Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – With step of cooling to a temperature of zero degrees c. or...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-04
2001-02-13
Silbaugh, Jan H. (Department: 1732)
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
With step of cooling to a temperature of zero degrees c. or...
C264S313000, C264S334000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06187230
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming moulded decorative ice products, in particular moulded ice statues.
BACKGROUND ART
Ice statues have become increasingly popular for use as promotional tools or for special occasions in a number of different situations. In the past such statues have been sculpted or carved by hand from a solid piece of ice, however, this obviously is a time consuming process with high labour costs. To overcome these disadvantages, moulding methods have been used to produce ice statues which are similar in form to ice sculptures. Whilst some disadvantages are associated with moulding ice statues, generally this procedure has proved relatively effective in enabling statues to be produced. Difficulties, however, arise with the known moulding processes.
Australian Patent No. 596009 in the name of Lipke and Lipke discloses apparatus for forming ice sculptures including a mould assembly fitted with a liner formed of latex rubber for holding water to be frozen to form the sculpture. So as to prevent cracking in certain parts of the sculpture, particularly narrow portions thereof, the mould members are provided with means to vary the rate of heat transfer through the mould accomplished by either perforating parts of the outer mould member or employing insulating materials adjacent certain areas of the mould. A mould assembly of the above described type requires a number of separate parts which must be assembled prior to use. Placement of the perforated areas or insulated areas is critical to achieving a well defined moulded product. Furthermore, the time involved in producing an ice sculpture using the method and assembly disclosed in the above patent is relatively long, requiring extensive freezing and thereby resulting in increased cost of production. Further disadvantages occur because of leakage around the split mould and in demoulding without causing damage to the end product.
The present invention aims to overcome or alleviate one or more of the above disadvantages by providing improved moulding apparatus. The present invention also aims to provide a method for producing moulded products using the moulding apparatus according to the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the above and other objects in view the present invention in one preferred aspect provides an ice mould assembly including:
moulding means for moulding decorative ice products, said moulding means being formed of a thin walled flexible material and surrounding a mould cavity defining the required shape of a product to be moulded, said moulding means having an opening at one end for receiving water or freezable solution, and a wall part extended outwardly from said mould cavity at least at one position about said mould cavity to form normally juxtaposed wall portions, said portions being movable away from each other to increase the cross sectional area of said mould cavity to facilitate demoulding of a moulded product from said mould cavity or expansion of said mould cavity during moulding, and
a relatively stiff support assembly having a main support supporting the open end of the moulding means and a pair of holding members which extend downwardly from the main support along respective opposite sides of the juxtaposed wall portions.
The wall portions may be joined and sealed or integrally connected at adjacent edges remote from the cavity.
Preferably the moulding means is formed of a latex rubber material or other synthetic or natural flexible liquid impervious material and the wall portions are of generally planar form and extend radially outwardly of the cavity to define a fin-like projection. If desired the moulding means may include a plurality of pairs of wall portions spaced around the mould cavity and extending outwardly therefrom to form a plurality of fin-like projections.
The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing ice statues including:
providing flexible moulding means of the above described type;
supporting the flexible moulding means by a relatively stiff support assembly which includes a main support for the upper open end of the moulding means and a pair of clamping members which extend downwardly from the main support along respective opposite sides of the juxtaposed wall portions and which maintain the wall portions together in a substantially fixed relationship during the moulding process;
arranging the supported flexible moulding means above a liquid chilling tank with its opening uppermost whereby it may be introduced into and withdrawn from the tank;
simultaneously introducing the supported flexible moulding means into the liquid chilling tank and filling the mould cavity with water or freezable solution such that the flexible moulding means is not distorted in the process;
allowing water or freezable solution within the mould cavity to freeze to form the ice statue;
withdrawing the supported flexible moulding means from the liquid chilling tank with the moulded ice statue therein, and stripping the main support from the flexible moulding means and then the flexible moulding means from the moulded statue.
Preferably the coolant in the chilling tank is circulated about the flexible moulding means during the freezing process and the clamping members of the support assembly are sufficiently stiff to maintain the flexible moulding means fixed spatially within the liquid chilling tank. For this purpose the clamping members suitably conform along one side to the shape of the adjacent portion of the moulding means. The moulding means may be secured to the support assembly by means of any suitably means such as spring clips which may urge the clamping members together but permit them to move apart during expansion of the water during freezing. The support assembly may be formed of metal or plastics materials such as glass reinforced plastics and may be integrally formed.
By substantially submerging the moulding means within the liquid, the water within the moulding means commences to freeze from the outside inwardly and according to a further aspect the water in the mould other than the that frozen adjacent the mould wall defining the mould cavity is maintained in a non-frozen state such as by being circulated, re-circulated, replaced or otherwise energised by any suitable energizing or liquefying means to ensure that freezing continues to occur progressively inwardly from the outside inwardly.
It is also preferred that during the freezing process, to ensure that the end product is substantially clear and transparent, the water within the central region of the moulding means is filtered to reduce impurities such as frazzle incorporated within the moulded product. Furthermore, water within a central region of the moulding means during moulding may be withdrawn during the moulding process to remove such impurities.
The water in the mould other than the that frozen adjacent the mould wall defining the mould cavity may be energised by being circulated. This may be achieved by removing water in a central region of the cavity and reintroducing that water to create a vortex within the cavity. The energising allows water to freeze from the outside inwardly in a controlled manner which achieves the requisite clarity in the statue.
If desired and towards the end of the freezing process, a central volume of water within the cavity may be removed by siphoning or pumping to leave a hollow core extending inwardly from the underside of the moulded product.
In use, a light source may be located adjacent the hollow core to provide a pleasing appearance of the statue to the eye due to light diffraction through the moulded product. Inserts may also be incorporated in the mould to form part of the moulded product when the moulded product is frozen.
To reduce melting of the product, additives may be introduced into the water to render the water “hard”. Such additives may include calcium and magnesium. In addition, to reduce the incidence of air bubbles within the moulded product, an oxygen scavenger may be added to the water to absorb the
Ice Occasions Pty. Ltd.
Lee Edmund H.
Silbaugh Jan H.
Volpe and Koenig P.C.
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