JP7545881B2 - Ice removal scoop - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ice removal scoop for removing ice.

In the kitchens of coffee shops, restaurants, etc., automatic ice makers are commonly used, which continuously produce ice using an ice making mechanism connected to a refrigeration system, and accumulate and store the ice in an ice storage chamber located below the ice making mechanism. An ice removal scoop that comes with the ice maker is used to remove the ice stored in the ice storage chamber.

The ice removal scoop has a receiving part for scooping up ice, and a grip attached to the rear end of the receiving part and extending rearward (see Patent Document 1). When removing ice from the ice storage chamber, the user grasps the grip and inserts the front end of the receiving part into the pile of ice stored in the ice storage chamber, and scoops and removes it into the receiving part. The ice removal scoop also has protrusions that protrude on both sides at the end of the grip, and the protrusions inserted from the front into a holding part that is provided in the ice storage chamber and has a step that opens forward, are hooked onto the step and held in a hanging state.

When ice is stored in the ice storage chamber tightly packed together, or when the ice freezes over time, it becomes difficult to break the ice apart. In such a state, a strong force is required to insert the front end of the receiving part into the pile of ice in order to scoop up the stored ice. Conventional ice removal scoops are designed to withstand the force applied to the front end of the receiving part when scooping up the ice by increasing the thickness of the wall that forms the receiving part and increasing its rigidity.

JP 2010-14401 A

When inserting the front end of the receiving part into a pile of ice, if the front end of the receiving part hits ice (a single piece of ice or a frozen block of ice) head-on, rather than a gap between pieces of ice, the receiving part, which has a thicker wall and increased rigidity, is less likely to deform, and the force of inserting is applied linearly to the part of the ice where the front end hits. Furthermore, when the front end hits ice that is difficult to break apart, even if you try to insert the front end of the receiving part further, the ice does not move easily and does not break apart, so the ice cannot be scooped into the receiving part. Therefore, before scooping the ice, it is necessary to hit the pile of ice with the front end of the receiving part to break it up, or to carry out the cumbersome task of crushing frozen ice blocks.

Here, the size of the opening above the step of the holding part is set slightly larger than the width of the protrusion to make it smaller. In contrast, the protrusion on the grip protrudes to the side the same length from the top to the bottom of the grip. This means that when inserting the protrusion of a vertically oriented ice scoop above the step of the holding part, if the protrusion shifts in the width direction, it will hit the front end of the holding part, making it difficult to insert.

In other words, the present invention has been proposed in consideration of the problems inherent in the above-mentioned conventional technology, and aims to provide an ice removal scoop that makes it easy to remove ice.

In order to overcome the above problems and achieve the intended purpose, the ice scoop according to the invention of claim 1 comprises:
In an ice scoop having a receiving portion extending in the front-rear direction for scooping ice and a grip provided on the receiving portion,
The receiving portion is configured to be easily elastically deformed continuously or stepwise as it approaches the front end side.
According to the invention of claim 1, the receiving portion for scooping the ice is configured to be more susceptible to elastic deformation continuously or in stages as it approaches the front end.This makes it possible to increase the amount of deformation at the front end when the receiving portion, whose front end hits the ice when scooping the ice, elastically deforms due to a reaction force, and the direction of the insertion force acting on the ice changes significantly.Even if the ice is packed tightly together in the ice storage chamber or has frozen together and is difficult to break apart, the ice can be moved and broken up, and the ice can be easily scooped up and removed.

In the invention of claim 2,
The receiving portion is composed of a rear wall on which the grip is provided and a receiving portion extending forward from the rear wall, and the thickness of the wall constituting the receiving portion is configured to be smaller than the thickness of the rear wall.
According to the invention of claim 2, by using a simple structure in which the wall thickness of the receiving part is made thinner than the rear wall thickness, the receiving part is made to be more elastically deformable as it approaches the front end, and ice that hits the front end, which deforms significantly, can be moved and broken up. In addition, the rigidity of the rear side can be secured while allowing the receiving part to deform elastically, so that the ice can be easily scooped up and removed by the receiving part.

