US2036043A - Refrigeration - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1936. HALLOCK REFRIGERATION Filed May 28, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l l mnm,

H 0 H I M I v 3 M 5 k & N\ W /////y// AA ATTORNEY R. L. HALLOCK REFRIGERATION March 31, 1936.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1932 INVENTOR his ATTORNEY R. L. HALLOCK 2,036,043

REFRIGERAT I ON arch 31, 1936.

Filed May 28, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 i j g j la Jig 37 INVENTOR ,J/i J QM /7/5 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1936 I g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATION Robert Lay Hallock, Mount Vernon, N. Y. Application May 28, 1932, Serial No; 614,091 26 Claims. (01. 62-1085) My invention relates to refrigeration and. more I 7, reference character I designates generally a. particularly to ice trays for freezing ice in dorefrigerator. Within the refrigerating cabinet is mestic refrigerators. an evaporator II having a number of horizontal Among the objects of my invention are: To shelves I2 and a cover plate I3. The form of the provide means for readily removing an ice tray evaporator isnot important so far as the invention 5 from a supporting structure therefor to which is concerned except so far as it provides longiit' may be ,bound by ice; to provide, means for tudinal shelves for supporting the ice trays. mechanically lifting ice cubes out of an ice-tray; .Fig. .1 shows four ice trays I5, though any to provide a novel ice tray in which, by the apnumber may be present, eachice tray being inplication ofa very slight amount of force, the ice serted within its freezing compartment and each 1 tray can, in one operation, be severed from its resting on a shelf I2. Each ice tray comprises support and the ice cubes removed; to provide... a tray body'lfi which is preferably manufactured a member to which the ice cubes cling on removal from sheet metal as by stamping operation. On from the ice tray body and from which the ice the front of the tray body is a front cover plate cubes can be removed readily by the fingers with- I1, which is bent to provide a handle I8 of the 15 out the application of heat; and the combining of type -in which the fingers are inserted upwardly. these features in one'unitary device. The front cover plate may be nickeled, porce-.

My invention is illustrated; by means of the lained, or otherwise finished. The cover plate is accompanying drawings, forming part of this attached to the tray body by means of screws or specification, and of which: like devices I9. 20 Fig. 1 is afront view, with the door open, of The front part of the tray body has a downa refrigerating cabinet containing refrigerating wardly bent portion 20, which is bent backwards apparatus embodying the invention; and provides a space for receiving a downward Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section cenprojection 2| of a division member or comparttrally through an ice tray embodying the invenment forming member 22. The downwardly bent 25 tion and is taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; portion 20 is apertured at I23 to form' a journal /Fig. 3 shows another position of the parts of forarotary member I25 which also passes through Fig. 2 and is taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; a hole 26 in the handle I8. Holes I23 and 26 are Fig. 4 is a. transverse section taken on the line in aligmnent. Member I25 projects forwardly 44 of Fig. 2; through hole 26 and has a finger pieceor lever 30 Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line member 21 attached thereto in front of the handle 5--5 of Fig. 2; I8. This member 21 is preferably shaped so that Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken on the line it can be rotated like a thumb-screw. The mem- 6-6 of Fig. 3; ber I25 extends rearwardly through hole 26, then Fig. 7 is a horizontal view showing part'of the is bent eccentrically to one-side and extends lon- 35 operating mechanism taken on the line 'I-! of gitudinally to adjacent the depending portion 20,

Fig. 6; whence it is bent like a U as shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the device shown in returns to pass into the hole I23. Thus member Fig. 2; I I25 is a rotary member having two eccentric pro- Fig. 9 is a longitudinal vertical view similar to jections which extend laterally in opposite direc- 0 Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of mechtions. The U-shaped portion I25a extends to the anism; right, as shown in Fig. 6, when the finger piece 2! Fig. 10 is a view taken on the line IUI0 of is horizontal, whereas the-other eccentric branch Fig. 9; I25b extends to the left. On turning the finger Fig. 11 is a plan view of another form of device piece 21 clockwise from the position shown in Fig. 45 embodying the invention; 3 to the position shown in Fig. 2, looking toward Fig. 12 is a central longitudinal vertical view the front of the tray, the part I25a moves downtaken on the line I2I2 of Fig. 11; ward and touches the shelf I2. The part I251) Fig. 13 is a transverse view taken on the line moves upwardly and touches the projection 2|.

