It is known in absorption type refrigerating apparatus to make ice in one or several ice trays, which after freezing contain a relatively large frozen body comprising pieces of ice separated from one another by dividing walls which adhere to the body. When it is desired to remove an ice cube or cubes, the ice tray must be taken out from the refrigerator and the cubes separated from one another and from the dividing walls and the ice tray. It is well known that it is often rather difficult to free the cubes from the tray. There are ice trays of a design which make the ice less difficult to handle, but in those cases, as a rule, one receives a very small quantity of ice. Although several trays can be used for the making of ice cubes, usually the space in a refrigerator is occupied by other things so that there is room for only one ice tray. It is also known that ice cubes are not needed continuously, but although some time may pass between the occasions when ice is needed and removed; when ice is needed only one ice tray is generally available. Often, however, it is desired to use more ice than the quantity that can be held in a single ice tray, and on those occasions it is desirable to have ice available in the form of ready, separated ice cubes. It is, of course, possible to make ice in several trays, but with an absorption refrigerating apparatus it is also desired not to load the apparatus by freezing too large a quantity of water on the same occasion, since this would to some extent affect cooling of other items in the refrigerator. Therefore, it would be of considerable advantage to have a more or less continuous freezing and removal of a small quantity of ice, which processes could be repeated. This method is known in connection with compressor operated refrigerators but in absorption type refrigerating apparatus it has not yet been successfully accomplished although U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,588 is directed to a means for electric heating of an ice cube tray in an absorption refrigerating apparatus.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds