Motor cooling systems for ice shavers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11359850-B2
Application number	US-201916568200-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2019
Priority date	Sep 11, 2018
Publication date	Jun 14, 2022
Grant date	Jun 14, 2022

Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, and systems for cooling the motor of a frozen confection machine during operation are described. A frozen confection machine has a blade assembly for shaving ice and a housing comprising an air inlet and an air outlet. The machine has a motor disposed in the housing and is attached to a drive shaft for bringing ice into contact with the blade assembly. The machine also includes a drip tray and a heat sink that is in mechanical contact with the drip tray. The machine uses a fan assembly to causes airflow to move into the housing across the heat sink and past the motor for cooling the motor. During use, the airflow cools the motor to prolong motor life and enhance performance. The heat sink may be integrated with the tray or may be a standalone heat sink. The heat sink may have fins or other structures to increase thermal transfer. The airflow may be passively created by convection or enhanced by a fan or otherwise.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A frozen confection machine comprising:
a blade assembly for shaving ice;
a housing comprising an air inlet and an air outlet;
a motor attached to a drive shaft for driving the blade assembly, wherein the motor is disposed in the housing;
a drip tray comprising a heat sink; and
a fan assembly that causes airflow from outside the housing to enter the air inlet, move past a surface of the heat sink into the housing and past the motor for cooling the motor.

2. The frozen confection machine of claim 1 , wherein the heat sink is integrated with the drip tray as a unitary structure.

3. The frozen confection machine of claim 2 , wherein the integrated drip tray and heat sink comprises outward facing fluted surfaces.

4. The frozen confection machine of claim 3 , wherein the outward facing fluted surfaces of the integrated drip tray and heat sink comprises a plurality of parallel ridges separated by a plurality of grooves that define flow paths for melting ice.

5. The frozen confection machine of claim 2 , wherein the integrated drip tray and heat sink is formed from a polycarbonate material with aluminum oxide dispersed therethrough.

6. The frozen confection machine of claim 2 , wherein the air inlet is part of a pathway for airflow, wherein the air inlet is defined by at least one opening disposed in a plate underneath the integrated drip tray and heat sink that defines a lower side of an airflow passage.

7. The frozen confection machine of claim 6 , wherein the fan assembly is disposed in the housing to create airflow through the airflow passage when actuated.

8. The frozen confection machine of claim 1 , wherein the air inlet comprises at least one air inlet that is located near the heat sink at a lower portion of the housing; and
wherein the air outlet comprises at least one air outlet that is located at an upper portion of the housing, such that airflow is passively created by convection during use.

9. The frozen confection machine of claim 1 , wherein the drip tray is disposed underneath a spout where ice shavings generated by the blade assembly are dispensed, such that the drip tray catches stray ice shavings from the spout.

10. A frozen confection machine comprising: a blade assembly for shaving ice; a housing comprising an air inlet and an aft outlet; a motor attached to a drive shaft for driving the blade assembly, wherein the motor is disposed in the housing; a spout for dispensing ice shavings produced by the blade assembly; a drip tray comprising thermo-conductive properties located underneath the spout, the thermo-conductive drip tray comprising a heat sink; and a fan assembly that causes airflow from outside the housing to enter the air inlet, move past a surface of the heat sink into the housing and past the motor for cooling the motor.

11. The frozen confection machine of claim 10 , wherein at least a portion of the upper surface of the thermo-conductive drip tray comprises a plurality of parallel ridges separated by a plurality of grooves that define flow paths for melting ice.

12. The frozen confection machine of claim 10 , wherein the lower cooling surface of the thermo-conductive drip tray comprises a series of fins in a pathway for airflow.

13. The frozen confection machine of claim 10 , wherein the thermo-conductive drip tray is formed from a polycarbonate material with aluminum oxide dispersed therethrough.

14. The frozen confection machine of claim 10 , wherein the frozen confection machine further comprises a lower plate disposed under the thermo-conductive drip tray, such that at least a portion of the air inlet is defined as a space between the lower cooling surface and the lower plate.

15. The frozen confection machine of claim 14 , wherein the air inlet forms at least a part of a pathway for airflow and is defined by at least one opening disposed in the lower plate.

16. The frozen confection machine of claim 10 , wherein the fan assembly is disposed in the housing to create airflow through an airflow passage when actuated.

17. A method of cooling a motor of a frozen confection machine during operation, the method comprising: collecting ice particles dispensed from a spout with a drip tray comprising a heat sink of the frozen confection machine, thereby cooling the heat sink; generating an airflow that causes air from outside a housing to enter an air inlet, pass by a surface of the heat sink to produce a cooled airflow; and moving the cooled airflow into the housing and past the motor of the frozen confection machine to thereby cool the motor.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein generating the airflow that causes air from outside the housing to pass by the surface of the heat sink to produce the cooled airflow comprises passing air across a plurality of fins located on the surface of the heat sink.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein generating the airflow that causes air from outside the housing to pass by the heat sink to produce the cooled airflow comprises actuating a fan assembly in the frozen confection machine.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein actuating the fan assembly causes the airflow to pass by the surface of the heat sink and move into the housing, such that the cooled airflow moves past the motor thereby cooling the motor.

Assignees

• Snowie LLC

Inventors

• Rupp Carl A

Classifications

• F25C5/12 Primary

  Ice-shaving machines · CPC title

• A23G9/22

  Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups · CPC title

• A23G9/28

  for portioning or dispensing · CPC title

• A23G9/224

  Agitators or scrapers · CPC title

• F01P5/06

  Guiding or ducting air to, or from, ducted fans · CPC title