Patent attributes
An evaporator includes a refrigerant conduit sandwiched between front and rear plates. The front plate has inner flat portions, each of which is spaced from a respective inner flat portion of the rear plate to define a respective spaced portion. The front and rear plates further include a set of first protrusions and a set of second protrusions. Each first protrusion on the front plate faces a respective first protrusion on the rear plate to define a respective active cavity. Each second protrusion on the front plate faces a respective second protrusion on the rear plate to define a respective passive cavity. The refrigerant conduit extends through each of the active cavities but does not extend through any of the passive cavities. The location of the active and passive cavities are interspersed and separated by respective inner flat portions so as to define a plurality of ice forming sites.