US3368723A - Ice dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 13, 1968 J. HARDEMAN ICE DISPENSING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31, 1966 INVENTOR. JOHN L. HARDEMAN ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1968 J. HARDEMAN ICE DISPENSING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 31, 1966 INVENTOR. JOHN L HARDEMAN ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1968 QL HARDEMAN ICE DISPENSING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 51, 1966 INVENTOR. .TOHN HARDEMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,368,723 ICE DISPENSING APPARATUS John L. Hardeman, Merriam, Kans., assignor to Titan Ice Machine Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed May 31, 1966, Ser. No. 553,782 7 Claims. (Cl. 222-247) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An ice storage and dispensing apparatus including a container having an insulated storage chamber with generally parallel ends and a transversely tapering lower portion, said container having a discharge passage way communicating with the interior of the storage chamber for movement of ice forms therefrom, the discharge passageway being located slightly upwardly from the bottom of the storage chamber and at one side. There is a closure valve for the discharge passageway which when opened will permit ice forms to pass therethrough. The container includes an agitating structure oscillatable about an axis longitudinally of the chamber with a plurality of longitudinally spaced outwardly extending members with vanes on end portions to agitate the ice forms to break same apart, the vanes being arranged with surfaces to move ice toward the discharge passage in response to oscillatory movement of the agitator? Ice may be provided for storage and dispensing means by various types of ice making machines, either in conjunction with said dispensing means for automatic supply or separately, thereby requiring manual delivery of the ice to the dispensing means. Various types of ice making machines are available for automatically making ice in the form of cubes, crushed ice, cracked ice and the like. Such machines function to start a freezing cycle in response to a demand indication and while no ice freezing may be required for long periods of time, the periods of peak demand may exceed the freezing capacity of the machines resulting in unfilled requirements and dissatisfaction. Storage facilities for large quantities of such ice particles or forms to handle peak loads have presented difliculties due to the tendency of the ice particles to adhere together within the storage facility making removal of said particles difficult or impossible.

In such facilities as hospitals, hotels and the like, it is desirable to dispense such ice particles or forms into containers, such as ice pitchers and the like, for various utilizations. Heretofore, the removal of such ice forms and the placement of said ice forms in such containers was a time consuming, relatively unsanitary procedure usually involving manual breaking of the adhered ice forms and difficulty in placing the ice forms in said containers due to the restricted openings in such containers as pitchers and the like.

The principal objects of this invention are: to provide a new and improved apparatus for the storage of various ice forms and the dispensing of said ice forms to alleviate the aforementioned difiiculties in the art; to provide such an apparatus in combination with an ice making machine, eliminating the necessity of human handling of the ice prior to its distribution or consumption, thereby effecting a sanitary distribution system, particularly valuable in hospitals and the like; to provide such an apparatus wherein various forms of ice may be manually placed in said apparatus for storage and dispensing, said ice forms being dispensed into various containers to provide a sanitary ice distribution procedure; to provide such an apparatus having a discharge passage or port of a sufiiciently small dispensing area as to allow the free ice which would inhibit or prevent the free flow of ice forms from said apparatus; to provide such an apparatus including means for breaking up masses of adhered ice forms to allow for the free flow of ice forms through a small discharge passageway; to provide such an apparatus having a new and improved valve closure means for opening and closing the flow passageway of said apparatus which is not susceptible to freeze-up or blockage by said ice forms; to provide such an apparatus which may be simply and inexpensively manufactured and installed to materially increase the ease and sanitation of the distribution of various ice forms.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth by way of illustration and example certain embodiments of this invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a service center including an ice storing and dispensing apparatus embodying the features of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 3 through the ice storing and dispensing apparatus included in the service center of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2 through the ice storing and dispensing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the discharge member of the ice storing and dispensing apparatus showing the ice flow passageway and a valve mechanism for closing said passageway.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line -55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a service center including an ice storing and dispensing apparatus embodying the features of this invention in combination with an ice making machine.

FIG. 7 is a partial bottom plan view of the discharge member and valve mechanism mounted on the ice storage container with a portion of said container being broken away to illustrate the relationship of the relief valve mechanism to the discharge member in its open and closed positions.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through the appendages of the agitating means illustrating the relationship of the fins on said appendages to the discharge member and showing the fin construction.

