US2684207A - Ice-chipping machine - Google Patents

Description

July 20, 1954 Filed June 8, 1950 w. 1 o'BRlEN 2,684,207

ICE-CHIPPING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Miva/Mey July 20, 1954 w. L. o'BRlEN 2,684,207

ICE-CHIPPING MAdHINE Filed June 8. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 20, 1954 ICE-CHIPPING MACHINE William L. OBrien, Evansville, Ind., assigner to Servel, Inc., NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 8, 1950, Serial No. 166,948

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to an ice chipping machine adapted to produce ice in finely divided form for use at soda fountains, bars, restaurants and the like for cooling beverages or for similar purposes.

Machines of this kind have heretofore been provided in which ice to be chipped is placed in a hopper and chipped ice delivered through a radial spout into a glass or other receptacle. When the desired amount of ice has been obtained the machine is stopped and the receptacle removed. In such prior art machines the chipped ice is delivered through the spout by centrifugal force imparted thereto by a rotating element and the passages including the spout are apt to become clogged.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved ice chipping machine of the type indicated having a construction and arrangement of elements which eliminates plugging of the passages through which ice is delivered from the machine.

Another object is to provide a machine of the type indicated with mechanism for positively propeiling chipped ice from the chipping element as fast as it is formed.

Another object is to provide a machine of the type indicated with a progressively divergent passageway for chipped ice from the place of chipping to the place of discharge.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an ice chipping machine of the type indicated which is of simple and sturdy construction, reliable in operation and economical to manufacture.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the following description and drawings n which like reference characters denote like parts throughout the several views. it is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and not a definition oi the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of an ice chipping machine incorporating the novel features of the present invention and showing the divergent passageway for chipped ice;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and showing the picks projecting upwardly from the rotating disk and the spiral vanes depending from the disk;

Fig. 3 is a transversce sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l and showing the driving means for rotating the chipping plate or disk;

Fig. 4 is a detail plan View of one of the spiral vanes depending from the disk;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the spiral vane illustrated in Fig. 4 and showing its progressive increase in height from one end to the other;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View taken on line 6-5 of Fig. 2 showing a pick tooth struck up from the disk;

Fig. '7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 'l-'l of Fig. 6 showing the ribbed form of the pick to increase its resistance to bending; and

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional View taken on line 8 3 oi Fig. 2 showing one of the hollow spacer sleeves for mounting the housing on the base.

Referring to the drawings, the machine comprises a sheet metal base 9 of generally rectangular form, see Fig. 2, and formed to provide a depending peripheral ilange or skirt le, an intermediate shelf i l, and a recessed portion I2 at the center. A pad or gasket I3 of rubber or other suitable soft material is provided at the bottom edge of the flange lll of the base.

A housing l5 in the form of a nished casting is mounted on the base S. The housing l5 comprises a centrally located hollow bearing sleeve til, a face plate ll at the upper end of the bearing sleeve, a vertical wall i8 at the periphery of the face plate and having an outlet opening is therein and a spout 2l) extending outwardly from Sthe opening nrst tangentially and then radially,

see Fig. 2. The housing i5 is mounted on the base 9 by hollow spacer tubes 2l which extend between the shelf l I of the base and the bottom or" three lugs 22 projecting radially from the wall IB of the housing member in equally spaced relationship, see Figs. 2, 3 and 8. Screws 23 extend through the shelf l l and lugs 22, respectively, and are screwed into the threaded ends of the tubes to rigidly support the housing l5 on the base 9.

A drive shaft ill is rotatably mounted in antifriction bearings 25 in the hollow bearing sleeve the anti-friction bearings being seated between shoulders on the shaft and in the sleeve to properly locate the shaft in the sleeve. The shaft 2d is driven by an electric motor 2S mounted on a pad Elia extending laterally from the bearing sleeve. A pinion 2l on the shaft of the motor 25 meshes with a reduction gear 23 keyed to the lower end of shaft 26 and held in place thereon by a washer 29 and nut 3@ screwed onto the lower threaded end of the shaft. A driving head 3l is mounted fast on the upper end of shaft 24 and has pins 32 which project upwardly through holes .in a chipping disk or plate 33, later to be described in detail. The assembly of driving head 3l and chipping disk 33 are locked in position on the upper end of the shaft 24 by means of a washer 3F and nut 35 screwed onto the upper threaded end of the shaft.

