US1993234A - Ice vending machine - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1935.

R.-c'.: iwoLr -E, H VICE VENDING MACHINE 7 Filed Jan; 21, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 in van for R/cbard C Wo/f March 5, 1935.

R. C. WOLFE ICE VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [ii vn't or fife/lard C 14/0 /2 6 y7im.

I ital-nay March 5, 1935. R.- c. WOLFE ICE VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I my 5 [n ven for R/c/iard C WO/I v W Attorney March 5, 1935. R. c. WOLFE ICE VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1953 5 Sheets-Shet 4 Fly. 5'

lnventor' R/c/mrc/C. Wo/fe y 'Aiiorn ey March 1935- R. c. WOLFE ICE VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 In Van tor R/c/varo C Wo/f Attorney Patented Mar. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES ICE VENDING MACHINE Richard C. Wolfe, Los

Angeles, Calif assignor to California Consumers Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application January 21,

7 7 Claims.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved storage and vending machine for ice which is entirely self-contained and which is operated by the customer without requiring an attendant.

A further object is to provide an ice storage dispensing and vending machine which may be transported from one location to another without disassembling. I

Another object is to provide an ice dispensing machine which will deliver the ice in an easily handled and transported condition.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of this type which is coin controlled and which is actuated by gravity and the purchaser of the ice, requiring no outside source of power or attendance.

A further object is to provide an improved and simplified actuating and control means for, apparatus of the type described, which will be economical to construct and simple and reliable in operation.

These and other objects will be more fully apparent from the description which follows and from the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification and illustrate one application of a preferred embodiment of this invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a plan of a single-unit installation, with the roof of the housing removed, showing the storage space and the general arrangement of the ice dispensing and delivery mechanism.

Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 11-11 of the installation shown in Figure 1. The dotted lines represent the position of the dispensing mechanism when it is being actuated todeliver a block of ice. j

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the unit shown in Figure 1, showing the delivery door, actuating pedal, and coin control equipment.

1933, Serial No. 652,913

Figure 4 is a detailed plan view of the actuating mechanism on an enlarged scale and. in its normal o-r unactuated position,-

Figure 5 is a detailed elevation of the actuating mechanism as shown on Figure 4, also on an 5 enlarged scale. I

Figure 6 is a detailed elevation of the actuating mechanism shownin Figure 5 on an enlargedscale but in its actuated position, whereby the ice.

dispensing and delivery mechanism has been 10' placed in operation.

Figure 7 is a detailed elevation of the coinbox mechanism together with the alterations to the'same whereby coins are returned-when the dispensing machine is empty ofice. V

This machine may be divided into a number of components, viz; ice housing and storage chamber, ice dispensing and delivery mechanism, manually operated actuating mechanism, and coin box control equipment- The description which 20 follows takes up these subjects in the order given, and concludes with their method of operation.

The enclosure 11 which houses this machine is preferably of a composite nature, the framing 12 being of wood and steel shapes and the outer 25 covering 13 of galvanized and corrugated sheet steel. The inclined ice chute 14 and the chamber 15 which houses the dispensing and delivery. mechanism, as well as guide 16, which serves to prevent the ice blocks from riding over one another, are lined with galvanized sheet steel 17. The chute 14 and chamber 15 are heavily in-, sulated with cork-board or similar material 18 as is customary in the construction of ice storage compartments. Chute 14 drains into chamber 15,

which is fitted with atrapped drain pipe 19 to remove the accumulated water from ice meltage.

The ice chute 14, which also serves as the ice storage compartment, is inclined downwardly. at

an angle of approximately 15 from a loading door 20 at the rear of the housing. 'Door 20 is of the usual insulated refrigeratortype, the details of which do not need to be 'describedhere. At one side of the chute 14, at both the upper and lower ends thereof, are vertical brackets 21, in which are journalled' the cylindrical ends of a squared or splined metal rod 22, on which is fitted a squared or keyed slider 23 carrying the ice block retarder plate 24.

A handle 25 is keyed to the upper end of the square rod 22 and serves to rotate the rod and slider 23 to move plate 24 into or out of contact with the ice blocks being lowered down the chute.

.Slider 23 is fitted with a metal chain 26 which of shaft 29 is so related to the center passes through a keyhole shaped slot 27 in upper bracket 21.

The purpose of this retarder mechanism is to allow a group of four or five ice blocks to be lowered at one time to the end of the chute and gently enough to prevent breakage of the blocks. It will be appreciated that the problem of ice block breakage is serious in a device of this nature, as the customer wants his block of ice intact.