I3-I 3 of Fig. 12; The part I25a. is of such length that it extends be- 50 Fig. 14 is a transverse View taken on the line low the bottom of the tray when turned toward the I 4--I4 of Fig. 12; and position of Fig. 2, and consequently lifts the for- Fig. 15 is a transverse view taken on the line ward end of the tray off the shelf, the whole tray I5I 5 of Fig. 12. pivoting about the rear lower end as a pivot. The

5 Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 through part I251) on being swung around contacts the projection 2| and lifts the same, which causes the division member 22 to be pivoted about the rear end of the tray at the point 28, thus lifting the division member up from the tray body. It will be noted that the leverage multiplication is large so that a small force applied to member 21 will readily break any ice bond between the shelf and the ice tray and break the ice cubes loose from the interior of the tray. The stresses work in opposition and the mechanism for causing the relative movement of the parts is fixed in the tray body and the handle.

There are three factors in removing ice cubes from an ice tray: The first is the removal of the tray from the shelf; the second is the removal of the ice cubes from the inside of the tray body; and the third is the removal of the ice cubes from the member which forms the compartments. The usual way of breaking away an ice tray tightly bound to a tray by ice is to use a lever of some sort such as a screw-driver. The ice cubes are then removed from the tray and the grid by holding the tray under a water faucet. These steps are obviously undesirable. entire operation of removal without heating, such as by applying hot or even unheated water, and without the use of utensils, and with very little force, I have, in one form of my invention, provided transverse partitions forming part of the tray body whereby only a single longitudinal member is necessary and whereby the ice cubes leave the tray body attached to such central member and can be readily picked off with the fingers. I have discovered that the easiest manner of removing the ice is to shear it off gradually from the surface to which it is stuck. This is the reason for the shape of the transverse partitions 30 shown in Fig. 2. The transverse partitions are formed by denting in the bottom of the tray body and making webs which extend the full height of the tray. In order to tie the parts together, I provide depressed portions 3| at the edges, and depressed portions 32 at the middle. These depressed portions also serve to. distribute the water evenly throughout the tray. The front part of each web 30 may be perpendicular to the bottom of the tray body. The rear parts of these portions are struck on radii about the upper back edge of the tray, that is, the point 28 in Fig. 2.

The central or division member 22 comprises a plate portion 23 having lateral flanges 24 at the bottom extending out to some distance to form ledges for holding the ice cubes. Extending along the upper part and spot-welded or otherwise secured thereto is a bar 25. This may be made of a folded piece of metal. The bar 25 is spread at the front end to provide means for securing the downwardly extending projection 2| thereto. It will be seen that the bar 25 is above the edge of the tray body. Inasmuch as the webs come up to the top so that the ice cubes will be separated, and consequently the plate portlon23' is cut as high as the tops of the webs, this reinforcing member is provided to give stiffening. The edge of the tray is laterally extended to provide a rim portion at the edges giving rigidity. This extension is shown at 33. If desired, the edge portion may be bent downwardly at the outside to give still further rigidity.

In the operation of the device. the finger piece 21 is turned. The projection i25a moves downwardly and contacts the shelf. This first lifts the forward part of the tray. The tray is somewhat fiexible due in part to being made of thin metal and in part to the construction including In order to permit the the webs. Consequently, the forward part of the tray can be sheared from the shelf before the rear part is sheared. This means that there can be a progressive loosening of the tray from the shelf from the front backwards. I have found that this is what actually happens and this results in the fact that very little force need be applied to sever the tray from the shelf. Likewise, the central member 22 is lifted by shear. The ice first breaks away at the front and there is a gradual breaking away toward the back.

