U.S. patent number RE34,533 [Application Number 07/775,423] was granted by the patent office on 1994-02-08 for method for preparing ice for transportation.
Invention is credited to Freddie J. Wigley.
United States Patent |
RE34,533 |
Wigley |
February 8, 1994 |
Method for preparing ice for transportation
Abstract
A method for preparing a quantity of ice for transportation to a
remote location consisting of bagging a plurality of bags of ice,
then stacking the frozen bags of ice vertically on a pallet to a
predetermined height. The pallet is wrapped with a material to form
a first assembled unit. The unit is then placed in a freezer having
a temperature at or below 20.degree. F. for a period of time
sufficient to set the product. Once "set", the unit is boxed in a
rigid container having sidewalls and a lid. The sidewalls are
banded to form a rigid second assembly and the second assembly
which is returned to the freezer for storage until it is
transported to a remote location.
Inventors: |
Wigley; Freddie J. (Ponca City,
OK) |
Family
ID: |
23565815 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/775,423 |
Filed: |
October 15, 1991 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
396092 |
Aug 21, 1989 |
04903494 |
Feb 27, 1990 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
62/60; 53/440;
53/447; 53/449 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A23G
7/02 (20130101); F25C 5/20 (20180101); B65B
11/00 (20130101); A23G 9/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A23G
9/00 (20060101); A23G 7/02 (20060101); A23G
7/00 (20060101); B65B 11/00 (20060101); F25C
5/00 (20060101); B65B 063/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;62/60,371
;53/440,447,449,465 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tapolcai; William E.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A method for preparing a quantity of prepackaged ice for
transportation to a remote location comprising the steps of:
(a) stacking said quantity of prepackaged ice vertically on a
pallet to a predetermined height;
(b) wrapping said stacked frozen product with material to form a
first assembled unit;
(c) placing said first assembled unit in a freezer having a
temperature at or below 20.degree. F.;
(d) storing said product in said freezer for a period of time until
said product has "set";
(e) boxing said first assembled unit in a rigid container having
sidewalls and a lid;
(f) banding said sidewalls to form a rigid second assembled
unit;
whereby said second unit may be transported or moved to a freezer
for storage until being transported to a remote location.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sidewalls are
banded by wrapping said boxing with a stretchable material.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said prepackaged ice is
"set" at 20.degree. F. for at least eight hours.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein boxing said sidewalls
is accomplished by placing a corrugated cardboard container around
and over said first assembled unit.
5. A method for preparing a quantity of prepackaged ice for
transportation to a remote location comprising the steps of:
(a) placing a pallet at a location to be loaded;
(b) placing a piece of insulation material on top of said pallet,
sized to cover said pallet;
(c) stacking said prepackaged ice on top of said insulation
material, said stack having a dimension equal to or less than the
dimensions of said pallet, and to a predetermined height;
(d) wrapping said stacked prepackaged ice with a stretchable
material from said pallet to the top of said stack to form a first
assembled unit;
(e) placing said first assembled unit in a refrigerated room having
a temperature of 20.degree. F. or less for a period sufficient to
set said prepackaged ice;
(f) placing cardboard container material having a height greater
than said first assembled unit and having flaps with a length at
least as long as the shortest dimension of said pallet, around said
first assembled unit to form a box around said pallet;
(g) banding said cardboard box with material in a manner to secure
said cardboard against said first assembled unit;
(h) moving said flaps to cover said first assembled unit forming a
second assembled unit; and
(i) moving said second assembled unit to a refrigerated room for
storage.
6. The method as claimed in claim 5 additionally including the
steps of:
(a) lifting said flaps in a manner to expose the top of said first
assembled unit;
(b) placing pieces of dry ice on top of said first assembled
unit;
(c) returning said flaps to their original position covering said
first assembled unit;
(d) moving said second assemble unit into an enclosed refrigerated
truck having a temperature of less than 60.degree. F.;
(e) transporting said second assembled unit to a food merchandising
store; and
(f) placing said second assembled unit in a refrigerated location
having a temperature of equal to or less than 20.degree. F.
7. The method as claimed in a claim 5 wherein said sidewalls are
banded by wrapping said boxing with a stretchable material.
8. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said wrapping perfomred
by using a plastic film. .Iadd.
