 174, 176, 178, e.g., an ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) layer or a metal foil layer. In certain embodiments, barrier-enhancing additives can be added to the plastic stock during an injection molding process by which one or more plastic pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 are formed. Examples of suitable barrier-enhancing additives include nanocomposites and clay particles. It is also contemplated that one or more plastic pieces 172, 174, 176, 178 of the evaporator housing could be subjected to other barrier-enhancing treatments, e.g., be (i) plasma treated to modify surface properties for enhanced gas impermeability, (ii) ion bombardment treated to modify surface properties for enhanced gas impermeability, (iii) vacuum metalized, or (iv) fluorinated.

Regardless of how the evaporator housing 23 attaches to the freeze plate 22, the evaporator housing is sealed to the freeze plate such that the interface between the freeze plate and the evaporator housing is airtight. Various ways of sealing the interface between the freeze plate 22 and the evaporator housing 23 can be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, a seal 201 (FIG. 7) is disposed between the perimeter wall 156 of the evaporator pan 152 and the perimeter assembly 172, 174, 176 of the evaporator housing. In one or more embodiments, the seal 201 comprises an air-impermeable cured-in-place seal, e.g., a seal formed from adhesive sealant that is placed in the interface between the freeze plate 22 and the evaporator housing 23 during assembly. Suitable curable sealants for forming air-tight-cured in place seals include silicone sealant, polyurethane sealant, epoxy sealant, modified silane polymer sealant, butyl rubber sealant, or acrylic sealant. Suitable adhesive sealants are air-impermeable when cured. In another embodiment, the seal 201 is an airtight compressible gasket that is compressed between the evaporator housing 23 and the freeze plate 22 when the perimeter assembly 172, 174, 176 is secured to the freeze plate via the studs 168. It is also contemplated that an airtight seal between the evaporator housing 23 and the freeze plate 22 can be made without a separate seal element, e.g., by compression fitting the evaporator housing onto the freeze plate, fusing the evaporator housing to the freeze plate, or overmolding the evaporator housing onto the freeze plate. It is expressly contemplated that the perimeter assembly 172, 174, 176 could be overmolded onto the freeze plate as a single monolithic piece and the back wall 178 could be subsequently joined to the overmolded perimeter assembly.

It will be appreciated that, regardless of the sealing methodology employed for the above-described seals, the entire enclosed cavity 26 on the back side of the freeze plate is sealed off from the ambient exterior environment in an airtight manner. Hence, the seal 201 between the freeze plate 22 and the evaporator housing 23 forms a contiguous 360-degree seal between a perimeter portion of the freeze plate and a perimeter portion of the evaporator housing. Likewise, the pieces 172, 174, 176 used in the perimeter assembly of the evaporator housing 23 are sealed together so that the perimeter assembly forms a contiguous 360-degree sealed perimeter around the enclosed cavity 26. Similarly, the seal between the perimeter assembly 172, 174, 176 and the back wall 178 forms a contiguous 360-degree seal between a perimeter assembly and the back wall.

To complete the airtight seal of the enclosed cavity 26, the illustrate evaporator assembly 20 comprises an inlet grommet 203A for forming an airtight seal between the inlet section 21A and the evaporator housing 23 and an outlet grommet 203B forming an airtight seal between the outlet section 21B and the evaporator housing. The inlet and outlet grommets 203A, 203B are received in the inlet and outlet holes 178A, 178B and compressed between the inlet and outlet tubing sections 21A, 21B and the back wall 178 to seal both openings airtight.

In one or more embodiments, the airtight cavity 26 is filled with an inert gas. For example, the inert gas can be made up predominantly of one of nitrogen, argon, or helium. The inert gas displaces reactive materials (e.g., oxygen, airborne condensation) in the airtight cavity 26, which are the primary agents responsible for corrosion in metals. Hence, the metal surfaces inside the airtight cavity (e.g., the back side of the freeze plate 22 and the refrigerant tubing 21) do not require food safe plating because the risk of corrosion is essentially eliminated. The back side of the freeze plate 22 and the refrigerant tubing 21 have metal surfaces (e.g., non-plated metal surfaces) exposed directly to the inert gas filling the enclosed cavity.