This also requires very little force because it is gradual. The central member 22 pivots about the rear top of the tray. The ice cubes adhere to the central member on account of the flanges 24 and. due to the fact that the other parts are gradually sheared, whereas there is no such gradual shear with respect to the central part 22. The ice cubes break away from the tray body clinging to the central member. The finger piece 2'! may be turned back after loosening the cubes from the tray and the hand inserted under the handle l8 and the tray withdrawn. Then the central member 22 can be withdrawn with the ice cubes attached thereto, and it will be found that the ice cubes can be taken off the central member without any difficulty whatsoever.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 9, the member i 25, instead of passing through the portion 20, is more or less pointed as at 40 and passes into a. depression 4| in the tray body I6. This is a simple manner of making this construction and a relatively small indentation 4| will suffice to hold the member I25 and yet will not prevent the ice cubes from leaving the tray.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 11, 12, l3, l4 and 15, the shaft 42 to the front end of which the finger piece 21 is attached has mounted thereon, or is formed integral with, an eccentric member 43. The eccentric member comprises a forward portion and a smaller offset eccentric hub 44. A projection 45 passes through the downwardly projecting portion 20. The figures may be taken as drawn to full scale, wherefore it will be seen that the distance 46 between the center of the shaft 42 and the center of the eccentric portion 44 is very small compared with the length of the finger piece 21, whereby a tremendous leverage multiplication results. Surrounding the eccentric portion 44 is a ring member 41 which has a top projection 48 for engaging a forward projection 49 on the central division plate 22, and which has a downwardly projecting part 50 for engaging the shelf [2. The part 50 is curved as shown in Fig. 12 and extends into a notch 5| in the front pocket portion of the tray body, whereby there is a rearward projection on part 50 which will contact the shelf, although the latter does not extend all the way to ,the front of the ice tray. On turning the finger piece 2] in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 14, the member 50 is moved downward and lifts the tray from the shelf, thereby breaking any ice bond between the two. .Ihe finger piece 2'! is then turned in the opposite direction and top projection 48 strikes forward projection 49 and lifts central division plate 22. The ice cubes adhere to the division plate and are sheared from the tray body. Thus, the same result is accomplished as in the device first described. In the tray body shown in Figs. 11 through 15 I have provided a deeper central space and have provided downwardly extending reinforcing side parts 56.

While I have shown and described several embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that these are for purposes of illustration only and that my invention is not to be limited thereby, but its scope is to be determined by the appended claims viewed in the light of the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body adapted to hold liquid having transverse corrugations extending from the bottom a substantial distance toward the top and constituting transverse webs, and a removable longitudinal division member spanning said transverse webs and having separating pieces extending downwardly between said webs.

2. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body adapted to hold liquid having transverse corrugations extending from the bottom a substantial distance toward the top and constituting transverse webs, said webs, being open at the sides, and a removable longitudinal division member spanning said transverse webs and having separating pieces extending downwardly between said webs.

3. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body made of flexible material adapted to hold liquid and having transverse corrugations extending from the bottom a substantial distance toward the top and constituting transverse webs, a removable longitudinal division member spanning said transverse webs, and a leverage mechanism adapted to exert reactive forces between said tray body and. said division member.

4-. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body adapted to hold liquid having transverse corrugations extending a substantial distance toward the top and constituting transverse webs, abremovable longitudinal division member spanning said transverse webs, force applying means adapted to act between one end of said tray body and said division member, and some of the walls of said webs being curved on radii centered at the other end of said tray body.

5. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body adapted to hold liquid and having transverse corrugations extending from the bottom a substantial distance toward the top of the tray body. and constituting transverse webs, a removable longitudinal division member span.- ning said transverse webs having a top reinforcement piece, and means for exerting force between said reinforcement piece and said tray body.

6. A grid for ice freezing apparatus including an upper reinforcement piece and depending parts, and pivoted leverage mechanism for exerting force against said reinforcement piece.

7, Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a, tray body adapted to hold liquid having transverse corrugations extending substantially ,the full height of the tray body and open at the bottom and sides, and a removable longitudinal division member spanning said transverse cormgations and having separating pieces extending downwardly between said corrugations.