The peripheral wall I8 of the housing l5 has an annular recess 33 for seating the lower end of a cylindrical shell 31 constituting a hopper for holding ice to be chipped. Surrounding the hopper shell Slis insulation SSfwhich, in turn, is enclosed by an outer shell 39 having its lower end seated in a suitable gasket or ferrule d on The outer shell 3s" the shelf il of the base 9. is split vertically at one side and the edges folded outwardly to provide opposed"channels7 di' above the spout 20 and is out away'toprovide a clearance for the spout below the folded portions. After the outer shell 39 has beentpla'ced in'posi'- tion around the insulation 38 a Q-shaped .tting 42 is slid downwardly over the outwardly folded' channels ZI to close the seam, see Fig. 3, and a cover" plate detachablyV connected' to the shell below the spout. The top of the hopper 3l is closedby acover ed.

The arrangement of the spout 20 is such as to permit a glass or other receptacle to be positioned thereunder and the operation of the motor Q6 may be controlled by a switch operated by the receptacle if desired. As illustrated, however, aseparate manually operated switch its is provided for controlling operation of the motor 25 to deliver chipped ice from the spout 2e. Any suitable arrangement may be provided for draining the water from ice melting in the machinel such as the one described and claimed in an application forUnitedStates Letters Patent of Arthur C. Shua-rt, Serial No. 166,897', currently herewith on June 8, w50,V and now abandoned.

In accordance with the present invention a progressively divergent passageway le is provided-from'the place where the ice is chipped to the discharge end'of the spout 29 together with spiral -vanes t depending from the rotating chipping disk 33'which cooperate with the stationary face plate l'i` for positively propelling the chipped `ice through the passageway-as fast as it is formed. To this end, the face plate i? is of conical form with its upper surface sloping downwardly from an annular shoulder adjacent the driving head Si toward the peripheral wall i8.y Also, the top and bottom walls of spout 2i? progressively diverge from the tangential outlet opening "i d in the peripheral wall it to the end of thev spout, see Fig. l. Thus, the passageway iii for chipped ice progressively increases in depth from the point where chipped ice isforrned-to the point where it4 isdischarged from the end of the spout 2i).

The chipping disk or plate 33 is in the form or" a flat plate having an upwardly projecting flange 5| at its outer periphery to increase its resistance to'bending or deformation. Picks 52 are formed on the chipping disk 33 by punching openings 53 therein, see Fig. 2, to form pointed teeth and bending the teeth upwardly as illustrated in Fig. 6. Preferably, the teeth or picks 52 are stamped with diamond shaped recesses 55 to provide strengthening ribs therein, see Fig. 7. As illustrated in Fig. 2, a series of teeth or picks 52 are arranged in pairs at opposite sides of the rotational axis and with each pair spaced angularlyand:` outwardly from" an adjacent pair to provide a series of teeth at each side of the rotational axis located generally in a spiral from the:center.to the periphery of the disk.

led con-- Mounted on and depending from the bottom of the chipping disk or plate 33 are the spiral vanes 50 arranged at the rear of the teeth 52 for positively displacing chipped ice as fast as it is formed. The vanes 50 are in the form of plates 56 welded or otherwise attached to the bottom of the disk 33 and having right angular depending anges 5l in the form of an Archimedes spiral starting ata point'a adjacent thedriving head 3| and ending at a point b at the periphery of the disk at the rear of the point a in the direction of rotation. By reference to Fig. 5, it will be noted that the flanges 5'! of vanes 5i! varyY in height from the point a to the point b corresponding to the slope of the conical face plate il from -the -driving head 3l to the peripheralwall IS'. The vanes 59 cooperate with the upper conical surface of face plate il and act in thernanner of plows to positively propel the chipped ice outwardly and through the outlet opening i9 and spout' 2li. Overlying the top of disk 33 isa cross strut 58 having its ends seatedv in slots 59 in-brackets on opposite'sidewalls of the hopper D31 vfor'holding the ice in the hopper from rotating with the disk. One form offthe invention having now been described in detail, the mode of operatic-nis explained as follows.

To prepare the machine for an ice' chipping operatioruther cover lfiis removed chunks of ice, such as cakes, manufactured cubes or the like, are placed in hopper 3?. The ice feeds by gravity againstthe top face'of the di'skf. When chipped` is desireda glass or other receptacle is placed under the spout`20 and 4switch 138 actuated manually to' initiate operation` of the inotor E. Rotation of the motor 23 is transmitted through the pinion 2 and reduction gear 28 to rotate shaft 24 and disk 33' connected theretoby the driving head Siand pins 32.

