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US 12,163,718 B2Granted
Devices for planing clear ice products and related methods
AssigneeAbstract Ice, Inc.
InventorsAshok Kumar Notaney, Todd Stevenson, Andrew James Whalen, Bryce Edmund Peterson, Luke W. Clauson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and devices for planing ice are described that include at least receiving, at a planing apparatus, an elongate ice ingot, feeding the elongate ice ingot at a configurable rate through an opening in a cutterhead assembly of the planing apparatus, and planing, by the cutterhead assembly, a plurality of surfaces of the elongate ice ingot at a predefined depth as the elongate ice ingot is fed linearly through the opening of the cutterhead assembly. The planing may result in a planed ice ingot.
Claims21
An ice planing apparatus comprising:
- a cutting assembly configured to plane a plurality of surfaces of an ice ingot, the cutting assembly having a plurality of cutterheads mounted to a support form of the ice planing apparatus, the cutting assembly being arranged with a through aperture to receive the ice ingot, and wherein the plurality of cutterheads comprise a first cutterhead configured to cut a top surface of the ice ingot, a second cutterhead configured to plane a first side surface of the ice ingot, a third cutterhead configured to plane a bottom surface of the ice ingot, and a fourth cutterhead configured to plane a second side surface of the ice ingot;
- an infeed assembly to deliver the ice ingot to the cutting assembly;
- and
- an adjuster means for adjusting the cutting assembly to control a depth of planing of the ice ingot on the plurality of surfaces, wherein the cutting assembly is further configured to etch the ice ingot on one or more of the plurality of surfaces.
1 more element
A method of planing ice, the method comprising:
- providing an ice planing apparatus, the ice planing apparatus comprising:
- a cutting assembly configured to plane a plurality of surfaces of an ice ingot, the cutting assembly having a plurality of cutterheads mounted to a support form of the ice planing apparatus, the cutting assembly being arranged with a through aperture to receive the ice ingot;
- an infeed assembly housing the ice ingot on a planar surface that is tilted from a normal axis of a working surface used for operating the ice planing apparatus thereon, the infeed assembly being arranged to deliver the ice ingot to the cutting assembly, wherein the infeed assembly further comprises:
- an enclosure comprising at least one moveable door for receiving the ice ingot therethrough;
- and
- at least one bar feeder assembly configured to push the ice ingot along a planar surface of the infeed assembly into the cutterhead assembly, the at least one bar feeder assembly being at least a length of the infeed assembly;
- an outfeed assembly spaced from the infeed assembly with the cutterhead assembly mounted therebetween, the outfeed assembly being configured to guide movement of a planed version of the ice ingot from the cutterhead assembly;
- and
- an adjuster means for adjusting the cutting assembly to control a depth of planing of the ice ingot on the plurality of surfaces, wherein the cutting assembly is further configured to etch the ice ingot on one or more of the plurality of surfaces, wherein the method further comprises:
- receiving, at a planing apparatus, an elongate ice ingot;
- feeding the elongate ice ingot at a configurable rate through an opening in a cutting assembly of the planing apparatus;
- and
- planing, by the cutting assembly, a plurality of surfaces of the elongate ice ingot at a predefined depth as the elongate ice ingot is fed linearly through the opening of the cutting assembly, the planing resulting in a planed ice ingot.
10 more elements
An ice planing apparatus comprising:
- a cutting assembly configured to plane a plurality of surfaces of an ice ingot, the cutting assembly having a plurality of cutterheads mounted to a support form of the ice planing apparatus, the cutting assembly being arranged with a through aperture to receive the ice ingot;
- and
- an infeed assembly to deliver the ice ingot to the cutting assembly;
- an adjuster means for adjusting the cutting assembly to control a depth of planing of the ice ingot on the plurality of surfaces, wherein the cutting assembly is further configured to etch the ice ingot on one or more of the plurality of surfaces;
- and
- an ice chip collection system configured to remove ice chips from the cutting assembly during planing of the ice ingot, the ice chip collection system comprising at least:
- a vacuum system with a vacuum pipe having a first end fixedly connected to a cyclonic separator and a second end seated adjacent to the cutting assembly;
- and
- at least one electronic control to operate the vacuum.
6 more elements
An ice planing apparatus comprising:
- a cutting assembly configured to plane a plurality of surfaces of an ice ingot, the cutting assembly having a plurality of cutterheads mounted to a support form of the ice planing apparatus, the cutting assembly being arranged with a through aperture to receive the ice ingot;
- an infeed assembly to deliver the ice ingot to the cutting assembly, wherein the infeed assembly further comprises:
- an enclosure comprising at least one moveable door for receiving the ice ingot therethrough;
- and
- at least one bar feeder assembly configured to push the ice ingot along a planar surface of the infeed assembly into the cutterhead assembly, the at least one bar feeder assembly being at least a length of the infeed assembly;
- and
- an outfeed assembly spaced from the infeed assembly with the cutterhead assembly mounted therebetween, the outfeed assembly being configured to guide movement of a planed version of the ice ingot from the cutterhead assembly;
- and
- an adjuster means for adjusting the cutting assembly to control a depth of planing of the ice ingot on the plurality of surfaces, wherein the cutting assembly is further configured to etch the ice ingot on one or more of the plurality of surfaces.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.