Ice-harvest drive mechanism with dual position bail arm

Abstract

An ice-maker drive mechanism presents a housing having a frontward extending drive for an ice-harvester mechanism and left and right bail arm drive hubs. A bail arm that may drop into an ice bin collecting ice from the ice-maker to sense a height of ice cubes in a the ice bin may be attached to either of the left and right bail arm drive hubs providing a versatile ice-making mechanism that may be used in a variety of refrigerator designs.

1 . An ice-harvest drive comprising:
 a housing having a front wall adapted to be positioned adjacent to an ice mold for molding ice cubes, and having right and left sidewalls flanking the front wall;   a first rotatable shaft exposed through the front wall to communicate with the ice mold;   a second rotatable shaft extending between the right and left side walls and having first and second ends exposed through each;   a reciprocating mechanism communicating with the first rotational shaft to provide reciprocation of the second rotatable shaft with rotation of the first rotatable shaft;   a bail arm attachable to one of the first and second ends; and   an electric motor held by the housing to drive the first rotatable shaft.   
     
     
         2 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  wherein the reciprocating mechanism is a cam attached to rotate with the first rotatable shaft and a cam follower attached to the second rotatable shaft and communicating with the cam. 
     
     
         3 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 2  wherein the cam is a radially inwardly facing ledge on gear. 
     
     
         4 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 2  wherein the reciprocating mechanism operates to lift and drop the bail at least once with every rotation of the first rotatable shaft. 
     
     
         5 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 2  wherein the cam follower is spring loaded to allow movement of the cam follower without corresponding movement of the second rotatable shaft by flexure of the spring. 
     
     
         6 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 5  wherein the spring is a torsion spring extending along at least a portion of a length of the second shaft. 
     
     
         7 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  wherein the housing provides support journals for the second rotatable shaft at its left and right ends. 
     
     
         8 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  wherein the first and second ends of the second rotatable shaft include releasable fittings attaching the bail arm releasably to the second rotatable shaft. 
     
     
         9 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 8  wherein the releasable fittings are snap fittings for engaging with a respective element of the bail arm. 
     
     
         10 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 8  wherein the releasable fittings include a screw and corresponding socket holding the bail arm to one of the first and second ends of the second shaft. 
     
     
         11 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  wherein the first and second exposed ends include key surfaces for engaging corresponding key surfaces in the bail arm locking the ends against relative rotation when the key surfaces are engaged. 
     
     
         12 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  further including an electronic sensor element detecting position of the bail arm. 
     
     
         13 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 12  wherein the housing includes a detent element engaging a corresponding element on the second shaft to releasably hold the second shaft in an elevated position when the bail arm is lifted beyond a predetermined point. 
     
     
         14 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 12  wherein the electronic sensor element is selected from the group consisting of a mechanical electrical switch and a Hall effect electrical switch. 
     
     
         15 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  further including an electronic sensor element detecting a rotational position of the rotatable shaft. 
     
     
         16 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 1  wherein the electric motor is a DC permanent magnet motor. 
     
     
         17 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 16  wherein further including a resistor for limiting stall current to, and torque provided by, the DC permanent magnet motor. 
     
     
         18 . The ice-harvest drive of  claim 16  wherein the motor communicates with the first rotatable shaft via a combination of spur gears one of which is driven by a worm gear attached to the motor.