Ice Body Dispenser

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to ice body delivery mechanisms and in particular to mechanisms for delivering any one of a preselected different quantity of ice bodies to correspondingly different sized receptacles.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In fast food establishments and the like, soft drinks are prepared in suitable cups into which ice bodies, or cubes, are first placed with the liquid portion of the drink being introduced subsequently thereinto. It is conventional to provide different size drinks utilizing different size cups.

It is desirable that preselected quantities of ice cubes be provided in the cups corresponding to the size of the cups so as to provide uniform icing of the drinks. Where manual introduction of ice into the cups is effected, a wide variation in the amount of ice provided in each cup may result, thus causing a wide variation in the icing of the different drinks. It is therefore desirable to effect such accurately metered ice delivery automatically and rapidly.

A number of devices have been developed for use in metering particulate material from a storage chamber to a delivery position. One such metering device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 307,629, of G. S. Church. Church shows a canister having a delivery tube opening downwardly from a bottom portion of the canister which is adapted to contain grain or other similar material. The delivery tube is provided with a plurality of slots cut halfway therethrough adapted to receive a valve plate which is selectively positionable on a vertical shaft so as to be aligned selectively with any one of the slots. The lower end of the shaft carries a closure valve. Manipulation of the shaft by means of a suitable handle concurrently removes the closure valve from the lowermost portion of the delivery tube and simultaneously introduces an upper valve into the delivery tube so as to permit delivery of only that quantity of the grain in the delivery tube previously above the level of the bottom closure plate and below the level of the adjusted inserted valve plate. Church teaches that the delivery tube be made slightly tapering internally with the larger end lowermost to facilitate the discharge of the grain.

Arthur J. Sylvester, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,517,923, shows a dispensing and measuring apparatus having a measuring chamber which is divided into a plurality of compartments by a number of gates which are pivotally swung between a retracted position externally of the measuring chamber and a measuring position extending across the interior of the measuring chamber. The different gates are spaced vertically so as to provide selectively different quantities of granular material from the measuring chamber. The device is arranged so that the top of the pile of material adjacent the slot through which the gate is inserted slopes away from the slot so as to permit a free space to be provided through which the gate passes before striking the granular material.

Edgar Hayes Moore et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,669,624, shows a dispensing device for dispensing odd lots of articles through an outlet spout also using a number of slide valves. The slide valves are arranged to be either completely withdrawn or advanced controlling the delivery of the articles. The device is arranged for dispensing particulate material, such as sugar, and requires separate manipulation of the different valves to deliver the preselected quantity of sugar to a bag placed in receiving position at the bottom of the chute.

James E. Dye discloses, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,739, an ice dispenser which dispenses a predetermined amount of ice to each of a plurality of drinking cups. The quantity of ice to be delivered to each cup is provided in a corresponding pocket by means of a paddle which clears excess ice from the top of the pocket. The bottom of each pocket is then concurrently opened to drop the thusly collected ice into the subject receiving cup.

Carmen G. Morena, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,313, shows an apparatus for storing and automatically dispensing flowable material, such as solid or liquid detergent. Delivery of the detergent is effected by manipulation of a plurality of control gates which are moved by means of solenoids. The lowermost gate defines a closure member. When it is desired to dispense a preselected amount of detergent such as into the washing machine tub, the user firstly causes one of the measuring gates to be moved across the delivery duct to block off the upper portion of the duct. When the level of the water in the tub reaches a preselected level, a suitable control is actuated so as to then open the lowermost closure gate to thereby dump from the lower end of the delivery duct the detergent disposed therein below the upper selected control gate which is now holding back the material in the upper portion of the duct. Upon completion of the delivery operation, the closure gate is then repositioned across the lower end of the duct and all upper measuring gates restored to the open position, thereby refilling the duct for a subsequent delivery of a measured quantity of detergent therefrom in the same manner.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,579, of Carl O. Bromarker, shows a portion dispenser for dispensing food portions to cattle in cattle pens. Each container for delivering food to the cattle pen is provided with a flexible balloon which forms a closed bottom of the container when inflated. The balloons of the respective containers are connected to a compressed air supply and suitable controls are provided for selectively inflating and deflating the baloons. The container space above an inflated balloon is filled with food by a suitable conveyor and the collected food is then discharged by release of the pressure on that balloon to dump the food to the cattle pen.

