Conveyor belt for ice dispenser

A conveyor belt for use in an ice body maker adapted to transfer the formed ice bodies from a collecting space to a dispensing space. The conveyor belt is arranged to pick up the ice bodies temporarily stored in the collecting space and drop them into a suitable guide chute leading to an upper portion of the dispensing space so that a receiver disposed in the dispensing space may receive the desired qauantity of ice bodies for subsequent disposition as desired. The belt is formed of a plurality of link plates articulated by cooperating knuckles with each plate having a forward edge provided with upstanding cleats and a rearward edge provided with upstanding cleats. The cleats on the forward edge extend at an angle of less than 90.degree. to the plane of the plate and the cleats on the rearward edge may extend at a greater angle to the plane of the plates. In the illustrated embodiment, the forward cleats extend at an angle of approximately 60.degree. to the plate and the rearward cleats extend at an angle of approximately 90.degree. to the plate. The belt may be entrained about upper and lower sprockets so as to extend at an upwardly forwardly directed angle so that the ice bodies picked up by the cleats are caused to be discharged into the dispensing space as a result of the cooperative functioning of the cleats and the flat surface of the link plates. The plates may be connected by hinges including open knuckles on the front and rear edges of the plates for facilitated maintenance and assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to ice body makers and in particular to belts for 
use in transferring ice bodies from a collecting space to a dispensing 
space in ice body makers. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In U.S. Letters Patent No. 2,243,145 of G. W. Batchell, a paneled lehr belt 
is shown having interconnecting hinge means and upturned sidewalls. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,048 of Nat Cordis, a conveyor is shown having 
interconnected links provided at one edge with a turned wall portion. 
Georges H. N. Bessette, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,129, shows a chain and 
sprocket drive structure utilizing a quadrilateral sprocket wheel. 
James H. McAuley, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,256, shows a flexible chain and 
its supporting and driving means composed of interlocking links and with 
outwardly projecting wall portions. 
James H. McAuley et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,546, show a similar conveyor 
chain. 
James H. McAuley et al show, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,547, a similar chain 
having a shelf portion for handling bulky feed or roughage material in a 
conduit or trough. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,548, James H. McAuley et al show a flexible chain 
with bearing surfaces defining interconnected links having upstanding wall 
portions. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,941, Clair W. Mueller shows a conveyor chain having 
integral knuckle means on the front and rear edges. 
Kate Kemper, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,963, shows an apparatus for 
transporting pieces of dough in a proving cabinet. 
Earl W. Kloefkorn et al show, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,719, a combine 
conveyor means having a transverse slat structure for use in a feeder 
house of a combine. The slat means have an inverted U-shaped 
cross-sectional configuration with finger means or hand means connected to 
and extending rearwardly from the slat means for engaging the grain in the 
feeder housing. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,111, Howard L. Burks shows a conveyor having a 
plurality of blades extending approximately one-half the width of the belt 
with each successive blade being offset laterally relative to the 
preceding and following blade. The blades extend perpendicularly to the 
flat surface of the belt. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention comprehends an improved conveyor belt for use in an 
ice body maker having means defining an ice body collecting space, means 
for making ice bodies and delivering them to the collecting space, and 
means defining an ice body dispensing space adapted to receive a removable 
ice body receiver into which the ice bodies are transferred from the 
collecting space. The invention comprehends an improved belt-type transfer 
means wherein a continuous flexible belt defined by a plurality of link 
plates articulated by cooperating knuckles is provided with a novel 
arrangement of cleats to pick up the ice bodies from the collecting space, 
lift them to an upper transfer position, and then drop them forwardly into 
the dispensing space to be received in the removable receiver disposed 
therein. The invention is concerned with an improved arrangement of the 
belt structure to provide a positive transfer of the ice bodies from the 
collecting space to the dispensing space as desired by the user of the 
apparatus. 
More specifically, each of the link plates defines a front edge and a rear 
edge. First ice body engaging cleats are disposed at the front edge 
extending forwardly at an angle of less than 90.degree. to the plane of 
the plate. Second ice body engaging cleats are disposed at the rear edge 
to extend at an angle to the plane of the link plate greater than the 
angle of the first cleats thereto. In the illustrated embodiment, the 
front cleats extend at an angle of approximately 60.degree. to the plane 
of the plate and the rear cleats extend at an angle of approximately 
90.degree. thereto. 