In the invention of claim 3,
The gist of the present invention is that a protruding portion is provided at the end of the grip away from the receiving portion, which protrudes out to both sides of the grip and has a tapered shape in which both outer surfaces are inclined away from the grip as they move from one side to the other of the top and bottom surfaces of the grip.
In the invention of claim 3, in the configuration in which the protrusion is used to hold the ice scoop in the holding part, the ice scoop can be easily held by inserting the narrow side of the protrusion into the holding part. Also, the discomfort felt by the protrusion when gripping the grip can be reduced, improving the feeling of use.

The ice scoop of the present invention makes it easy to scoop and remove ice even when the stored ice is difficult to break apart. In addition, the protruding portion can be used to easily hold the ice scoop in the holding portion.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an ice extraction scoop according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ice scoop according to the embodiment. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the front end side of the ice extraction scoop according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the rear end side of the ice extraction scoop according to the embodiment. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an automatic ice maker equipped with an ice scoop holder according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a front view of a main portion of an automatic ice maker showing an ice extraction scoop according to an embodiment held in a holding portion. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a holding portion of the automatic ice maker. FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation when ice is taken out by the ice taking scoop according to the embodiment. 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing the state in which the ice removal scoop of the embodiment is stored in another example of a holding portion provided in an automatic ice maker, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in (a). FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing another embodiment of the ice scoop. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an ice scoop according to another embodiment. 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams illustrating the operation of an ice scoop according to another embodiment.

Next, the ice removal scoop according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings, showing a preferred embodiment. Before describing the embodiment of the ice removal scoop according to the present invention, the basic structure of an automatic ice-making machine in which the ice removal scoop is used will be described. The ice removal scoop according to the present invention can be implemented regardless of the type of automatic ice-making machine or the shape of the ice produced, and can also be used to remove ice from an ice storage compartment of an ice storage facility that stores ice but does not have an ice-making function.

As shown in FIG. 6, the automatic ice maker 10 has a housing 12 as its main body, which is constructed by filling the space between an outer box and an inner box with a heat insulating material. Inside the housing 12, an ice storage chamber 16 is provided to store ice 14 produced by the ice making section of the ice making mechanism provided at the top, and a machine room 18 is provided below the ice storage chamber 16 and contains various devices that constitute the refrigeration mechanism. The front wall of the housing 12 is provided with an outlet 12a for removing ice 14 from the ice storage chamber 16, and a door 20 that can close the outlet 12a is provided. A drain pan 22 is provided below the ice making mechanism to receive the ice making water discharged from the ice making mechanism and discharge it outside the machine, and the drain pan 22 is provided with a holder 26 for holding an ice removal scoop 24.

7 and 8, the holding portion 26 is composed of two holding plates 28, 28 formed on the front surface of the drain pan 22 at a required distance in the left-right direction, and is configured so that the ice removal scoop 24 can be inserted and removed from an opening that opens to the front between the two holding plates 28, 28, and can be hung and held in a hanging state. Each holding plate 28 has a step portion 28a formed in the approximate center in the vertical direction, and the lower side of the step portion 28a, 28a is set narrow between the two holding plates 28, 28, and the upper side of the step portion 28a, 28a is set wide. That is, the protrusion 44 formed on the end of the grip 32 of the ice-removal scoop 24, which will be described later, is inserted into the widened portion on the upper side of both holding plates 28, 28 in alignment with the protrusion 44, and the protrusion 44 is hooked onto the stepped portions 28a, 28a, so that the ice-removal scoop 24 can be hung and held by the holding portion 26 in a vertical position with the receiving portion 30, which will be described later, on the bottom and the grip 32 on top.

As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the ice scoop 24 according to the embodiment includes a receiving portion 30 extending in the front-rear direction for scooping up ice 14, and a grip 32 extending outward from the receiving portion 30, and is configured so that when removing ice 14 from the ice storage chamber 16, the user can grasp the grip 32 to remove the ice 14. The ice scoop 24 is a one-piece molded product formed by injection molding from a synthetic resin material such as polyethylene or polypropylene.

