US2587852A

US2587852A - Flexible ice tray

Info

Publication number: US2587852A
Application number: US52882A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred S Jahn; Joseph A Carmien; John E Mullings
Original assignee: NEW PLASTIC CORP
Current assignee: NEW PLASTIC Corp
Priority date: 1948-10-05
Filing date: 1948-10-05
Publication date: 1952-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 1969-03-04

Description

March 4, 1952 F. s. JAHN ET A1. 2,587,852

FLEXIBLE ICE TRAY Filed Oct. 5, 1948 I N VEN TORS FQED .5'. JHN JOSE/-l f7. CH2M/EN JOHN E. MULL//VGS 5y IMQ A M AV700/VE# Patented Mar. 4, 1.952

UN ITE'D STATES PATENT OFFICE Fred. S. Jahn and Joseph A.. Carmien, Los Angeles, and John E;.Mul1ings,F Pacific, Palisades, Calif, assignors to New Plastic Corporation; Losy Angeles, Calif., a corporation of `California Applicationctober, 5, 1948', Serial No. 52-,882

1` Claim.

This invention relates to refrigerator trays such as employedin household refrigerators, for freezing small. blocks of ice to` be used in mixing cold drinks, or the like. The invention particularly `concerns the -construction of a tray vof this type that is intended to be made of a. wal1, .or walls., composed of a material thatl is flexible and extensible.

One. of the objects, of the invention is to give the tray features of form that will co-operate to facilitate the removal of the cubes of ice that are formed in its` cells, when the ltray isremoved from the refrigerator. To this end, one of the objects of the inventionl is` to provide the tray with features of construction that will co-operate to enable thetray to be held inan invertedv position and then` forced into a bowed state by exerting pressure on its upper side to force it down, and upward pressure` at its ends, thereby distorting the tray into an arcuate formwith the convex side of the arc disposed downward, and the concave side of the arc disposed upward. In this way, the widthof the cells measured longitudinally of, the tray, at their filling openings or mouths. will become increased, which will de velop Vforces extending longitudinally of theA tray to pull the transverse dividing Wallsof the `tray away from the sidesof the ice blocks that extend transversely 'to the longitudinal axis of the tray.

Heretofore, it hasV been the practice to construct refrigerators to receive trays suchas the tray referredto, in a freezing pocket which presents, a- Vertical space just high enough Ato permitthe tray to be introduced; and usually there is a second freezing.; pocket j-ust` above a` lower pocket, having: its own bottom to support. a second tray above alower tray. However, it Vhas become thepracticein manufacturing some refrigerators, to omit this bottomlwall, for the upper tray, so that the upper tray must be supported directly on the lower tray. One of the objects of this invention is toprovide a tray that will ful.- ll the requirements and accomplishthe objects referred to above but whichat the same time, will have features of construction. that will enable two trays embodying the invention, to be placed one abovethe other when filled with water and placed in a refrigerator.

A further object of the invention lis to provide the walls of the trays with features that will operate to enable the cells of the` trays to -be filled all to the saine level.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The-,invention consists in the novel parts and Fig. 1 is a Side view of a` tray embodying this invention, the middle portion Whereof'is shown in elevation while the endv portions are shown in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2` is a vertical section taken in ayertical plane substantially as indicated by the dotted line ZMZ` shown on Figs. 1 and 3;4 vIn this view the upper portion of the lower tray isshown in .section and broken away, andthe location ofthe side walls of the., freezing pocket are indicated'.

Fig. 3 is an isometric projection illustrating the outer end `of this refrigerator tray withthe inner portionof the, tray brokenfaway.

Fig. t` is-aside elevationon asmall scale, illustrating how the tray` is, manipulated; by bending it into bow formwhile invertedlto facilitate the ejectionofthe ice cubes.

Referring more particularly to the parts, I' in,- dicates an embodimentof` a. tray constructed in accordance with our invention.v I tl pneferablyconsists` of` an elongated body formed-cfa suitable plastic material. For this, purpose rubber, vinyl, or any other suitableplastic maybe employedJ if the material ,has the ,required amount of flexibility and extensibility.. The tray illustrated. has` two lateral4 side walls 2f and 3; the former of which in vertical section is indicated in Fig. 2. .'I"l1ese..side` walls are connected. by transverse wallsd, that, asshowninliig. 1,. are com-mon to thevcells thatthey separate. The ends of. :these: Walls areintegla'lly united tothe sidewalls 2 and 3, `and are integralV with` 'the lower portions of the transverse wallsof the cells. They: dividethe interior of the tray into a plurality ofcells 5 andvin the,.presentinstanca.the tray is formed with .-a ,longitudinalpartit'ion wall 61 which is integrally .united to. the` transverse walls and integrally unitedto the-.end` walls T andc ofthe tray. The for-wand walltvlj'of the tray is preferably formed with a forwardly, and downwardly projecting danse-or. hook. 9;, which provides` a finger space I0 onyits under side to enable the .tray tobe drawnoutfrom the freezing pocket Linthe refrigerator. The cells 5' have the-usual upper openings or mouths lit-throughwhic'h water may 'ow to'fll` the cells; If desired;

the upper edges of the transverse walls may be formed with notches I2 which open communication between all of the cells so that by providing enough water to bring the level above the lower edges of these notches, the cells will all be lled tothe same level; and in order to effect communication from the set of cells that are locatedon one side of the longitudinal partition Wall 6 with the cells on the other side of this partition wall, we prefer to provide the partition wall 6 with two notches I3 located near the Vend walls of the tray.

