Editing Ice cube (section)

=== Trays and bags ===
{{redirect|Ice tray|the 2017 song by Quavo & Lil Yachty|Ice Tray (song)}}
[[File:Ice cube tray.jpg|thumb|Ice cubes in a [[tray]]]]

Ice cube trays are designed to be filled with [[water]], then placed in a [[freezer]] until the water freezes into [[ice]], producing ice cubes.<ref name=":0" /> Ice trays are often flexible, so the frozen cubes can be easily removed by flexing the tray. "Twist ice trays" have a simple spring-loaded mechanism with a lever that is used to turn the tray upside down and flex at the same time, such that the cubes that drop are collected in a removable tray below. The spring returns the ice cube tray to its upright position without having to remove it from the freezer, which can save time and reduce accidental mess—though the tray has to be removed to be collected, the ice cube tray still has to be removed to be refilled. An alternative system is an [[aluminium]] tray with a lever that raises the ice cubes, freeing them from the tray.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDZRDwAAQBAJ&q=cube&pg=PA94|title=Before the Refrigerator: How We Used to Get Ice|last=Rees|first=Jonathan|date=2018-02-09|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9781421424590|language=en|access-date=November 1, 2020|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425113144/https://books.google.com/books?id=zDZRDwAAQBAJ&q=cube&pg=PA94|url-status=live}}</ref> A motorized version of this is found in most automatic ice-making freezers.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sgAAAAAAMBAJ&q=ice+maker+refrigerator&pg=PA87|title=How ice makers work...What to do when they don't|journal=Popular Science|last=Powell|first=Evan|date=June 1971|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|pages=87–9|language=en|access-date=November 1, 2020|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425113131/https://books.google.com/books?id=sgAAAAAAMBAJ&q=ice+maker+refrigerator&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref>

While the usual shape of the ice cube is roughly [[cube|cubical]], some ice trays form hemispherical or cylindrical shapes; others produce blocks of ice in seasonal, festive, or other shapes.  Occasionally, [[Eating|edible]] items are frozen inside ice cubes at home and in commercial production.<ref name=":0" />

[[Lloyd Groff Copeman]] invented a rubber ice tray after noticing that slush and ice flaked off his rubber boots rather than adhering to them while walking through some woods collecting sap for maple syrup. Recalling this 1928 incident over lunch with his patent attorney, he conducted experiments using rubber cups, which led to practical designs and patents for different types of tray; these included a metal tray with rubber separators, a metal tray with individual rubber cups which was invented in 1933, and a tray made completely of rubber.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lloydcopeman.com/biography/CopemanStory.pdf|title=DAC member remains forgotten Michigan inventor|last=Cabadas|first=Joseph|date=July 2006|publisher=DAC NEWS|pages=26–33|access-date=October 4, 2010|archive-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517051109/http://www.lloydcopeman.com/biography/CopemanStory.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Guy L. Tinkham, a household product executive, invented the first flexible, stainless steel, all-metal ice cube tray in 1933. The tray bent sideways to remove the ice cubes.<ref name=":1" /> Commercial pre-filled disposable ice trays for home [[freezing]] are designed to provide better taste and reduce the risk of [[contamination]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115378477152415917|title=After Bottled Water? Purified Ice Cubes|last=Bounds|first=Gwendolyn|date=July 25, 2006|work=WSJ|access-date=2018-10-17|language=en-US|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225134803/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115378477152415917|url-status=live}}</ref>

Danish inventor [[Erling Vangedal-Nielsen]] patented the single-use ice cube bag in 1978.<ref name="ice cube bag patent">{{ cite patent | country = US | number = 4181285 | title = Freezing mould bag | status = patent | gdate = 01/01/1980 | pubdate = 01/24/1978 | inventor = Erling Vangedal-Nielsen}}</ref> He was inspired to do so after spending a night with friends where their need for ice was in excess of that which ice cube trays could provide; he, therefore, filled standard plastic bags with water and froze them, the ice to subsequently be retrieved with a hammer.<ref name="ice cube bag idea">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theseasidegazette.com/2012/04/10228/danish-inventions/|title=Danish Inventions &#124; Costa Tropical Gazette News|date=April 5, 2012 |access-date=July 28, 2019|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225134756/https://www.theseasidegazette.com/2012/04/10228/danish-inventions/|url-status=live}}</ref> The design was subsequently revised to feature individual compartments for each ice cube, with a seal at the bag's entry point. The ice cube bag has subsequently been marketed and adopted worldwide.<ref name="ice cube bag marketing">{{Cite web|url=http://www.buddeschou.dk/Frontpage/IPINPRACTICE/Cases1/The-Icecube-Bag|title=The Icecube Bag|website=www.buddeschou.dk|access-date=July 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728105121/http://www.buddeschou.dk/Frontpage/IPINPRACTICE/Cases1/The-Icecube-Bag|archive-date=July 28, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>