US3670523A

US3670523A - Flexible plastic ice tray and storage container

Info

Publication number: US3670523A
Application number: US88388A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas H Fogt; William R Steiner; John M Murphy
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1970-11-10
Filing date: 1970-11-10
Publication date: 1972-06-20
Anticipated expiration: 1989-06-20
Also published as: JPS4942107B1; BR7107242D0; AU3549871A; AU446947B2

Abstract

A resilient plastic ice tray and integral grid formed by a longitudinal center partition having an inverted V-shaped cross section together with transverse partitions enclosing two rows of freezing compartments. The tray center partition being of greater height than its transverse partitions, end walls and side walls to allow complementary notched locking guides formed on the underside thereof to cooperate with the upstanding rib portion of the central partition of an underlying tray for relative sliding movement therebetween and to support the trays in interlocked nested fashion when the trays are stacked one upon another in vertically aligned relation. Each tray has its side and end walls provided with an outwardly extending flange wall which allows a tray with its frozen contents to be inverted and nested over a receiving container having a cooperating outwardly directed seating ledge about its upper open end to harvest ice cubes into the container while the container additionally provides for a tray to be nested in an upright position either over or under the container.

Description

United States Patent Fogt et al.

[ 1 June 20, 1972 [54] FLEXIBLE PLASTIC ICE TRAY AND STORAGE CONTAINER [72] Inventors: Thomas H. Fogt, West Carrollton; William R. Steiner; John M. Murphy, both of Dayton, all of Ohio [73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation, Detroit,

Mich.

[221 Filed: Nov. 10, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 88,388

[52] US. Cl ..62/344, 249/126 [51] Int. Cl. ..F25c 5/18 [58] Field of Search ....62/344, 320; 249/69, 70, 126,

3,480,251 11/1969 Pietrzak... ...249/127 2,198,106 4/1940 Chandonia ...249/l26 3,352,528 11/1967 Bemstrom et al. ...249/l 26 3,484,035 12/1969 Swett et al. ..220/20 X Primary Examiner-Wi1liam E. Wayner Attorney-William S. Pettigrew, Frederick M. Ritchie and Edward P. Barthel 57 ABSTRACT A resilient plastic ice tray and integral grid formed by a longitudinal center partition having an inverted V-shaped cross section together with transverse partitions enclosing two rows of freezing compartments. The tray center partition being of greater height than its transverse partitions, end walls and side walls to allow complementary notched locking guides formed on the underside thereof to cooperate with the upstanding rib portion of the central partition of an underlying tray for relative sliding movement therebetween and to support the trays in interlocked nested fashion when the trays are stacked one upon another in vertically aligned relation. Each tray has its side and end walls provided with an outwardly extending flange wall which allows a tray with its frozen contents to be inverted and nested over a receiving container having a cooperating outwardly directed seating ledge about its upper open end to harvest ice cubes into the container while the container additionally provides for a tray to be nested in an upright position either over or under the container.

6 Claims, 1 1 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUN 20 m2 SHEET 2 BF 3 ATTORNEY FLEXIBLE PLASTIC ICE TRAY AND STORAGE CONTAINER This invention pertains to freezing trays and receptacles for frozen liquids, and more particularly to an easy ejectable ice cube freezing tray formed to allow one tray to be nested upon another and also to be nestable in an upright position either over or under an ice collecting receptacle.

It has been proposed to provide portable ice block service units or elements adapted to be inserted and removed from a freezing chamber of a refrigerator cabinet without the necessity of handling a plurality of elements thereof such as separately removing an ice cube storage receptacle and ice tray from the freezing chamber of a refrigerator cabinet, bringing the tray into association with the removed receptacle in order to release ice cubes from the tray thereinto, and thereafter reinserting a plurality of filled receptacles in the chamber and individually refilling the tray with water to again place it within the chamber. One such solution to this problem suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,603 issued Sept. 8, 1964 to W. G. Kniffin was to provide a portable combined ice cube service element to be handled as a unit consisting of an ice cube freezing tray and an ice storage member and receptacle with the combined unit movable relative to one another while inseparably connected together for ejecting ice cubes from the tray into the receptacle. In such a device where one end of the metal tray and metallic structure grid is inseparably connected to one end of an ice storage receptacle for swinging movement either in an upright or inverted position it will be appreciated that not only is an ice cube service unit of this type expensive to manufacture but the ice cube freezer tray is not separately usable without the receptacle when it is again desirable to freeze water in the freezing refrigerator compartment.

