U.S. patent application number 11/530754 was filed with the patent office on 2007-09-13 for ice holding device.
This patent application is currently assigned to FUSIONBRANDS INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to Anna M. Stewart, Stephen Kraigh Stewart.
Application Number | 20070209384 11/530754 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37745318 |
Filed Date | 2007-09-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070209384 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Stewart; Anna M. ; et
al. |
September 13, 2007 |
ICE HOLDING DEVICE
Abstract
A multi-purpose ice holding assembly is disclosed for the making
and storing of ice. Parts of the assembly include an external
chamber, a bucket that inserts snugly into the external chamber and
a lid for closing the assembly. Pockets for the forming of ice may
be formed in the external chamber or the internal bucket, depending
on the embodiment. The device may also be used for the serving of
ice, as well as the chilling of wine bottles and other cold
beverage containers.
Inventors: |
Stewart; Anna M.; (Atlanta,
GA) ; Stewart; Stephen Kraigh; (Atlanta, GA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GEORGE R. REARDON
3356 STATION COURT
LAWRENCVILLE
GA
30044
US
|
Assignee: |
FUSIONBRANDS INCORPORATED
Atlanta
GA
|
Family ID: |
37745318 |
Appl. No.: |
11/530754 |
Filed: |
September 11, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
29255661 |
Mar 11, 2006 |
D536932 |
|
|
11530754 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/457.2 ;
62/457.8; 62/530 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 23/0241 20130101;
F25C 1/24 20130101; F25D 3/08 20130101; F25D 2303/081 20130101;
F25D 2303/0841 20130101; F25D 2331/803 20130101; F25D 31/007
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/457.2 ;
62/457.8; 62/530 |
International
Class: |
F25D 3/08 20060101
F25D003/08 |
Claims
1. An ice holding device comprised of an external chamber, an
internal bucket and a lid, wherein the external chamber has an
external chamber bottom that is encompassed by an external chamber
wall having a first inside surface, a first outside surface that
forms an external chamber top opening, wherein an array of cavities
is formed in the first inside surface and creates a corresponding
array of protrusions on the first outside surface.
2. The ice holding device of claim 1, wherein the internal bucket
has an internal bucket bottom encompassed by an internal bucket
wall having a second inside surface, a second outside surface that
forms an internal bucket top opening, wherein the second outside
surface is substantially coplanar to the second inside surface.
3. An ice holding device comprised of an external chamber, an
internal bucket and a lid, wherein the external chamber has an
external chamber bottom that is encompassed by an external chamber
wall having a first inside surface and a first outside surface
wherein the first inside surface is substantially coplanar with the
first outside surface, forms an external chamber top opening, and
has a fill indicator disposed on the first inside surface; wherein
the internal bucket has an internal bucket bottom encompassed by an
internal bucket wall having a second inside surface, a second
outside surface and forms an internal bucket top opening, and has
an array of cavities formed in the second outside surface that
creates a corresponding array of protrusions on the second inside
surface of the internal bucket.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of
and is a continuation-in-part of United States Design patent
application having a title of ICE HOLDING DEVICE, filed on Mar. 11,
2006 and assigned Ser. No. 29/255,661.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of ice holding
devices, and more particularly to multi-purpose ice forming
assemblies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Conventional ice trays generally suffer from several endemic
problems. Some of these problems include the following.
[0004] The first problem pertains to the filling of conventional
ice trays to achieve level filling of each ice compartment. The
second problem pertains to the transporting of a filled ice tray to
a freezer without spilling water during transport. The third
problem pertains to the placing of an ice tray in a freezer without
spilling water. The fourth problem pertains to the lack of
levelness of a freezer, which may result in non-uniform sized
cubes. The fifth problem pertains to the tendency of ice cubes to
go stale due to absorbing odors from other foods. The sixth problem
pertains to the cubes being exposed to air and evaporating. Other
problems exist.
[0005] Previous attempts to solve some of these problems include
the following. One solution involved the creation of a bottle style
ice tray. This method allows the user to fill a bottle with a
desired liquid to an indication line on the bottle, to cap the
bottle and to place the bottle in the freezer. While this is a
simple and easy to understand approach the design has several
problems. The first problem is that if the device was slightly
over-filled the cubes would overflow the ice separation walls and
freeze into one block of ice, thus making it nearly impossible to
extract the ice. The other major flaw is the type of material
traditionally used in fabricating the bottle is non-flexible and
breaks quite easily.