Other types of retarder means could equally well be used. For example, a canvas strip (not shown) could be unrolled or pushed all the way down the chute 14, the ice blocks placed thereon, and then shoved down on the rough canvas surface until the chute 14 were full, whereupon the blocks could be held in place and the canvas pulled out from under them onto a winch or roller (not shown) below the door 20.

The ice dispensing and delivery mechanism is mainly located in and adjacent the chamber 15 and consists of a pair of hinged members jointed by a pair of pivoted links. The upper ice dispensing member or tilter 28 is journalled on a shaft 29 which is suitably supported from the frame of the chute 14. Tilter 23 is an L-shaped member the width of the chute, made of steel shapes and with its top and inside faces smoothly covered with galvanized sheet steel. The position of gravity of the tilter 28 with a block of ice 30 thereon, that 28 tends to overturn and rotate in a clockwise direction under the action of gravity. It is nor mally held from so doing by the links 31 and door 32, as will be explainedbelow.

Blocking discs 33 are mounted, one in each side of tilter 28, and are concentric with shaft 29. The radius of these semi-cylindrical discs is such that in their normal position, as shown by the solid lines of Figure 2, the upper corners of the discs are a short distance toward the shaft 29 from the rear or up-chute edge of the ice block 30. As tilter 28 rotates clockwiseto discharge its ice block, the discs rotate also and present their curved faces to the next block of ice in the chute 14, thereby preventing it riding down on top of the piece in the tilter and causing it to dispense but one block at a time- When the tilter 28 next resumes its normal position, as shown by the solid lines of Figure 2, the blocking discs are withdrawn below the level of the chute, allowing the next block of ice in the chute to slide into the tilter under the action of gravity and the remaining blocks in the chute.

Delivery door 32 is mounted in the front face of the housing 11 and chamber 15, and is hinged at its lower inside edge as shown at 34. The construction of this door is that of the usual insulated refrigerator door, of which nothing further need be said here. Brackets 35 are attached to the inside of door 32 near itstop and are pivoted to links 31, which in turn are pivoted to tilter 28. Thus, when door 32 is rotated inwardly or counterclockwise around hinge 34 by means of the actuating mechanism, to be described below, links 31 overturn and carry with them the tilter 28, which is rotated in a clockwise direction, so that the tilter 28, links 31 and door 32 assume the positions shown in dotted lines on Figure 2. A stop member 36 (Figure 2) is mounted in the bottom of chamber 15 to receive the inside face of door 32 and prevent overtravel of these parts,

The outer face of door 32 is fitted with a delivery chute or guide 37 of galvanized sheet steel, which chute extends downwardly'past the bottom or hinge edge of delivery door 32 as shown on Figure 2. A suitably cushioned or padded ice stop member 38 extends outwardly at right angles and across the lower end of chute 37, to prevent the ice from falling to the ground as it leaves the machine.

It will be noted from the dotted lines of Figure 2, which illustrate the dispensing tilter 28, links 31 and door 32, in their actuated position, that the proportions of these membersare so chosen that the inner face of tilter 28 lies approximately in line with and slightly above the chute 37 on the outer face of delivery door 32, thus forming a smooth passageway for the block of ice 30, carried by tilter 28 to pass downwardly, to come to rest on the padd'edstop 38. Inasmuch as chute 37 extends below and also beyond hinge 34, the weight of the block of ice at this point will cause the lower end of chute 37, together with door 32, ,to rotate clockwise about 34, thus closing delivery door 32 Links 31, being pivoted to both door 32 and tilter 28 will cause the latter to be returned to its original position, as shown by the solid lines, and in readiness to receive the next block of ice in thechute. That ice block, it will be remembered, was held in place by the blocking discs 33 while the dispensing and delivery mechanism was being actuated.

It will be noted on Figure 2 that the line A-A between hinge 34 and the pivot of brackets 35 lies beyond the line AB, which extends from hinge 34 to the pivot of links 31 on tilter 28. This relation gives an overtravel which looks the three members in their normal or unactuated position and prevents the weight of ice block 30 on tilter 28 from opening door 32. In other words, door 32 must first be rotated through angle AAB before the weight of the ice and linkages will complete the delivery operation.

' A shock absorber 39 may be connected as shown between the door actuating mechanism and the frame of the machine, in order to prevent too rapid action of the tilter, links and door as described above. Theshock absorber may be of any desired type, the one illustrated being a conventional automotive hydraulic shock absorber.