Still another solution to the problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,572 issued Nov. 26, 1968, to K. K. Kesling which discloses a flexible freezing tray constructed to receive a uniform twist when inverted over and relative to a collecting receptacle. This arrangement does not allow for stacking of the individual trays in nested locked relation, as broadly taught by the U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,695 issued Feb. 20, 1962 to Voigtmann for example, nor does it provide for nesting of a tray in an upright position either over or under the storage container. It is contemplated to provide improvement in the art which will over come the objections to former ice cube service units which will increase the versatility in the use thereof 7 and render them more practical while providing a unit that is readily molded from relatively inexpensive plastic material.

It is therefore an object of this invention to construct a portable ice cube storage container or bucket upon which a tray freezing device may be nested in an upright position within a chamber of a refrigerator cabinet to freeze the cubes invertedly nested in the container outside of and remote from the refrigerator and from which the ice cubes are then released into the container for serving of the cubes therefrom.

It is another object of this invention to construct a nestable ice tray and integral grid having a central elevated partition and cooperating locking guide means on the underside thereof which cooperate to allow relatively sliding movement between stackable trays and serves to interlock the ice trays in nested relation when an upper tray is stacked upon another like tray.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a nestable ice tray which can be stacked upon a like tray and also be nestable in an upright position either over or under an ice collecting receptacle.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown;

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of an improved ice cube tray showing a pair of stacked trays.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ice block container having an ice tray showing the tray in an inverted nested position on the container.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the ice tray associated elements.

FIG. 5 is an end view of a pair of stacked trays.

FIG. 6 is a fragmental vertical sectional view through the ice tray taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the ice tray taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a pair of stacked trays.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of. an ice block container of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view in elevation showing the ice cube container of FIG. 9 together with a pair of nested trays therein.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary end view of the container of FIG. '10 showing details of the nesting structure.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4, there is shown a flexing ice tray 20 fonned of suitable flexible plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropelene or natural or synthetic rubber. This tray is also provided with an integral grid 22 including a longitudinal or central partition 24 extending longitudinally from the front wall 26 to the rear wall 28. The grid 22 includes transversely extending partitions 30a through 30g having an inverted V-shaped cross-section each of which intersect the longitudinal partition 24 and extend in opposite directions to the side walls 32.

As seen in FIG. 4 the front wall '26 has an inverted semi V shaped section forming a downwardly directed flange 33 terminating in an outwardly directed horizontal wide rim 34 while the rear wall 28 is similarly formed with a downwardly directed flange 35 and a wide rim 36 to provide convenient handles at each end thereof as well as ice bucket nesting rims in a manner to be explained. The side walls 32 are similarly provided with downwardly directed flanges 37 having a rather narrow rim 38 extending outwardly from the end thereof and in coplanar relation with the

wide rims

34 and 36. The ends of the longitudinal partition 24 and the transversepartitions 30 are joined to the front and

rear walls

26 and 28 and to the side walls 32 as shown.

The central partition 24 has an upstanding longitudinal guide rib 40 formed a defined distance above the top edges of the side walls 32, front and

rear walls

26, 28 and the transverse

intermediate partitions

30b, 30c, 30d, 30, and 30]. The end

transverse partitions

30a and 30g have their top edges formed a defined distance below the intermediate partitions for a reason to be explained. The longitudinal guide rib 40 has its ends sloped downwardly or cammed at 41 and 42 forming

indents

43, 44 the bottoms of which are located below the top edges of the

end walls

26 and 28. In the disclosed form the sloped guide

rib portions

41, 42 are each formed at an angle of approximately 45 to the horizontal.

The central partition 24 is molded with an inverted V-shape cross section providing a plurality of opposed inboard inclined longitudinal walls 46, 47 for the two rows of freezing compartments having substantially planar bottom walls 49 with the inboard walls 46, 47 diverging upwardly therefrom at an angle of inclination away from the vertical in the disclosed form of approximately ll%., which is substantially equal to the inclination angle of the side walls 32. The integral transverse partitions 30 similarly have inverted V-shapes in cross section from the vertical of approximately 11% similar to the longitudinal walls 46, 47. Thus the transverse and longitudinal partitions together with the ice tray front, rear and side walls define generally rectangular, open top paired intermediate pockets or compartments 48 and end compartments 45 and 50 for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks within the freezing chamber of a refrigerator cabinet. As observed in FIG. 4 the spacing of the walls 51, 52 of the transverse partitions 30 form transverse channels 53 therebetween which receive the upper edges of the transverse partitions 30b-30f of underlying tray 20b (FIG. 10) to allow stacking of the trays. As indicated by partition 30b in FIG. 7 the transverse partitions 30 are provided with recessed channels 54, 56 which form weirs between the intermediate compartments 48 and end compartments 45, 50 for dispersing water incoming to the tray uniformly to the various compartments in each row while the

detents

43, 44 are at a conforming depth to the weirs 54, 56 to allow flow of water between the rows.

