Ice piece ejection mechanism for icemaker
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to an ice piece ejection mechanism for icemakers. In particular it relates to an icemaker with a mold that forms the ice pieces into crescent shaped pieces usually joined together by a thin web of ice and is an improvement upon the prior art ejection mechanism of such an icemaker. Automatic icemakers of this type usually have an underlying storage bin into which the ice pieces fall when harvested from the icemaker mold. To prevent overfilling the bin, the icemaker has a feeler arm which may be periodically lowered into the bin and raised to an elevated position. During each cycle of the icemaker the feeler arm is lowered and if it strikes ice pieces preventing it from reaching its lower position a switching arrrangement prevents harvesting the ice pieces until the feeler arm can subsequently reach its lower position. In icemaker of the type involved it is desirable to eject the ice pieces from the crescent cube icemaker so that they fall into the storage bin further from the icemaker in lateral distance. This prevent ice piece build up in the stroage bin directly under the mold. In some applications the icemaker is not centered over the storage bin and unless the ice pieces are propelled from the icemaker to the center of the storage bin the bin is filled unevenly and at a much lower level. It is also desirable that the ice pieces fall in a manner to maximize impact breakup of the thin webs of ice joining the ice together. This allows for better operation of an automatic ice piece dispenser associated with the icemaker and the ice pieces ejected therefrom. Users of the ice pieces also prefer that they be in individual pieces. It is further desirable that the ice pieces fall into an underlying storage bin after the feeler arm of the icemaker is fully raised, thus preventing later raising of the feeler arm causing ejected ice pieces to be pushed out of the storage bin during that motion. 
     One ice piece ejection mechanism that provides for the ice pieces to fall further from the icemaker in lateral distance than previously and tumble end over end into the storage bin, thus maximizing the force to aid in breaking the web between the ice pieces being ejected from the icemaker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,088 and assigned to the same assignee of the present invention. The ice piece ejection mechanism disclosed in the patent allows time for the feeler arm to be in its rasied position and therefore not to be hampered in its operation due to the ice pieces falling on top of the feeler arm when in its down position. While the ice piece ejection mechanism disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,088 has been found satisfactory under most situations there are some dispensing situations that could be improved by modifying the icemaker and those modifications are disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,465 assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,465 utilizes a rigid ice piece ejector guide positioned above and longitudinally along the mold. The guide and rotating ejector cooperate to remove the ice pieces from the mold and onto a stripper member with sufficient force that they remove any previously harvested ice pieces from the stripper member. 
     The icemaker to which the present invention specifically relates is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,225 and one of the ways of ejecting ice pieces from such an icemaker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,749. The problem with the ejecting means of U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,749 is that it requires rotating the ejector twice and in two opposite directions, thus there must be two harvest operations to finally deposit the ice pieces into the storage bin. This detrimentally affects the rate at which the ice pieces are delivered to the storage bin for use. 
     By this invention an improved icemaker is provided that ejects crescent ice pieces to an underlying storage bin. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an icemaker comprising freezer mold having a front wall with and a back wall a plurality of partitioned walls disposed within the mold to define a plurality of cavities along the longitudinal central axis of the mold in which water is to be frozen to form ice pieces having a crescent shape with a flat side and an arcute side joined to form two opposite edge portions and having a first half and a second half. A stripper member is disposed longitudinally along the front wall of the mold and has a portion thereof above the cavities. Means for ejecting the ice pieces from the mold are provided and includes an ejector rotatable in only one direction and having its axle along the longitudinal central axis of the mold. An ice piece ejector guide is located above the cavities longitudinally along the mold and has a rear portion secured to the back wall of the mold and a resilient forward portion movable from a first position to a second position and extending laterally from the back wall of the mold past the axle of the rotating ejector and spaced from the rotating ejector axle a distance less than the maximum thickness of the ice piece when in its first position and a distance equal to the maximum thickness of the ice piece when in its second position. There are means for spring biasing the forward portion of the guide when it is moved to its second position. The guide and rotating ejector cooperating to move the ice pieces above the cavities between the guide and axle of the rotating ejector to move the forward portion of the guide from its first position to its second spring biased position with the first half of the ice piece and subsequently eject the ice pieces from the icemaker by squeezing the second half of the ice piece between the axle and spring biased forward guide portion to exert propellent force on the ice pieces in the direction of movement of the ice pieces. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perpective view of the icemaker embodying the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an array of crescent shaped ice pieces joined together by webs of ice of the type made in the icemaker shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the icemaker shown in FIG. 1 in the first stage of ejecting ice pieces from the icemaker and showing the ice piece accumulation in an underlying storage bin. 
     FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 and shows the second stage of ejecting ice pieces from the icemaker. 
     FIG. 5 is similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 and shows the third stage of ejecting the ice pieces from the icemaker. 
     FIG. 6 is similar to FIGS. 3-5 and shows the fourth stage of ejecting the ice pieces from the icemaker. 
     FIG.7 is similar to FIGS. 3-6 and shows the fifth stage of ejecting the ice pieces from the icemaker. 
     FIG. 8 is similar to FIGS. 3-7 showing the icemaker in position after ejecting ice pieces from the icemaker. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The icemaker 10 as shown in FIG. 1 includes a metal mold 12 in which the crescent shaped ice pieces 14 (FIG. 2) are formed and from which the ice pieces are ejected to an underlying storage bin 16 (FIGS. 3 and 4) defining a collecting space 18, by means of a rotating ejector 20 which sweeps through the mold during the ejection cycle. The crescent shaped ice pieces have a flat side 46 and an arcuate or curved side 48 which meet at the forward edge portion 49 and the rearward edge portion 55. The ejector 20 has spaced projections 25 in a common plane tangent to the axle 60 of the ejector 20, one for each of the ice pieces formed in the mold and when rotated the ejector 20 contacts the flat sides 46 of the ice pieces 14 and sweeps the ice pieces 14 out of the mold 12 and against a stripper member 22 which effectively strips the ice pieces 14 from the ejector 20. Stripper member 22 is made of a single plastic molded part and has spaced apart tooth spaced projections 23 on one side projecting above the mold toward the center of the mold 12 and the other side has a downwardly declining portion 27. The stripper member 22 is secured to the front wall 32 of mold 12 by any suitable means. The rear portion 29 of an ice piece ejector guide 45 is secured to the back wall 34 of the mold 12 in any suitable manner such as by screws 31 and is located above the cavities longitidunally along the mold. The guide 45 is arcuate shaped with a free terminal end 47 and a resilient or flexible forward portion 33 and extends laterally from the back wall 34 of the mold past the axle of the rotating ejector 20 and is spaced from the rotating ejector axle. The guide 45 can be made of any suitable material, such as plastic, so long as the forward portion 33 is flexible. Located above the ejector guide 45 is means for spring biasing the forward portion 33 in a downward direction as will be explained later. In the preferred embodiment this mean is a leaf spring element 35 secured to the back wall 34 of the mold 12 in any suitable manner such as by screws 31 that also secures the guide to the mold. 
     Cyclical operation of ejector 20 is automatically effected by a control generally indicated as 24 disposed at the forward end of the mold 12. In addition to cycling the ejector 20, control 24 further automatically provides for refilling the mold with water for subsequent further ice piece formation therein. For a detailed description of the operation of the control 24, reference may be had to the hereinbefore identified U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,225. Mold 12 defines a plurality of upwardly open cavities 26 in which ice pieces 14 are formed. The water from which the ice pieces are formed is delivered to mold 12 by means of an inlet structure 28 that empties into the mold 12 and is supplied with water by a supply tube (not shown) that is operated by a solenoid valve (not shown). It will be understood that the valve is connected to a suitable source of water under pressure for delivery of the water to the water inlet structure 28. 
