Patents by Inventor Jody W. Bigalke

Jody W. Bigalke has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5267672
    Abstract: A rotatable auger is disposed within an ice chest to direct ice through an opening into a tubular conduit through which runs a flexible looped cable. Plastic paddles are fixed to the cable at spaced intervals and engage with ice received within the conduit and advance the ice through the conduit to an above-the-counter transparent display segment of the conduit having an outer transparent plastic tube surrounding an inner transparent plastic tube through which the conveyed ice is visible. The ice is conveyed to a discharge opening where a user activated gate valve controls ice discharge. An ice return tube directs undispensed ice back to the ice chest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1993
    Assignee: Leer Manufacturing Limited Partnership
    Inventors: Sam J. Jacobsen, Jody W. Bigalke