The present invention comprehends an improved ice body dispenser including means defining a storage chamber for storing a plurality of ice bodies, means defining a delivery duct having an upper end opening into the storage chamber for receiving ice bodies therefrom, and a lower end for dispensing ice bodies therefrom, a tined element selectively insertable laterally into the duct at a preselected position intermediate the ends to prevent delivery of ice bodies downwardly therepast, closure means for selectively closing the lower end, and operating means for concurrently inserting the tined element into the duct and removing the closure means from the lower end to dispense from the duct those ice bodies previously delivered thereto from the storage chamber disposed above the closure element and below the preselected position.

The tined element may comprise a fork having one or more tines adapted to be freely inserted through the column of ice in the duct with minimum breakage and deformation of the ice as a result of the facilitated insertion provided by the tine arrangement.

The invention further comprehends the provision of additional tined elements spaced vertically from the first named tined element. The operating means is arranged to selectively insert any one of the tined elements into the duct to provide different amounts of ice bodies from the duct as desired.

The control of the delivery of the different amounts of ice bodies may be effected automatically as a function of the size of the receptacle, or cup, placed below the delivery, lower end of the duct.

In the illustrated embodiment, the operating means includes a plurality of switches responsive to the different sizes of the receptacles to effect insertion of corresponding different ones of the tined elements so as to provide a corresponding one of the different quantities of ice bodies provided automatically by the different tine insertions.

In the illustrated embodiment, a support is provided for the cups and the operating means includes control means for detecting the height of the receptacle to provide an indication of the size of the receptacle for controlling the tine insertion operation.

In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of such delivery ducts is disclosed leading from the storage chamber so as to provide concurrently, or individually as desired, measured delivery of ice bodies from the storage chamber in the manner discussed above.

An agitator means is provided in the storage chamber to effect a suitable agitation of the ice bodies therein to maintain the ice bodies in individual, or separated, condition for facilitated delivery thereof through the duct delivery means. This operation of the agitator means is described more fully in the co-pending application of Keith E. Carr, "Commercial Ice Maker Ice Body Dispenser Hopper and Auger Construction" PA-5013-0-CI-USA, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

An opening is provided from the upper end of the duct to the storage chamber extending at an angle to the horizontal. The agitating means causes movement of the ice bodies through the duct opening into the generally vertically extending duct.

The cross-sectional area of the opening to the upper end of the duct is preferably smaller than the cross section of the duct so as to assure facilitated downward delivery of the ice bodies delivered into the duct from the storage chamber.

In the illustrated embodiment, the duct has a constant cross section, but may change to a larger cross section at the bottom to facilitate downward delivery.

The ice body dispenser of the present invention is extremely simple and economical of construction while yet providing the highly desirable features discussed above.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an ice body dispenser embodying the invention, with a portion of the sidewall broken away to facilitate illustration of the mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation thereof with a portion of the front wall broken away to facilitate illustration of the mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section taken substantially along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating in greater detail the arrangement of the tine and closure plate mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic electrical wiring diagram of the dispenser.

In the examplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, an ice body dispenser generally designated 10 includes an outer cabinet 11 provided with a removable top portion 12 and a base portion 13. The base portion is provided with a grid 14 below which is mounted a drain pan 15. The grid is adapted to receive any one of a plurality of different size cups 16, such as large cups 16a, medium size cups 16b, and small cups 16c, as shown in FIG. 1.

Mounted within the upper portion of cabinet 11 below the removable top 12 is a hopper 17 internally defining a storage chamber 18 for storing a plurality of ice bodies, such as ice cubes 19, to be dispensed into the cups 16, as desired and as shown in FIG. 2.

The ice bodies 19 in storage chamber 18 are agitated therein by means of an auger type blade 20 with its outer edge fit closely to the frusto-conical wall 25, driven by a suitable electric motor 21 having a shaft 22 extending upwardly through a bottom wall 23 of the hopper 17 and secured to the agitator blade 20 by means of a support plate 24.

The lower portion of the hopper 17 upstanding from bottom wall portion 23 defines a frusto-conical wall 25 provided with a plurality of openings 26 which thusly extend angularly to the horizontal and in the illustrated embodiment, at approximately a 60.degree. angle to the horizontal.

