Ice cube making, bagging, and storing apparatus

摘要

A method of and apparatus for bagging ice cubes produced by a plurality of cubers with only one bagger when the cubers are stacked side-by-side with the ice produced by each cuber falling into one of two hoppers. The ice is moved from each hopper alternately to the bagger. There each batch of ice cubes is dropped into a bag, the bag sealed, and moved to a storage bin positioned below the bagger. The bags have a short side and a long side with the long side having holes to allow the bags to be supported by horizontal parallel rods extending through the holes. A platen is moved against the short side of a plurality of bags hanging from a first set of parallel rods extending through the holes in the long side of the bags. The air pressure between the platen and the short side of the bag is reduced to cause ambient atmospheric pressure to hold the short side of the outside bag against the platen. Moving the platen laterally moves the short side of the bag away from the long side and opens the bag as the bag is positioned under an ice dispensing chute. The holes in the long side are moved over a second pair of parallel support rods at the same time. A platform supports the bottom of the bag and a sleeve supports the bag laterally as the bag is filled with ice. After the bag is sealed, it is moved laterally off the support and tilted by the sleeve so that the bag falls sideways into a storage bin.