As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the receiving section 30 is composed of a rear wall 34 on which the grip 32 is provided, and a receiving section 36 extending forward from the rear wall 34, and the grip 32 is provided so as to extend rearward from the rear wall 34. The receiving section 36 is composed of a bottom wall 38 extending forward from the lower edge of the rear wall 34, and a pair of side walls 40, 40 that rise and connect to both left and right ends of the bottom wall 38 in the width direction intersecting the front-rear direction via a connecting wall 42 as a connecting section, and are connected to both left and right ends of the rear wall 34. The receiving section 30 is formed into a shape that opens upward and forward by these multiple walls 34, 38, 40, 40, 42, 42. The connecting wall 42 is also connected to the rear wall 34. The bottom wall 38 is composed of a flat rear flat portion (flat portion) 38a extending from a boundary S provided at a predetermined location in the front-to-rear direction toward the rear wall 34, and a flat front flat portion (flat portion) 38b extending from the boundary S toward the front end, the front flat portion 38b inclining upward as it approaches the front, and the open end (front end) of the front flat portion 38b is located approximately in the middle in the height direction of the rear wall 34. The front and rear flat portions 38b, 38a are formed so that the width dimension increases overall from the front end side to the rear end side, and the rear flat portion 38a can function as a placement surface when the ice removal scoop 24 is temporarily placed. In the embodiment of the ice scoop 24, the width of the flat parts 38a, 38b is increased from the front end side to the rear end side, and the cross-sectional area of the bottom wall 38 is changed to be smaller from the rear end side to the front end side, so that the bending rigidity of the bottom wall 38 is decreased in the front-rear direction toward the front end side. That is, the shape of the flat parts 38a, 38b of the bottom wall 38 of the receiving part 36 is configured so that when the front end hits the ice 14 and a force is applied, the bottom wall 38 is easily elastically deformed continuously in the vertical direction (thickness direction) as it approaches the front end side from the rear end side. In FIG. 3, the state in which the receiving part 30 is elastically deformed downward by the force applied when the front end of the receiving part 36 hits the ice 14 is shown by a two-dot chain line. In addition, in an elastic body, if the length from the position of each part when no force is applied to the position displaced when a predetermined force is applied is defined as the deformation amount, the easier it is to elastically deform, the larger the displacement amount. In other words, the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 36 in the embodiment is configured to be more easily elastically deformed (the degree of elastic deformation changes from small to large) as it approaches the front end, so that the amount of deformation of the bottom wall 38 when it is elastically deformed by the force applied when the front end of the receiving portion 36 hits the ice 14 also increases as it approaches the front end.

The connecting walls 42 between the flat parts 38a, 38b of the bottom wall 38 and each side wall 40 are formed in an arc shape that is convex outward, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The curvature of the connecting walls 42 is set to be the same from the front end to the rear end. The width of the pair of side walls 40, 40 connected to the left and right side edges of the bottom wall 38 (flat parts 38a, 38b) via the connecting walls 42, 42 is configured to become narrower toward the front end. The connecting walls 42 function to move the ice 14 scooped by the receiving part 30 and located on the connecting walls 42 toward the center in the width direction. The bottom of the front end of the receiving part 36 (receiving part 30) composed of the bottom wall 38, the connecting walls 42, 42, and the both side walls 40, 40 is formed in a substantially arc shape that is curved in the width direction as a whole. The connecting walls 42, 42 and the side walls 40, 40 that make up the receiving section 30, which is open upward and forward and has a generally arc-shaped bottom at the front end, are more easily deformed toward the front end and the side. In other words, when a force is applied to the front end of the receiving section 30, the amount by which the connecting walls 42, 42 and the side walls 40, 40 can deform (the deformation amount) increases toward the front end and the side.

