Ice Block Molds Views
There exists in the prior art molds for commercial use. Some commercial block ice molds are not designed to sit horizontally, as the present invention is designed, but rather to sit upright. Moreover, due to the large size of commercial molds, the freezing time in these containers is considerably lengthy. The molds are also not stackable and cannot be used in a residential setting. There also exists in the prior art molds for residential use. One such mold employs a cumbersome rack and floor panel system to stack multiple molds. The molds are not stackable directly on top of one another.
The patents to Wilson use a cumbersome rack and floor panel system to stack a plurality of containers. One container is filled with water and placed on the floor of the freezer. A wire support rack, which is generally shaped as a truncated pyramid, surrounds the container. A floor panel is placed on top of the wire support rack, and another container is filled with water and placed on the floor panel. The molds are not stackable directly on top of one another. The ice blocks produced from the containers are described as being between ten and fifty pound blocks.
The present invention is different than the prior art. None of these patents disclose stackable molds for making block ice such as the present invention discloses. The prior art does not allow for multiple molds to be stacked directly on top of one another. The prior art does not disclose a mold that resists bowing or cracking as water freezes, as the present invention teaches. Finally, the prior art does not disclose a stackable mold of appropriate sizes to be used in a residential freezer, such as one embodiment of the present invention teaches.
It is therefore desirable to have a mold for making block ice that is large enough to sufficiently chill contents in an ice chest for long periods of time. It is further desirable for the mold to resist bowing or cracking during the freezing process. It is also desirable to have a mold that is directly stackable on top of another mold, while still allowing airflow through the lower molds to allow for efficient freezing of water in to blocks of ice in multiple molds.
Ice Block Molds Images