8. Apparatus for freezing ice cubes including a tray body, a grid, and means to pivot the grid about a given part of the tray body, said grid and tray body having surfaces on radii centered at said given part to facilitate removal of ice with the grid on turning the grid about said given part.

9.=An ice tray body having transverse corrugations, walls of said corrugations being formed on different radii.

10. An ic tray body having transverse corrugations at diiferent distances from one end of/ across the tray body, a movable grid member 00- operating with said partitions to form ice molds, said partitions including double walls movable relative to each other so that the partitions may be flexed, and means for raising the movable grid member for removing the ice cubes from the tray body.

12. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body, spaced partitions extending across said tray body, a movable grid member in the tray body and cooperating with the spaced partitions to form ice cube molds, and means for raising one end of the movable grid member so that the movable grid member will be tilted at an angle to the bottom of the tray body for causing flexing of the spaced partitions to facilitate removal of the ice cubes.

13. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body, spaced flexible partitions extending across said tray body, a movable grid member in the tray body and cooperating with the spaced partitions to form ice cube molds, and means for raising one end of the movable grid member so that the movable grid, member will be tilted at an angle to the bottom of the tray body for causing flexing of the spaced partitions to facilitate removal of the ice cubes.

14. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body, spaced partitions extending across said tray body, said partitions including double walls movable relative to each other, a movable grid member in the tray body and cooperating with the spaced partitions to form ice cube' molds, and means for raising one end of the movable grid member so that the movable grid member will be tilted at an angle to the bottom of the tray body for causing flexing of the spaced partitions to facilitate removal of the ic cubes.

15. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body, spaced partitions extending titions to form ice cube molds, and means for raising one end of the movable grid member so that the movable grid member will be tilted at an angle to the bottom of the tray body-for causing flexing of the spaced partitions to facilitate removal of the ice cubes.

16. The combination with an ice tray body adapted to be supported on a horizontal surface and hold liquid and a handle attached to said tray body, of a lifting member horizontally journailed partly in said handle and partly in said tray body and having a finger piece separate from and in front of said handle and a projection behind said handle, said projection being movable to extend below the bottom of the tray body on rotating said finger piece.

17. Apparatus for producing ice pieces comprising a tray body adapted to hold liquid, 9. front are inserted upwardly, said tray having a depending portion behind said handle, said handle and depending portion having aligned apetures for journalling a member transversely to the cover plate, and a rotary member comprising a. round bar extending through said apertures and bent adjacent the depending projection to form an arm and having a finger piece forward of said handle and extending on opposite sides of the axis of the rotary member, said finger piece being movable from horizontal position to vertical position with respect to the tray when resting on a horizontal surface, and said arm being entirely above the bottom of the tray when the finger piece is horizontal and projecting below the bottom of the tray when the finger piece is vertical.

18. Apparatus for. forming ice pieces including a tray body adapted to hold liquid, a. plate attached to said tray body and spaced therefrom, a rotatable rod journalled in said plate and body, and means to rotate saidrod, said rod having a bent portion adapted to extend below the bottom of the tray on rotation of the rod.

19. Apparatus as set forth in claim 18 in which the tray body has a projection providing a journal for the rotatable rod.

20. Apparatus as set forth in claim 18' in which the tray body is formed with an indentation to provide a journal for the rotatable rod.

21. Apparatus as set forth in claim 18 in which the plate is shaped'to provide a handle and the rotatable rod is journalled in the handle.

22. Apparatus as set forth in claim 18 in which I the rotatable rod has oppositely extending bent parts.

23. Apparatus as set forth in claim 18 in which the rotatable rod is provided with a finger piece outside the plate.

24. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body having fixed internal transverse members defining a plurality of compartments,

said members being tapered upwardly in cross section, a longitudinal vertically movable member extending transversely of said fixed members and having portions in said compartments substantially centrally thereof, and force multiplying means for exerting force between the receptacle and the longitudinal member.

25. Apparatus for producing ice pieces including a tray body having fixed internal transverse

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