The receiving portion 30 is configured so that when the front end of the receiving portion 30 is inserted into the pile of ice 14 stored in the ice storage chamber 16 to scoop up the ice 14, the direction of the insertion force acting on the ice 14 that the front end of the receiving portion 30 hits can be changed by the elastic deformation of the receiving portion 30. In the embodiment, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the thickness of the bottom wall 38, connecting walls 42, 42, and side walls 40, 40 that constitute the receiving portion 36 is made smaller than the thickness of the rear wall 34, so that the receiving portion 36 in the receiving portion 30 is configured to be more easily elastically deformed in the front-rear direction as it approaches the front end. With this configuration, when the front end of the receiving portion 30 hits the ice 14, the receiving portion 30 is configured to elastically deform so as to greatly change the direction of the insertion force acting on the ice 14 that the front end hits (see the two-dot chain line in Figure 3 and Figure 9). In the embodiment, the thicknesses of the bottom wall 38, the connecting walls 42, 42, and the side walls 40, 40 are the same from the front end to the rear end, and are configured to be continuously elastically deformable toward the front end. The thickness of the rear wall 34 connected to the bottom wall 38, the connecting walls 42, 42, and both side walls 40, 40 is made thicker than the bottom wall 38, the connecting walls 42, 42, and the side walls 40, 40, so that the rigidity of the rear side of the receiving portion 36 is maintained. The thicknesses of the bottom wall 38, the connecting walls 42, 42, and the side walls 40, 40 are set to dimensions such that when ice 14 is stored in the ice storage chamber in a packed state with no gaps between them, or when the ice 14 freezes over time and is difficult to break apart, the receiving portion 30 is elastically deformed by a reaction force from the ice 14 that the front end of the receiving portion 30 hits when it is about to be inserted into a pile of ice 14, and the direction in which the insertion force acting on the ice 14 is applied can be changed. The thickness of the rear wall 34 is set to a dimension that allows elastic deformation of the receiving portion 36 while maintaining the rigidity of the entire receiving portion. For example, when using a synthetic resin ice scoop 24 to remove large ice cubes produced in a typical automatic ice maker, the thicknesses of the bottom wall 38, connecting walls 42, 42, and side wall 40 are set to 2.5 mm, and the thickness of the rear wall 34 is set to 4.0 mm, allowing elastic deformation of the receiving portion 30 when it comes into contact with the ice cubes when removing the ice, while providing the rigidity required for scooping the ice cubes with the receiving portion 30.

2 and 5, the grip 32 has a protruding portion 44 protruding on both sides in the width direction at the end portion away from the receiving portion 30. The protruding portion 44 is formed in a tapered shape in which both outer surfaces are inclined away from the grip 32 as they move from the upper surface side to the lower surface side of the grip 32. Specifically, the protruding portion 44 is inclined so as to spread outward from both edges in the width direction of the upper surface of the grip 32 toward the lower surface side, and the width dimension of the lower surface side of the protruding portion 44 is set to a dimension that can be hooked and held by the step portions 28a, 28a of the holding portion 26 provided on the drain pan 22, and does not cause a strong sense of discomfort when it hits the palm of the user. The ice removal scoop 24 is held by inserting the protruding portion 44 between the two holding plates 28, 28 of the holding portion 26 in the vertical orientation with the upper surface side of the grip 32 facing the front surface of the drain pan 22, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The length of the protrusion 44 in one width direction of the grip 32 is set to, for example, about 2.5 mm at the most protruding part (bottom side). The grip 32 is provided with a recessed portion 32a that opens to the bottom side of the grip 32 to prevent molding defects such as sink marks when molding using injection molding technology.