     With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the icemaker more specifically comprises a metal mold 12 with a tray structure having a bottom wall 30, front wall 32 and back wall 34. A sheathed electric resistance heating element 36 is positioned by pressing it into the bottom wall 30 to heat the mold 12 during the ejection operation to slightly melt the ice pieces and release them from the mold cavities 26, thus aiding in the ejection operation. A plurality of partition walls 38 extend transversely across the mold to define with the above-indicated tray walls the cavities 26 in which the ice pieces 14 are formed. Each of the partition walls 38 is provided with a recessed upper edge portion 41 through which water flows from the end cavity successively forward to the respective cavities until all the cavities are filled with water. As can be seen in FIG. 2, a connecting ice portion or web 42 is formed on the ice pieces 14 where the recessed upper edge potion 41 of the partition walls 38 are located and the webs 42 are preferably sufficiently strong to prevent breaking of the ice piece during the normal ejection from the mold cavity 26. However, it is desirable that the ice pieces 14 be separated from each other upon delivery into the underlying storage bin 16. The reason for separating the ice pieces into individual ice pieces if possible is so that subsequent dispensing of the ice pieces through an automatic dispenser is more readily accomplished and also the user of the ice pieces from the storage bin usually prefers that they be in separate form rather than in strips as shown in FIG. 2. 
     In order to sense the level of ice pieces 14 as they accumulate in the underlying storage bin 16 there is a feeler arm 44 and mechanism (not shown) actuated by control 24 for controlling the automatic harvesting operation so as to maintain a preselected level of ice pieces in the collecting space 18. The feeler arm 44 is automatically raised and lowered periodically during operation of the icemaker so that upon its being lowered into the underlying storage bin 16 should it encounter and be obstructed by the level of ice pieces in the storage bin preventing it from reaching its lowered position it will signal the icemaker control 24 to discontinue harvesting ice pieces because the bin 16 is full. Once the ice pieces 14 in the bin have been sufficiently removed and the feeler arm 44 can reach its lowered position the control signals the icemaker to initiate and continue making ice pieces and harvesting them until once again the feeler arm 44 detects ice pieces by obstruction when being moved to its lowered position. It will be appreciated that the feeler arm 44 is raised to an upper position and lowered to a lower position periodically and that it is desirable to have the feeler arm in its raised position during ejection of the ice pieces so that the ice pieces do not fall or tumble onto the feeler arm in which event when the feeler arm 44 is raised it may cause the ice pieces to be shoved or moved outside the walls of the storage bin. 
     As mentioned in the Background of the Invention section the ice piece ejection mechanism disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,088 has been found satisfactory under most situations; however, there are some dispensing situations that could be improved by modifying the icemaker in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,465. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,088 a stripper member is disposed longitudinally along one side of the mold with a portion thereof above the cavities and having an upwardly depending ridge. The ejector of the ice pieces from the icemaker is provided by a rotating ejector that moves the ice pieces above the cavities and continues rotating the ejector and moving the ice pieces onto the stripper member such that the edge portion of the ice pieces engage the upwardly depending ridge of the stripper member and are retained by that ridge. However, continued rotation of the ejector pivots the ice pieces upwardly about the edge portion and past the vertical whereupon the ice pieces tumble off the stripper member laterally outward of the icemaker. One problem with this arrangement is that when ice piece end portion stick up above the edge of the stripper member such as when the storage bin for the ice pieces is full but yet does not project high enough for the feeler arm to detect it, then the ejected ice pieces are stopped on the stripper member and are retained thereon by the ice pieces projecting above the stripper member. The result is that the next ejection of the ice pieces from the icemaker may slide over the top of the ice pieces retained on the stripper member until the rotating ejector is disengaged from the ice pieces and then the ice pieces slide back into the mold and interfere with the next ice piece ejection operation. One solution to this problem is to decrease the distance between the edge of the stripper member and the feeler arm; however, when that is done an ejection of the ice pieces will cause them to lie on the edge of the stripper member and the feeler arm will lower and can trap an ice piece between the feeler arm and the edge of the stripper member, thus creating a false signal to shut off the icemaker even though the ice pieces in the storage bin have depleted except for the ice piece trapped by the feeler arm. The solution to this problem is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,465 wherein a rigid ice piece ejector guide is utilized to cooperate with the rotating ejector to force the ice pieces onto the stripper member to thereby move any previously ejected ice pieces off the stripper member. 
     In both of the ejection mechanisms described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,614,088 and 4,706,465 the ice pieces &#34;free-fall&#34; into the storage bin 16. This is quite satisfactory when the icemaker is centered over the underlying storage bin. However, in some applications the icemaker is not centered, resulting in the fill of the storage bin being uneven and at a much lower level than could be attained if the ice pieces were forced from the icemaker with sufficient propellent force so that they fall near the center of the storage bin. It is this aspect to which this invention relates and will now be described. 
