Mould assembly

The present invention relates to a mould assembly for making ice glasses, which assembly comprises a mould provided with a cavity for receiving a liquid to be solidified.

A mould provided with a cavity, which is used for making ice glasses, is known from the prior art. In practice, the cavity of such a mould is filled with water and the mould containing water is subsequently chilled to a temperature below the freezing point, so that ice is formed in said cavity. If the cavity has a negative glass shape, the ice removed from the mould will have the shape of a glass. A drawback of the known mould is that the ice glass formed rather often has a rough or inclined bottom side, so that the ice glass will not remain stable when placed on a surface.

The object of the invention is to obviate the above drawback so as to obtain stable ice glasses.

This object is accomplished with the mould assembly according to the invention, which is provided with a base element, part of which can be accommodated in said cavity so as to integrate the base element in the ice glass thus formed through solidification of the liquid, and wherein the base element comprises a bottom portion having a predetermined shape, which bottom portion is located outside the cavity in an assembled condition of the mould assembly.

The advantage of the mould assembly according to the invention is that the bottom portion has a defined shape. This makes it possible to select the predetermined shape of the bottom portion in dependence on the expected surface, so that the ice glass can remain stable on said surface in that case. Because of its bottom portion, the mould assembly ac- cording to the invention further has the advantage that in case water is used as the liquid to be solidified, the ice of the ice glass will not make direct contact with a surface having a higher temperature, so that the ice near the bottom side of the ice glass will melt less quickly. It has further-

more been found .that because of the use of the base element, a stronger ice glass which will break less easily is obtained.

The assembly according to the invention furthermore makes it possible to withdraw the ice glass from the mould in a simple manner by taking hold of the bottom portion of the base element and removing the ice glass from the mould. Because of the presence of the base element, sufficient force for removing the ice glass from the mould can be exerted on the ice glass without causing damage to the ice glass.

Preferably, an end edge of the bottom portion lies in an at least substantially flat plane, because this will keep the ice glass formed stable on a flat surface.

The part of the base element that can be accommo- dated in the cavity may have a circumferential wall which corresponds to an inner wall portion of the mould that envelopes at least part of the cavity. In the eventually formed ice glass, said circumferential wall is located on the outer side of the ice glass in that case and may function as an in- sulating handle. The ice glass will thus feel less cold to the user and the ice glass will melt less quickly than in the situation in which the base element is not present at the location where the user holds the ice glass.

Preferably, at least the circumferential wall of the part of the base element that can be accommodated in the cavity has a cylindrical shape, preferably having a circular cross-section, because it will be easier in that case to remove the formed ice glass from the mould, for example by rotation of the base element relative to the mould. The base element may be provided with at least one strengthening element, which is placed so that the strengthening element is located in the cavity in an assembled condition of the assembly. The strengthening element is thus integrated in the ice glass to be formed, so that a strong unit is obtained.

Preferably, at least one opening is present in the assembled condition for the passage of the liquid into the cavity from outside and/or for the passage of liquid expand-

ing upon solidification from the cavity to the outside. Via said opening, the cavity can be filled with the liquid to be solidified, for example, so that the base element does not necessarily have to be separate from the mould during said filling.

In a preferred embodiment, the opening is provided at the location of the bottom portion of the base element. Said bottom portion will be located at the upper side of the assembly while filling and solidification take place. This makes it possible to fill the cavity completely with liquid to be solidified, and expanded liquid can leave the cavity at the upper side of the assembly, at the location of the bottom portion of the base element.