The actuating mechanism which rotates the delivery door 32 and thereby allows the dispensing and delivery mechanism to function, is located at the front of housing 11 and below chamber 15. A shaft 40 is journalled in bearings 41 and passes from the outer side-wall of the housing to a point behind the chute 37 which, it will'be remembered, is attached at its upper end to the outer side of delivery door 32. An arm 42 is keyed to shaft 40, and is connected to the lower end of chute 37 by means of a pivoted link 43, as shown on Figure 2. Shock absorber 39 is connected between link 43 and frame 12, as shown The outer end of shaft 40 extends through the side of the housing, as shown in Figures 1, 4, and 5, and is adapted to receive a counterweighted foot pedal 44. Pedal 44 is not rigidly fixed to shaft 40, but may be connected thereto by means of the mechanism which will now bedescribed.

The connecting mechanism which is adapted to connect pedal 44 with the delivery mechanism controlshaft 40 is, in turn, controlled by a coin box, so that the dispensing and delivery mecha nism may not be actuated unless a suitable coin has first been deposited. This is best shown by Figure 4, which shows a plan of this apparatus in its normal or disconnected position, and Figure 6, which shows an elevation of the connecting mechanism in its actuated position, after a block of ice has been delivered and before the customer has removed his foot from the foot pedal 44.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, the pedal 44 is fixed to a sleeve 45 which fits over shaft 46 and is free to turn thereon. At the inner end of sleeve 45 and inside the housing 11 is fixed a transverse bar or arm 46, at one end of which is a bracket 47 provided with a pin 48 supporting a spring dog 49. Spring dog 49 is made up from a block of metal 50 and a flat leaf spring 51, and is so balanced that it will normally lie parallel to arm 46. The end of arm 46- is beveled as shown to allow the dog 49 to have a limited rotation counterclockwise about pin 48, but no clockwise rotation is possible, for a purpose which will be explained below. Pedal 44 is fitted with a counterweight 52, which serves to return it and arm 46 to the position shown in Figure 5 when-- ever it is released. It is prevented from overtravel in this direction by the rightend of arm 46, which is adapted to strike a portion of the frame 12, as shown.

At the inner end of sleeve 45 on shaft 40 and fixed to the shaft by a set screw is a collar 58 carrying a lever return arm 54. The purpose of this arm will be explained below.

Adjacent collar 53, shaft 40 is squared or provided with fixed keys or splines for a short distance. A sleeve 56 surrounds the shaft at this point and is free to slide longitudinally thereon, but is prevented from turning by matching the splines 55. The outer face of sleeve 56 carries a latch arm 57, one end of which is bent at right angles as at 58. The periphery of sleeve 56 is provided with a circumferential groove 59 which is adapted to receive a roller or follower 60 for the purpose of sliding the sleeve along shaft 40.

Roller 60 is pivoted on a horizontal lever 61 which in turn is pivoted at 62 on a bracket 68 on frame 12 (Figure 4). Lever 61 extends across shaft 40 as shown and the pivot of roller 60 is located at the intersection of the respective axes of the lever and shaft. The outer end of lever 61 is bent downwardly as at 64 for a purpose to be explained below. 7

A segmental ratchet plate 65 is secured to the inner face of sleeve 56, on the opposite end 'of said sleeve from latch arm 5'7. It is fitted with ratchet notches 66 along its periphery, which.

which is pivotally supported at 68 on bracket 63 i of frame 12 as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Dog 6'1 is free to be rotated counterclockwise by an upward motion of ratchet plate 65. It is prevented from rotating counterclockwise by a pin 69 in bracket 63, at such times as it is not in contact with ratchet plate 65.

An actuating shaft '70 extends downwardly from the coin box control mechanism (Figures 5, 6 and '7) and is journalled in brackets 71 on frame 12. Below this bracket shaft is bent horizontally and then vertically downward to form a crank 72, which contacts the inner face of horizontal lever 61. In operation, when a suitable coin has been placed in the coin box mechanism, to be explained below, shaft 70 may be rotated clockwise by the operator (Figures 4 and 7), rotating crank 72 into contact with lever 61, which isin turn rotated clockwise about its pivot 62. Roller 60 connects lever 61 with slidable sleeve 56 causing it, together with ratchet plate 65, and latch arm 57, to slide out-.

wardly along shaft 40 toward housing 11. This carries the horizontally bent arm 58 of latch arm 57 to a. point beneath the spring lea! 51 of spring dog '49, which, it will be remembered, is rigidly the shaft 40, through the medium of sleeve 45,

arm- 46, spring dog 49, latch arm 57-58 and splined collar 56, so that a counterclockwise rotation of pedal 44 by the foot of the operator will be transmitted to shaft 40. Thisrotation will be in turn communicated to arm 42, which will urge link 43 outwardly to cause chute 37 to open door 32. As soon as door 32 has moved somewhat beyond angle AAB, which may require about 20" of rotation of pedal 44, the unbalanced condition of the tilter 28-, ice block 30, links 31 and door 32, will cause the latter to assume the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 2, thereby delivering ice block 30 to the stop member 38.