9. A method for preparing a quantity of prepackaged ice for
transportation to a remote location comprising the steps of:
(a) placing a pallet at a location to be loaded;
(b) placing a piece of insulation material on top of said pallet,
sized to cover said pallet;
(c) stacking said prepackaged ice on top of said insulation
material, said stack having a dimension equal to or less than the
dimension of said pallet and to a predetermined height;
(d) wrapping said stacked prepackaged ice with a stretchable
material from said pallet to the top of said stack to form a first
assembled unit;
(e) placing said first assembled unit in a refrigerated room having
a temperature of 20 degrees F. or less for a period sufficient to
set said prepackaged ice;
(f) removing said first assembled unit from said refrigerated room
for shipment to said remote location;
(g) placing a quantity of dry ice on top of said first assembled
unit;
(h) covering said first assembled unit with an insulated covering
to form a second assembled unit;
(i) moving said second assembled unit into an enclosed refrigerated
truck having a temperature of less than 60 degrees F.;
(j) transporting said second assembled unit to said remote
location; and,
(k) placing said second assembled unit in a refrigerated location
having a temperature of 20 degrees F. or less..Iaddend. .Iadd.10.
The method as set out in claim 9, wherein said first assembled unit
is insulated using cardboard.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The best prior art known to Applicant is the inventor's owned U.S.
Pat. No. 4,741,167 issued May 3, 1988, entitled "Method and
Apparatus for Transporting of Perishable Materials". In that
patent, a method of transportation is disclosed wherein a rack is
filled with ice products and a flexible insulated container is
wrapped around and strapped tightly to the container to prevent the
product inside from deteriorating. Dry ice is placed in the top of
the container to provide cooling to the material inside the
container during transportation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,936 issued to Martin Frank et al., entitled
"Container for Shipping Perishables" is a similarly described
patent wherein a container has insulated sidewalls, top and bottom
which tend to preserve the perishables in the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This application relates to an entirely new concept for the
handling of ice during its preparation for transportation, the
storage prior to transportation and the ultimate transportation of
the ice to a remote location.
The invention essentially comprises a method for handling ice from
the actual location where the ice is bagged to the ultimate user of
the ice wherein the handling is done in a manner to reduce the
actual handling costs to a bare minimum.
The method essentially comprises taking the newly bagged ice off
the conveyor from the bagging machines in an ice plant, for
example, and stacking the ice on a pallet to a desired height. In
the preferred embodiment, the ice is stacked in layers of fifteen
bags with fourteen layers making a total of 210, eight pound bags.
The entire unit when stacked weights approximately 1,640
pounds.
The ice, in this condition, is newly formed and generally has a
liquid coating over the ice. Once the ice is stacked, the stack
must be horizontally and vertically stabilized before it can be
moved. The best method for horizontally stabilizing the ice so that
the ice can not shift during movement is to wrap the entire stack
of ice in a stretch plastic. Once the stack is wrapped, a hand or
machine loader can be inserted into the pallet, rising the pallet
off the floor and moving the ice into a cold room or freezer having
a temperature of 20.degree. F. or colder. The ice remains in the
room until it is "set"; that a condition where the ice cubes will
tend to freeze together and the bags will tend to settle to a rigid
configuration. The "set" bags are then ready for transportation.
The approximate time normally used to convert fresh ice to the
"set" condition is eight hours at 20.degree. F. when prepared as
previous described. The thin layer of plastic wrapped around the
ice permits easy transportation of the cold temperature into and
through the bundle of ice while maintaining the ice in a rigid
position.
It is extremely important to maintain the ice in a rigid position
since the ice must later be inserted into a merchandising box
having very narrow tolerances horizontally so that the ice must not
shift outside the horizontal limits. For example, the merchandising
box has approximately two inches clearance on each side of the
stacked ice. Once the ice is cured, the preferred transportation
system comprises placing a cardboard container completely around
the ice and banding the cardboard container. The easiest method to
band the cardboard container is to wrap the cardboard container
with stretch plastic. The cardboard container contains cover lids
which will completely cover the top of the ice and preferrably
overlap each other by at least three inches. Once the box has been
prepared as described above, it is ready for transportation. The
box, prior to transportation, is filled with a quantity of dry ice,
depending upon the length of time the box will be in a
nonrefrigerated location. The unit is then inserted into a medium
temperature truck, generally having a temperature designed to
transport vegetables and the like which truck is approximately
60.degree. F. or under. The box is then transported to a store
which is merchandising the ice. Most large stores used for
merchandising ice have freezer areas in the store. Such freezer
areas are often used to store the assembled unit until it is ready
for inserting into a merchandiser. Such merchandiser is clearly
described in the Application entitled "Method and Apparatus for
Loading a Product in an Enclosed Box", application Ser. No.
333,012, pending filed April 4, 1989, by the same inventor as this
Application.