[Function of the embodiment]
Next, the operation of the ice scoop 24 of the embodiment constructed as described above will be described.
The receiving portion 30 of the ice removal scoop 24 is configured to be elastically deformable by the force applied when the front end hits the ice 14 during ice removal, so that when the front end is inserted into the pile of ice 14 stored in the ice storage chamber 16, the receiving portion 30 elastically deforms, changing the direction of the insertion force acting on the ice 14. More specifically, when the ice 14 is difficult to break apart because the ice is packed tightly together in the ice storage chamber or the ice has frozen together, as shown in Fig. 9(a), if the front end of the receiving portion 30 hits the ice 14 from the front instead of between the pieces of ice in the pile of ice 14, if the ice removal scoop 24 is inserted linearly (in the direction of arrow F), a reaction force from the ice 14 is applied to the receiving portion 30 because the ice 14 is difficult to break apart, and when the reaction force reaches a predetermined magnitude, the receiving portion 30 elastically deforms. In this case, the receiving portion 36 in the receiving section 30 is configured to be more elastically deformable in the front-rear direction as it approaches the front end side by a simple configuration in which the thicknesses of the bottom wall 38, connecting walls 42, 42, and side walls 40, 40 of the receiving portion 36 are made smaller than the thickness of the rear wall 34, so that when the receiving portion 36 elastically deforms upon contact with ice 14, it deforms more significantly from the portion where elastic deformation is relatively difficult toward the front end side where elastic deformation is easier, and the amount of deformation at the front end side is greater. Also, in the ice removal scoop 24 of the embodiment, the amount of deformation at the front end side of the receiving portion 36 is greater due to the configuration in which the width dimension of the flat portions 38a, 38b increases from the rear end side toward the front end side and the configuration in which the bottom of the front end is formed in a substantially arc shape. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9(b), the direction of the force acting on the ice 14 changes (in the direction of the arrow F') and the magnitude of the force also changes due to the elastically deformed receiving portion 30, so that the ice 14 can be easily moved and broken up by breaking up the balance between the pieces of ice. In FIG. 9(b), the receiving portion 30 before being inserted is shown by a two-dot chain line. That is, even if the ice 14 is stored in the ice storage chamber in a state where it is difficult to break up, the direction and magnitude of the force acting on the ice 14 that the front end of the receiving portion 30 hits can change, so that the ice 14 can be easily moved and broken up, and the receiving portion 30 of the ice removal scoop 24 can be easily inserted between the broken pieces of ice 14, so that the ice 14 can be easily scooped up. Therefore, before scooping up the ice 14, it is not necessary to hit the pile of ice 14 with the front end of the receiving portion 30 to break it up, or to perform the complicated work of crushing the frozen ice blocks, and the work of removing the ice 14 becomes easy.

In addition, the ice-removal scoop 24 of the embodiment has a generally arc-shaped front end, which is made up of the bottom wall 38, connecting walls 42, 42, and both side walls 40, 40 of the receiving portion 36. This makes it easier to elastically deform than a U-shaped structure with corners, and the receiving portion 30 can elastically deform to change the direction and magnitude of the insertion force before the insertion force damages the ice itself. In addition, the receiving portion 30 has a rear wall 34 that is thicker than the walls 38, 40, 42 of the receiving portion 36, so the rigidity of the receiving portion as a whole is ensured while allowing elastic deformation, allowing the receiving portion 30 to scoop up the ice 14.

Here, when the ice-removing scoop 24 is held by the holding portion 26 of the drain pan 22, the upper surface side of the grip 32 is vertically oriented toward the drain pan 22, and the protrusion 44 is inserted from the front into the widened portion above the step portions 28a, 28a of both holding plates 28, 28, so that the protrusion 44 is caught by the step portions 28a, 28a, and the ice-removing scoop 24 is held in a hanging state, as shown in FIG. 7. The protrusion 44 is formed in a tapered shape whose width increases from the upper surface side to the lower surface side, and is inserted into the widened portion of the holding portion 26 from the upper surface side, which is narrow, so that even if the protrusion 44 is slightly misaligned in the width direction, it can be easily inserted without hitting the holding plates 28, 28. In other words, the protrusion 44 can be easily inserted without increasing the width of the widened portion of the holding portion 26 into which the protrusion 44 is inserted, and the size of the holding portion 26 can also be suppressed. In addition, when the user holds the grip 32 from above, the width of the upper side of the protrusion 44 that touches the palm of the hand is small, and the outer surface of the protrusion 44 is formed in a tapered shape that widens toward the lower side, so that even if the user holds the grip 32 tightly or for a long time, the degree of discomfort felt by the protrusion 44 can be reduced, making it possible to improve the feeling of use. In addition, the rear flat portion 38a of the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 36 can increase stability when the ice scoop 24 is temporarily placed with the rear flat portion 38a facing down.