While this has happened the actuating mechanism will have assumed the position shown in elevation in Figure 6, the shaft 40 having rotated counterclockwise through about thus bringing ratchet plate 65, which, meanwhile, has been pulled outwardly from contact with dog 67, also to the position 90 counterclockwise from its position in Figure 5. Pedal 44 will not rotate as far as shaft 40 due to the fact that a rotation thereby of about 20 will carry the actuating mechanism to a point where the rest of the motion will be caused by the overbalancing of the members 28,

31 and 32. I

It has already been stated that the outer end 64 of horizontal lever 61 was bent downwardly Vertical section 64 of this level is arranged to contact the inner side of a horizontal arm 73 of 4 The lower end of rotates shaft 74, together with its horizontal lower arm '76, clockwise about 60. Then when pedal 44 is depressed and shaft 40 is rotated counterclockwise, the lever return arm 54, previously mentioned, will strike arm 76 (Fig. 6) retating that arm and shaft 74 counterclockwise ticularly after it has come to rest on stop member 38, the weight of the ice at this point will cause the lower end of the chute to swing downwardly, thus closing the door 32 and thereby returning the now' empty dispensing tilter 28 to its normal position through links 31. This motion of the lower end of chute 37 will move link 43 back to its normal position, rotating arm 42 clockwise, together with shaft 40, sleeve 5'7and ratchet plate 65, to the normal or unactuated position shown in Figure 5. Ratchet plate 65,'having been drawn outwardly toward the pedal 44 during the actuating period, and thereby clearing dog 67 on its downwardmovement, will have means of the ratchet plate 65 and dog 67, and;

prevents any reopening of delivery door 32 once it has started to close, unless a coin is placed in the coin box and the cycle of operation just described is repeated.

The purpose of the particular, construction of spring dog 49 on arm 46 is as follows: The tilting feature will allow the dog 49 to get above the latch lever arm 58 in case the pedal 44 is in its depressed condition at the time the coin control mechanism is operated to move latch-arm 58 to'its actuated position. The release of the foot pedal will carry the arm 46 upward and the pivoted dog will tilt to pass above latch lever arm 58, whereupon it ,will be in position to be carried downward by a subsequent depression of pedal 44. to actuate the door,

opening mechanism. The reason for the spring 51 is to prevent damage to the apparatus in case of a break or jam in any of the cooperating parts. A

rigid connection at this point would allow the operator to exert considerable torque on'these various parts, while the spring limits that torque to the valve which will deflect it until it bends to pass latch lever 58.

The coin box mechanism, which controls the op eration of actuating shaft '70 will next be described. The location of the coin box is illustrated generally in Figure 3, and the details of one possible arrangement with certain desirable modifications are shown in Figure 7.

Referring to the latter drawing the coin box mechanism is generally indicated at 7'7. This may be of any desired type, the one described and shown being made by the Rowe Vending Machine Company. Box 7'7 is adapted to .be contained within housing 11 and is provided with a coin slot '78, a coin return chute '79 and a release or actuating knob 80. Inside the housing is a coin receptacle 81, which, in this case, is a short length of pipe attached to housing 11 by bracket 82 and terminating at its lower end in an elbow 83,

which opens outwardly through housing 11 and is normally closed by a plug-type locking device 84..- In the example shown this locking device is an Cakes? automobile tire lock plug. This is provided with pipe threadson its periphery and may be removed only by means of the proper key. Any suitable modification of this arrangement could obviously be made. y

In the coin box. illustrated, a recess 85 is pro-' vided, which houses the coin slot 78 and the actuating knob 80. When the proper coin is inserted, in slot 78, knob 80 may be moved inits slot against its customary return spring, thereby moving ratcheting dog 86, at the back of the coin box housing, outwardly against the inclined spring arm 87, which is mounted at the top of the vertical actuating shaft '70, already described. Arm 8'7 and shaft are rotated in a clockwise direction. putting into operation the actuating mechanismv shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, and already described in detail, and thereby permitting the actuation of the ice delivery mechanism.