Referring to the drawings in more detail:

This invention contemplates an apparatus for storing and dispensing various ice forms including a storage container having side walls, said side walls having an interior surface, said surface of each of said side walls having a lower inwardly inclining portion defining an inner chamber having a transversely tapering lower portion, said container also defining a discharge port or passageway in communication with the chamber of said container, said passageway extending exteriorly of said container. The invention further contemplates an agitating means operatively mounted within said container, said agitating means including appendages swingable transversely of said container in a slightly spaced relation to the lower inwardly inclining portion of the interior surface of said container to break apart ice forms which have adhered together. The appendages of said agitating means are swingable in an arc generally conforming to the shape of the lower portion of the storage chamber. It is also contemplated that the appendages have vanes operatively connected to their outer end portions for moving the ice forms in a particular direction within the storage chamber toward the discharge port or passageway in order to move the ice forms into the desired position within the storage chamber over the discharge passageway or port. This invent-ion also contemplates a new and improved closure valve mechanism for utilization in ice flow passageways which is not susceptible to the normal freeze-up problems of closure devices of this type and which is capable of being rotated to a closed position even though various ice forms may be blocking the flow passage.

The reference numeral 1 generally designates a service center of such a type which may be utilized in hospitals, hotels and the like for filling ice pitchers or other containers with various forms of ice and obtaining drinking water or other commodities for patient or customer service. The service center 1 is exemplary only as it is illustrative of a type of facility in which an apparatus for dispensing and storing various ice forms may be employed. The apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms, however, may be employed in other and different facilities and supporting structures, depending upon its location and utilization in a particular establishment.

The reference numeral 2 designates the apparatus for storing and dispensing various forms of ice and includes an ice storage container, cabinet or housing 4 which, as illustrated, is a double wall structure. The ice storage container 2, as illustrated, includes an inner wall 6, an outer wall 8 in opposed spaced relation from the inner wall 6 with a layer of insulation 10 disposed in the space between the spaced inner and outer walls 6 and 8 respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner wall 6 is formed of a non-corrosive material useable with foods and capable of being subjected to cleaning and sanitizing materials and methods such as a stainless steel with the outer wall 8 formed of a synthetic resin or other material to provide additional insulating. The inner wall 6 has a pair of opposed end wall portions 12 and 14 and side wall portions 16 and 18, said end wall portions 12 and 14 being operatively connected to said side walls 16 and 18 to retain said side walls 16 and 18 in opposed spaced relation and defining therebetween an interior ice storage chamber or compartment 28 in which the various ice forms are stored awaiting their ultimate distribution. The side wall portions 16 and 18 each have an interior surface 22, said surface 22 of each of said side walls 16 and 18 having a lower portion 24 inclining inwardly and thereby defining a storage chamber 20 having a transversely tapering lower portion 26. The interior surface 22 of the side walls 16 and 18, in the illustrated embodiment, extends inwardly toward another defining a generally U- shaped configuration in transverse sectional view having an arcuately shaped lower portion 24 wherein the interior surfaces 22 of the opposed side walls 16 and 18 are continuous and integral with one another to form a troughlike structure in which the various ice forms are stored and from which they are dispensed. The interior surface 22 of the side walls 16 and 18 is slightly inclined longitudinally toward a lower end 25 of chamber 20 where a drain 27 is located to remove water from chamber 20.

In the illustrated embodiment, the container 4 includes an upper closure member 28 being of a double wall construction having a layer of insulation 30 disposed between said walls. The closure member 28 is hingedly sealed to the container 4 by suitable means in a conventional manner and suitably sealed upon closing in such a manner as to effectively inhibit the transfer of heat to the interior storage chamber 20.

The storage and dispensing apparatus 2 also includes an agitating means 32 which is operatively connected within said interior chamber 20, said means 32 being operable for agitating the various ice forms to effect a breaking or disengagement of a mass or plurality of adhered ice forms of the type which tend to form in a storage device of this nature. In the illustrated embodiment, the agitating means 32 includes a rotatable shaft 34 suitably journaled in the end wall portions 12 and 14 of the interior wall 6, said rotatable shaft 34 being operatively connected to a driving means 36 for oscillating the shaft 34 in a desired arc. The driving means 36 is illustrated herein as an electric motor 38 operatively mounted by suitable means to the interior wall 6 of the container 4 and having a shaft 50 operatively mounted to a drive arm 42. The drive arm 42 is pivotally mounted to a linkage arm 44 which is, in turn, pivotally mounted to a second linkage arm 46 which is suitably secured to the shaft 34. As shaft 50 of the electric motor 38 is driven, the shaft 34 will reciprocate or oscillate through a desired arc to effectively swing or move a plurality of agitating appendages illustrated herein as appendages, fingers or arms 48 operatively mounted in a longitudinally spaced relation along said shaft 34 in a suitable manner. Each of the appendages 48 has a lower end portion 50 which is swingable by the oscillating motion of the shaft 34 in a slightly spaced relation from the lower portion 24 of the interior surface 22 of the inner wall 6 of container 4, in such a manner as to agitate the ice forms within the inner compartment 20 of container 4, thereby breaking apart any masses of adhered ice forms which may have been formed during the storage time of said ice.