In addition, if the width dimension of the receiving portion 30 is the same from the front end to the rear end, the resistance acting on the receiving portion 30 when scooping the ice 14 becomes large, making it difficult to insert the receiving portion 30 into a pile of ice 14. In addition, if the width dimension of the front end of the receiving portion 30 is large, it becomes difficult to directly put the ice 14 scooped into the receiving portion 30 into a small container such as a glass without spilling it, or a large amount of ice 14 slides out at once and scatters around, making it difficult to use. Furthermore, if the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 30 has a flat shape with the same width dimension from the front end to the rear end, multiple pieces of ice 14 tend to be parallel to each other in the receiving portion when putting the scooped ice 14 into a container, and the ice 14 does not slide out smoothly from the receiving portion. Furthermore, if the receiving portion 36 is U-shaped, as shown in Figures 10(a) and (b), when the ice scoop 24 is stored sideways in the alternative holding portion 46 provided on the inner wall of the ice storage chamber 16, melted ice water and condensation water may accumulate in the receiving portion. The alternative holding portion 46 is composed of an upper wall, a lower wall, and a side wall, and the side walls are arranged away from the inner wall of the ice storage chamber 16 to form a rectangular opening that opens to the front. The ice scoop 24 can be stored by inserting the receiving portion 30 through the opening in a sideways position with one side wall 40 facing down.

In contrast, the ice scoop 24 of the embodiment has a tapered shape such that the width dimension of the front end of the receiving portion 30 is smaller than the width dimension of the rear end, making it easier to insert the tapered receiving portion 30 into a pile of ice 14. In addition, when the scooped ice 14 is directly placed in a small container, the ice 14 in the receiving portion can be guided toward the center of the width direction of the front end, so that the ice 14 can be placed in the container without spilling. In addition, the scooped ice 14 can be placed in the container in small amounts, and the ice 14 can be prevented from scattering around. In addition, the connecting walls 42, 42 between the bottom wall 38 and the side walls 40, 40 in the receiving portion 30 are formed in an arc shape, so that the ice 14 is less likely to be aligned in the receiving portion, and the ice 14 can be smoothly slid out. Furthermore, when placing the scooped ice 14 in the container, the ice 14 near both sides of the width of the receiving section 30 can be guided to the center by the connecting walls 42, 42, so that the ice 14 can be properly placed in the container without spilling. Also, when the ice scoop 24 is stored sideways in the holding section 46 of the alternative example, the inclination of the connecting walls 42 makes it easier to drain the melted ice water and condensation water in the receiving section.

When storing the ice-removal scoop 24 in the holding portion 46 of the alternative example, the front end of the receiving portion 30 is inserted into the holding portion 46 of the alternative example toward the ice storage chamber 16, so that the ice-removal scoop 24, in which the width dimension of the front end of the receiving portion 30 is set smaller than the width dimension of the rear end as in the embodiment, can be easily inserted when storing it in the holding portion 46 of the alternative example. Furthermore, when the ice-removal scoop 24 is stored in the holding portion 46 of the alternative example with one side wall 40 of the receiving portion 30 facing down, the side wall 40 of the receiving portion 30 is inclined from the rear end side to the front end side, so that the receiving portion 30 is inclined upward from the front end side to the rear end side as shown in FIG. 10(b), and the grip 32 provided at the rear end of the receiving portion 30 is in a position that extends obliquely upward toward the front of the holding portion 46, making it easier to grasp the grip 32 when removing the ice-removal scoop 24 from the holding portion 46 of the alternative example.

[Regarding another embodiment]
11 to 13 show an ice scoop 48 according to another embodiment, and only the parts of the other embodiment that are different from the configuration of the embodiment will be described. Also, the same reference numerals will be used to designate the same members as those described in the embodiment.