The purpose of the inclined spring construction of arm 87 is to permit the arm to spring up and slip over the ratcheting dog 86, should the operator attempt to hold knob in its extreme advanced or actuatedposition while operating the pin 88, and the small coil spring returns it to the position shown when the knob 80 is released.

Thus when knob 80' is released to its normal position shown, dog 86 will tilt sufficiently to allow a it to slip past spring arm 87 to its normal position shown, knob- 80 being returned by a strong coil spring (not shown) in the coin box mechanism '77.

As already stated, the coin mechanism is provided with a chute 79 to receive slugs or improper coins, and also coins returned when the machine is empty of ice- Proper coins used to effect operation of the mechanism fall into pipe 81, from whence they may be removed by unlocking member 84.

The automatic return of coins to the customer When the machine is empty of ice may be accomplished as follows. The coin box mechanism 77 as supplied has a small balance plate 89 pivoted along its length upon a horizontal pin (not shown) just inside the coin mechanism housing. Plate 89 extends outside that housing as well as inside. A coin dropped into slot 78 falls on the inwardly extending portion of plate 89 and if it is of the proper weight, the coin will push that portion of plate 89 downwardly into its proper operating position, thus tilting the outwardly extending portion of plate 89 upwardly about its pin. If the coin is too light, it will roll off of plate 89 without tilting the latter, and will pass down chute 79. It is obvious, therefore, that if plate 89 is prevented from tilting when the machine has become empty of ice, all coins inserted thereafter will be returned to the operator through chute 79.

One means for accomplishing this is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 7, and will now be described. A light metal lever 90 is pivotedon pin 91 attached to the outside of the coin box housing, as shown in Figure 7. The lever is balanced. to have its left'portion heavier than the right, so that it assumes the position'shown, with the right portion above and normally out of contact with the outwardly extending portion of plate 89. A light strong cord or wire 92 is attached to the left end of lever 90 and is also connected by a lever and shaft to a pivoted arm 93, which is mounted in chamber 15 and is normally held up in a substantially horizontal position by the ice block 30 in dispensing tilter 28' (Figure 2). Thus, after the last block of ice has been delivered, the arm 93 will rotate about its shaft 94 to a vertically downward position, drawing cord 92 and the left side of lever 90 (Figure 7) upwardly, thereby causing the right side of the,

per part of chamber 15. and directly over the lower end of chute 14. The outer end of shaft 94 hasa short lightlever 95 to which is attached cord 92, and which gives the necessary leverarm to create a proper tension on the. cord and balanced lever 90. t v x It is obvious that many changes could be made in the coin control and actuating mechanism, depending upon the type of coin box used, which changes would be readily apparent to a skilled mechanic.

While-a single unit installation has beendescribed and illustrated it is, of course, obvious that two or more parallel installations, handling the same or diiferent sized ice blocks, could equally well be made. In the case of a double unit, the installations would be in duplicate and opposite hand, with the exception of the insulation between the two chutes l4, and the chute-loading ice block-retarding means, viz., shaft 22,.slider 23, arm 24 and handle 25. These latter could be made to serve for the two parallel chutes, by arranging brackets 21 between the chutes 14, with handle 25 and arm 24 adapted to rotate through 180 instead of only 90. The loading door could also be modified so as to serve both chutes.

It is also possible to put a chute and dispensing and delivery mechanism as described inside an ice storage building of any size or capacity instead of only a housing 11 as illustrated. The length of chute 14 could be made as long as economically required, and the size of ice blocks dispensed made of any desired value, although experience has shown that the twentyfive pound and fifty pound sizes are the most popular.

The operation of loading the ice chute will now be described, as all of the functioning of the various dispensing, delivery, and coin box control mechanisms have already been outlined.

The ice blocks 30 which are to be dispensed by this device are cut to a uniform size, and are fitted over with waterproof (wax) paper sacks 96 before they are placed in position on the chute. The purpose of the waterproof sack on each block is two-fold; first, to prevent adjacent blocks from freezing together while in the chute, and second, to deliver the block in an easily handled and convenient condition, so that it may be transported, for example, in an automobile, for a considerable distance without making a large and unsightly pool of water during the process.

The paper sack 96 is placed over the ice block with its open end down, so that as the ice block 30 is placed on the chute, the exposed face of the ice rests against bottom of the chute. This prevents tearing of the paper, makes a smoother sliding surface and has yet another function which will be described below.

