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US 4,189,063 AGranted
Ice dispenser
OwnerRalph F. Matthieseninventor
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OwnerRalph F. Matthieseninventor
Estimating the term…
A dispenser for crushed and cubed ice has a housing arranged forming an article containing chamber from which ice can be dispensed on demand through a discharge opening provided in the housing. A plurality of parallel, coextending screw conveyors are disposed within the chamber and disposed adjacent a floor thereof selectively moving ice toward the discharge opening of the housing without excavating the ice beneath the conveyors, with a baffle being disposed extending from adjacent the discharge opening for preventing bridging of ice within the chamber of the dispenser by causing part of the ice moved by the conveyors toward the discharge opening to orbit about the chamber. Operation of the conveyors can be controlled by a coin-actuated mechanism, and the like, in conjunction with a weighing scale on which the ice receiving receptacle can be disposed, and a suitable electrical circuit including a timer causing interruption of the circuit after a predetermined length of time in the event the weighing scale is lifted upwardly or is otherwise prevented from a normal downward movement as ice is being dispensed.
A dispenser, comprising, a hollow housing forming an article containing chamber and provided with a discharge opening communicating with the chamber, conveyor means arranged within the chamber of the housing for moving discrete articles disposed within the chamber toward the discharge opening for dispensing the articles, said conveyor means including baffle means disposed adjacent the discharge opening of the housing for diverting articles, in excess of those dischargeable through the discharge opening, along an orbital path about the chamber of the housing in order to assure that the articles remain loose within the chamber, said baffle means including a first baffle part and a second baffle part, the first baffle part extending linearly away from the discharge opening at an acute angle thereto and toward a terminal end, and the second baffle part being curved from the terminal end of the first baffle part and extending away from the discharge opening and toward a surface of the chamber disposed opposite a surface of the chamber in which the discharge opening is provided.
A method for dispensing discrete chunks of ice from a chamber and maintaining the ice within the chamber loose, comprising the steps of:
A hollow housing for discrete chunks of ice and including opposite sides, a bottom extending between said sides and a discharge passageway means in one of said sides, conveyor means in said housing for moving ice chunks at a first predetermined flow rate along a path adjacent said bottom and extending in a first direction toward said one side and said passageway, dispensing means for dispensing ice chunks from said housing by conveying ice into and through said discharge passageway at a second flow rate less than said first flow rate, and means operative to upwardly and rearwardly divert the excess portion of ice moved toward said one side by said conveyor means and represented by the difference between said first and second flow rates away from said discharge passageway and toward said other side, respectively, to thereby orbit the excess ice within the housing for maintaining the discrete chunks of ice loose and preventing the ice from bridging and freezing together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.