US2001008A - Can dump for ice machines - Google Patents

Description

May 14, 1935. w. H, AUBREY CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 2, 1952 May 14, 1935. t W H, AUBREY 2,001,008

CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES Filed Deo. 2, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Mama/1A I May 14, 1935. l Wy H, AUBRY 2,00L008 CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES Filed Dec. 2, 1952 :s sheets-sheen s Patented May 14, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES William Henry Aubrey, Waynesboro, Pa.,Y :as-

signor to Frick Company, Waynesboro, Pa., a Y .corporation of Pennsylvania H Application December 2, 1932, Serial No. 645,473

11 Claims.

` are directed against the outside ofthe cans until the ice block is thawed loose and slides out;

An object oi the invention is to remove ice from the container or can with a minimum amount of thawing to reduce the amount of ice melted from the block.

i A further object, is to provide more sanitary meansfor removing ice from the cans, and iurn ther to prevent thawing water from entering into the storage room.

Further objects are to provide means for conserving space and water and to remove the ice from the .cans more quickly than has been possible heretofore. i 'p Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar .reference characters indicate similar parts, i -v i Figure l is a iront elevation of the device,

Figure 2, a side elevation,

Figure 3, a plan View,

Figure 4, a diagrammatic view in side elevation showing the can in upright position,

Figure 5, a similarview showing the can in inverted position, y Figure 6, a similar View showing the can tilted for the ice block to slide out,

Figure 7, `a detail view of an operating valve showing the valve in neutral position, and

I Figure 8, a side elevation of a portion of a modied form of machine.

In the drawings I0 indicates a cradle which is supported upon journals l I mounted in bearings I2 in suitable' standards or supports i3. These standards may be secured upon a suitable founbolts I5. The cradle consists of a suitable frame work in which ice cans 42 may be supported and in which they are held by clamps It which may be hinged at I'I to a portion of the frame oi the cradle and may be locked in closed position by latches I8. The frame is provided with guides 43 tohold the ice cans in place. The outer end of one ofthe shafts Il carries a gear or pinion I9 which meshes with a rack 20, the rack being held against the pinion by means of a dation or frame It in` any. suitable way as by,

roller 2l. A piston rod 22 connects the rack to a' piston not shown operating in cylinder 23. Pressure fluid linesA 24 and 25 deliver pressure uid which may be water from a pipe 26 to operate the rack 20. Pressure iiuid is controlled -5 to the cylinder 23 by means of a manually 0perable valve 2l. The construction of the valve is such that when the operating handle 20 is in one position such as that shown in Figure `I the rack 20 will be locked in iixed position. When the handle is turned to thelright as viewed in Figure 2, port 29 maythen connect pipe 2i with exhaust pipe ,.30 andport 3l will connect inlet pipe 25 with pipe 25 to apply pressure to the lower end of the cylinder 23 to move the rack 1'5" 20 upwardly. `When the handle 2t is moved to the left to connect port 25 with pipe 24 through port 3l, pressure will be applied to thetop of thecylinder 23 and exhausted from the bottom to move the rack downwardly. 20 Means are applied also for automatically delivering warm water or steam against the sides of the can.A This means comprises pipes 32 having perforations or spray nozzles 44 directed to spray fluid against the sides of the cans. A supply,A pipe is connected at 33 for supplying warm water or steam 'to the pipes 32. A flexible conduit 30 connects the pipe 33 with the pipes 32 and a'valve 35 controls admission of warm fluid to the pipes 32. The valve 35 is normally held in a closed condition by a spring not shown but which may be of any well known construction. This valve has a stem 36 which is engageable by a cam 3l on the side of the cradle so that when the cradle'is inverted the stem 36. is depressed by the cam to open the valve 35 to spray warm fluid against the Sides of the. ice cans. i

A slide 38 is positioned beneath the cradle.` This slide is arcuate in shape Vbut the' center of the arc is eccentric with respect to the center of theV shaft Il. Beneath the slide 38 is an opening 39 for draining off the water used in thawing the ice from the sides of the cans.

In operation the cans in which the ice has been frozen are positioned within the cradle while the cradle is in the upright position shown in Figures l and 4. The cans are locked in position by means of the latch' and clamps I3 and I8. The valve 2l is then manipulated to deliver pressure from line 20 through line'24 to the top of the cylinder 23. This rotates the cradle on its axis II inverting it into position shown in Figure 5 to invert the ice cans. When the ice'cans haveV moved e inverted vertical 55 i position the cam 3T engages valve stem 36 to open the valve 35 and deliver warm fluid through the spray nozzles against the sides of the cans. The ice block as soon as it is thawed loose from the walls of the can drops upon the slide 38. The valve lever 28 is then moved to deliver fluid from pressure line 26 to pressure line 25. This will move the rack 2@ upwardly to rotate the cradle counterclockwise. As the cradle approaches the position shown in Figure 6 the lower end of the block of ice will gradually slide out of the can following the curvature of the slide 38. The block of ice therefore lis kept con: tinually moving out of the canwhich prevents it from freezing again to the sides of the can. When the edge of the block of ice has reached the upper end of the slide 38 the block then slides out upon a slide 40 from which itslides to a place of storage or is picked up.