With reference to FIG. the portion of the longitudinal channel 55 between adjoining compartment inboard longitudinal walls 46, 47 of the two pairs of end freezer compartments 45,50 has wedge-shaped

tray locking guides

57, 58 extending downwardly so as to be substantially coextensive with the compartment bottom walls 49 and spanning the channel therebetween. The

locking guides

57, 58 have shallow V- shaped notches 59, 60, respectively, formed therein shaped to engage, the longitudinal guide rib 40 of a lower tray to allow a tray to track or slide on the longitudinal rib 40 of an underlying tray to a vertically aligned and horizontally spaced locked position shown in FIG. such that the stacked trays a and 20b will not slip off of one another.

As best seen in FIGS. 3, 4 arid 7 a pair of wedge-shaped support fillets indicated at 61, 62 are formed between opposed inboard walls 46, 47 of two pairs of laterally adjoining intermediate compartments 48 and extend downwardly substantially coextensive with the bottom walls 49 thereof in a manner similar to the

locking guides

57, 58. The intermediate support fillets 61, 62 have

deep U-shaped grooves

63, 64 shaped to engage the longitudinal guide rib 40 such that when a freezingtray is stacked above another tray the

U-shaped grooves

63, 64 are aligned to receive the rib 40. It will be appreciated from FIG. 6 that in their vertically aligned position the

locking guides

57, 58 of tray 20a are oriented over the cammed

end portions

41, 42 of an underlying tray 20b whereby the notches 59, 60 are seated at the approximate mid portion of the

cams

41, 42 in longitudinal locked fashion while the guide rib 40 is received in the

.grooves

63, 64 to allow the bottom of the compartments -48 of tray 20a to nest within the open top of the corresponding compartments of the lower tray 20b.

In order to provide four cornered horizontally spaced support for the stacked trays longitudinal webs, indicated at 65 through 68 in FIG. 3, are formed between the transverse channels 53 formed by adjoining compartment cross walls 51, 52.

V The webs 65-68 are oriented adjacent the outboard end of the endmost transverse end channels and, as seen in FIG. 6, are wedge-shaped and extend downwardly to be coextensive with the bottom walls 49 of the paired

compartments

48, 50 and 48', 45. In this way when the upper tray 20a is moved toward the right to nest with the fixed lower tray 20b, as shown in FIG. 10, the

webs

67 and 68 serve as runners contacting the transverse partition upper edges while the guide notch 60 tracks on guide rib 40 to provide smooth travel of tray 200 relative to tray 20b. Applicants stacking arrangement is made possible by having their associated

terminal partitions

30a and 30g recessed below the intermediate partitions 30b-30f to allow tray 20a to drop downward into stacked relation with lower tray 20b by a vertical distance equal to the difference in height between the

partitions

30a and 30b, and partitions 30b-30f. It

should be noted that the longitudinal webs 64-67 along with the upstanding guide rib 40 provide a stiffening of the trays to render them quite rigid against bending stresses in a vertical or longitudinal direction while allowing the trays 20 to be twisted throughout their length for easy discharge or popping" of the ice cubes. Thus the longitudinal partition 24 is important not only because of its function as a guide rib providing end locking cams for notches 59, 60 but serves to readily transmit a flexing action to each of the transverse partitions 30.

It will be observed that the end compartments 45 and 50 are formed with their bottom walls having their outboard leading comers chamfered, indicated at 70 in FIGS. 4 and 5, to assist an overlying tray in its travel over the transverse partitions 30b-30 when the trays are slid relative to each other. Of course the fact that the front and rear ends of the trays are mirror image of each other allows the trays to be slid on each other and stacked in nested relation interchangeably from either end.

Turning now to a description of the ice collecting container or bucket of FIGS. 2 and 941, there is shown a bucket formed of suitable material such as high impact polystyrene material in the disclosed form having a uniform thickness of approximately 0.09 inches. It will be noted, however, that other suitable material such as linear polyethylene or acrylic butadiene styrene could be used as well as metallic material.