In the illustrated embodiment, the appendages 48 each have a vane or fin member 52 operatively mounted as by welding to the lower portion 50 of appendages 48 having an ice movement surface 51 to effect a movement of the ice forms within the storage compartment 20 to a suitable discharge point from said compartment 20 such that a free flow of ice forms may always be had through said discharge means as sufficient quantities of ice are moved by means of vanes 52 to said discharge means. The vanes 52, as illustrated are welded to a side of the shaft-like appendages 48 as shown in FIG. 8. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 8, it should be noted that the vanes on one side of the discharge point, said point being illustrated by increased spacing between the longitudinally disposed appendages 48 in FIG. 3, have ice movement surfaces 51 directed in one manner whereas the appendages on the opposite side of the discharge point are directed in an opposite manner, such that a stroke of the oscillating appendages 48 will cause said surfaces 51 to move the ice forms within the inner compartment 20 toward the discharge point in the compartment 20. The back stroke of the appendages 48 does not tend to move the ice forms away from the discharge point because of the shaft-like appendages 48 mounted to vanes 52, which due to the shape of the mounting and weld fillets 53, cause the vanes 52 to out through the mass of ice forms without movement of said forms away from the discharge point.

The interior surface 22 of each of the side walls 16 and 18, as illustrated, has a rib member 55 suitably mounted thereto and extending longitudinally of the storage chamber 20 between the end walls 12 and 14. The rib members 55, as illustrated, are inset from the termination point of the oscillating arc of the appendages 48 on each of the side walls 16 and 18 such that the vanes 52 pass over said ribs 55 in slightly spaced relation thereto on each oscillation across chamber 20. The ribs 55 each contain a generally vertical abutment surface 57 facing inwardly of chamber 20 for cooperative interaction with the vanes 52 during each oscillation across chamber 20 to assist in breaking apart adhered ice forms and to further assist in moving the ice forms to the discharge member 56.

The storing and dispensing apparatus 2 also employs a new and improved dispensing means acting in combination with the agitating means 32 in compartment 20 to dispense ice forms through a relatively small passageway, said dispensing means including a closure member operable to ripen and close a dispensing passageway to selectively permit and restrict the flow of ice forms from the inner storage compartment 20. The dispensing means indicated herein by numeral 54 includes a discharge memher 56 illustrated herein as a tubular member defining a flow passage or flow port 58 providing communication between the inner chamber 20 and the exterior of container 4. The discharge member 56 is laterally offset from the low point of the inner chamber 20 to prevent the flow of water from melted ice through said passage 58. The discharge member 56, as illustrated, is comprised of an upper portion 60 and a lower portion 62, each of said portions being tubular and interconnected by means of a pair of exterior braces 64, said portions 60 and 62 being retained in opposed vertically spaced relation defining therebetween a transverse slot 66 through the discharge member 56 for receipt of a closure means for selectively opening and closing the flow passage 58.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, a closure member or closure valve 68 is selectively movable through slot 66 to seal off the flow passage 58 to prevent the movement of ice forms from the inner compartment 20 of container 4. The closure member 68 is illustrated herein as a leaf valve member 70 being some what V-shaped in plan view having a pair of angularly disposed leg portions 72 and 74 and being of a fiat plate-like form. The leaf valve 70 is operatively connected by suitable means to a hand crank or handle 76 at leg 74, said handle 76 serving to rotate the leaf valve 70 and particularly, the leg portion 72 into sealing relation with the passageway 58. The leg portions 72 and 74 are joined in a V-shaped manner and have an interior apex or indented portion 78 which rotates approximately through the center area 79 of the passageway 58. The movement of the apex portion 78 across the passage 58 effects a type of wedging action which moves the ice forms which may be blocking the passageway 58 after the fiow of ice through said passageway into underlying or overlying relation to the leaf valve member 70 to allow the valve member 70 to completely seal off the flow passage 58. The leaf valve member 70 has only a small area in contacting relation to the tubular member or discharge member 56 at which freezing might occur to stick the leaf valve 70 in a closed position. The location of the discharge member 56 in a laterally offset relation to the low portion of the chamber 20 prevents large quantities of moisture from gathering in passageway 58 which might cause freeze-up to closure valve 68. The moisture moves through chamber 20 for discharge through drain 27. It should be noted that the operating mechanism of the closure member 68 is generally exposed to the outer atmosphere through the flow passageway 58 and is, therefore, constantly heated to (Eliminate any possibility of freeze-up of the closure means When the crank or handle 76 is rotated to move the leaf valve 70 to an open position, it is desirable to activate the agitating means 32 to rotate the shaft 34 and swing appendages 48 to break up adhered ice masses within the storage chamber 20 and to effect movement of the ice by means of the vanes 52 toward the discharge passage 5? to supply the discharge passage 58 with a free flow 0 ice.

