Abstract:
A container for holding ice cubes and for controllably and quickly dispensing the ice cubes into a receiving vessel without undue spillage. The container includes a chute having a closed periphery.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a container for holding ice cubes and for controllably dispensing the ice cubes into a drinking vessel. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Various methods of making and distributing ice cubes are known in the art. In this specification, the term “ice cube” will be understood to refer to any fragment of ice of a size and shape which is customarily contained in drinking vessels for the purpose of keeping beverages cool. While many such fragments indeed have a generally cubic appearance, other shapes are known, such as cylinders and segments thereof, or less regular shapes. 
     A common method of making ice cubes is to manually fill separate compartments of an ice cube tray with water which is frozen in a freezer. Using the formed ice cubes involves the inconvenience of removing them from the ice cube tray and usually transferring them to an intermediate storage container which is kept in the freezer, or an insulated ice bucket when more immediate use is required. The ice is normally handled with a scoop, a pair of tongs or even with the fingers to transfer it to a drinking vessel. 
     In instances where a comparatively large quantity of ice is required, manufactured ice may be purchased and stored in a freezer. Portions of the manufactured ice can be transferred to an intermediate storage container as required. 
     In refrigerators which have automatic ice makers, ice cubes are dispensed into a holding container in a freezer compartment of the refrigerator. This container has a function equivalent to that of the intermediate storage containers for the manually made ice cubes. 
     In some cases, the holding container is part of a system which allows ice cubes to be automatically dispensed on demand into a drinking vessel through a chute in the freezer compartment door. While this represents a convenience to the user, the process is sometimes too slow, since there is on occasion a need to distribute relatively large quantities of ice in a short time. 
     It would be advantageous to dispense ice directly into several drinking vessels in fairly quick succession. A conventional holding container does not lend itself to this; when tipping the container to pour ice cubes into a drinking vessel, it is difficult if not impossible to control the ice cubes exiting the container. Not only is there a lack of structure to guide the ice into a receiving vessel, but also ice cubes build up near the rim of the container until it is tipped too far, whereupon an excess of ice exits the container, typically overfilling the vessel and being spilt on the floor. Alternative current systems also include automatic ice making machines. These automatic machines fill a cube mold, displace the ice into a reservoir and translate the ice through a freezer door to facilitate translation of the ice from the reservoir, the automatic dispenser draw the ice from the bottom, or lower portion, of the reservoir. Therefore, the need still exists for an ice dispensing structure which facilitates selective dispensing of the ice. The need also exists for an accurate dispensing of the ice without requiring extensive or complicated mechanical drives. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The apparatus of the present invention addresses these problems. The apparatus includes a storage compartment in which ice cubes are stored and a chute with an inlet and an outlet for the ice, the chute providing a passageway for the ice which is completely enclosed for a least a part of its length. In one embodiment, the apparatus further includes a hold-back flange to reduce unintended translation of the ice from the storage. The apparatus can be used for storing ice which it receives from an automatic ice maker, or ice which is manually produced in ice-cube trays, or manufactured ice. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a preferred embodiment of an ice dispenser. 
     FIG. 2 shows a side elevation of the preferred embodiment. 
     FIG. 3 shows a front elevation of the preferred embodiment. 
     FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of an ice dispenser. 
     FIG. 5 shows a simplified side elevation of the embodiment of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an ice storage compartment and a chute. 
     FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of an alternative configuration. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , these show the preferred embodiment of an ice dispenser  10 , which includes a storage compartment  12  with a peripheral wall or enclosure  14 , a floor  16 , and a chute  18  mounted on the peripheral wall  14 . The dispenser  10  is configured to fit in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator, wherein it accepts ice cubes from an automatic ice maker from manually actuated freezer trays or from bags of manufactured ice. It is intended for the storage of ice cubes and their easy distribution into receiving containers such as drinking vessels. The ice cubes may be urged from the dispenser  10  by manually pushing the ice cubes or appropriately tilting the dispenser so that the ice cubes migrate towards the chute  18  and are urged therethrough by gently shaking. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the storage compartment  12  has a first front portion  20  and a second front portion  22 . Dispenser  10  is intended to replace a conventional ice storage container located in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator. While dispenser  10  has the same general configuration as a conventional ice storage container which it replaces, the dispenser is configured so that the entire structure, including the chute  18  which projects outward from the peripheral enclosure  14  can be located within the footprint and position of a conventional ice storage container. While the configuration of the conventional container might be useful as a reference, it will not be described since it is not a part of this invention. However, the differences between the conventional container and the ice dispenser of the present invention will be apparent to the reader. 
     The peripheral enclosure  14  of the ice dispenser  10  has two side walls  24  and  26 , a rear wall  28 , a first front wall  30  and a second front wall  32 . The first and second front walls  30  and  32  are offset from each other as shown most clearly in FIG.  1 . The chute  18  projects outwardly from the top of the first front wall  30 , to a distance which is approximately equivalent to the offset between the two front walls  30  and  32 . In other words, the offset effectively accommodates the length of the chute  18 . It will be appreciated that the structure thus far described could occupy the same footprint as a conventional ice storage container having a single front wall which would be as far forward as the second front wall  32  of the present ice dispenser  10 . 