without departing from the scope of the invention. The fivewalled rectangular container 80 has two opposite long side walls 82, 84;

end walls

86, 88 and bottom wall 90 providing an open top box-like structure. The container 80 is also provided with horizontal outwardly directed side flanges 92 and wide end flanges 94, 96 formed continuously around the upper perimeter of the container open top with an upwardly directed ridge wall 98 extending continuously and entirely around the open top of the container adjacent the inner edges of the side flanges 92 and end flanges 94, 96 enclosing an upwardly facing supporting marginal ledge 100. Therectangular shaped marginal supporting ledge 100 is dimensioned so as toreceive the upper edges of upstanding front 26, rear 28 and side walls 32 thereon of an inverted ice tray 20 in nested lid-like fashion to effectively close the open top of the container against the entrance of room air and thereby inhibit-the sublimation or melting of the ice cubes as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

It will be seen that in the position of FIG. 2 the wide handlelike rims 34, 36 of the tray 20 are spaced above the underlying flanges 94, 96 of the container 80 a distance to allow an operator to hold the tray and container handle rims together at one end, such as by gripping the tray and container rims 34 and 94, and at the other end lift the tray by rim 36 and impart a longitudinal twisting motion to the tray 20 thereby maintaining a partial nesting relationship between the tray sidewalls and container at one end to insure the discharge of the ice blocks into the container.

An additional feature of applicants invention shown in FIG. 10 allows one or more of the trays indicated by trays 20a and 20b for example, to be nested in upright position upon the open top of the container 80 to serve as a lid or cover for ice making or ice cube storage in the refrigerator. This arrangement allows one or more trays to be filled with water and the portable unit inserted into the freezing compartment of a refrigerator cabinet. Thus during the ice making operation when a tray 20 is in its upright position on the container 80 the container open top is effectively closed to the entrance of circulating air within the refrigerator to minimize the possibility of the stored ice cubes from taking on any food odors or the like that may be present in the refrigerator cabinet. The

rim portions

34, 36 and 38 provide a horizontal coplaner composite rim that is formed continuously around the outer perimeter of the freezing tray such that the plane of the continuous rim is positioned approximately equidistant parallel planes coincident with, respectively, the upper and lower extremities of the freezing tray side and end walls. In this way the freezing tray continuous horizontal rim is adapted to be supported on the upper edge of the ridge wall 98 extending continuously around the open top of the container 80 whereby a substantially continuous contact is maintained therebetween to efiectively close the open top of the container in lid-like fashion.

The container 80 is made larger than is required to receive ice blocks ejected from a single tray so that one or more subsequent ice block ejections and tray filling operations may be carried out so as to permit the building up of a reserve supply of ice blocks in the container. Further, by virtue of vertically spacing tray 200 above the tray 20b a continuous air space I05 (FIGS. 5 and 10) is provided for permitting air to circulate between the trays while preventing the stacked trays from freezing together.

Still another combination provides for nesting the container 80 on an underlying ice tray 20 by means of a pair of longitudinal rails 102, 104 located parallel with and spaced equidistant from each side of the longitudinal center line on the underside of the container bottom wall 90. The guide rails 102, 104 are spaced apart an amount such that when the container 80 is supported on an underlying tray the guide rails straddle the longitudinal partition 24 so as to supportingly receive therein the guide rib 40 of the underlying tray. A rectangular frame is formed in conjunction with the rails 102, 104 on the bottom wall 90 of the container providing

side stringers

106, 108 and

end stringers

110 and 112. It will be seen that the end stringers, as represented by stringer 110 in FIG. 11, have a greater height than the

side stringers

106, 108 and are provided with V-shaped notches 114, 116 similar to the notches 59, 60 of the trays 20. As seen in the left-hand side of FIG. 10, showing a portion of an underlying tray 20c, the notch 114 engages the locking cam 41 of the tray to allow the container 80 to nest in locked fashion on the tray 200 in a manner analogous to the operation of the notches 59 and 60 of tray 20a engaging underlying tray 20b. At the same time the

longitudinal stringers

106, 108 are supported on the upper edge of transverse intermediate partitions 30b-30g to provide, along with the rib 40 engaging guide rails 102, 104 a secure locked nesting relationship between the overlying container 80 and the underlying tray 20c and thereby increase the stacking versatility of applicants unit within the freezer compartment. It will be noted that the guide rails 102, 104 are not continuous but have an interrupted portion adjacent the midpoint of the container 80 to allow for forming the container by injection molding.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other forms might be adapted.