As the disk-S3 rotates, the ice at the bottoni of the hopper 3l is held by cross strut 58 and the upwardly projecting teeth or picks 52 chip ice over substantially the entire area `at thebottom of the .ice pack in the hopper. Ice chipped by the picks' 52 kis delivered through the openings 53 surrounding the picks andI into-the chamber or passageway i2 betweenthe bottom of the disk andthe conical face plate il. The chipped ice entering the passageway 59 is immediately and positively propelled outwardly on the uppersurfaceof the face plate il by the relatively moving spiral vanes 5i? as fast as it is delivered thereto. At the outer periphery of the Aface plate. il' the chipped'ice is forced outwardly through the tangential opening id and radial spout 2t by the vanes. Due to the progressively divergent passageway iis' the chipped ice flows freely through the spout E-into the receptacle.

After the desired arnountof ice has been obtainedthe switch fiSis actuated to deenergize the motor-2i? and stop the machine and the receptacle with the chipped ice therein is removed. Even though the spout 2i! maybe illedwith chipped ice after an ice chipping operation, the passageway dii will not become clogged between periods of operation because of the progressively divergent form of the passageway. In other words, when the machine is again operated the spiral vanes 5@ willpositively displace chipped ice delivered by the rotating disk 33 and push theioe ahead of it outwardly'through'the passageway dS which Oilers little or no resistance because of its eXpandingarea-toward the outlet.

It will now be observed that the present invention provides an improved ice chippinginachineA which eliminates plugging of the passages through which ice is delivered. It will also be observed that the present invention provides for positively displacing chipped ice as fast as it is formed and provides a progressively divergent passageway from the place oi chipping to the place or" discharge. It will still further be observed that the present invention provides a machine of simple and sturdy construction which is reliable in operation and economical to manufacture.

While a single embodiment of the invention is herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, Without limitation in this respect the invention is deiined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. An ice chipping machine comprising a base, a stationary housing mounted on said base, said housing having an axial bearing sleeve, a conical face, and a peripheral wall having an opening therein, a vertically arranged cylindrical hopper for ice above said housing, a shaft rotatable in the bearing sleeve, a disk at the upper end of said shaft in spaced relation to the conical face of the housing, picks projecting upwardly from the disk for chipping ice fed axially thereto from the hopper, said conical face haring away from the disk in a direction outwardly from its rotatable axis, spiral vanes depending from the disk for forcing chipped ice outwardly between the spaced disk and conical face of the housing, and a spout having one wall forming a continuation of the conical face of the stationary housing and progressively diverging with respect to the opposite wall from the opening in the peripheral wall to its outer end.

2. An ice chipping machine comprising a base, a stationary housing mounted on said base, said housing having a vertically arranged bearing sleeve, a conical face at the upper end of the bearing sleeve, a peripheral wall surrounding the conical face, and a spout extending from an opening in the peripheral wall, a vertically arranged cylindrical hopper above the housing, a drive shaft in the bearing sleeve, an electric motor mounted on the housing and connected to rotate the drive shaft, a disk mounted on the upper end of the drive shaft and having teeth projecting upwardly and spiral vanes dependingtherefrom, and the conical face of said stationary housing and the bottom of said disk providing an annular chamber of progressively increasing height from the picks outwardly to the peripheral wall and the walls of the spout forming a co-ntinuation of the chamber with opposite walls progressively diverging from the opening in the peripheral wall to its outlet end.

3. An ice chipping machine comprising a hopper for holding ice to be chipped, a stationary housing having a face opposite the end of the hopper, a rotatable chipping disk between the hopper and face of the stationary housing, said chipping disk having at least one pick projecting from one side for chipping ice fed thereto from the hopper and an opening adjacent the pick through which chipped ice passes, a vane projecting from the other side of the disk and extending spirally from its rotatable axis to its periphery for sweeping engagement with the face of the stationary housing, the rotatable disk and face ci the stationary housing forming the opposite sides of an annular passageway through which chipped ice is propelled outwardly by the spiral vane, a spout extending from the passageway, and said face, rotatable disk and spout being formed to provide a passageway for chipped ice with progressively diverging sides from the picks to the cuter end of the spout.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 20,952 Smith Dec. 20, 1938 152,655 Lane June 30, 1874 432,758 Mills July 22, 1890 1,426,745 Jerome Aug. 22, 1922 1,816,050 Lee July 28, 1931 1,977,320 McKinney Oct. 16, 1934 2,034,951 McArdle et al Mar. 24, 1936 2,181,000 Shively Nov. 21, 1939

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