Apparatus for dispensing dry ice
AssigneeEast End Machine, Inc.
InventorElton Jefferson Wade, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dry ice dispenser apparatus for dispensing a metered volume of dry ice into a receiving well. The apparatus includes a dry ice source, such as a hopper, or a dry ice producing apparatus for supplying dry ice to a metering carriage. The metering carriage delivers a metered volume of dry ice to a receiving well. The metering carriage is contained in a carriage slide assembly which includes a pair of guide walls, a closed floor portion connection to a bottom portion of the guide walls and a discharge opening located above the receiving well. The apparatus may contain a pellet press for forming dry ice pellets when the dry ice is delivered to the receiving well.
Claims12
An apparatus for dispensing a metered volume of dry ice, the apparatus comprising:
- a dry ice source for supplying dry ice, the dry ice source defining at least one metering channel opening;
- a carriage slide assembly positioned below the dry ice source, extending along
- a carriage axis, the carriage slide assembly comprising:
- a pair of guide walls extending along the carriage axis, each guide wall having a top portion and a bottom portion;
- and
- a closed floor portion between the guide walls and connected to the bottom portion of the guide walls wherein the closed floor portion defines at least one discharge opening for each of the at least one metering channel openings;
- a metering carriage for receiving the metered volume of dry ice from the dry ice source and delivering the metered volume of dry ice to the discharge opening, the metering carriage slidably received between the pair of guide walls for translational movement along the carriage axis, the metering carriage having a height and defining at least one metering channel for each of the at least one metering channel openings for receiving a metered volume of dry ice when the at least one metering channel is in registration with the at least one metering channel opening of the dry ice source, wherein the at least one metering channel extends along a metering channel axis and spans the height of the carriage assembly, and wherein the metering carriage has a length sufficient to close the at least one metering opening when the at least one metering channels are in registration with the at least one discharge opening;
- and
- at least one receiving well positioned below the at least one discharge opening of the carriage slide assembly for receiving the metered amount of dry ice from the metering carriage when the at least one metering channel is in registration with the at least one discharge opening of the carriage slide assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.