'What is claimed is as follows:

1. A freezing tray for use in refrigerators comprising: an elongated one piece plastic tray having side, end and bottom walls; said tray having an integral grid including a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing two rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks; said longitudinal and transverse partitions formed having inverted V-shaped cross sections whereby the walls of adjacent compartments diverge from said upper edges to form on the underside of said tray longitudinal and transverse channels between said compartments; said longitudinal center partition providing an upstanding continuous guide rib spaced a defined distance above said tray side walls and end walls and said transverse partitions; said guide rib terminating in outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof adjacent said tray end walls; tray locking guides positioned in said longitudinal channel adjacent each end thereof,

a plurality of tray retaining supports positioned in said longitudinal channel intermediate said locking guides, said tray locking guides having relatively shallow notches formed therein and said tray retaining supports having relatively deep grooves formed therein whereby an upper tray may be stacked on a lower tray in nested and locked relation thereto with each said end cam portion of the lower tray engaged by an overlying locking guide notch of the upper tray and the guide rib of the lower tray engaged by the intermediate retaining support grooves of the upper tray to prevent relative longitudinal and transverse movement respectively between the nested trays.

2. A pair of vertically stackable freezing trays for use in refrigerators each tray comprising: an elongated one piece plastic tray having side, end and bottom walls; said tray having an integral grid including a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing two rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks; said longitudinal and transverse partitions formed having inverted V- shaped cross sections whereby the walls of adjacent compartments diverge from said upper edges to form on the underside of said tray longitudinal and transverse channels between said compartments; said longitudinal center partition formed having an upstanding continuous guide rib spaced a defined distance above said tray side walls and end walls and said transverse partitions; the endmost of said transverse partitions having their top edges terminating a short distance below the remaining intermediate transverse partitions; each endmost transverse channel having longitudinal spacing webs formed therein adjacent the outer ends thereof and coextensive with the bottom walls of said compartments; said guide rib having outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof; tray locking guides positioned in said longitudinal channel adjacent each end thereof and a plurality of tray retaining supports positioned in said longitudinal channel intermediate said locking guides, said locking guides having relatively shallow notches formed therein and said retaining supports having relatively deep grooves formed therein whereby an upper tray may be stacked on a lower tray in nested and locked relation thereto withv eachsaid end cam portion of the lower tray engaged by an overlying locking guide notch of the upper tray; the guide rib of the lower tray engaged by the aligned retaining support grooves of the upper tray to prevent relative longitudinal and transverse movement respectively between the nested trays; said longitudinal spacing webs of the upper tray supportingly engaging the top edges of underlying endmost transverse partitions of the lower tray when the trays are in nested relation, said longitudinal webs allowing the upper tray to smoothly slide over the intermediate transverse partitions of the lower tray when the upper tray locking guide notch is tracking on the guide rib of the lower tray.

3. A nestable freezing tray and ice cube storage container combination for use within and outside a refrigerator cabinet comprising: a five walled open top box-like container having end walls, side walls and a bottom wall, said container having nesting means carried on the bottom wall thereof and integrally molded thereto forming a portable ice storage unit for placement into and removable from a refrigerator cabinet; a flexible freezing tray of plastic material having side, end and bottom walls, a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice pieces; said freezing tray longitudinal center partition formed having an upstanding continuous guide rib spaced a defined distance above said tray side walls and end walls and said transverse partitions, said guide rib having outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof adjacent said tray end walls; said nesting means including a rectangular frame formed by side and end stringers positioned on the underside of said container bottom wall, said stringers being substantially equally spaced from the side and end edges of said container bottom wall, said side stringers adapted to be supported on the transverse partitions of said tray when said container is in nested relation on an underlying upright tray; 3 pair of spaced rails positioned equidistant from and parallel with said container longitudinal center line on the underside of said container bottom wall at each end thereof for receiving a portion of the guide rib of said underlying tray therebetween to prevent relative transverse movement when said storage container is stacked on the underlying tray in nested relation therewith; and said end stringers each having a notch formed in the bottom edge thereof aligned on the longitudinal center line of said container providing container locking guides whereby when said container is stacked on an underlying tray in nested relation thereto each said end cam portion of the underlying tray engages an end stringer notch of said overlying container to lock said container and underlying tray against relative longitudinal movement therebetween.

