Ice cube tray evaporator

Abstract

An ice cube tray evaporator ( 10 ) includes a back plate ( 12 ) and a grid ( 14 ) of rectangular-shaped ice cube forming compartments ( 16 ) on the back plate ( 12 ). Each of the compartments ( 16 ) is defined by a back wall ( 18 ), and four side walls ( 20,22,24,26 ), with two of the side walls ( 20,22 ) being defined by parallel microchannel tube legs ( 28 ) spaced opposite from each other and the other two of the side walls ( 24,26 ) being defined by heat conductive strips ( 30 ).

1 . An ice cube tray evaporator comprising a grid of ice cube forming compartments, each compartment defined by a back wall and four side walls, two of the side walls defined by microchannel tube legs spaced opposite from each other. 
   
   
       2 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 1  further comprising a pair of parallel, spaced headers and a plurality of parallel, spaced microchannel tubes extending between the headers with ends of the tubes received in said headers for the transfer of refrigerant between the tubes and the headers, each of the tubes defining one of the microchannel tube legs. 
   
   
       3 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 2  wherein each of the headers extends along a longitudinal axis and comprises a plurality of spaced, elongate tube receiving slots, each slot receiving an end of the microchannel tubes, the slots formed at a non-perpendicular angle with the longitudinal axis of the header, said side walls sharing the non-perpendicular angle to allow for gravity assisted ejection of the cubes from the compartments with the longitudinal axis extending in a vertical direction. 
   
   
       4 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 1  further comprising a microchannel tube extending in a serpentine shape to define the microchannel tube legs of the grid. 
   
   
       5 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 4  further comprising an inlet manifold connected to one end of the microchannel tube to deliver refrigerant thereto, and an outlet manifold connected to the other end of the microchannel tube to receive refrigerant therefrom. 
   
   
       6 . The ice cube tray of  claim 1  wherein the other two side walls of each compartment are defined by elongate strips of heat conductive material. 
   
   
       7 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 1  wherein the microchannel tube legs and the back wall are made of aluminum material. 
   
   
       8 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 7  wherein the microchannel tube legs and the back wall are plated with nickel. 
   
   
       9 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 8  wherein the microchannel tube legs are brazed to the back wall. 
   
   
       10 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 1  wherein the back wall of each compartment is defined by a microchannel tube. 
   
   
       11 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 1  wherein said grid is a first grid of ice cube forming compartments, and further comprising a second grid of ice cube forming compartments, the first and second grids facing in opposite directions in a back-to-back configuration. 
   
   
       12 . An ice cube tray evaporator comprising:
 a back plate; and   a grid of ice cube forming compartments on the back plate, each compartment defined by the back plate and four side walls, two of the side walls defined by microchannel tube legs spaced opposite from each other.   
   
   
       13 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 12  wherein the back plate is a microchannel tube. 
   
   
       14 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 13  further comprising a pair of parallel, spaced headers and a plurality of parallel, spaced microchannel tubes extending between the headers with ends of the tubes received in said headers for the transfer of refrigerant between the tubes and the headers, each of the tubes defining one of the microchannel tube legs. 
   
   
       15 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 14  wherein each of the headers extends along a longitudinal axis and comprises a plurality of spaced, elongate tube receiving slots, each slot receiving an end of the microchannel tubes, the slots formed at a non-perpendicular angle with the longitudinal axis of the header, said side walls sharing the non-perpendicular angle to allow for gravity assisted ejection of the cubes from the compartments with the longitudinal axis extending in a vertical direction. 
   
   
       16 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 14  further comprising a microchannel tube extending in a serpentine shape to define the microchannel tube legs of the grid. 
   
   
       17 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 16  further comprising an inlet manifold connected to one end of the microchannel tube to deliver refrigerant thereto, and an outlet manifold connected to the other end of the microchannel tube to receive refrigerant therefrom. 
   
   
       18 . The ice cube tray of  claim 13  wherein the other two side walls of each compartment are defined by elongate strips of heat conductive material. 
   
   
       19 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 13  wherein the microchannel tube legs and the back wall are made of aluminum material. 
   
   
       20 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 19  wherein the microchannel tube legs and the back wall are plated with nickel. 
   
   
       21 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 20  wherein the microchannel tube legs are brazed to the back wall. 
   
   
       22 . The ice cube tray evaporator of  claim 13  wherein said grid is a first grid of ice cube forming compartments, and further comprising a second grid of ice cube forming compartments, the first and second grids facing in opposite directions in a back-to-back configuration. 
   
   
       23 . A method of making an ice cube tray evaporator, the method comprising the step of brazing a plurality of spaced, microchannel tube legs to a back plate to form a grid of ice cube forming compartments having the tube legs as side wall. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the brazing step is an aluminum brazing step. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the brazing step includes brazing a pair of elongate, parallel spaced headers to ends of each of said tube legs. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising the step of forming an elongate microchannel tube into a serpentine configuration to define the tube legs of the grid prior to the step of brazing. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising the step of nickel plating the tube legs and back plate after the step of brazing.