In another embodiment, the ice scoop 48 has a meat stealing portion 50 on the grip 32 that opens to the upper surface side. In another embodiment, the ice scoop 48 has inclined portions 52, 54 with different inclination angles on the front and rear sides on the front flat portion 38b of the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 30. Specifically, the inclination angle of the rear inclined portion 52 connected to the rear flat portion 38a is set to be larger than the inclination angle of the front inclined portion 54 extending from the rear inclined portion 52 to the front end. The inclination angle is an angle that inclines upward with respect to a reference plane parallel to the rear flat portion 38a. In another embodiment, the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 36 has the same width dimension from the front end side to the rear end side, but it may have a shape in which the width dimension increases from the front end side to the rear end side as in the embodiment. In this configuration, the separation width of the side walls 40, 40 is narrower on the front end side than on the rear end side as in the embodiment, and the receiving portion 25 has a tapered shape as a whole. In addition, the protrusion 56 in the alternative embodiment is formed to protrude laterally the same length from the top to the bottom of the grip 32, but it may also be formed in a tapered shape similar to the previous embodiment.

When molding a plastic ice scoop using injection molding technology, the mold must be divided simply into upper and lower parts (in the direction of the grip's thickness) in order to keep mold costs low. In this case, the grip of the ice scoop must be designed to prevent molding defects such as sink marks by providing a thin wall that opens to either the top or bottom and eliminating thick parts. However, the wall that defines the thin wall is thin, and the corners of the end surface of the wall cannot be radiused to a radius greater than the wall thickness. Therefore, if a thin wall that opens to the bottom is provided, when the grip is held from the top, the user's fingers will hit the end surface of the wall that defines the thin wall, and if the user grips the grip tightly, the user may feel a great sense of discomfort.

Another embodiment of the ice scoop 48 has a meat-removing section 50 that opens onto the upper surface side of the grip 32, and is configured so that the end surface of the wall that defines the meat-removing section 50 is not located on the underside of the grip 32. Therefore, when a user grips the grip 32 tightly from the top, there is no end surface on the underside that is thin enough for the user's fingers to touch and cause discomfort, which reduces the discomfort. Also, the corners of the part where the user's fingers touch when gripping the grip 32 from the top can be given a large radius, further reducing the discomfort.

Here, if the inclination angle of the front flat portion 38b of the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 30 is small, the receiving portion 30 can be easily inserted into the pile of ice 14, but the ice 14 scooped into the receiving portion 30 is likely to fall out. In contrast, if the inclination angle of the front flat portion 38b is large, the resistance when inserting the receiving portion 30 into the pile of ice 14 in the ice storage chamber becomes large, making it difficult to insert the receiving portion 30 all the way into the ice storage chamber, and the ice 14 cannot be scooped up efficiently. Also, if the receiving portion 30 is inserted all the way into the ice storage chamber, it becomes buried in the ice 14, and a large force is required to lift the receiving portion 30 when scooping up the ice 14.

In another embodiment of the ice scoop 48, the front flat portion 38b of the bottom wall 38 of the receiving portion 30 has a front inclined portion 54 with a small inclination angle on the front side and a rear inclined portion 52 with a large inclination angle on the rear side, so that the receiving portion 30 can be easily inserted into the pile of ice 14 and the ice 14 scooped into the receiving portion 30 is less likely to fall out. In other words, since the inclination angle of the front inclined portion 54 that is inserted into the pile of ice 14 is small, the resistance acting on the front inclined portion 54 when inserting it into the pile of ice 14 can be reduced, and the receiving portion 30 can be easily inserted into the pile of ice 14. In addition, as shown in FIG. 13(a), the ice 14 that has entered the rear flat portion of the receiving portion 30 is prevented from moving forward by the rear inclined portion 52 with a large inclination angle, so that the scooped ice 14 is less likely to fall out of the receiving portion 30. Furthermore, when the receiving portion 30 is tilted forward to directly put the scooped ice 14 from the receiving portion 30 into the container, the rear inclined portion 52 with a large inclination angle suppresses the movement of the ice 14, preventing a large amount of ice 14 from flying out at once and preventing the ice 14 from scattering outside the container. Also, when the receiving portion 30 is inserted into a pile of ice 14, as shown in Figure 13(b), the ice 14 comes into contact with the outer surface of the rear inclined portion 52, causing the ice removal scoop 48 to naturally rise up, preventing the receiving portion 30 from being buried in the ice 14 and allowing the ice removal scoop 48 to be lifted with a light force to scoop out the ice 14. In addition, in the ice removal scoop 48 of another embodiment, the thickness of the bottom wall 38, connecting walls 42, 42, and side walls 40, 40 of the receiving portion 36 is made smaller than the thickness of the rear wall 34, and the receiving portion 36 in the receiving portion 30 is configured to be more easily elastically deformed in the front-to-rear direction as it approaches the front end. As in the embodiment, the receiving portion 30 elastically deforms when it comes into contact with the ice 14, changing the direction and magnitude of the insertion force acting on the ice 14, disrupting the balance between the ice pieces and making it easier to move and break up the ice 14.