Communicating with the storage chamber 18 through the opening 26 is a corresponding plurality of ducts 27 for delivering ice bodies downwardly from the storage chamber 18 into the cups 16 positioned on the supporting grid 14 of base 13. Each delivery duct is similar and, thus, the description of the specific construction thereof will be limited to the description of the duct at the left-hand side of FIG. 2.

As shown, the duct 27 includes a connector portion 28 extending downwardly from the upper wall portion 25 and telescopically receiving the upper end 29 of a lower duct portion 30. The lower end 31 of the duct portion 30 opens through an opening 32 in a cover wall 33 overlying the dispensing space 34 in which the cups 16 are placed on the grid 14 for receiving ice bodies in the dispensing operation.

In the illustrated embodiment, the cross-sectional area of duct 27 is substantially constant and somewhat larger than the cross-sectional area of opening 26 so as to assure a free downward movement of the ice bodies during the dispensing operation. While the cross-sectional area of duct 27 is substantially constant, the lower portion of duct 27 may be made progressively larger in area to facilitate free downward movement of the ice bodies.

Movement of the ice bodies from the storage chamber 18 through opening 26 into duct 27 is effected by the auger type blade 20 concurrently with the effecting of the agitation of the ice bodies in the storage chamber as a result of the lifting action of the ice bodies as they are pushed up the hopper wall 25 by the rotation of agitator 20. This lifting causes a void space under blade 20. The ice bodies below the void space are free of any downward pressure from above therefore they will fall through opening 26 until duct 30 is filled. The blade 20 causes the ice bodies to be pushed up the hopper wall 25 and allows them to return down the center of hopper 17 all as described in the co-pending application of Keith E. Carr referred to above. When duct 30 is filled, continued rotation of blade 20 creates the lifting action, however, the ice bodies below the void space cannot fall through opening 26 so they continue to rotate. As the openings 26 are parallel to the surface of the hopper wall 25, the ice bodies fall therethrough into the upper end of duct 27, and as a result of the somewhat larger cross-sectional area of the duct 27, are freely passed downwardly therefrom into the duct.

A closure plate 35 is provided for selectively closing the lower end 31 of the duct. When the closure plate is disposed across the lower end 31, the duct may be filled with ice bodies from the storage chamber by the action of the agitator 20 for facilitated subsequent delivery of a measured quantity of the ice bodies from the duct to the cup 16 when desired.

As indicated briefly above, the dispenser 10 is adapted to deliver different quantities of ice bodies corresponding to the size of the different size cups placed in the delivery space 34 subjacent the duct end 31. To effect such selective quantity delivery, device 10 includes an operating means generally designated 36 (FIG. 2) having a pivot rod 37 (FIG. 4) having a first end 38 pivotally mounted to a support 39 (FIG. 1), and an opposite end 40 pivotally mounted to a support 41 carried on a frame member 42. The pivot rod 37 is urged to a centered position by a tension spring 43 connected between the frame 42 and an upstanding flange 44 on an extension 45 of the closure plate 35. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the closure plate 35 is normally biased to the position in which it closes the lower end 31 of the duct 27 by the spring 43. A stop 46 may be provided for limiting the pivotal movement of the pivot rod or bar 37 by engagement of a stop portion 47 of the pivot bar with the stop 46.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, duct 27 is provided with a plurality of approximately 180.degree.-semiannular slots 48, 49 and 50 at vertically spaced positions in the duct. A corresponding plurality of control elements 51, 52 and 53 are associated with the slots 48, 49 and 50, respectively, for controlling the amount of ice bodies delivered from the duct during the dispensing operation. Each of the control elements is similar. As shown in FIG. 4, control element 51 comprises a forked element having a pair of tines 54 and 55 at its distal end 56. The tined elements 51, 52 and 53 are respectively freely pivoted to a vertical pivot rod 57 carried on frame 42 (FIG. 3) for pivotal movement about a common vertical axis at the planes of the respective slots 48, 49 and 50.

The opposite end 58 of the tined element 51 is connected by a suitable tension spring 59 to the frame 42 to bias the forked element in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 4, thereby to move the tines 54 and 55 of the tined element 51 outwardly from the slot in the normal arrangement of the control elements.