In the illustrated embodiment, the agitation means 32 is activated by means of a micro-switch 80 suitably mounted to the outer wall 8 of the container 4, said microswitch 80 being so positioned that the rotation of the crank 76 to move the leaf valve 70 to an open position places the crank 76 in contacting relation to the microswitch 80 depressing the switching means 82 on said micro-switch 80 and thereby activating the agitating means 32 as the micro-switch 80 is operatively connected to the electric motor 38 and the power source to motor 38. It should be noted that other and different types of switching mechanisms may be employed to activate the agitating means 32 and said switching means may be located in other and different locations. It should be recognized, however, that the placement of the switching means 80 in a cooperating relation to the crank or handle 76 provides considerable advantage in view of the fact that one may be holding the pitcher or other container in one hand in a receiving position beneath the flow passage 58 and with a single motion of the other free hand, move the crank 76 to an open position and automatically activate the agitation means 32 by depressing the switching means 82.

Referring to FIG. 6, a modification of the service center 1 is illustrated and designated by the reference numeral 90. The service center 90 includes an ice making mechanism 92 of a conventional nature which lies above and in communication with the inner chamber or storage compartment 20 of the container 4. The ice making mechanism 92 is so disposed that it may be periodically activated by suitable means to manufacture any of the various types of ice forms and deposit said forms within the storage compartment 20 of container 4. By employing such a combination, it is only necessary to dispense the ice forms from the container 4 in the convenient manner previously described and there is no necessity of filling the container 4 with various types of ice forms as this is accomplished automatically by the ice making mechanism 92. It should be noted that a combination of this type would be extremely beneficial in a facility such as a hospital where sanitation is extremely important and the combination shown by the service center 90 provides an apparatus wherein the various ice forms themselves need not be touched or handled by the distribution personnel, but may be made in the apparatus 92, deposited in the container 4 for storage, and then discharged into a pitcher or other container without the necessity of human handling of the ice forms themselves. This procedure would materially increase the sanitary characteristics of an ice distribution operation. This combination is particularly adaptable to the new and improved ice storage and dispensing apparatus 2 embodying the feature of this invention as it would be seldom necessary to obtain entry into the inner compartment 20 for such things as freeze-up or removing large blocks of adhered ice forms or various other problems attendant the prior art devices.

In operation, it is merely necessary to place an ice receiving container such as a pitcher beneath the discharge passageway 58. In fact, the discharge member could probably be placed through the receiving aperture of the container so as to avoid any spilling of the various ice forms. The handel 76 or crank is then swung to an open position to move the leaf valve 70 and particularly the leg 72 of valve 70 out of its sealing position in relation to the discharge member 56. The rotation of the crank or handle 76 also moves said handle into contacting rela tion with the micro-switch 89 to thereby activate said switch and the electric motor 38 to oscillate the shaft 34 in the manner previously described to move the appendages 48 in an arcuate path across the lower portion 26 of the inner compartment 20 to break apart adhered ice forms and to move the ice forms to the discharge port passageway 58 to insure a free flow of ice forms through said passageway 58. When ice container is filled or the desired amount of ice is obtained, the crank 76 is then rotated to a closed position moving the leaf valve 70 across the flow passage 58 thereby sealing said flow passage. The movement of the handle or crank 76 away from the micro-switch 80 allows the switching means 82 to move into an open position, thereby stopping the flow of current to the motor 38 and deactivating the agitation means 32.