[Example of change]
The present application is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiment and other embodiments, and other configurations can be appropriately adopted.
1. In the embodiment, both of the configurations in which the thickness of the rear wall of the receiving part and the thickness of the wall of the receiving part are different and the width dimension of the flat part of the bottom wall is increased from the front end side to the rear end side are adopted, so that the receiving part of the receiving part is configured to be easily elastically deformed in the front-rear direction as it approaches the front end side, but only one of the configurations may be adopted.
2. In the embodiment and other embodiments, the thickness of the rear wall of the receiving part is made different from the thickness of the wall of the receiving part, so that the receiving part is easily elastically deformed in the front-to-rear direction as it approaches the front end, and the rigidity of the receiving part is ensured so that the ice can be scooped up. However, the same effect can be obtained by making the material constituting the receiving part and the material constituting the rear wall different.
3. In the embodiment and other embodiments, the thicknesses of the bottom wall, connecting wall and side wall of the receiving part are the same from the front end to the rear end, and are configured to be continuously elastically deformable as they approach the front end, but a configuration in which the wall thickness is changed at a predetermined interval to be easily elastically deformable in stages can be adopted. Also, a configuration in which the thicknesses of the bottom wall, connecting wall and side wall of the receiving part are continuously or stepwise reduced from the rear end to the front end, and are easily elastically deformable as they approach the front end can be adopted.
4. As a configuration for increasing the amount of deformation on the front end side of the receiving part that elastically deforms due to the reaction force when the front end of the receiving part hits ice, a configuration can be adopted in which a deformation-permitting part with less bending rigidity than the front end side is provided at the rear end side or a position biased toward the rear end of the receiving part by changing the wall thickness or material, etc., so that the receiving part is more likely to elastically deform at the rear end side or a position biased toward the rear end side than the front end side, and the receiving part elastically deforms with the deformation-permitting part as a base point due to the reaction force, thereby increasing the amount of deformation on the front end side.
5. In the embodiment, the shape of the protrusion provided on the grip is a tapered shape that widens from the top side to the bottom side, but it may be an inverse tapered shape that widens from the bottom side to the top side. In a configuration in which the protrusion is an inverse tapered shape, when the ice scoop is held in the holding part, the protrusion can be inserted into the widened part of the holding part with the bottom side of the grip facing the holding part.

14 Ice, 30 Receptacle, 32 Grip, 34 Back wall, 36 Receiving part, 38 Bottom wall (wall)
40 Side wall (wall), 42 Connecting wall (wall), 44 Protrusion

Claims (3)

The ice scoop includes a receiving portion (30) extending in the front-rear direction for scooping ice (14) and a grip (32) provided on the receiving portion (30),
The ice scoop is characterized in that the receiving portion (30) is configured to be easily elastically deformed continuously or stepwise as it approaches the front end side. The ice scoop according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portion (30) is composed of a rear wall (34) on which the grip (32) is provided and a receiving portion (36) extending forward from the rear wall (34), and the thickness of the walls (38, 40, 42) constituting the receiving portion (36) is configured to be smaller than the thickness of the rear wall (34). The ice scoop according to claim 1 or 2, in which the end of the grip (32) that is away from the receiving portion (30) is provided with a protruding portion (44) that protrudes on both sides of the grip (32) and has a tapered shape in which both outer surfaces are inclined away from the grip (32) as they move from one side to the other of the upper and lower surfaces of the grip (32).

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