Chain 26 is adjusted in keyhole slot 27 so that slider 23 with plate 24 is a short distance down the chute. Lever 25 is turned in a manner to cause plate 24 to project outwardly over the chute proper, and a number of ice blocks, with their paper caps 96, are slid down the chute against the plate 24. Chain 26 is then slipped out of its restraining notch and paid out slowly, allowing slider 23 and plate'24, with their load of ice blocks, to slide to the bottom of chute l4. Lever 25 is then rotated to turn squared shaft 22 and slider 23 and thereby withdraw plate 24 from below the first ice block, which will slide downwardly into tilter 28, if that is empty. The remainder of the ice blocks are similarly deposited againstthose already in place, care being taken not to break the blocks or to tear the paper sacks 96 when rotating the plate 24 out of contact therewith or when withdrawing slider 23 and plate 24back up shaft 22 for anotherload of ice.

When the dispensing and delivery mechanism is actuated, .the block of ice 30 in tilter 28 is turned through approximately 180 bythe time it lands upon stop member 38, so that the wax paper sack 96, which was originally ontop of the block 30, is now on the bottom, and provides a convenient and fairly dry handling surface for the'block. The sack 96, as pointed out above, also catches the water melted from the ice du ing its transport to the place .of use.

From the foregoing description and drawings itwill be seen that a quite usefuland novel ice vending machine has been disclosed which is entirely self-contained and automatic-in. its action and which presents numerous other advantages over the prior art, which improyements will be pointed out in -the following" claims. Although avspecific construction embodyingthis invention has been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that arrangement, and all such modifications and changes as come within the scope of the claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. An ice dispensing machine comprising a housing, a chute in said housing, dispensing means at the end of said chute, a door in said housing, ice block receiving means on said door, said door being connected to said dispensing means whereby the opening of said door releases said dispensing means to deliver a block of ice to said ice block receiving means, said ice block receiving means thereby adapted to close said door, and said door being adapted to return said ice dispensing means to a position where it will receive another block of ice from said chuteupon the closing of said door.

2. An ice dispensing machine comprising a housing, a storage chute in said housing, a hinged door in said housing, a pivoted member adapted to receive a block of ice at the bottom of said storage chute, a link connecting said ice block receiving member with said door whereby said door may be actuated to move said link and rotate said member to form with the door an ice delivery chute from said housing.

3. An ice dispensing machine comprising a housing, a storage chute in said housing, a hinged door in said housing, a pivoted member adapted to receive a block of ice at the bottom of said storage chute, a link connecting said ice block receiving member with said door whereby said door may be actuated to move said link and rotate said member to form with the door an ice delivery chute from said housing, said member provided with means adapted to prevent another ice block from passing onto said last named chute when said member is in a position to form the same.

4. An ice dispensing machine comprising a housing, a storage chute in said housing, a hinged door in said housing, a pivoted member adapted to dispense a block of ice from the bottom of said chute, a link connecting said ice block dispensing member with said door whereby said door may be actuated to move said link and rotate said member to form with the door an ice delivery chute from said housing, ice block receiving means attached to said door,

saidlast named means adapted to close said door and thereby return said dispensing member to its-normal position under the weight of a block of ice thereon, and said link means adapted to 5 look said door and said dispensing member in their normal positions.

5. An ice dispensing machine comprising a housing, a storage chute in said housing, a hinged door in said housing; actuating means or said door, a separately pivoted member adapted to receive a block of ice at the bottom of said storage chute and a link connecting said ice block receiving member with said door, "both ends of said link being pivoted to permit one side of said members and said door to swing into substantially the same plane in their open position, and whereby said ice block receiving member will hold said door in its closed position until said door is moved on its hinge toward its open position by said actuating means.

6. An ice dispensing machine comprising a -housing, ice storage means in said housing, a

hinged door in said housing, actuating means for said door, a separately pivoted member adapted to receive a block of ice from said storage means, and means connecting said ice block receiving member with said door, both ends of i said means being pivoted to permit one side of said member and said door to swing into substantially the same plane in their open position, and whereby said ice block receiving member will hold said door in its closed position until said door is moved on its hinge toward its open 1 position by said actuating means.

7. In a machine for dispensing ice in waterproof sacks open at one end, a housing, an ice storage chute in said housing adapted to retain sacked blocks of ice in a position where the sacks 1 will open downwardly for drainage until such time as they are actually removed from the housing, and ice dispensing and delivery means adapted to invert the first one of said ice blocks and deliver it outside of said housing in an up- 2 right position.

' RICHARD C. WOLFE.

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