[0006] A second solution involved using a sliding lid that is
connected to an ice tray and pushed over the ice compartments once
they were filled. While this accomplished the covering of the ice
for transportation and prevents the evaporation of the ice once the
device is placed in the freezer, sliding the lid is difficult and
spillage frequently occurs before the tray is moved.
[0007] Known art related to an ice holding device includes the
following.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 1,896,849, issued to Newman on Feb. 7, 1933,
discloses a freezing tray with a cover.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,579, issued to Deneboudes on Jul. 22,
1952, discloses an ice bucket having a double wall and transparent
or trans-lucid windows so that light can illuminate ice held within
the ice bucket.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,523, issued to Fogt et al. on Jun. 20,
1972, discloses a resilient plastic ice tray and integral grid
formed by a longitudinal center partition having an inverted
V-shaped cross section together with transverse partitions
enclosing two rows of freezing compartments. The tray center
partition being of greater height than its transverse partitions,
end walls and side walls to allow complementary notched locking
guides formed on the underside thereof to cooperate with the
upstanding rib portion of the central partition of an underlying
tray for relative sliding movement therebetween and to support the
trays in interlocked nested fashion when the trays are stacked one
upon another in vertically aligned relation. Each tray has its side
and end walls provided with an outwardly extending flange wall
which allows a tray with its frozen contents to be inverted and
nested over a receiving container having a cooperating outwardly
directed seating ledge about its upper open end to harvest ice
cubes into the container while the container additionally provides
for a tray to be nested in an upright position either over or under
the container.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,122, issued to Hobson on Mar. 28, 1978,
discloses a carton of a suitable protective flexible plastic or
plastic coated material includes a plurality of ovoid cavities for
receiving eggs, each cavity having a plurality of communicating
channels with tapered sides. The material provides a waterproof
base to permit further use of the egg carton as an ice tray. The
channels permit water flow between adjacent cavities and provide
stress points to facilitate separation and removal of ice cubes
formed in the cavities.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. D249,269, issued to Pitts on Sep. 5, 1978,
illustrates an ice tray for making spherical ice cubes.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 262,355, issued to Oakley on Dec. 22, 1981,
illustrates a combined egg carton and ice tray.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. D292,802, issued to Fails on Nov. 17, 1987,
illustrates an ice cube tray for making half-spheroid ice
cubes.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. D352,045, issued to Daemen et al. on Nov. 1,
1994, illustrates an ice cube tray and dispenser.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. D431,754, issued to Thuma on Oct. 10, 2000,
illustrates an ice bucket with apparent moisture escape slits.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. D483,620, issued to Basara on Dec. 16, 2003,
illustrates an ice bucket having a bucket, lid, and liner.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 7,014,162, issued to Lion et al. on Mar. 21,
2006, discloses an ice cube tray having a rigid support structure
for easy handling and manipulation includes plural ice cube
compartments, the ice cube compartments including deformable,
flexible bottoms to enable ejection of ice cubes by application of
a small force on each ice cube compartment's bottom. The tray may
be used with a cover that can be utilized as a server. The tray
when used with the cover is spill proof. To use as a server, the
tray and cover are turned upside down, the ice cubes are ejected by
applying force to the flexible bottoms of the ice cube
compartments. Once ejected, the tray is removed to reveal the
ejected ice cubes within the underside of the cover. Multiple ice
cube trays can be stacked on top of the cover
[0019] While these devices fulfill their respective, particular
objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not
utilize or disclose an ice holding device that can serve as an ice
tray, an ice bucket and a beverage cooler in the manner of the
present invention.
[0020] Therefore, a need exists for an ice holding device with
these attributes and functionalities. The ice holding device
according to embodiments of the invention substantially departs
from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art. It can
be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and
improved ice holding device which can be used commercially. In this
regard, the present invention substantially fulfills these
objectives.