The belt is driven in a loop which extends forwardly and upwardly at an 
angle to the vertical, which, in the illustrated embodiment, is 
approximately 30.degree. to the vertical. The lower end of the loop is 
disposed in the collecting space and the upper end of the loop is disposed 
superjacent the dispensing space. 
The rear cleats of a preceding plate are interdigitated with the front 
cleats of the succeeding plate so as to provide an aligned set of cleats 
extending across the belt effectively intermediate each of the pairs of 
link plates thereof. Thus, the ice bodies are picked up from the mass 
thereof in the collecting space on both the first and second cleats as the 
belt moves upwardly through the collecting space. The ice bodies picked up 
on the second cleats slide forwardly therefrom over the link plate to fall 
over the front edge of the link plate when the link plate reaches the 
upper end of the upright loop. The ice bodies thusly fall substantially 
directly into the dispensing space to be received in the receiver therein. 
The ice bodies picked up on the front cleats slide forwardly over the 
preceding link plate to fall against the back of the front cleats of the 
preceding link plate when the plate moves slightly beyond the upper end of 
the loop so as to be deflected by the back of the front cleats of the 
preceding plate into the dispensing space and receiver. 
The knuckles on the front and rear edges of the link plates define open 
hinges receiving the hinge pins for facilitated assembly and maintenance 
of the belt. The link plates are preferably formed of a readily cleanable 
material, such as stainless steel. The material is preferably relatively 
hard so as to provide sufficient force to break the ice bodies free from 
the collected mass of ice bodies in the collecting space without 
deformation of the cleats in normal use of the apparatus. 
The sprockets define polygonal peripheries with each face of the sprocket 
having a length substantially equal to the length of the link plates so 
that as the belt moves around the sprockets, each plate extends along the 
entire length of the sprocket face with which it is engaged. The ice 
bodies carried on the rear perpendicular cleats tend to slide along the 
upper surface of the link plate as the link plate passes from the 
horizontal downwardly to a forwardly downwardly inclined disposition on 
the sprocket. In so sliding, the ice bodies are given sufficient momentum 
so as to fall directly into the receiving space. 
The ice bodies carried on the inclined forward cleats tend to slide along 
the preceding link plate with at least a portion of the ice bodies falling 
against the back of the forward cleats of the preceding plate so as to be 
deflected thereby into the receiving space. Thus, the cleats cooperatively 
define means for effectively transferring the ice bodies into the 
receiving space in an improved, highly efficient manner. 
Thus, the improved belt construction of the present invention is extremely 
simple and economical of construction while yet providing the highly 
improved ice body transferring functioning discussed above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, 
an ice maker generally designated 10 is shown to comprise a 
commercial-type ice dispenser apparatus having an upper portion 11 
defining an ice body maker adapted to deliver ice bodies 12 into a 
collecting space 13 within the outer housing 14 of the apparatus. 
The collected ice bodies in space 13 are transferred to a dispensing space 
15 adapted to removably receive a receiver 16 which may comprise an 
upwardly opening receptacle. 
The ice bodies are transferred from collecting space 13 to a guide chute 17 
extending downwardly to the receiving space 15, by a transfer mechanism 18 
including a transfer belt 19 extending between a pair of sidewalls 20. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer mechanism extends upwardly forwardly from 
the collecting space to a transfer position 21. Thus, the lower end 22 of 
the belt is disposed to pick up ice bodies 12 from the collecting space 13 
and transfer them into the guide chute 17 at the transfer position 21. The 
action of the belt in effecting this transfer is illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 
and may be best understood by a detailed consideration of the construction 
of the belt elements, as illustrated in FIG. 2. 
Thus, more specifically, the belt is comprised of a plurality of link 
plates 24 each defining a generally rectangular flat element. The plates 
are preferably formed of a readily maintainable material, such as 
stainless steel. 
Each plate defines a front edge portion 25 and a rear edge portion 26. The 
front edge portion 25 is provided with a plurality of forwardly upwardly 
extending cleats 27 and the rear edge portion 26 is provided with a 
plurality of upwardly extending rear cleats 28. The front cleats 
preferably extend forwardly at an angle of less than 90.degree. to the 
plane of the plate and, in the illustrated embodiment, extend at an angle 
of approximately 60.degree. thereto. The rear cleats 28 preferably extend 
upwardly from the flat plane of the plate at an angle greater than the 
angle of the front cleats and, in the illustrated embodiment, extend 
perpendicularly thereto. 