4. A pair of vertically stackable freezing trays for use in refrigerators each tray comprising: an elongated flexible one piece tray having side, end and bottom walls, said tray having an integral grid including a longitudinal center partition and a plurality of transverse partitions enclosing two rows of paired freezing compartments for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks; said longitudinal partition having an inverted V- shaped cross section forming pairs of opposed inboard walls for eachslateral pair of freezing compartments, said freezing compartment inboard walls defining a longitudinal downwardly opening channel on the underside of said tray; said longitudinal center partition forming an upstanding continuous guide rib, said guide rib extending a defined distance above said transverse partitionsand said tray side and end walls, said guide rib having outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof, adjacent said tray end walls, said cam portions extending at an angle of approximately 45 degrees and terminating a defined distance below the upper edge of said tray end wallsforming indent weirs therewith, wedge-shaped transverse locking guides formed in said longitudinal channel between the opposed inboard walls of each end pair of freezing compartments; said locking guides located in vertical alignment with an intermediate portion of its adjacent guide rib cam portion; wedge-shaped transverse locking supports formed between opposed inboard walls of selected pairs of freezing compartments; said locking guides having relatively shallow notches therein and said locking supports having relatively deep grooves therein such that when an upper tray is positioned in stacked relation above a second lower tray the upper tray locking support grooves engage the center rib upstanding portion of the lower tray while the upper tray locking guide notches engage the underlying cam portions of the lower traywhereby the upper and lower vertically aligned stacked trays are nested and locked against relative longitudinal and transverse movement; said tray transverse partitions 'fonned having an inverted V-shape cross section providing pairs of opposed transverse walls for adjacent freezing compartments in each row of compartments; said freezing compartment transverse walls defining transverse downwardly opening channels on the underside of said tray; each endmost transverse channel having wedge-shaped longitudinal spacing webs formed therein adjacent the outer ends thereof and coextensive with the bottom walls of said compartments; the upper ends of the endmost transverse partitions terminating a defined distance below the upper ends of the intermediate partitions, the spacing webs of the first tray adapted to seat on the underlying endmost transverse partitions of the underlying lower tray whereby the trays are stacked in space relation with the intermediate transverse partitions of the lower tray being received in the overlying transverse channels of the upper tray; and said transverse partitions being provided with recessed weirs at their extremities cooperating with said indent weirs of said longitudinal center partition to allow for dispersing water incoming to said tray uniformly to the various compartments in each row and between the rows respectively; and the outboard bottom wall corner of each of the four endmost compartments being upwardly chamfered to provide for smooth sliding movement between the trays to their aligned stacked position.

5. A nestable freezing tray and ice cube storage container combination for use within and outside a refrigerator cabinet comprising; a five walled open top box-like container having nesting means thereon adjacent the open top thereof for receiving in both inverted and upright position a generally rectangular flexible freezing tray forming a portable ice, storage unit for placement into and removable from a refrigerator cabinet; said freezing tray having side, end and bottom walls, a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiv-.

flanges, the plane of said rim positioned approximately equidistant the parallel planes of the upper and lower extremlties of said freezing tray side and end walls, said container nesting means including a substantially horizontal outwardly directed flange formed continuously around the upper perimeter of said open top, an upwardly directed ridge wall extending continuously along said flange adjacent the inner margin of said outwardly directed flange defining an upwardly facing continuous marginal supporting ledge, said freezing tray continuous rim adapted to be supported on the upper edge of said ridge wall when said tray is in nested relation on said container open top in its upright position whereby a substantially continuous contact is maintained therebetween to effectively close the open topvof said container in lid like fashion against the passage of air thereto or therefrom, said upper edge of said freezing tray side and end walls adapted to be supported on said container continuous supporting ledge with said tray side and end wall flanges extending downwardly in nested relation into said container open top in its inverted position whereby substantially continuous contact is maintained therebetween to effectively close the open top of said container in lid-like fashion against the passage of air thereto or therefrom, the wide end rim handle portions of said inverted tray and the underlying end portions of said container outwardly directed flange being of substantially equal extent and vertically spaced in substantially parallel relation such that an operator may grasp in a first hand one rim handle of said inverted tray and its associated underlying container outwardly directed end flange while gripping and elevating said inverted tray opposite wide rim handle with the other hand and imparting a longitudinal twisting motion thereto while maintaining a partial nesting relationship between said inverted tray first end wall flange and said containers associated ridge wall with the first hand to insure the discharge of the ice blocks into said container.

6. The freezing tray as defined in claim 1 wherein each endmost transverse channel having longitudinal spacing webs formed therein adjacent the outer ends thereof and coextensive with the bottom walls of said compartments whereby an upper tray may be stacked on a lower tray and nested in locked relation thereto with said longitudinal spacing webs of the upper tray supportingly engaging the top edges of the underlying endmost transverse partitions of the lower tray, the

longitudinal webs providing for smooth sliding movemen between the trays to their aligned stacked position.

t a s a a

Claims

1. A freezing tray for use in refrigerators comprising: an elongated one piece plastic tray having side, end and bottom walls; said tray having an integral grid including a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing two rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks; said longitudinal and transverse partitions formed having inverted V-shaped cross sections whereby the walls of adjacent compartments diverge from said upper edges to form on the underside of said tray longitudinal and transverse channels between said compartments; said longitudinal center partition providing an upstanding continuous guide rib spaced a defined distance above said tray side walls and end walls and said transverse partitions; said guide rib terminating in outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof adjacent said tray end walls; tray locking guides positioned in said longitudinal channel adjacent each end thereof, a plurality of tray retaining supports positioned in said longitudinal channel intermediate said locking guides, said tray locking guides having relatively shallow notches formed therein and said tray retaining supports having relatively deep grooves formed therein whereby an upper tray may be stacked on a lower tray in nested and locked relation thereto with each said end cam portion of the lower tray engaged by an overlying locking guide notch of the upper tray and the guide rib of the lower tray engaged by the intermediate retaining support grooves of the upper tray to prevent relative longitudinal and transverse movement respectively between the nested trays.