[0021] The foregoing patent and other information reflect the state
of the art of which the inventors are aware and are tendered with a
view toward discharging the inventors' acknowledged duty of candor
in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the
patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully
stipulated, however, that the foregoing patent and other
information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when
considered in combination, the inventors' claimed invention.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0022] The present invention makes and stores ice after being
equipped and placed in a freezer; it also provides for the serving
of ice as well as the chilling of liquids contained in bottles or
cans that are placed therein.
[0023] In an exemplary embodiment the present invention is
comprised of an exterior chamber, an interior damming bucket and a
lid. The exterior chamber may be comprised of a fill-line or fill
indicator disposed on the inside of the exterior chamber. The
exterior chamber may be further comprised of an array of cavities,
i.e. ice molding pockets, formed on the inside of the exterior
chamber where these cavities form an array of protrusions on the
outside of the exterior chamber. Channels, i.e. gates and runners,
may connect these cavities. The damming bucket is dimensioned to
fit snuggly inside the exterior chamber and to allow sealing of the
exterior chamber when the damming bucket is inserted within the
exterior chamber. The lid is dimensioned to fit snuggly on top of
the exterior chamber. The lid facilitates ice staying fresh and not
evaporating in the freezer.
[0024] The making of ice using the present invention is
accomplished by filling the exterior chamber with water, or another
desired liquid, to the level of the fill indicator. The damming
bucket is then placed inside the exterior chamber, which displaces
the liquid into the cavities in the exterior chamber. Any excess
liquid overflows out of the exterior chamber. The damming bucket
remains within the exterior chamber, the lid is placed on top of
this assembly, and the entire assembly is placed inside a freezer
to solidify the liquids within the cavities. Once the liquid within
the cavities is frozen, the damming bucket is removed from the
exterior chamber and ice within the recesses is removed by flexing
the external chamber. The removed ice may then be placed inside the
damming bucket and the exterior chamber may be refilled if desired,
the damming bucket replaced inside chamber, the lid placed on top
of the assembly and the entire assembly placed back in the freezer
to make more ice. In addition to making and storing ice in a
freezer, another use of the present invention may be to use it as
an ice bucket and for the serving of ice.
[0025] An optional procedure is to leave the ice formed by the
above process inside the molding pockets in the exterior chamber
and to place a container of wine or other liquid inside the
exterior chamber for chilling.
[0026] The present invention departs from the prior art by not
having a tray style design. The design of the present invention is
inspired from injection molding methods, rotational casting methods
and from the field of hydraulics. Inside any molding tool are a
series of runners and gates that carry molten or liquid materials
to the cavity that creates the molded part. The present invention
uses similar types of gates and runners to connect the cavities in
order to ensure that each cavity is adequately filled every time.
Overfilling of the cavities cannot occur because the damming bucket
forces out the excess liquid hydraulically. The result is ice that
cannot become stuck and is substantially uniform in shape.
[0027] Secondly, once the cavities are full and the damming bucket
is in place liquid is not spilled during transport of the assembly
to a freezer. Another feature of this approach is that the ice is
completely encapsulated and does not spill during placement of the
assembly into a freezer.
[0028] Thirdly, with the lid in place any ice contained in the
bucket portion is stored without absorbing food odors or
evaporating. Another feature is the easy removal of the ice due to
the flexibility of the external chamber.
[0029] The present invention also departs from the prior art by
having the ability to store ice while additional ice is being
formed. No other known device facilitates the serving of ice from
the same apparatus in which the ice is made in the manner of the
present invention. This feature adds to the usefulness of the
present invention by saving space and eliminating the need for an
additional conventional ice bucket and trays.
[0030] Yet another feature of the present invention is the ability
to chill other liquids contained in bottles or cans by placing them
into the damming bucket or inside the exterior chamber with ice
either in the recesses, in the damming bucket, or both.
[0031] In one embodiment of the present invention the damming
bucket may have cavities indented on its surface pointing inward
while the exterior chamber does not have cavities but is
dimensioned to fit snuggly around the damming bucket. This
embodiment may be further comprised of gates and runners connecting
the cavities.
[0032] One aspect of the present invention is that it may be used
to function as an ice bucket for the serving of ice.
[0033] Another aspect of the present invention is that it may be
used to chill bottled or canned liquids.