The merchandising stores can store these assembled units of ice in
their freezer regions for extended periods of time, for example,
over long weekends, and can assemble several of these units in the
stores and in addition can stack the units one on top of the other,
thus saving a considerable amount of space for the store. The
normal store moving equipment can easily accommodate inserting the
prongs of the moving equipment into the pallet, lifting the pallet
either stacked or on the floor, moving the pallet to the ice
merchandiser as described in the aforementioned Application and
inserting the ice, once the box and outer wrap is removed, the
pallets is moved into the ice merchandiser. The inner wrap, if
present, is then removed. Such period of time is normally less than
five minutes, substantially reducing the handling costs for moving
and storing ice.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 illustrates a fully assembled unit ready for transportation
to a remote location;
FIG. 2 is the process used to prepare the ice into an assembled
unit illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates a layout of the cardboard box material; and,
FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the cardboard illustrating the
overlap of the lids.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The normal method for preparing ice for transportation to a remote
location essentially comprises bagging ice into plastic bags having
a weight of eight pounds. Once the ice is bagged, the ice is then
"baled" into bales of six bags. Then the bales are is moved into a
cold storage unit until they are ready for transportation. The ice
is normally set, as previously described, so that it can be easily
transported. Each of the bales are then transported into a truck
having a temperature of 20.degree. F. or less where the bales are
then transported individually from the ice company to the various
locations where the boxes for merchandising the ice are located.
The ice is then inserted into the ice merchandising apparatus by
cutting the bales and placing the individual bags into the ice
merchandising boxes.
The biggest problem with this process is that during the
transportation of the ice and the inserting of the ice into the
boxes, the ice tends to melt, causing the bags to stick together
and on many occasions become damaged upon attempted removal from
the box. Secondly, the ice at the bottom seldom gets sold, thereby
causing the ice cubes in the bags to freeze into a solid cube of
ice because of the weight of the ice bags above the bottom bags
causing melting of the ice through weight. These bags, therefore,
are generally discarded as being unsalable with a lost to the ice
company of the bags. The only way the bottom bags can be sold to
prevent the above from occurring is to remove all the bags from the
freezer at the time freezer is refilled and then placing the old
bags on top. Such a process is extremely time consuming and
generally results in the loss of several bags due to ripping or
tearing of the plastic and the melting of the product while it sits
outside the merchandiser waiting for their merchandiser to fill
with new bags. Once the plastic on any bag is ripped, it can not be
merchandised.
This invention describes an entirely new method for merchandising
ice. Such new method basically consists of preparing the ice for
insertion into the merchandiser at the time the bags of ice are
removed from the bagging machine. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the
method essentially comprises removing the ice from the bagging
machine and stacking it in layers on a pallet which is normally 40"
wide by 48" long. Each layer generally consists of fifteen bags.
The bags are stacked to a height of approximately fourteen bags,
making a total of 210 bags on a pallet. Such a pallet generally
weights approximately 1,640 pounds when loaded with ice. The ice,
when first removed from the bagging machine, is wet and needs to be
cooled so that it will "set". The stack of 210 bags can easily
shift if it is moved since the ice is covered with liquid and the
bags are generally unsettled; that is the ice cubes can move freely
within the bags so that any movement of the pallet with the ice in
this condition will generally cause the stack to shift or fall from
the pallet. In order to prevent such an occurrence, the pallet is
wrapped with a stretchable plastic, such as plastic wrap or other
type stretchable plastic from the pallet to the top of the ice. The
ice, once secured, can now be transported easily to a cold storage
or refrigerated room where the ice is subjected to a temperature of
20.degree. F. or cooler until the ice is "set"; that is until the
ice cubes inside each individual bag have frozen to each other and
the bags have settled into a rigid configuration. Once the bags are
configured and frozen the stack becomes extremely stable. The stack
is then surrounded preferrably by cardboard in a manner to totally
enclose the pallet and the stacked bags of ice to a height higher
than the top layer of ice.
In the preferred embodiment of this invention the ice is generally
stacked so that the pallet and the ice will reach approximately
50". The cardboard cover is then sized to fit around the pallet
with a portion left over so that the cardboard can be easily
secured around the pallet. Banding is then placed around the
cardboard to secure the cardboard to the pallet and to the ice
stack. Such banding can be accomplished by any usual method, the
easiest method is to wrap stretch plastic around the cardboard. The
cardboard is also configured to have top lids which will fold down
over the ice stack and overlap by at least 3".
Referring to FIG. 1, an assembled unit 10 is illustrated having a
pallet generally referred to by arrow 11. A piece of cardboard 9 is
placed on the top of pallet 11 with ice 12 stacked thereon.
Cardboard 9 directs the movement of carbon dioxide air around the
outside of cardboard box as it falls and prevents the influx of
warm air up through the center of ice 12 between the boards of
pallet 11. Ice 12 is stacked, as previously described, in layers of
fifteen bags each and having a total of approximately fourteen
layers. The ice in this configuration is then wrapped in a plastic
13 completely around ice 12 and to the top of stack of ice 12.
