Appeal No. 2004-1244
Application 10/085,280
Implicitly granting the request, the examiner entered an answer
(Paper No. 17), noted a reply brief (Paper No. 19) filed by the
appellant and forwarded the application to this Board for review
of the new rejection of claims 1 through 12.
THE INVENTION
The invention relates to auger-type ice making machines
typically used in commercial settings to produce flaked or
chipped ice. Representative claims 1 and 4 read as follows:
1. An ice making apparatus comprising:
(a) a generally cylindrical and hollow freezing chamber;
(b) a compacting head at an end of said freezing chamber;
(c) a rotatable ice auger sized to fit into said freezing
chamber whereby said auger scrapes ice formed on the walls of
said chamber and conveys the ice toward a discharge end of said
auger and said compacting head;
(d) an evaporator comprising an evaportator body and a
jacket;
(e) the evaportator body having a continuous generally
spiral groove on its outer cylindrical surface, terminating in a
radial outward edge; with the evaporator having a refrigerant
inlet and refreigerant outlet;
(f) the evaporator jacket being telescopically disposed over
the spiral groove of the evaporator body and being in
interference fit against the outward edge of the spiral groove,
sealingly engaging the evaporator jacket against the evaporator
body, whereby refrigerant entering into the groove is sealingly
trapped therein between a refreigerant inlet and a refrigerant
outlet.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the spiral groove
comprises a helical groove.
2
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