Smart Water Tray

Abstract

An apparatus and method of utilizing water level sensors within a water tray of a refrigeration system having: a first float switch to determine when a water tray is full and discontinue supplying of water to the water tray, a second float switch to determine when the water inside the watery tray is ready for expulsion, and releasing remaining water in the water tray, a third float switch to determine when the water tray is empty and initiating a harvest cycle. The apparatus may integrate with a low pressure sensor to receive low pressure sensor input to initiate or delay a harvest cycle. The apparatus may integrate with multiple timer controls to initiate certain actions within the refrigeration system.

1 . A water level sensor control apparatus, comprising:
 a water tray configured to receive water through an inlet valve;   a first float switch configured to:
 determine when an upper water level has been reached within the water tray; 
   send a first signal to the inlet valve to discontinue supplying of water to the water tray;   a second float switch to initiate after the completion of the first signal configured to:
 determine when an intermediate water level has been reached within the water tray; 
 send a second signal to a dump valve to discharge water not yet frozen within the water tray; 
   a third float switch to initiate after the completion of the second signal configured to:
 determine when a third lower water level has been reached within the water tray; 
 sends a third signal to a harvest valve to initiate an ice harvest cycle. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the water tray has a sloped bottom surface. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first float switch is further configured to transmit a harvest delay timer signal to a harvest valve timer with a predetermined harvest valve delay time limit. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the third float switch is further configured to override the predetermined harvest valve delay time limit configured within the harvest valve timer. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first float, the second float, and the third float are configured within at least two reed switches. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first float switch is further configured to transmit a dump valve delay signal to a dump valve timer with a predetermined dump valve delay time limit. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the third float switch is further configured to bypass the predetermined dump valve delay time limit configured within the dump valve timer. 
     
     
         8 . A water level sensor control apparatus, comprising:
 a water tray configured to receive water through an inlet valve;   a first float switch configured to:
 send a close inlet valve signal to an inlet valve to discontinue supplying of water to the water tray if an upper water level has been reached within the water tray; or 
 send an open inlet valve signal to the inlet valve to begin supplying of water to the water tray if the upper water level has not been reached within the water tray; 
   an refrigerant low pressure sensor within an industrial grade evaporator configured to:
 detect a low pressure signal; 
 transmit an intermediate close inlet valve signal to the inlet valve to discontinue supplying of water to the water tray until an ice harvest cycle is completed within the industrial grade evaporator; 
   a second float switch configured to:
 determine when an intermediate water level has been reached within the water tray; 
 send the second signal to a dump valve to discharge water not yet frozen within the water tray prior to the ice harvest cycle. 
   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , further comprising a third float switch configured to determine when a lower water level has been reached within the water tray and send a third signal to a harvest valve to initiate a the ice harvest cycle. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising a harvest valve timer configured to maintain a safety time limit for which the industrial grade evaporator must initiate the ice harvest cycle. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the third float switch is further configured to override the safety time limit configured within the harvest valve timer. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , further comprising a hold timer configured to determine if a signal received from the first float switch is a consistent signal for a predetermined time period prior to initiating the open inlet valve signal to discontinue the flow of water to the water tray. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the hold timer is disregarded if the first float switch transmits an overflow signal indicating the inflow of water to the water tray has exceeded the upper water level. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the first float switch, the second float switch, and the third float switch are configured within at three reed switches. 
     
     
         15 . A water level sensor control method, comprising:
 supplying water to a water tray from an inlet valve;   determining that an upper water level has been reached by means of a first float switch, sending a first signal from the first float switch to the inlet valve to discontinue water to the water tray;   determining that an intermediate water level has been reached by means of a second float switch, sending a second single from the second float switch to a dump valve to discharge water in the water tray prior to an ice harvest cycle;   determining that a lower water level has been reached by means of a third float switch, sending a third signal from the third float switch to a harvest valve to initiate the ice harvest cycle within an evaporator.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising determining that a low pressure level has been reached by means of a refrigerant low pressure sensor within the evaporator, sending a low pressure signal from the refrigerant low pressure sensor to an inlet valve to temporarily discontinue the inflow of water to the water tray. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising determining that a low pressure level has been reached by means of a refrigerant low pressure sensor within the evaporator, sending a harvest time limit signal from the refrigerant low pressure sensor to a harvest valve timer to maintain a fixed time period for which the harvest valve must initiate the ice harvest cycle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the third float switch acts as a means to override the harvest time limit maintained within the harvest valve timer. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first float, the second float, and the third float are configured within two reed switches. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein determining that the upper water level has been reached by means of a first float switch requires the integration of a hold timer to determine if the first signal received from the first float switch may be maintained for a fixed time period.