It is to be understood that while I have illustrated and described one form of my invention, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts herein described and shown except insofar as such limitations are included in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms comprising:

(a) a container having an interior surface defining an inner storage chamber for receiving and storing ice forms, said container defining a discharge passage way in communication with the storage chamber of said container and the exterior of said container, said discharge passageway having a closure valve means operatively connected thereto for selectively opening and closing said passageway,

(b) agitating means operativei connected in the storage chamber of said container to break apart adhered masses of ice forms to permit a tree flow of the ice forms through the discharge passageway,

(c) said agitating means having a plurality of appendages swingably mounted within said storage chamber,

(d) a vane mounted on each of said appendages and having an ice movement surface inclined relative to the axis of the swinging movement to move the ice forms within said storage chamber in a particular direction on a stroking movement of the oscillating appendages, each of said vanes having an opposed surface with means thereon to prevent the movement of ice forms in the chamber in an opposite direction upon a reverse stroking movement of the oscillating appendages.

2. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms comprising:

(a) a container having an interior surface defining an inner storage chamber for receiving and storing ice forms, said container defining a discharge passageway in communication with the storage chamber of said container and the exterior of said container, said discharge passageway having a closure valve means operatively connected thereto for selectively opening and closing said passageway,

(b) agitating means operatively connected in the storage chamber of said container to break apart adhered masses of ice forms to permit a free flow of the ice forms through the discharge passageway,

(c) said container having a pair of spaced longitudinally extending ribs, each having an inwardly tacing abutment surface,

(d) said agitating means having a plurality of appendages swingably mounted within said storage chamber, said appendages being swingable relative to said storage chamber transversel of said ribs in spaced relation over said ribs,

(e) a vane on each of the appendages and having an ice movement surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of said container to move the ice forms within said storage chamber in a particular direction on a stroking movement of said oscillating appendages, said vanes each having an opposed surface with means thereon to prevent the movement of ice forms in the chamber in an opposite direction upon a reverse stroking movement of the oscillating appendages.

3. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms as recited in claim 2 wherein the container has a pair of opposed portions with said discharge passageway being located interiorly of said end portions with the appendages of said agitating means located on both sides longitudinally of said discharge passageway and the vanes on one side of the said passageway having an ice movement surface inclined to the longitudinal axis in one direction and the vanes on the opposite side of said passageway having an ice movement surface inclined in the opposite direction to move said ice toward said discharge passageway upon stroking movement of the oscillating appendages.

4. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms as recited in claim 2 wherein said container includes a discharge member, said discharge member defining a fiow passageway from the storage chamber of said container to the exterior of said container, said discharge member having a side Wall, said side wall defining a transverse slot therethrough and wherein said closure valve means includes a leaf valve member swingable through said slot to seal off the passageway defined by said discharge member.

5. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms as recited in claim 4 wherein said chamber includes a lowermost portion for drainage of moisture from melted ice forms and wherein said discharge passageway is in communication with said chamber through a discharge port located above said lowermost portion to reduce the quantity of moisture which may flow into said discharge passageway.

6. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms as recited in claim 4 wherein said leaf valve member is operatively connected to an actuating means for swinging said leaf valve through said slot, said leaf valve member having a leading edge portion movable through said slot and across said discharge member to a position wherein said leaf valve member seals off said discharge passageway, said leading edge portion being generally V-shaped with an inwardly directed apex portion, said apex portion being movable transversely across the center portion of said discharge passageway.

7. An apparatus for storing and dispensing ice forms as recited in claim 6 including means engageable with said actuating means for swinging said leaf valve means when said leaf valve means is in an open position to activate said agitating means to break apart adhered masses of ice forms within said storage chamber and to agitate and move the ice forms within said storage chamber to said discharge passageway.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 794,069 7/1905 Anglund 222-235 1,323,401 12/1919 McCaskie 222-409 1,530,757 3/1925 Clewett 222-233 1,634,213 6/1927 Rockwood 222-409 1,656,280 1/1928 Lalor 251-30 2 2,730,389 1/1956 Sherman 251-301 2,855,007 10/1958 Erickson et al. 222-235 3,075,363 1/1963 Conto 62-344 3,126,125 3/1964 Eggers 222-459 3,192,734 7/1965 Swanson 62-344 3,272,300 9/1966 Hoenisch 222-333 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Examiner.

Images