Pallet 11 having ice 12 thereon is then placed in a refrigerator at
20.degree. F. or less for approximately eight hours until it is
"set". Once ice 12 is "set", then it is covered with a cardboard
box having side portions 14, 15, 16 and a front portion 17 with an
Overlapping portion (see FIG. 3), not illustrated which is used
mainly to secure and seal front portion 17 of the box to side
portion 14. The box has a plurality of lids. A lid 18 is attached
to back portion 19 and a lid 20 is attached to side portion 16. A
lid not shown, similar to lid 18 is attached to front portion 17.
The cardboard box is generally placed completely to the bottom of
pallet 11, as illustrated, in order to better stabilize unit 10.
Once the cardboard is placed around unit 10 it is banded by any of
several methods, but the easiest being an outer stretch plastic
wrapping 21 which is placed completely around the cardboard box
side portions 14, 5, 16 and 17. Thus, making the box a secure unit
for transportation. Lids 18, 19, 20 and 23 (see FIG. 3) are folded
down against the top of ice stack 12 to prevent entrance of heat
during transportation. Lids 8, 19, 20 and 23 also provide access to
the inside of the box for the insertion of powdered or fractured
dry ice 8 to render the box cold enough for transportation in a
medium storage unit. Such transportation methods have been
completely described in Applicant's copending application Ser. No.
333,012, previously described and does not form a part of this
invention.
The cardboard container utilized for the preferred embodiment is
illustrated in FIG. 3 and comprises side portion 14, back portion
15, second side portion 16 and front portion 17 with flap 22 used
to fold around the box in order to improve its sealing capabilities
and its ability to form a rigid structure. The box additionally
includes previously described lid 19 which is attached to side
portion 14, lid 18 which is attached to back portion 15, lid 20
which is attached second side portion 16 and a lid 23 which is
attached to front portion 17.
In the preferred embodiment, all of panels 14, 15, 16 and 17 are
54" high with creases 24, 25 and 26, respectively, between each of
front, side and back portions 14 through 17, respectively. Cuts 27,
28 and 29 provide a method for easily forming lids 18, 19, 20 and
23.
A top view of the box is illustrated in FIG. 4 and illustrates an
overlap 30 for lids 18 and 23 illustrated by dotted lines and an
overlap 31 for lids 19 and 20 illustrated by dotted lines.
It is obvious that if the ice is prepared and bagged in a cold
room, such as a room of 20.degree. F. or colder and is already
"set", then it can be sacked on pallet 11 immediately and wrapped
in the initial plastic wrapping or in the cardboard with outer
banding. In order to stabilize the ice against horizontal shifting.
However, even ice packaged in a cold room will perform better if it
has been allowed to initially "set"; that is to rest for a period
of time in the cold room so that the bags can acquire and conformed
to their particular stacking configurations prior to being
transported, thereby tending to stabilize the entire unit prior to
transportation.
CONCLUSIONS
A new method for ice preparation prior to transportation has been
illustrated. Such method provides for the handling of a large
quantity of ice in an extremely easy manner; that is, the method
provides for a formation of an unit having at least 210 bags which
then can be handled by normal pallet transportation apparatus used
in every store facility, such as a hand moving apparatus which
generally includes a pair of forks which can be easily inserted
into the pallet and raised and transported even though the weight
of the entire assembled unit is 1,640 pounds. Such assembled unit
is stable once it has been "set" and prepared with a cardboard
outer wrapping as described. The pallet can be transported easily
in a medium temperature truck for an extended period of time
without deterioration of the ice.
The preferred embodiment has been utilized in several facilities
with an extreme reduction in damaged ice since the ice is not
handled by any person other than the ultimate user from the time it
is stacked on the pallet until the time it is eventually
merchandised in the stores. Any ice left in the bottom of the
merchandiser can normally be easily removed and placed on top of
the already stacked ice.
The normal procedure is to remove the ice from the store freezer to
the ice merchandiser in the store. The cardboard outer wrapping can
be removed either in the cooler or at any location between the
cooler to the ice merchandiser and discarded. The inner and outer
wrapping can be discarded and nothing need be returned to the
warehouse.
The entire method provides for warehousing ice which is not
normally done under the current ice merchandising systems. Ice, at
the present time, is merchandised from the ice company directly to
the ice user. Whereas, this system allows the ice companies to
warehouse ice at the facility generally used to dispense all of the
products to a grocery store. The grocery stores not only receive
the standard product from the warehouse, but also can now receive
its ice from the warehouse, this substantially cutting down on the
cost of shipping produce to the store. Ice under this system can
generally be marketed for less than the ice merchandised under the
prior art systems.
It is obvious, of course, that other modifications can be made and
still be well within the spirit and scope of this invention as
described in the specification and appended claims.
* * * * *