Method and apparatus for making soft-ice in small quantities

• US 4,547,076 A
• Filed: 03/11/1985
• Issued: 10/15/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/1981
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gastrotrade AG
• Original Assignee: Wilhelm Maurer
• Inventors: Maurer, Wilhelm
• Primary Examiner(s): Tapolcai, William E.
• Application Number:
  US06/709,845
• Time in Patent Office: 218 Days
• Field of Search: 62/320, 62/69, 62/70, 62/307, 62/308, 62/354, 62/342, 62/343, 366/98, 366/312, 366/244, 366/255, 241/283, 241/205, 241/199.7, 241/199.8.DIG. 17, 74/841, 474/73
• US Class Current: 366/244
• CPC Class Codes: A23G 9/045 of slush-ice, e.g. semi-frozen beverage
• CPC Class Codes: A23G 9/20 the products being mixed with gas, e.g. soft-ice
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 241/17 Ice crushers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/173 Screw and nut adjusting means

Abstract

Soft-ice mixture, consisting of water or milk and commercially available powder, is frozen solid in a cylindrical container, then presented to a machine whereby the container is pressurized and which has an agitator that engages the surface of the solid to exert force along a narrow zone, whereby the material is locally melted. The momentarily melted material is immediately whipped by the agitator, before it refreezes. The agitator rotates at high speed (2,000 rpm) but advances into the material very slowly. For such action the agitator shaft is surrounded by an outer driver confined to rotation in one direction, with which the shaft has a splined connection, and the shaft in turn surrounds a threaded inner driver, with which the shaft has a threaded connection. For driving the agitator downward the inner driver is rotated in said direction, but slower than the outer driver; for driving it upward the inner driver is also rotated in said direction, but faster than the outer driver. Mechanism is described for automatic reversal of axial shaft movement and for automatic shut-off at the end of a cycle.

Claims

1. Apparatus for making soft-ice, comprising:

A. a container having a substantially cylindrical interior, said container being open at one end thereof and adapted to be partially filled with soft-ice mix that is frozen to a body of substantially solid and unfrothed material spaced from said end thereof;

B. means for mounting said container in coaxial relation to an upright shaft that is tubular along a substantial portion of its length;

C. elongated blade-like scraping and agitating means carried by said shaft at a bottom end thereof and extending radially therefrom, having a radius substantially equal to the inside radius of the container and

(1) having a substantially thin leading edge whereby localized force is applied to frozen material in the container in consequence of rotation and axial advance of the shaft relative to the container, which force momentarily melts said material in a moving zone adjacent to said leading edge that progresses through the body of material, and

(2) having agitator portions behind said leading edge whereby momentarily melted material is deflectingly agitated by rotation of the shaft; and

D. means for causing said shaft to rotate at high speed and to advance axially at a slow, steady rate relative to the container, comprising

(1) an elongated tubular outer driver coaxially surrounding the shaft above said bottom end thereof, said outer driver

(a) being confined to rotation and

(b) having a splined connection with the shaft whereby the shaft is constrained to rotate with the outer driver but is axially slidable relative thereto,

(2) means for rotating said outer driver in one direction and at a substantially constant rate,

(3) an inner driver

(a) confined to rotation coaxially with the shaft and the outer driver and

(b) having an elongated portion which extends into the shaft and which has a threaded connection with the shaft whereby the shaft is moved axially relative to the drivers in consequence of relative rotation between the drivers, and

(4) means for rotating the inner driver in said one direction and, alternatively and selectably,

(a) at a speed slower than said substantially constant rate, for moving the shaft axially in one direction, and

(b) at a speed faster than said substantially constant rate, for moving the shaft axially in the opposite direction.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized by:

(1) said means for rotating said inner driver comprising

(a) a pair of drive belts, one for each of said speeds, each cooperable with pulleys on said inner driver and on a driving member for imparting rotation at its speed to said inner driver, and

(b) belt tensioning means cooperable with said belts to tension them alternatively, said belt tensioning means being shiftable between

(1) a lowering position in which one of said belts is tensioned around its pulleys to impart downward movement to said shaft and

(2) a raising position in which the other of said belts is tensioned around its pulleys to impart upward movement to said shaft;

(2) means biasing said belt tensioning means towards its raising position;

(3) latch means engageable with said belt tensioning means to releasably confine the same in its lowering position;