To facilitate filling the airtight cavity 26 with an inert gas, one of the evaporator housing parts 172, 174, 176, 178 can comprise a sealable fill port 205. In the illustrated embodiment, the sealable fill port 205 is formed in the back wall 178 of the evaporator housing 23. The sealable fill port 205 can comprise a one-way valve, a heat-sealed port, a stopcock valve, a crimp tube, or the like. Inert gas is imparted into the cavity 26 through the fill port 205, and then the fill port is closed/sealed to seal the cavity airtight before ambient air can displace the inert gas in the cavity.

Referring to FIG. 8, in an alternative embodiment, the enclosed cavity 26 is at a vacuum pressure less than atmospheric pressure. Evacuating the enclosed cavity 26 removes most reactive materials so that exposed metal surfaces are not subject to substantial corrosion over the life of the ice maker 10. Hence, in the illustrated embodiment, the back side of the freeze plate 22 and the refrigerant tubing 21 have metal surfaces (e.g., non-plated metal surfaces) exposed directly to the remaining gas filling the enclosed vacuum cavity.

To prevent vacuum bow due to the differential pressure across the back wall 178 between the enclosed cavity 26 (at vacuum pressure) and the exterior of the evaporator housing 23 (at ambient pressure), the back wall 178 of evaporator housing 173 includes reinforcement features 207. In the illustrated embodiment, the reinforcement features 207 comprise ribs that are integrally formed with the remainder of the back wall 178. Other embodiments can use other types of reinforcement features without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

Further, to facilitate evacuating the airtight cavity 26, one of the evaporator housing parts 172, 174, 176, 178 can comprise a sealable vacuum port 205. In the illustrated embodiment, the sealable vacuum port 205 is formed in the back wall 178 of the evaporator housing 23. The sealable vacuum port 205 can comprise a one-way valve, a heat-sealed port, a stopcock valve, a crimp tube, or the like for sealing the cavity 26 airtight when the vacuum has been pulled.

As can be seen, the present disclosure provides an ice maker with a sanitary evaporator 20 by enclosing an airtight cavity 26 on the back side of the freeze plate 22. The airtight cavity 26 is devoid of any solid or liquid insulation materials. Sufficient insulation is provided by filling the cavity 26 with inert gas or maintaining a vacuum in the cavity. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the thermal insulation value can be increased by adjusting the volume of the enclosed cavity, for example, by adjusting a spacing distance SD between the back side of the freeze plate 22 and the back wall 178 of the evaporator housing 23. In an exemplary embodiment the spacing distance SD is at least 1.5″, e.g. in an inclusive range of from 1.5″ to 6″.

Referring to FIG. 9, in some cases, it may be desirable to provide additional insulation of the evaporator assembly 20. In the illustrated embodiment, a layer of insulation 209 is formed on the exterior of the evaporator housing 23. For example, the layer of insulation 209 can comprise an integral layer of cured-in-place waterproof insulation formed over the entire back side of the evaporator housing 23. The waterproof insulation 209 can be of the same type that is used inside an evaporator cavity in U.S. Pat. No. 10,571,180. In an exemplary embodiment, the layer of insulation 209 is a cured-in-place insulation material that, once cured, is substantially air-impermeable. Hence, the insulation layer 209 also enhances the airtightness of the enclosed cavity 26.

The inventor believes that the ice maker disclosed herein, specifically the airtight enclosed cavity on the back side of the freeze plate, both (i) minimizes energy losses through the back side of the freeze plate and (ii) prevents airborne condensation from reaching the back side of the freeze plate where it could form as frost or liquid condensation. The disclosure therefore provides an ice maker that is believed to have improved energy efficiency and/or to be more sanitary when compared with the conventional ice makers in wide commercial use.

When introducing elements of the present disclosure or the preferred embodiment(s) thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the disclosure are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above products and methods without departing from the scope of the disclosure, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.