[0034] Another aspect of the present invention is that the amount
of ice that can be made is greater than the amount of ice created
by a conventional ice tray.
[0035] Another aspect of the present invention is the creation of
substantially uniformly shaped and sized ice cubes.
[0036] Another aspect of the present invention is that is may be
manufactured economically.
[0037] Another aspect of the present invention is that it may be
made from readily available materials.
[0038] These and other features and advantages of the present
invention will be presented in more detail in the following
specification of the invention and the accompanying figures, which
illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.
[0039] There are additional features of the invention that will be
described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the
claims appended hereto. In this respect, before explaining at least
one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood
that the invention is not limited in its application to the details
of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth
in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The
invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced
and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that
the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose
of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
[0040] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be
utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods
and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present
invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded
as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041] The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may
best be understood by reference to the following description taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of an ice
holding device, according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0043] FIG. 2 illustrates a front plan view of an ice holding
device, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0044] FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of an ice holding device,
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0045] FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom plan view of an ice holding
device, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0046] The present invention will now be described in detail with
reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in
the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent,
however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may
be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In
other instances, well known operations have not been described in
detail so not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
[0047] Referring now to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 an exemplary
embodiment of an ice holding device 100 is comprised of an external
chamber 200, a damming bucket 300 and a lid 400. The exterior
chamber 200 has an inside and an outside and is further comprised
of an exterior chamber top 230 that is dimensioned to form an
opening to the exterior chamber and an exterior chamber bottom 220.
The exterior chamber 200 is further comprised of an array of
cavities 211 formed on the inside of exterior chamber 200 where the
indentions made by the formation of the array of cavities 211 form
corresponding array of protrusions 210 on the outside of exterior
chamber 200. The exterior chamber may be further comprised of a
fill line or a fill indicator disposed on the inside of the
exterior chamber 200.
[0048] In the exemplary embodiment of an ice holding device 100 the
damming bucket 300 has an inside and an outside and is dimensioned
and formed to fit snugly within the exterior chamber 200, such that
a liquid that has been poured into the exterior chamber 200 to the
fill line will be forced into the array of cavities. The damming
bucket is further comprised of a damming bucket bottom 320 and an
array of damming bucket holes 310 disposed towards the top of the
damming bucket.
[0049] In the exemplary embodiment of an ice holding device 100,
the lid 400 is dimensioned and formed to fit snugly on the exterior
chamber top 230, either with the damming bucket 300 inserted or
removed from the exterior chamber 200. The lid 400 has a top
surface and a bottom surface. The top surface of the lid 400 has a
message area 410.
[0050] In another embodiment a ice holding device is comprised of
an external chamber, an internal bucket and a lid, where the
external chamber has an external chamber bottom that is encompassed
by an external chamber wall that has a first inside surface and a
first outside surface thus forming an external chamber top opening.
A fill indicator is clearly marked on the first inside surface. An
array of cavities is formed within the first inside surface. This
creates a corresponding array of protrusions emanating from the
first outside surface. The internal bucket bottom is encompassed by
an internal bucket wall that has a second inside surface and a
second outside surface thus forming an internal bucket top opening.
In this embodiment the second outside surface is substantially
coplanar to the second inside surface.
[0051] In an alternate embodiment the inside wall of the external
chamber is smooth and the internal bucket has an array of cavities
formed within outside wall of the internal bucket where the array
of cavities creates a corresponding array of protrusions within the
internal bucket.
[0052] In one embodiment the present invention may be made as
follows: [0053] Cut or burn a shaped cavity into a mold that will
create a compartment suitable for molding a part that will contain
liquid [0054] Cut or burn another cavity that will create a part
that will nest snuggly inside the other part [0055] Form surface
protrusion features or surface indention features on one or both
parts [0056] Fill the mold with silicone or other suitable material
[0057] Remove the parts from the mold [0058] Cure the parts [0059]
The device is now ready to be used
[0060] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that, although
specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein
for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made
without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For
example, many of the features and components described above in the
context of a particular ice holding device configuration can be
incorporated into other configurations in accordance with other
embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not
limited except by the appended claims.
* * * * *