(4) an enlarged diameter upper portion on said shaft, constrained to rotation and axial motion therewith and which provides said splined connection with the outer driver and has a downwardly facing abutment surface; and

(5) release means connected with said latch means and arranged to be engaged by said abutment surface for disengaging the latch means from said belt tensioning means when said shaft reaches a predetermined point in its downward axial movement.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said driving member is driven by an electric motor and wherein said upper portion on said shaft has an upwardly facing abutment surface, further characterized by:

switch means connected with said electric motor and arranged to be actuated by said upwardly facing abutment surface when said shaft reaches a predetermined point in its upward movement, for turning off the motor.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized by:

E. sealing means removably securable across said one end of the container and surrounding the shaft, to provide a substantially gas tight closure for the container; and

F. means for forcing gas under pressure into the interior of the container when the same is closed, for mixture with momentarily melted material during the agitation thereof.

5. Apparatus for making soft-ice, comprising:

A. a container having a substantially cylindrical interior, said container being open at one end thereof and adapted to be partially filled with soft-ice mix that is frozen to a body of substantially solid and unfrothed material spaced from said end thereof;

B. means for mounting said container in coaxial relation to a shaft;

C. elongated blade-like scraping and agitating means carried by the shaft and extending radially therefrom, having a radius substantially equal to the inside radius of the container and

(1) having a substantially thin leading edge whereby localized force is applied to frozen material in the container in consequence of rotation of the shaft and relative axial advance between the shaft and the container, which force momentarily melts said material in a moving zone adjacent to said leading edge that progresses through the body of material, and

(2) having agitator portions behind said leading edge whereby momentarily melted material is deflectingly agitated by rotation of the shaft;

D. power drive means for causing the shaft to rotate in one direction at a substantially high speed and for effecting relative axial advance between the shaft and the container at a substantially steady rate which is low enough to ensure that all frozen material engaged by said scraping and agitating means is momentarily melted and which is less than 0.1 mm per revolution of the shaft;

E. sealing means removably securable across said one end of the container and surrounding the shaft, to provide a substantially gas tight closure for the container; and

F. means for forcing gas under pressure into the interior of the container when the same is closed, for mixture with momentarily melted material during the agitation thereof.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further characterized by:

said power driving means being arranged to rotate said shaft at a speed such that the average circumferential velocity of said blade-like scraping and agitating means is on the order of 1.7 to 5.3 m. per second.

7. Apparatus for making soft-ice, comprising:

A. container having a substantially cylindrical interior, said container being open at an upper end thereof and adapted to be partially filled with soft-ice mix that is frozen to a body of substantially solid and unfrothed material;

B. means for mounting said container in coaxial relation to an upright shaft;

C. elongated blade-like scraping and agitating means fixed to said shaft at the bottom thereof and extending radially therefrom, having a radius substantially equal to the inside radius of the container and

(1) having a substantially thin leading edge whereby localized force is applied to frozen material in the container in consequence of rotation of the shaft in one direction and relative axial advance between the shaft and the container, which force momentarily melts said material in a moving zone adjacent to said leading edge that progresses through the body of material, and

(2) having agitator portions behind said leading edge whereby momentarily melted material is deflectingly agitated by rotation of the shaft; and

D. means for actuating said shaft comprising rotational drive means and further comprising

(1) first transmission means providing a rotational driving connection between said rotational drive means and said shaft whereby the latter is driven for rotation in said one direction

(a) with a rotational force adequate to effect momentary melting of said material and

(b) at a rotational speed consistently high enough to produce whipping of momentarily melted material, and

(2) second transmission means connected with said rotational drive means for effecting relative axial advance between said shaft and the container at a rate which has a predetermined relationship to said rotational speed and which is low enough to ensure that all frozen material through which said scraping and agitating means moves is momentarily melted and which, by its constancy, ensures momentary melting and whipping of substantially all of the frozen material in the container.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said drive means and said first transmission means are arranged to cooperate in rotating said shaft in said direction at a speed such that the average circumferential velocity of said blade-like scraping and agitating means is substantially higher than 1 m/sec.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said drive means and said second transmission means are arranged to cooperate in effecting relative axial advance between said shaft and the container at a rate substantially less than 1 mm per revolution of the shaft.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, further characterized by:

E. sealing means removably securable across said open end of the container and around said shaft, to provide a substantially gas-tight closure for the container; and

F. means for forcing gas under pressure into the interior of the container when the same is closed.