Automatic ice maker of the open-cell type

Abstract

An automatic ice maker of the open-cell type including a housing composed of a pair of spaced side wall panels and front and rear wall panels jointed at their opposite ends to the side wall panels, a water storage tank mounted to the bottom of the housing, a sprinkler mounted within the bottom portion of the housing and having a plurality of nozzles for spouting upward ice making water supplied from the water storage tank, a cooling pipe mounted within an ice making chamber formed in an upper portion of the housing, a plurality of ice making cell casings horizontally mounted in the ice making chamber and located above the nozzles of the sprinkler to be supplied with the ice making chamber spouted therefrom and to be cooled by refrigerant supplied into the cooling pipe, and an ice chute in the form of a lattice placed in a forwardly inclined condition between the sprinkler and the ice making cell casings to permit the ice making water spouted into the cell casings therethrough from the nozzles of the sprinkler and to receive ice cubes formed in and released from the cell casings, wherein the ice chute is detachably mounted on a forwardly inclined support portion provided on the side wall panels in the interior of the housing and retained in place by resilient engagement with the support portion, wherein the water storage tank is supported at its opposite sides on a pair of spaced support portions integrally formed with the lower ends of the side wall panels when inserted into a bottom space of the housing from its front and is retained in place by engagement with the support portions of the side wall panels, and wherein the sprinkler is supported and retained in place on a pair of spaced support portions integrally formed with the lower ends of the side walls and located above the water storage tank.