US2196244A - Ice spoon - Google Patents

Description

April 9, 1940.' l G. M; BLoMQvlsT ICE SPOON Fild May 12, 1937 INVENTOR BY ma 5 mug l ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 9, 1940 UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1ct: srooN Gustav Marten Blomqvist, Stockholm, Sweden,

assignor, by mesne assignments, to Servel, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware In Germany June 9, 1936 Application May 12, 1937, Serial No. 142,161

1 Claim. `(Cl. 62-108-5) My invention relates to ice spoons foruse 'in household refrigerators, and it is.r an objectfto,

`a glass containing liquid to be cooled.

In cooling liquid in glasses it is generally the practice to take out an ice tray from the freezing compartment of a refrigerator and thereafter remove the grid and ice cubes from the tray. Even when only a few cubes are to be used, the tray must be taken out of the freezing compartment and the entire grid removed from the tray. This not only is time consuming but involves the loss of considerable ice due to melting thereof when the tray is removed from the freezing compartment and only aifew ice cubes are used.

In accordance with my invention I provide an ice spoon for producing ice, the spoon being shaped and lformed so that it will readily stand in an upright position on a supporting surface in a freezing compartment and also provide a good heat conductive path for removal of heat through the bottom of the spoon and the supporting surface. When the water in a spoon is frozen, the spoon can be used immediately to stirliquid to be cooled without any inconvenience` of removing the ice from the spoon.

The invention, together with the objects and advantages thereof, will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and of which Fig. 1 is a view, partly in section, of a cooling element of a refrigerator y'in which ice spoons embodying the invention are disposed; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the ice spoons shown in Fig. 1.; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vide good thermal contact with the supporting shelf I6. The walls II of the spoon body arel preferably perpendicular to or slant outwardly from the flat bottom I5 so that a maximum quantity of ice can be produced in each spoon. The

f bottom corners of the spoon body are preferably rounded, as indicated at I8.

j vThe spoon I4 is provided with a handle I9 which extends horizontally from the top edge of one of the side Walls I 1. is curved or bent with the relatively broad extreme end 20 in the same horizontal plane as the vdat bottom I5. The extreme end 20 of the handle I9 rests on the shelf I6, so that the spoon will readily remain in a stable upright position with the entire 10 bottom I5'contacting the shelf.

The handle I9 is preferably made suciently rigid to resist bending or flexing when the spoon AI4 is removed from the ice freezing compartment I2. handle U-shaped in section, as shown in Fig. 4. If desired, the handle I9 may be given anyother shape, such as a T-shaped section, for example, to resist flexing or bending when force is applied to the outer end thereof.

In order that several spoons I4 may be inserted into a single ice freezing compartmentto eiliciently utilize the space, at least a part of the handle I9 is higher than the walls I'I of the spoon,

so that the body of another spoon can be inserted 25 the cooling element I0, heat is removed from the 35 flat bottoms I5 through the shelf I6, due to the production of cold by the cooling element, whereby ice is produced in the spoons. When it is desired to use one of the spoons I4, the curved outer end of the handle I9 is raised to break thevice bond 40 that may be formed between the fiat bottom I5 and the shelf I6. Due to the rigidity of the handle I9, the lifting force is effectively transmitted to the body of the spoon. With the spoon re-' moved from the freezing compartment, it can be 45 inserted immediately into a glass full of liquid to be cooled without any inconvenience whatsoever to the user. Since the spoon may be placed into theliquid directly after its removal from the ice freezing compartment, all of the ice is effectively 50 used. In addition, cooling of the liquid is effected by the spoon itself which is at a freezing temperature.

If desired, the spoons may be used for purposes other than to produce ice for cooling liquid. For

The outer end of the handle I 9 6 This may be accomplished by making the 15 example, the spoons may be employed to cool a beverage directly as well as to provide individual servings of ice cream.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: v

A spoon for use in a. household refrigerator adapted to contain matter to be frozen and including a body portion having an essentially fiat bottom to provide good thermal contact with a supporting surface of a freezing compartment, said body portion having a side wall about the periphery of said flat bottom, 'and a. handle extending from said side wall having the outer end thereof curved or bent to rest on the supporting surface to provide a thermal conductive path between said side wall and the supporting surface and also an additional region of support for said spoon to assist and maintain said spoon in a stable position on the supporting surface, at least a part of said handle being sufficiently high and of sufficient length to permit one other similar spoon to be inserted into the freezing compartment by moving said body portion thereof under said handle whereby said spoons are disposed in crisscross relation.

GUSTAV MRTEN BLOMQVIST.

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