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AssigneeIce Systems, Inc.
InventorsHoward M. Williams, Kostas P. Ioannidis, James W. Kisling, III, Bryan E. Lynch
Estimating the term…
A method of and apparatus for bagging ice cubes produced by a plurality of cubers with only one bagger when the cubers are stacked side-by-side with the ice produced by each cuber falling into one of two hoppers. The ice is moved from each hopper alternately to the bagger. There each batch of ice cubes is dropped into a bag, the bag sealed, and moved to a storage bin positioned below the bagger. The bags have a short side and a long side with the long side having holes to allow the bags to be supported by horizontal parallel rods extending through the holes. A platen is moved against the short side of a plurality of bags hanging from a first set of parallel rods extending through the holes in the long side of the bags. The air pressure between the platen and the short side of the bag is reduced to cause ambient atmospheric pressure to hold the short side of the outside bag against the platen. Moving the platen laterally moves the short side of the bag away from the long side and opens the bag as the bag is positioned under an ice dispensing chute. The holes in the long side are moved over a second pair of parallel support rods at the same time. A platform supports the bottom of the bag and a sleeve supports the bag laterally as the bag is filled with ice. After the bag is sealed, it is moved laterally off the support and tilted by the sleeve so that the bag falls sideways into a storage bin.
A method of sequentially filling bags with ice cubes and depositing the ice filled bags into a storage bin having two inlets for the bags on opposite sides of a bag supporting surface on top of the bin, said bags having a short side and a long side with the long side having holes to allow the bags to be supported by horizontal parallel rods extending through the holes, the method comprising the steps of sequentially freezing a batch of water into ice cubes, discharging each batch of ice cubes into a hopper through a downwardly extending chute, moving a platen against a supply of bags the short side of the outside bag of a supply of bags hanging from a first set of parallel rods extending through the holes in the long sides of the bags, reducing the air pressure between the platen and the short sides of the bags to cause ambient atmospheric pressure to hold the short side of the outside bag against the platen, moving the platen laterally to move the short side of the bag away from the long side of the bag to open the bag as the bag is positioned under an ice dispensing chute and to move the holes in the long side over a second pair of parallel support rods, supporting the bottom of the bag on the bag supporting surface on the top of the storage bin, moving the ice cubes from the hopper and into the bag through the ice dispensing chute, sealing the bag, and alternately tilting the bags in opposite directions from the vertical to cause the bags to fall into one storage bin then the other.
A method of bagging ice cubes from two side-by-side cubers using one bagger comprising the steps of freezing a preselected volume of water in each cuber to produce a batch of cubes from each cuber having a preselected weight, discharging each batch of cubes into a hopper below the cuber, alternately moving each batch of ice cubes from the hoppers to a bagger, and bagging each batch of cubes in a separate bag.
Apparatus for automatically making, bagging, and storing ice cubes comprising means for freezing water into ice cubes having a predetermined weight, and depositing the ice cubes into a hopper, a plurality of bags having a long side and a short side with the long side having a pair of spaced holes, a first pair of horizontal rods for extending through the holes in the long side of the bags to support the bags in a generally upright position, a second pair of parallel, horizontal, support rods, a platen movable between a bag engaging position and a bag filling position;
A method of sequentially filling bags with ice cubes and depositing the ice filled bags into a storage bin having an inlet for the bags that is inclined to the vertical, said bags having a short side and a long side with the long side having holes to allow the bags to be supported by horizontal parallel rods extending through the holes, the method comprising the steps of sequentially freezing a batch of water into ice cubes, discharging each batch of ice cubes into a hopper through a downwardly extending chute, moving a platen against a supply of bags the short side of the outside bag of a supply of bags hanging from a first set of parallel rods extending through the holes in the long sides of the bags, reducing the air pressure between the platen and the short sides of the bags to cause ambient atmospheric pressure to hold the short side of the outside bag against the platen, moving the platen laterally to move the short side of the bag away from the long side of the bag to open the bag as the bag is positioned under an ice dispensing chute and to move the holes in the long side over a second pair of parallel support rods, supporting the bottom of the bag on the top of the storage bin, moving the ice cubes from the hopper and into the bag through the ice dispensing chute, sealing the bag, and moving the bag laterally from the top of the storage bin into the inlet to allow the weight of the ice in the bag to tear the long side of the bag away from the second pair of support rods freeing the bag to fall into the storage bin.
Apparatus for bagging ice cubes produced by two side-by-side cubers using one bagger and for moving the filled bag into a storage bin comprising, a hopper positioned under each cuber to receive periodically a batch of ice weighing a predetermined amount, an ice receiving chute in the bagger, means for moving the ice from first one of the hoppers then the other to the receiving chute, means for moving a bag under the chute with its upper end open to receive each batch of ice as it is moved into the ice receiving chute from the hoppers, means for sealing each ice filled bag, and means for moving each ice filled bag into a storage bin.
In an automatic ice cube making, bagging, and storing apparatus, the subcombination comprising a storage compartment having an inlet through which bags of ice can be dropped into the compartment, said compartment having a flat upper wall adjacent the inlet for supporting a bag as it is being filled with ice cubes, a door movable between a position closing the inlet to a position extending downwardly into the storage bin at an angle to cause the bags of ice passing through the inlet to tend to stack in the storage compartment on their sides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.