     The ice piece harvesting operation is initiated by energization of heating element 36 to slightly melt the ice pieces 14 to release them from their respective mold cavities 26 and may be referred to as the first stage of ejecting the ice pieces from the icemaker (FIG. 3). Thereafter, the control and mechanism as shown in FIG. 4 (second stage) causes counterclockwise rotation of the ejector 20 to the position shown in FIG. 4 where the ejector projections 25 engage the flat side 46 of the ice pieces to be removed from the mold 12 and apply an ejection force to the ice pieces. As the ejector 20 continues to rotate conterclockwise the feeler arm 44 is swung outwardly from the mold 12 and is raised to its uppermost position as shown in full line in FIG. 5 (third stage) and the ejector forceably engages the upper flat side 46 of the ice pieces and urge the ice pieces outwardly from the mold cavities 26 in a pivotal movement. In FIGS. 3 and 4 the resilient forward portion 33 of the ejector guide is shown in its first or &#34;at rest&#34; position and is located a distance designated &#34;T1&#34; from the ejector axle 60. This distance &#34;T1&#34; is less than the maximum thickness of the ice pieces. As the ice pieces are moved outwardly from the mold cavities 26 an edge portion 49 of the ice pieces engages the arcuate surface 51 of the ice piece ejector guide 45 and begins to move the resilient forward portion 33 upwardly overcoming the force of the spring element 35. Continued rotation of the ejector 20 causes the ice pieces 14 to rotate about the axle 60 of the ejector 20 and takes the position as shown in FIG. 6 (fourth stage) where the flat side 46 lies across the axle 60 of the ejector 20. The first half 52 of the ice pieces 14 moves the forward portion 33 of the guide to its second or spring biased position as shown in FIG. 6. It will be noted that the distance between the longitudinal central axle 60 of the ejector 20 and the arcuate surface 51 of the ice piece ejector guide 45 is equal to the maximum thickness of the ice pieces designated &#34;T2&#34;. &#34;T2&#34; is greater than &#34;T1&#34;, thus causing latent energy to be stored in the forward portion 33 of the guide and the spring element 35. Continued counterclockwise rotational movement of the ejector 20 as shown in FIG. 7 (fifth stage) forces the ice pieces onto the stripper member 22 and the second half 53 of the ice pieces now reach the axle 60 and the forward portion 33 of the guide 45. It will be noted that from the center of the ice pieces, which is lateral to its longitudinal central axis, to the rearward edge portion 55 the flat side 46 and the arcuate side 48 converge toward each other and meet at the rearward edge portion 55. This portion of the ice pieces 14 is referred to as the second half 53 of the ice pieces. 
     With this arrangement the forward portion 33 of the ejector guide 45 is allowed to flex upward but always exerts a force on the ice pieces 14. A component of this force is in the opposite direction of the ice pieces motion but the ice pieces continue to move forward due to the power driven rotating ejector 20. When the center of the ice pieces pass the point of contact between the forward portion 33 of the guide and the axle 60, the force exerted on the ice pieces suddenly has a component in the direction of motion of the ice pieces. Thus, by squeezing the second half of the ice pieces 14 between the axle and spring biased forward guide portion 33 propellent force is exerted on the ice pieces in the direction of movement of the ice pieces causing them to be shot foward out of the icemaker. The distance the ice pieces travel is dependent on the force exerted on the second half 53 of the ice pieces by the forward portion 33 of the ejector guide. The forces involved with this operation tend to break the thin webs 42 between the ice pieces 14 thereby separating the ice pieces from each other. The projections 23 are spaced from each other a distance sufficient to allow the projections 25 of the ejector 20 to pass therebetween during its rotational movement. The portion 27 of stripper member 22 has a surface 54 downardly declining in a direction away from the mold 12. Continued rotation of the ejector will position the ejector as shown in FIG. 8 and in this position the ice pieces have been ejected from the mold and deposited in the storage bin. Subsequently, the ejector is moved to its position shown in FIG. 3 ready for the next ice making cycle. 
     While there is shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.