It may be feasible to position the slide s' that the block will slide by gravity out of the cans as soon as the blocks are thawed loose from the cans. Such possible construction is shown in Figure 8. Here the slide il is positioned beneath the cradle and has a downward slope so that the block of ice slides out practically as soon as it is thawed loose upon a slight movement of the cradle.

While a hydraulic motor and rack and pinion operative connection have been illustrated for tilting the cradle, I do not limit myself to this specific arrangement for accomplishing this purpose. The cradle might be tilted for example, by any suitable motor geared directly to shaft il or might even be operated manually through a suitable train of gears.

By my arrangement the ice does not come in contact with the thawing water. Where the ice cans are immersed in tanks of warm water portions of the ice are exposed to this water. The water in these tanks soon becomes contaminated with salt and otherwise quite dirty. My arrangement prevents this, since only clean warm water or steam is sprayed against the out'- sides of the cans.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in my device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated by the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozen comprising a cradle, means for supporting the container in the cradle, a motor for inverting the cradle to invert the container, and means operated by the cradle for causing the application of thawing fluid to the outside of the container to thaw the ice loose from the container and permit it to drop by gravity from the container, substantially as set forth.

2. A device for removing ice from the containers in which it is frozen comprising a cradle, a motor for inverting the cradle, a plurality of conduits adapted to contain warm fluid for thawing the ice from the container side, a valve in control of said Warm fluid, a cam on said container adapted to engage said valve to open it when the container is moved toV an inverted position, and means for tilting the cradle to permit the ice to move by gravity from the container to the slide, substantially as set forth.

3. A device for removing ice from the containers in which it is frozen comprising a cradle, means for holding the container in the cradle, means for inverting the cradle to invert the containers, means for applying warm fluid to the container to thaw the ice from the sides of the container, an eccentric slide arranged so that as the cradle is returned from inverted toward upright position the ice will be caused to move by gravity gradually out of the container to prevent its freezing to the walls of the container, substantially as set forth.

4. A device for removing ice from containers in which it is frozen comprising means for in verting the container, a fluid motor for operating such means, a valve for operating such motor, a supply line for warm uid, a valve in said line, and means for opening said valve when the container is in inverted position to supply thawing fluid to the walls of the container, substantially as set forth.

5. A device of the kind described comprising a support for cans containing ice frozen therein, means for inverting said containers and for thawing the ice free from the sides thereof, a slide for receiving the ice, said support being positioned remotely from the ice storage whereby thawing Water is prevented from spilling into the ice storage, and means for limiting the removal of ice from the can to cause the block of ice to slide gradually from the can to the said slide substantially as set forth.

6. A device for removing ice from the cans in which it is frozen comprising a support for ice cans, a shaft carrying said support, said shaft having an operating wheel on one end, a motor operatively connected with said wheel, a valve in control of said motor, a plurality of warm fluid conduits positioned adjacent said support, a Valve in control of said warm fluid and a cam on said support engageable with said valve to apply warm fluid against the sides of the ice containers Awhen the support has been moved by the said motor to an inverted position, substantially as set forth.

'7. A device for removing ice from the containers in which it is frozen comprising a support for said containers, a fluid motor for inverting said support to invert the container, a plurality of conduits adapted to contain warm fluid for thawing ice from the sides of the container, a valve in control of said conduits, means on the container adapted to engage said valve to apply warm fluid when the container has reached inverted position, and a slide positioned beneath the saidsupport, said slide being arcuate and. having the center of the arc eccentric with respect to the center of rotation of the support whereby ice which is thawed from the walls of the container will be permitted to slide gradually out of the container as the container is moved from inverted back toward upright position, substantially as set forth.

8. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozen comprising a support for the container, means for inverting the support, means for supplying thawing fluid to the walls of the container to thaw the ice loose from the Walls, a valve for controlling said fluid, and a cam on said support adapted to open said valve only when saidv container is inverted approximately to a vertical position.

9, A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozen comprising means for inverting the container, means for supplying thawing fluid to the walls of the container, said last-mentioned means including spray nozzles directed against a side ofthe container and mounted to move with the container, a valve controlling the supply of thawing fluid and means operatively associated With the means for inverting the container for opening said valve when the container is in an inverted position.

1Q. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozen comprising means for inverting the container, means for supplying thawing iiuid to the Walls of the container, an arcuate slide to receive the block of ice from 1 the inverted container and arranged to permit the ice to slide gradually out of the container as the container is returned from the inverted position, and means to control the supply of thawing fluid in accordance With the position of the container.

1l. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozen comprising means for inverting the container, means for supplying thawing fluid to the Walls of the container, an arcuate slide to receive the block of ice from the inverted container and arranged 'to permit the ice to slide gradually out of the container as the container is returned from the inverted position, said arcuate slide having elevated sides to collect the thawing uid, and a drain from the bottom of said slide.

WILLIAM HENRY AUBREY.

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