Controlled pivoting of the tined elements 51, 52 and 53 is effected by operation of a corresponding plurality of electrical solenoids 60, 61 and 62, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, a plunger solenoid 63 is connected to a midportion 64 of the tined element by a suitable buffer spring 65. Thus, when the solenoid is energized, the plunger 63 is drawn to the right, as seen in FIG. 4, to pull the tined control element in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot rod 57 against the action of spring 59 and thereby urge the tines 54 and 55 to the right, as seen in FIG. 4 and in FIG. 2. Such movement of the tines 54 and 55 causes them to become inserted through the aligned slots into the duct 27. As the tines comprise elements which may readily penetrate the column of ice bodies in the duct 27 without breaking or chipping the ice bodies, a facilitated insertion of the tines is effected with minimum damage to the ice bodies in the column.

As further shown in FIG. 4, the solenoid plunger may be further provided with an actuating pin 66 which engages the pivot member 37 to pivot member 37 about its ends 41 and 38 concurrently with the movement of the selected tined element. Thus, the closure plate 35 is concurrently moved from its underlying relationship to the duct end 31 to an open position, as shown at the left-hand side of FIG. 2, permitting the ice bodies in the duct to fall downwardly through the lower end 31 of the duct and opening 32 in the cover plate 33 into the receiving cup 16. However, as the tine elements 54 and 55 are now inserted into the column of ice bodies in the duct, only those ice bodies which were disposed in the duct subjacent the level of the selected tined element, such as tined element 51 shown in FIG. 4, will be dispensed during the dispensing operation.

Control of the respective solenoids 60, 61 and 62 is effected by suitable control switches 67, 68 and 69 mounted on a suitable switch panel 70 at the rear of the cabinet, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the electrical control generally designated 71 includes a first control line 72 connected to power supply lead L1 and a second control line 73 connected to power supply lead L2. The coil 60a of solenoid 60 is connected in series with the switch 67 across lines 72 and 73, solenoid coil 61a of solenoid 61 is connected in series with switch 68 across lines 72 and 73, and coil 62a of solenoid 62 is connected in series with switch 69 across the lines 72 and 73. Thus, depending on the switch actuated by the given cup in the dispensing space 34, one of the solenoids 60, 61 or 62 will be energized to insert its associated tined element into the duct while concurrently removing the closure plate 35 from the bottom of the duct to deliver a preselected quantity of ice bodies from the duct which will automatically be the ice bodies which were in the duct below the level of the selected control element. As these quantities may be accurately preselected and correlated with the sizes of the different cups 16a, 16b and 16c, respectively, proper coordinated icing of the drinks in the different size cups is automatically effected by the simple expedient of placing any one of the different size cups in the dispensing space to engage the associated switch mechanism 67, 68 or 69.

As further shown in FIG. 5, the control may include a left closure plate switch 74 connected in series with a time delay relay 75 across lines 72 and 73. The time delay relay, in turn, may be connected in series with the agitator motor 21 so as to effect a preselected operation of the agitator each time the left closure plate is actuated to effect delivery of ice bodies into a cup in the left side of the dispenser space 34. The time delay causes the agitation to continue for a preselected time suitable to refill the duct 27 upon completion of the previous dispensing operation, as discussed above. More specifically, upon delivery of the ice bodies as discussed above, the de-energization of the selected solenoid permits spring 59 to retract the tines 54 and 55 from the duct and to bring closure plate 35 again to underlying relationship to the lower end 31 of the duct, thereby permitting further ice bodies to be delivered into the duct from the storage chamber by the subsequent energization of the agitator motor 21 during the extended timed interval controlled by time delay 75.

A similar operation is effected relative to the right-hand duct which is controlled by a closure plate switch 77 associated with the right-hand closure plate and solenoid coils 60b, 61b and 62b associated with the control switches 67', 68' and 69', as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. In the illustrated embodiment, the use of the tined elements 51, 52 and 53 for controlling the quantities of ice bodies delivered provides additionally the function of separating the ice bodies, to some degree, in the duct 27 for further facilitating the dispensing operation. Thus, the tined elements tend to separate rather than crush or break the ice bodies as they are moved into the duct in effecting the desired selective dispensing. Further, by sizing the opening 26 to be smaller in cross section than the duct, a relatively free transfer of the ice bodies in the duct is provided, again providing for facilitated dispensing.

Spring 59 effectively fully withdraws the tines 54 and 55 from the duct in the retracted disposition thereof so as to permit free downward movement of the ice bodies in refilling the duct and during the dispensing operation relative to those forked elements disposed below the selected inserted forked element.

The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is illustrative of the broad inventive concepts comprehended by the invention.