As seen in FIG. 2, the front cleats 27 are offset from the rear cleats so 
that the front cleats, such as front cleats 27a of a succeeding link plate 
24a, may be interdigitated with the rear cleats 28 of the preceding link 
plate, thereby providing an aligned array of cleats extending the width of 
the belt, as generally shown in FIG. 1, between each pair of link plates 
making up the loop belt 19. 
The link plates are articulated to each other by means of open knuckles, 
including front knuckles 29, on the front edge portion 25 of the link 
plate, and rear knuckles 30 on the rear edge portion 26 thereof, the 
knuckles being disposed intermediate the cleats on each of the edge 
portions. Thus, the knuckles define an interdigitated, aligned array when 
the front edge portion 25a of a succeeding plate is interdigitated with 
the rear portion 26 of the preceding plate, thereby permitting the 
insertion of a suitable hinge pin 31 successively through the knuckles 29 
and 30 of the respective preceding and succeeding link plates to 
effectively hingedly interconnect the plates in the belt. 
As further shown in FIG. 2, each of the link plates may include a drive 
aperture 32 for engagement by suitable drive teeth 33 on the drive 
sprocket 34 at the upper end 23 of the transfer mechanism. 
The link plates are preferably formed of a strong rigid material, and 
illustratively, where the plates are formed of stainless steel, the plates 
are preferably formed of a 1/4 hard stainless steel. Thus, the cleats 27 
and 28 may provide a substantial force to the mass of ice bodies 12 in the 
collecting space so as to break free any of the ice bodies which may have 
congealed to each other during storage in the collecting space without 
deformation deflection of the cleats in the normal use of the apparatus. 
The improved arrangement of the cleats 27 and 28 provides an improved 
positive transfer of the ice bodies to the receiving space 15, as 
discussed above. This transfer of the ice bodies is illustrated in FIGS. 
3, 4 and 5. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, sprocket 34 effectively defines a 
polygonal periphery 35. In the illustrated embodiment, the sprocket is 
quadrilateral with each of the sides of the polygonal periphery having a 
length substantially equal to the length of the link plates so that, as 
shown in FIG. 3, when the link plate has facial engagement with the 
sprocket face, it extends substantially the length thereof. 
The disposition of the transfer mechanism 18 in the forwardly inclined 
arrangement, as shown in FIG. 3, causes the link plate to extend forwardly 
downwardly at an angle of approximately 30.degree. to the horizontal when 
the link plate is brought into facial engagement with the sprocket 
surface, such as surface 35a, as shown in FIG. 3. In this disposition, the 
ice bodies 12 previously carried on the rear cleats 28, slide forwardly 
and downwardly from the rear cleats along the upper surface 36 of the link 
plate to fall over the front edge portion 25 in a trajectory 37 into the 
guide 17, for delivery downwardly therethrough, as shown in FIG. 1, into 
the receiver 16 in the receiving space 15. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ice bodies 12 carried on the forward cleats 
may slide along the link plate surface 36 to fall downwardly from the link 
plate and be deflected by the preceding forward cleat 27 in a trajectory 
38 to pass through the guide chute 17 into the adjacent receiver 16. Thus, 
as shown in FIG. 5, the back side 39 of the front cleats 27 defines a 
deflector for causing the ice bodies to follow the modified trajectory 38 
into the guide and receiver. 
The knuckles 29 and 30 are preferably open knuckles, as illustrated in FIG. 
2, to permit facilitated visual inspection of the hinge bearing surfaces. 
Ice cubes may be considered a food product, as they may be utilized in 
beverages and the like, and it is necessary to maintain utmost cleanliness 
in the ice dispensing appratus. Thus, the facilitated inspection of the 
hinges facilitates the visual observation of the bearing surfaces and the 
maintenance of the belt, when desired. 
It is further contemplated within the scope of the invention to provide an 
odd number of link plates in the belt 19 to minimize cyclic center 
distance change during operation of the apparatus. 
The use of the substantially square sprockets 34 permits an effective 
minimizing of the volume of transfer mechanism 18. Further, by utilizing 
the square shape, each of the surfaces, such as surface 35a of the 
sprocket, is relatively large, thereby effectively minimizing the number 
of separate link plates making up the belt and thereby effectively 
minimizing the cost of the apparatus. The use of the odd number of links 
in the belt accommodates the relatively heavy weight of the ice carried by 
the belt and the square shape of the sprockets effectively eliminates the 
need for varying the tension on the belt or effectively varying the length 
thereof during operation. 
The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is illustrative of the 
broad inventive concepts comprehended by the invention.