2. A pair of vertically stackable freezing trays for use in refrigerators each tray comprising: an elongated one piece plastic tray having side, end and bottom walls; said tray having an integral grid including a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing two rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks; said longitudinal and transverse partitions formed having inverted V-shaped cross sections whereby the walls of adjacent compartments diverge from said upper edges to form on the underside of said tray longitudinal and transverse channels between said compartments; said longitudinal center partition formed having an upstanding continuous guide rib spaced a defined distance above said tray side walls and end walls and said transverse partitions; the endmost of said transverse partitions having their top edges terminating a short distance below the remaining intermediaTe transverse partitions; each endmost transverse channel having longitudinal spacing webs formed therein adjacent the outer ends thereof and coextensive with the bottom walls of said compartments; said guide rib having outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof; tray locking guides positioned in said longitudinal channel adjacent each end thereof and a plurality of tray retaining supports positioned in said longitudinal channel intermediate said locking guides, said locking guides having relatively shallow notches formed therein and said retaining supports having relatively deep grooves formed therein whereby an upper tray may be stacked on a lower tray in nested and locked relation thereto with each said end cam portion of the lower tray engaged by an overlying locking guide notch of the upper tray; the guide rib of the lower tray engaged by the aligned retaining support grooves of the upper tray to prevent relative longitudinal and transverse movement respectively between the nested trays; said longitudinal spacing webs of the upper tray supportingly engaging the top edges of underlying endmost transverse partitions of the lower tray when the trays are in nested relation, said longitudinal webs allowing the upper tray to smoothly slide over the intermediate transverse partitions of the lower tray when the upper tray locking guide notch is tracking on the guide rib of the lower tray.

3. A nestable freezing tray and ice cube storage container combination for use within and outside a refrigerator cabinet comprising: a five walled open top box-like container having end walls, side walls and a bottom wall, said container having nesting means carried on the bottom wall thereof and integrally molded thereto forming a portable ice storage unit for placement into and removable from a refrigerator cabinet; a flexible freezing tray of plastic material having side, end and bottom walls, a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice pieces; said freezing tray longitudinal center partition formed having an upstanding continuous guide rib spaced a defined distance above said tray side walls and end walls and said transverse partitions, said guide rib having outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof adjacent said tray end walls; said nesting means including a rectangular frame formed by side and end stringers positioned on the underside of said container bottom wall, said stringers being substantially equally spaced from the side and end edges of said container bottom wall, said side stringers adapted to be supported on the transverse partitions of said tray when said container is in nested relation on an underlying upright tray; a pair of spaced rails positioned equidistant from and parallel with said container longitudinal center line on the underside of said container bottom wall at each end thereof for receiving a portion of the guide rib of said underlying tray therebetween to prevent relative transverse movement when said storage container is stacked on the underlying tray in nested relation therewith; and said end stringers each having a notch formed in the bottom edge thereof aligned on the longitudinal center line of said container providing container locking guides whereby when said container is stacked on an underlying tray in nested relation thereto each said end cam portion of the underlying tray engages an end stringer notch of said overlying container to lock said container and underlying tray against relative longitudinal movement therebetween.

