Ice bagging apparatus and method
AssigneeIcex Holdings Ltd., Inc.
InventorMark C. Metzger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for bagging ice. The apparatus comprises an ice maker for making ice and a hopper for receiving for receiving the ice from the ice maker. The apparatus further includes a roller drum, operatively associated with the hopper, for measuring the ice and delivering of the ice. The roller drum includes an inner rotating drum. A bag delivery mechanism for placing the ice in a bag is also included, with the bag delivery mechanism including a bag supply mechanism, a fan engaged to open the mouth of the bag to receive the product, and a heat sealer that seals the open mouth of the bag once the bag is filled with the ice. A control device is included that manages and monitors the roller drum and bag delivery mechanism and allows transmission of the collected data to the Internet.
Claims22
An apparatus for bagging ice comprising:
- an ice maker for making ice;
- a hopper for receiving the ice from the ice maker;
- a roller drum, operatively associated with the hopper, for measuring ice and delivering of the ice, wherein the roller drum comprises:
- an inner drum concentrically located within an outer drum, wherein the inner drum rotates relative to the outer drum;
- and wherein, rotations of the inner drum are counted to determine the amount of ice to be received in a bag;
- a bagger, operatively receiving the ice from the roller drum, for placing the ice in a bag;
- a freezer for storing the bagged ice;
- and
- a processor for managing and monitoring the roller drum and the bagger.
A process of bagging ice with an ice bagging apparatus, the process comprising:
- making ice;
- channeling the ice to a hopper;
- channeling the ice to a roller drum;
- supplying a bag via a bag supply mechanism;
- rotating the roller drum to a position over the bag once the roller drum is filled with an amount of ice;
- counting the number of rotations of the roller drum;
- blowing a mouth of the bag open with a blower fan;
- dumping the ice into the bag;
- heat sealing the bag with a heat seal strip;
- automatically rotating the sealed bag into a storage unit.
A method of producing ice comprising:
- making ice in an ice maker;
- moving ice into a hopper from the ice maker;
- sensing the amount of ice in the hopper via a hopper sensor;
- starting the ice maker if level not full;
- providing a bag feeding mechanism with a continuing strip of bags;
- feeding the ice from the hopper into a drum;
- feeding a first bag into position under the drum;
- blowing the first bag open using a blower motor;
- verifying that the first bag is opened with a bag open sensor;
- rotating the drum so that the ice falls out of the drum into the bag;
- measuring the amount of ice with the drum by counting the number of rotations of the drum;
- heat sealing the first bag closed;
- cutting the first bag;
- and,
- dispensing the first bag into a freezer.
An apparatus for bagging ice comprising:
- an ice maker for making ice;
- a hopper for receiving the ice from the ice maker,
- a roller drum, operatively associated with a hopper, for measuring ice and delivering ice;
- a bagger, operatively receiving the ice from the roller drum, for placing the ice in a bag from a continuous strip of bags, wherein said roller drum comprises an outer cylindrical member, and an inner cylindrical member rotatably disposed within said outer cylindrical member;
- a bag separator for cutting the bag filled by the bagger;
- a basket for temporary placement of the bag after the bag is cut;
- a freezer for storing the bag;
- a processor for managing and monitoring the roller drum and the bagger;
- and
- a basket motor for rotating the basket once the bag has been cut and is inside the basket so that the bag falls from the basket into the freezer.
A process of bagging ice with an ice bagging apparatus, the process comprising:
- making ice in an ice maker;
- channeling the ice to a hopper;
- channeling the ice to a roller drum, said roller drum comprising:
- an outer drum, and an inner drum rotatably mounted within the outer drum, wherein the outer drum contains an upper opening and a lower opening, and wherein said inner drum contains a first opening;
- supplying a bag to a rotatable basket via a bag supply mechanism having a continuous strip of bags;
- rotating the inner drum relative to the outer drum so that the first opening of the
- inner drum is aligned with the lower opening of the outer drum so that the ice is dumped from the roller drum;
- engaging a mouth of the bag with a blower fan;
- blowing the bag open with the blower fan;
- dumping the ice from the inner drum into the opened bag;
- heat sealing the bag with a heat seal strip;
- cutting the bag and allowing the sealed bag to fall into the basket;
- automatically rotating the basket so that the sealed bag is delivered into a storage unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.