Soft ice cream machine

An ice cream machine for making and dispensing soft ice cream comprising.

• a. a freezing barrel having an outlet valve,
• b. means in said freezing barrel for mixing ice cream at a selected capacity,
• c. refrigerating means associated with said freezing barrel for cooling said barrel at a selected capacity,
• d. a reservoir for ice cream mix,
• e. upright tubular means establishing communication between said reservoir and a lower portion of said freezing barrel,
• f. float means in said reservoir having buoyant support on the mix in said reservoir to follow the level of mix in the latter,
• g. a hollow open-ended depending stem integral with said float projecting down through said reservoir and therebelow into sliding engagement in said upright tubular means,
• h. and means defining an opening in said stem for admitting ice cream mix to the stem for gravity flow into said tubular means and said freezing chamber as ice cream is drawn off through said outlet valve,
• i. said opening being disposed in said stem below the level of mix in the reservoir and maintained at a constant height relative to the surface of the mix whereby a constant head pressure is maintained in said tubular means to said freezing barrel,
• j. said opening being of a selected size such that the rate of flow therethrough is approximately equal to or slightly greater than the freezing and mixing capacity of said freezing barrel,
• k. the open upper end of said stem being open to atmosphere to admit air into said mix.
• l. an adjustable valve means which includes an open ended hollow tube mounted within said stem maintaining the upper end of said stem open to the atmosphere.