4. A pair of vertically stackable freezing trays for use in refrigerators each tray comprising: an elongated flexible one piece tray having side, end and bottom walls, said tray having an integral grid including a longitudinal center partition and a plurality of transverse partitions enclosing two rows of paired freezing compartmenTs for receiving water to be frozen into ice blocks; said longitudinal partition having an inverted V-shaped cross section forming pairs of opposed inboard walls for each lateral pair of freezing compartments, said freezing compartment inboard walls defining a longitudinal downwardly opening channel on the underside of said tray; said longitudinal center partition forming an upstanding continuous guide rib, said guide rib extending a defined distance above said transverse partitions and said tray side and end walls, said guide rib having outwardly and downwardly sloped cam portions at each end thereof, adjacent said tray end walls, said cam portions extending at an angle of approximately 45* and terminating a defined distance below the upper edge of said tray end walls forming indent weirs therewith, wedge-shaped transverse locking guides formed in said longitudinal channel between the opposed inboard walls of each end pair of freezing compartments; said locking guides located in vertical alignment with an intermediate portion of its adjacent guide rib cam portion; wedge-shaped transverse locking supports formed between opposed inboard walls of selected pairs of freezing compartments; said locking guides having relatively shallow notches therein and said locking supports having relatively deep grooves therein such that when an upper tray is positioned in stacked relation above a second lower tray the upper tray locking support grooves engage the center rib upstanding portion of the lower tray while the upper tray locking guide notches engage the underlying cam portions of the lower tray whereby the upper and lower vertically aligned stacked trays are nested and locked against relative longitudinal and transverse movement; said tray transverse partitions formed having an inverted V-shape cross section providing pairs of opposed transverse walls for adjacent freezing compartments in each row of compartments; said freezing compartment transverse walls defining transverse downwardly opening channels on the underside of said tray; each endmost transverse channel having wedge-shaped longitudinal spacing webs formed therein adjacent the outer ends thereof and coextensive with the bottom walls of said compartments; the upper ends of the endmost transverse partitions terminating a defined distance below the upper ends of the intermediate partitions, the spacing webs of the first tray adapted to seat on the underlying endmost transverse partitions of the underlying lower tray whereby the trays are stacked in spaced relation with the intermediate transverse partitions of the lower tray being received in the overlying transverse channels of the upper tray; and said transverse partitions being provided with recessed weirs at their extremities cooperating with said indent weirs of said longitudinal center partition to allow for dispersing water incoming to said tray uniformly to the various compartments in each row and between the rows respectively; and the outboard bottom wall corner of each of the four endmost compartments being upwardly chamfered to provide for smooth sliding movement between the trays to their aligned stacked position.

5. A nestable freezing tray and ice cube storage container combination for use within and outside a refrigerator cabinet comprising; a five walled open top box-like container having nesting means thereon adjacent the open top thereof for receiving in both inverted and upright position a generally rectangular flexible freezing tray forming a portable ice storage unit for placement into and removable from a refrigerator cabinet; said freezing tray having side, end and bottom walls, a longitudinal center partition and transverse partitions enclosing rows of generally rectangular freezing compartments joined together at their upper edges for receiving water to be frozen into ice pieces; said freezing tray end and side walls having downwardly directed flanges terminating in an outwardly directed substantially horizontal coplanar rim formed continuously around the outer perimeter of said tray, said rim having relatively wide handle portions at the ends of said tray end wall downwardly directed flanges and relatively narrow portions along said tray side wall downwardly directed flanges, the plane of said rim positioned approximately equidistant the parallel planes of the upper and lower extremities of said freezing tray side and end walls, said container nesting means including a substantially horizontal outwardly directed flange formed continuously around the upper perimeter of said open top, an upwardly directed ridge wall extending continuously along said flange adjacent the inner margin of said outwardly directed flange defining an upwardly facing continuous marginal supporting ledge, said freezing tray continuous rim adapted to be supported on the upper edge of said ridge wall when said tray is in nested relation on said container open top in its upright position whereby a substantially continuous contact is maintained therebetween to effectively close the open top of said container in lid-like fashion against the passage of air thereto or therefrom, said upper edge of said freezing tray side and end walls adapted to be supported on said container continuous supporting ledge with said tray side and end wall flanges extending downwardly in nested relation into said container open top in its inverted position whereby substantially continuous contact is maintained therebetween to effectively close the open top of said container in lid-like fashion against the passage of air thereto or therefrom, the wide end rim handle portions of said inverted tray and the underlying end portions of said container outwardly directed flange being of substantially equal extent and vertically spaced in substantially parallel relation such that an operator may grasp in a first hand one rim handle of said inverted tray and its associated underlying container outwardly directed end flange while gripping and elevating said inverted tray opposite wide rim handle with the other hand and imparting a longitudinal twisting motion thereto while maintaining a partial nesting relationship between said inverted tray first end wall flange and said container''s associated ridge wall with the first hand to insure the discharge of the ice blocks into said container.

6. The freezing tray as defined in claim 1 wherein each endmost transverse channel having longitudinal spacing webs formed therein adjacent the outer ends thereof and coextensive with the bottom walls of said compartments, whereby an upper tray may be stacked on a lower tray and nested in locked relation thereto with said longitudinal spacing webs of the upper tray supportingly engaging the top edges of the underlying endmost transverse partitions of the lower tray, the longitudinal webs providing for smooth sliding movement between the trays to their aligned stacked position.