     The chute  18  has the configuration of a cylinder which is open to its full diameter at both ends to provide an inlet  34  and an outlet  36 . The chute  18  is mounted to the top of the first front wall  30 , wherein about half of its diameter is recessed, as best seen in FIG.  3 . The chute  18  is so disposed that it projects outward, with its inlet  34  co-planar with the first front wall  30 . In the preferred embodiment, the axis of chute  18  slopes at an angle of approximately 10° from the horizontal, so that the outlet is lower than the inlet, as best illustrated in FIG.  2 . It is understood that the chute may have any one of a variety of slopes. The first front wall  30  has a corresponding slope of approximately 10° from the vertical. 
     The inlet  34  is above a desired fill level  38 . If the inlet  34  were below the fill level  38 , or if the depth of ice extended above the fill level  38 , ice would tend to overflow through the chute  18 . 
     In FIG. 1, a partial barrier  40  can be seen projecting inward between the first front portion  20  and the second front portion  22  of the dispenser  10 . When the dispenser  10  is relatively full of ice, barrier  40  prevents an excess of ice cubes building up near chute inlet  34  and helps to avoid jamming. On the other hand, when dispenser  10  contains relatively little ice, barrier  40  can be used as a funnel to guide the ice cubes towards chute  18 . 
     As well as having side walls  24  and  26 , the front walls  30  and  32  and the rear wall  28 , storage compartment  12  has, as best seen in FIG. 1, a diagonally oriented wall  42  between side wall  24  and the rear wall  28 . This is to provide clearance for a vent such as is typically found in many freezer compartments, and is not essential to the invention. 
     It is further contemplated that the dispenser  10  may include a retaining wall extending upward from the floor and spaced from the inlet to the chute. The retaining wall may have a height that is between the inlet of the chute and the top of the peripheral wall. The retaining wall permits a high fill level in the dispenser, by exposing a reduced volume of ice cubes to the chute inlet. 
     The preferred embodiment would normally be applied to an ice dispenser which is specifically made to fit a particular freezer compartment with optimum use of space. However, other embodiments are possible whereby a more generic apparatus can be provided for general use in any freezer compartment. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, a portion of the peripheral wall  14  includes a recess or cut out  15  to provide access to the interior of storage compartment. Preferably, the recess  15  does not extend below the fill line of the storage compartment. The recess is sized to permit a user to introduce their hand into the storage compartment and urge ice cubes through the chute. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an ice dispenser  44  for general use. This embodiment has a regularly shaped, typically rectangular, storage compartment  46  with a floor  48 , an enclosure  50  and a chute  52  with an inlet  54  and an outlet  56 . The chute  52  is positioned towards one side of a single front wall  58 . This embodiment may optionally have a central barrier similar to  40  to control the ice exiting through chute  52 . 
     FIG. 6 shows another embodiment, wherein the chute  52  can be a separate piece which can be selectively added on to the storage compartment  46  by slotting it into a recess  60  which is configured to receive it. For example, this would be useful if it were desired to keep an ice dispenser in a space too low to accommodate the chute. 
     The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 can optionally include an indent  62  around the outside of enclosure  50  and spaced a short distance below the top of the enclosure. Indent  62  provides a frangible band of material which allows an uppermost strip  64  of the enclosure  50  to be snapped off, reducing the effective height of the storage compartment  46 . This permits the dispenser to fit in a more confined space than previously. 
     Further, although the chute  18  is shown as a complete loop, it is contemplated the chute may be formed by a pair of arms  84  extending upwardly from the peripheral wall. The arms  84  may extend to contact each other or define a clearance therebetween. Any such clearance is sized to substantially preclude the passage or retention of an ice cube therebetween. 
     All embodiments can have optional hold-back flanges such as  66 , as seen in FIG. 5 extending back from inlet  54  of chute  52 . These interfere sufficiently with ice cubes entering chute  52  to prevent excessive ice from unintentionally passing from the storage compartment. 
     The chute  18  or  52  may depart from the precise form of a cylinder while retaining general characteristics thereof, for example, it may have an elliptical cross section. Other variations in shape are possible. For example, FIGS. 4 and 5 show chute  52  with a downward extension  68  at outlet  56  which helps to avoid ice cubes overshooting the receiving vessel. 
     As well as being used for the storage of ice in a refrigerator, the dispenser  44  might also function to hold ice for a limited time at room temperature in the same way as an ice bucket. In this case, it may be held in an insulated outer container such as a bag designed for the purpose, with just the chute exposed. 
     Ice dispensers  10  and  44  can be made from hard plastic of a type customarily used in the art, or from metal. In the preferred embodiment, the entire ice dispenser comprising storage compartment  12  and chute  18  is molded from plastic as a single unit. Alternatively, when chute  52  is made to be removably attached to storage compartment  46  to form ice dispenser  44 , each component is molded from plastic as an integral but distinct part. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material of the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.