The base element may be configured so that the end edge is spaced from the opening, seen in a direction from the cavity to the bottom portion, in an assembled condition of the assembly. This has the advantage that liquid expanded during the solidification process can be collected in the region between the opening and the end edge, so that the end edge will remain clear of ice. If the bottom portion is cylindrical in shape, the expanded water can be collected in the space between the opening and the plane through the end edge without putting the stability of the resulting ice glass on a flat surface at risk. The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to very schematic drawings, which show an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a mould assembly according to the invention in an assem- bled condition thereof.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of an embodiment of a base element of the assembly according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an ice glass formed by means of the mould assembly according to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a mould assembly 1 according to the invention. The mould assembly 1 as shown is suitable for forming ice glasses. An example of an ice glass thus formed is shown in Fig. 3. The mould assembly 1 com-

prises a mould 2, which is provided with a cavity 3 for receiving a liquid to be solidified. In practice said liquid will usually be water.

The mould assembly 1 further comprises a base ele- ment 4. The base element 4 can be partially accommodated in the cavity 3. This means that the base element 4 is integrated in the ice glass thus formed upon solidification of the liquid in the cavity 3, as is illustrated in Fig. 3. In the embodiment, the part of the base element 4 that can be accommodated in the cavity 3 has a circumferential wall 5 which corresponds to an inner wall portion 6 of the mould 2 that envelopes the cavity 3, so that the circumferential wall 5 of the base element 4 will be located on the outer side of the eventually formed ice glass. This latter aspect has the advantage that the base element can form an insulating layer, so that the ice glass will melt less quickly when being held in a user's hand. To make the base element 4 more distinct or, on the contrary, less distinct, the base element 4 may be given a particular colour. It is also possible to conceive an embodiment in which space is still available between the circumferential wall 5 and the inner wall portion 6 in the assembled condition of the mould assembly 1. In the illustrated embodiment, the base element 4 in fact forms a cap, which fits in the cavity 3 of the mould 2.

The base element 4 comprises a bottom portion 7 having a predetermined shape. In the assembled condition of the mould assembly 1, the bottom portion 7 has an end edge 8, which lies in an at least substantially flat plane. As a re- suit, the eventually formed ice glass will have a flat bottom at all times, which will keep it stable on a flat surface.

The circumferential wall 5 of the part of the base element 4 that can be accommodated in the cavity 3 has a cylindrical shape with a circular cross-section. As a result, the ice glass can be removed from the mould 2 with relative ease, for example by rotating the ice glass that has been formed with respect to the mould 2. Alternative shapes are also conceivable, however. The bottom portion 7 is further-

more configured so that at least part thereof is wider than the opening in the mould 2 to the cavity 3, so that the base element 4 cannot disappear into the cavity 3.

Figs. 1-3 show that the base element is provided with strengthening elements in the form of ribs 9. The ribs 9 are fixed in the base element 4 in such a manner that the ribs 9 are located in the cavity 3 in an assembled condition of the assembly 1. In the eventually formed ice glass, the ribs 9 are embedded in the ice, as a result of which the base element 4 is firmly anchored in the ice. This also makes it easier to remove the ice glass from the mould 2 when a user takes hold of the ice glass by the base element 4.

Openings 10 are provided at the location of the bottom portion 7 of the base element 4. The openings 10 are provided for the passage of water into the cavity 3 from outside upon filling the cavity. The openings 10 also function to pass water that expands upon solidification from the cavity 3 to the outside. The end edge 8 is spaced from the openings 10, seen in a direction from the cavity 3 to the bottom portion 7. This has the advantage that in the reverse situation of the orientation shown in Fig. 1, the expanded water can freeze on the part of the bottom portion 7 of the base element 4 that is present within the circumference of the end edge 8, possibly forming a hard, rough layer at that location, without this having an adverse effect on the stability of the ice glass, however, because the projecting end edge 8 lies in a flat plane. The openings 10 are positioned just below the ribs 9 in the embodiment, but this is not necessary, of course. The material of the mould 2 may be a flexible material so as to partially compensate for the expansion of the water in the cavity 3 while freezing takes place.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the mould assembly according to the invention makes it possible to produce stable ice glasses therewith.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiments as described above and shown in the drawings, which can be varied in several ways without departing from the scope of

the invention. The bottom portion might have a special, non- flat end edge, for example, which corresponds to a receiving counter-shaped element.