US 10,093,482 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for storing and dispensing bagged ice

AssigneeReddy Ice Technology LLC

InventorHenrik Pape

Life of this patent

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Abstract

An article storage and dispensing apparatus and method in which articles made by series production are distributed from an article supplier into a storage compartment of predetermined dimensions for storage of articles in front and rear rows of article storage positions. An article distributor in an upper portion of the storage compartment has a carriage, a carriage drive which is configured to drive the carriage in a reversible horizontal carriage drive direction across at least part of the width of the storage compartment, and an article support mounted on the carriage and configured to receive articles from the article supplier above the support when the carriage is in a start position. An article dispenser is associated with the article support to dispense articles selectively in opposite horizontal dispensing directions transverse to the carriage drive direction off the front and rear ends of the support to drop into front and rear article rows.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus for distributing a series of articles at a plurality of storage positions in a storage compartment, comprising:

a storage compartment having an article storage area having a rear, a front, and opposite sides;
a carriage movably mounted in an upper portion of the storage compartment above the storage area;
a horizontal drive linked to the carriage and configured to drive the carriage back and forth in a reversible horizontal carriage transport direction above the storage area and extending across at least part of the width of the storage area between opposite sides of the storage compartment;
an article support movably mounted on the carriage and configured for supporting an article dispensed from an article supply onto the support, the article support having a front end and a rear end;
an article distributor associated with the article support and configured for selectively driving articles in opposite horizontal article transport directions transverse to the horizontal carriage transport direction off the front and rear end of the support, respectively, into storage positions in front and rear rows of storage positions in the storage area, the front end of the article support being located above the front row of storage positions and spaced from the front of the article storage area, and the rear end of the article support being located above the rear row of storage positions and spaced from the rear of the article storage area;
and
a controller associated with the horizontal carriage drive and the article distributor which is configured to control the horizontal carriage drive to drive the carriage to a location in which the front or rear end of the article support is above a selected storage position in the front or rear row, respectively, and to control the article distributor to selectively drive the article in a first article transport direction towards the front of the storage compartment and off the front end of the article support to drop into a selected storage position in the front row, and to selectively drive the article in a second, opposite article transport direction towards the rear of the storage compartment and off the rear end of the article support to drop into a selected storage position in the rear row;
wherein the carriage comprises a support frame having a rear end linked to the horizontal drive and a forwardly projecting portion, the article support is mounted on the forwardly projecting portion of the carriage, and the rear end of the article support is spaced forward from the rear end of the carriage to provide a gap through which articles can fall off the rear end of the support into a stacking position in the rear storage row.

5 more elements

An apparatus for distributing a series of articles at a plurality of storage positions in a storage compartment, comprising:

a storage compartment having an article storage area having a rear, a front, and opposite sides;
a carriage movably mounted in an upper portion of the storage compartment above the storage area;
a horizontal drive linked to the carriage and configured to drive the carriage back and forth in a reversible horizontal carriage transport direction above the storage area and extending across at least part of the width of the storage area between opposite sides of the storage compartment;
an article support mounted on the carriage and configured to support an article dispensed from an article supply onto the article support, the article support having a first end and a second end;
an article distributor associated with the article support and configured to drive the article in a first horizontal article transport direction off one of the first and second ends of the support into a first storage position in a first row of storage positions in the storage area, the one of the first and second ends of the support being located above the first row of storage positions;
a controller associated with the horizontal drive and the article distributor, and configured to control the horizontal drive to drive the carriage to a location in which the one of the first and second ends of the article support is above the first storage position in the first row, and to control the article distributor to selectively drive the article in the first article horizontal transport direction;
a track to which the carriage is operably coupled, wherein the article support is located vertically below the track, and
a plate extending from the track and towards the article support located vertically below the track.

5 more elements

An apparatus for distributing a series of articles at a plurality of storage positions in a storage compartment, comprising:

a storage compartment having an article storage area having a rear, a front, and opposite sides;
a carriage movably mounted in an upper portion of the storage compartment above the storage area;
a horizontal drive linked to the carriage and configured to drive the carriage back and forth in a reversible horizontal carriage transport direction above the storage area and extending across at least part of the width of the storage area between opposite sides of the storage compartment;
an article support mounted on the carriage and configured to support an article dispensed from an article supply onto the article support, the article support having a first end and a second end;
an article distributor associated with the article support and configured to:
drive the article in a first horizontal article transport direction off one of the first and second ends of the support into a first storage position in a first row of storage positions in the storage area, the one of the first and second ends of the support being located above the first row of storage positions;
drive another article in a second horizontal article transport direction off the other of the first and second ends of the article support into a second storage position in a second row of storage positions in the storage area, the other of the first and second ends of the support being located above the second row of storage positions, wherein the second horizontal article transport direction is different from the first horizontal article transport direction;
and
a controller associated with the horizontal drive and the article distributor, wherein the controller is configured to:
control the horizontal drive to drive the carriage to a location in which the one of the first and second ends of the article support is above the first storage position in the first row, and to control the article distributor to selectively drive the article in the first article horizontal transport direction;
and
control the horizontal drive to drive the carriage to a location in which the other of the first and second ends of the article support is above the second storage position in the second row, and to control the article distributor to selectively drive the another article in the second article horizontal transport direction;
wherein the apparatus further comprises a track along which the carriage is driven back and forth;
and
wherein the carriage comprises a support frame to which the article support is mounted, the support frame comprising a vertical portion extending downward from the track and a support arm connected to the vertical portion.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/760,180Filed 6 Jan 2014 · continuation
Priority: 11 Jan 2013
Published: US 2015/0345852 A13 Dec 2015
Granted: 9 Oct 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

F25C 5/20
Working or handling ice: distributing ice
B65G 1/04
Storage devices: mechanical
B65G 57/03
By adding to the top of the stack: from above
F25C 5/24
Distributing ice: for storing bins

Family

Application13/739,391Parent of this continuation · filed 11 Jan 2013
US 2015/0345852 A1Pre-grant publication · published 3 Dec 2015
US 9,562,711 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2014/0199151 A1Published application
US 10,093,482 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.