Abstract: An automatic ice and beverage dispensing machine having an ice dispensing chute assembly which is rotatable. As a rotating chute rotates rearward, a lifting motion first moves a locking device which locks a door in place and then elevates the door so that ice can freely flow from an ice storage bin. A switch is contacted which initiates the flow of ice from the ice storage bin. Releasing the rotating chute causes it to rotate (due to gravity) back to its initial, neutral position, disengaging the switch and stopping the flow of ice from the ice storage bin, reversing the lifting action on the door and the locking device, closing the door and locking the door in place to prevent further flow of ice from the ice storage bin.

Abstract: An ice making machine having an evaporator plate assembly which is manufactured from two side plates and a serpentine shaped tube. Each side plate has vertical partitions integrally formed therein. The two side plates are bonded to the serpentine shaped tube through a braze process.

Abstract: A fault restart routine for an icemaker having a microprocessor-based system controller. The fault restart routine provides at least a limited number of attempts at automatically restarting the icemaker after a shutdown has occurred because of a detected fault condition. If the fault condition is not a water inlet fault, the routine waits a first predetermined period of time before attempting to restart the icemaker. If the fault is detected as being a water inlet fault, then the system controller waits for a second predetermined time period before restarting the icemaker. If after restarting the icemaker, the icemaker completes one complete cycle of operation (i.e., a complete FREEZE cycle and a complete HARVEST cycle), then the fault restart routine is exited and a previously generated fault code is cleared.

Abstract: An icemaker incorporating a hot gas bypass system for introducing a supplemental quantity of refrigerant from a condenser into a compressor of the icemaker during a harvest cycle. The system includes a harvest bypass valve disposed in a bypass conduit coupled between an input port of the compressor and the inlet of a remotely disposed condenser. The harvest bypass valve is opened by a system controller of the icemaker during a harvest cycle which allows refrigerant in the condenser to migrate back into the input port of the compressor during the harvest cycle. In this manner, it can be insured that a sufficient quantity of refrigerant is available to carry out the harvest cycle. The adding of a supplemental quantity of refrigerant is further accomplished through a single valve and does not add appreciably to the overall cost or complexity of the icemaker.

Abstract: A method for preventing the formation of icy slush within the sump of an ice maker. The method includes the steps of monitoring the temperature of the water being circulated through the ice maker and detecting when the temperature reaches about 32.degree. F. When the water reaches about 32.degree. F., the water pump is turned-off to allow residual water on evaporator plates of the ice maker to freeze and form ice crystals thereon. The water pump is turned-off for a predetermined period of time sufficient to allow the residual water remaining on the evaporator plates to freeze, which is preferably about 40 seconds, before it is turned back on. Thereafter, circulating water gradually freezes to the ice crystals formed on the evaporator plates. This prevents the water in the sump from cooling below about 32.degree. F. which would cause an icy slush to form in the sump. The above cycle is repeated after ice is harvested from the evaporator plates.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling an ice making machine by monitoring water level in a sump used for water recirculation over an evaporator plate. Self-diagnostic means are also provided for automatic shutdown upon detection of malfunction during various cycles.

Abstract: In an under the counter ice making machine for producing an ice product, a two-part freezer compartment is removably assembled to a frame. The freezer compartment includes an upwardly open box-shaped lower ice bin and an upper hood that is removably mounted in covering relation to the top of the ice bin. The ice bin is mounted to and removed from the frame only when the hood is removed. The ice bin has a rear end wall and a pair of sidewalls extending vertically upwardly and the bin is mounted by rotating the bin and its rear end wall into position on the frame and seated behind an abutment shoulder extending from the frame. Thereafter, the hood is assembled to and removed from the ice bin by a horizontal sliding movement of its sidewalls along the top surfaces of the bin sidewalls.

Abstract: An ultrasonic bin level control circuit which employs a fail-safe circuit to shut off a compressor when echoes are late or absent, and a transducer mounting system which facilitates installation and removal of a transducer for servicing and cleaning. A level detector compares a reference signal with a reflected signal, the ice reaching a desired level when the reflected signal overlaps the reference signal. When the desired level is reached, the reference signal is modified through feedback to prevent short cycling of the compressor. The transducer is installed within a cylindrical housing which is easily installed and removed from a cylindrical socket within a compartment above the bin.

Abstract: An ice handling and beverage dispenser includes an agitator assembly mounted within a downwardly sloping ice storage bin, the assembly including a rotor connected to an agitator with the agitator comprising a frame to sweep the ice and the rotor having a plurality of circumferentially arranged L-shaped ice moving scoops. The agitator assembly is rotatably driven by a motor adjacent a front wall of the bin whereby ice is lifted by the scoops from a location adjacent the bottom of the bin to an outlet chute thereabove. When used in a beverage cooling dispenser, the sweep arm "sweeps" the bin wall whereby ice is caused to fall onto a cold plate disposed therebelow.

Abstract: An ultrasonic bin level control circuit which employs a fail-safe circuit to shut off a compressor when echoes are late or absent, and a transducer mounting system which facilitates installation and removal of a transducer for servicing and cleaning. A level detector compares a reference signal with a reflected signal, the ice reaching a desired level when the reflected signal overlaps the reference signal. When the desired level is reached, the reference signal is modified through feedback to prevent short cycling of the compressor. The transducer is installed within a cylindrical housing which is easily installed and removed from a cylindrical socket within a compartment above the bin.

Abstract: The vent on demand system for bottled water coolers employs a suction wand having water suction tube, vent tube and air pressure tube for sensing the water level within the bottle. The plumbing system is only exposed to atmospheric air during water dispensing. Air pressure trapped within a bulb well located at the lowermost end of the wand responds to water level within the bottle by changing air pressure which is sensed by a pressure switch employed to disengage the pump when water levels approach empty. A check valve prevents air from entering the water suction tube during bottle replacement and the vent tube is coupled through a vent valve which maintains the water delivery system in a sealed state, only venting to atmosphere during actual water delivery. The vent valve is simultaneously actuated when either hot or cold water buttons are depressed with the pump being actuated momentarily thereafter.

Abstract: A new and improved combination evaporator and ice-forming device preferably includes an interlocking grid-type ice-forming plate arrangement with water-receiving and ice-forming recesses being defined by the interlocking grid members. The preferred embodiments include a pair of such plate subassemblies interconnected in a back-to-back relationship with an evaporator tube disposed therebetween. Novel water distribution and frame and housing arrangments are also disclosed.

Abstract: A straight axial length of round metal tube is deformed such that the tube cross-section is D-shaped and coiled into a helix, a coil mandrel and wheel mandrel simultaneously drawing and deforming the tube cross-section without kinking. The interiorly facing flat faces of the helix define a substantially continuous cylindrical surface which allows the helix to be rapidly mountable onto a cylindrical heat transfer evaporator tank of a flaker ice making assembly. To provide enhanced heat transfer capabilities the helix could be undersized to tightly grip the evaporator tank and the tube convolutions could be brazed or soldered either together or adjacent the corner portions and tank.