The side walls 2 and 3 are substantially parallel with each other and may if desired, be disposed entirely in a vertical plane. However, in order to facilitate the removal of the cubes from the cells, we prefer to have the lower portions of the cells taper in a downward direction. In other words, at the bottoms I4 of the cells the horizontal crosssection of each cell is smaller than its cross-section at a higher level. In Fig. 4 we illustrate one of the trays as though held in an inverted position and bowed downwardly at its middle portion by exerting pressure atY the four points indicated by the arrows I5. In order to exert the pressure at the four points indicated by the arrows, it is merely necessary for a person holding the tray, to place his fingers under the ends of the tray and press upwardly at about the location of the lower arrows, and at the same time press downwardly with his thumbs at about the location of the upper arrows which are located nearer to the middle of the tray than the lower arrows are. In other words, this manipulation of the tray consists in bowing it downwardly at its middle portion in its longitudinal medial plane, that is to say, in a vertical plane substantially coinciding with the partition wall 6, with this partition wall and the side walls or lateral walls held in a substantially vertical plane.

When the tray is bowed in the manner illustrated, it will be evident that tensile forces will occur in lower parts of longitudinal walls 2, 3, and 6. which will cause the mouths of the cells to increase in width measured in a direction parallel with the vertical plane in which the tray is moved. These tensile forces of course tend to pull the transverse walls of the tray away from the transverse sides or faces of the cubes of ice in the cells, and by shaking the tray while in this position, it should usually be possible to cause the ice cubes to fall out of the tray as illustrated at I6 in Fig. 4, in which the cubes are illustrated falling into a shallow receptacle or pan I'I above which the tray is held when being manipulated as described.

When the tray is distorted into this bowed position, it will be evident that compressive forces may be developed adjacent to the concave edge I8 of the distorted tray, and in order to facilitate the shortening of the edge I8 into this curved form, we prefer to provide the lower edge of the lateral side walls of the tray with small recesses or notches I9. When the tray is bowed in this way, these notches will decrease in width and will assistin enabling the -tray to assume this bowed form without any tendency of the tray to have its longitudinal axis shift laterally at any points along its length;

` In order to facilitate the operation of ejecting the cubes from the cells, we prefer to have the inside faces 20 of the transverse walls 4, diverge from eachother in an upward direction. So, in forming these transverse walls we prefer to form them with an upper portion 2l with vertical parallel sides down to a considerable depth, and below this level each wall is formed with cuneiform portions 22 to a further depth, the widest portion of the wedge, or cuneiform, shape being below; and below these cuneiforrn portions the wall divides into two wall portions 23 which stem from the cuneiform portions and extend down to unite integrally with the bottoms I4 of the cells. By reason of the upward divergence of the side faces 20,upward1y tapering clearance spaces 24 are formed between all adjacent cells that are located in the same set or line extending longitudinally with the tray. These clearance spaces 24 operate when the tray is bowed, to permit the wall p0rtions 23 to approach each other, without pressing against each other. Such pressure might interfere with the free movement in dislodging the blocks from the cells. In other words, we have a condition of tension at the lower face of the bowed tray, and a condition of relieved compression between the cell walls in the upper portion of the bowed tray adjacent its concave edge I8. This is a condition very favorable to ready dislodgement of the cubes.

The upper portions 25 of the lateral side walls, and the upper portion 26 of the partition wall 6, have a cross-section preferably substantially the same as that of the portions 2I of the cross walls 4. In this way the upper portion of the tray will present a vertical cheek 2l at each side, to lie adjacent to the side face 2B of the freezing pocket in the refrigerator when the tray is shoved into it. In Fig. 2, two trays constructed as described above, are shown in position, with an upper tray resting on a lower tray. It is possible for two of these trays to rest in this way without either tray collapsing from the weight of the water within it, or becoming distorted in form. This property of trays having this construction, is derived largely from the presence of the cuneiform portions 22 in the transverse walls 4 that divide the cells from each other. In this connection, attention is particularly called to the right-hand portion of Fig. 2 from which it will be evident that from the medial longitudinal plane to the lateral side wall, a considerable depth of material extends, giving the eiTect of a stiffener between each pair of cells in each set, and at the outer ends these cuneiform portions 22 are formed with downwardly extending tapered projections 29, which unite with the lower portions 30 of the Vlateral side walls which incline inwardly in a downward direction, preferably at the same angle A as the opposite faces 3l, which are the faces of the wall portions 32 that stern downwardly from the cuneiform portion 33 of the longitudinal par tition wall 6. By reason of the thickened transverse walls and that of the longitudinal partition wall 6 at their cuneiform extensions, the rigidity of the tray is considerably increased.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim as our invention:

A refrigerator ice tray to be placed in a freezing compartment of a refrigerator, said tray composed entirely of a moldedplastic material, and having a plurality of water cells disposed in two longitudinally extending rows, the cells in each row being disposed opposite to a corresponding cell in the other row, the lower portions of said cells having bottom walls, longitudinal side walls and transverse walls integral with the bottoni walls, .the said side walls of the cells diverging from each other upwardly from the bottom wall for a portion of the depth of the cells, and the end walls of the cells diverging upward from the bottom wall for a portion of the depth of the cells. said tray having transverse intermediate walls common to the cells on each side thereof and extending from the level of the upper edge of the tray down to the level at which the convergence of the end Walls and the transverse Walls of the cells terminates, the clearance space between the said diverging transverse walls of said cells operating when the tray containing ice cubes is held in an inverted position, to permit the same to be bowed downwardly in an arc, thereby Widening the width of the cells between said common transverse walls, to facilitate the dislodgement of the cubes from the same, said tray presenting substantially vertical faces on its longitudinal side walls located above the level of the said converging side waJls of the cells, ad-

jacent to the side walls of the freezing compartment when the tray is in place therein.

FRED S. JAHN. JOSEPH A. CARMIEN. JOHN E. MULLINGS.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS