1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flowing-down ice making apparatus, in which ice water is allowed to flow down from an ice-water tank onto the surfaces of ice-making plates each arranged substantially vertically, to thereby produce ice. The ice may then be guided through the ice guide plate into an ice reservoir to be reserved therein. More specifically, the present invention relates to a supporting structure for the ice-water tank and the ice guide plate in the above-described ice making apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, this type of ice making apparatus generally includes a box-like main body having a thermally insulating structure for defining an ice making chamber that is integrally formed with an ice reservoir. The main body contains a pair of ice-making plates facing each other and sandwiching therebetween an evaporator formed of an evaporation tube. An ice-water tank is disposed below the ice-making plates, and an ice guide plate is disposed between the ice-water tank and the ice-making plates. The ice-making plates, evaporator, ice-water tank and ice guide plate are fixed to the main body. In operation, the ice released from the ice making surfaces of the ice-making plates is guided by the ice guide plate so that it passes over the front side of the ice-water tank into the ice reservoir to be reserved therein.
In the above ice making apparatus, however, the following problems have been encountered. A means for fixing the ice guide plate and the ice-water tank to the main body comprises fasteners such as screws, resulting in requiring a great number of fasteners. For that reason, attachment and/or detachment of the ice guide plate and the ice-water tank is time-consuming. In addition, when it is determined during attachment that a fixing area of the ice guide plate and/or the ice-water tank does not exactly mate with the area of the main body which is to receive the fasteners that are passed through the fixing area, many of the fasteners once fastened thereto must be released and again fastened.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds