The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 15, 1997
Filed:
Feb. 12, 1996
Richard L Gunderson, Greenville, MI (US);
Timothy L Varney, Belding, MI (US);
Curtis W Sisson, Sheridan, MI (US);
White Consolidated Industries, Inc., Cleveland, OH (US);
Abstract
An ice maker is provided which ejects ice pieces into a storage receptacle disposed beneath the ice maker during an ice harvesting cycle. The ice maker includes a rotatable bail arm which initiates the ice harvesting cycle to supply the ice pieces to the receptacle and has a generally horizontal first portion which extends over the receptacle and a second portion which extends at an angle to the first portion. The ice maker also includes a molded plastic sensing element having a pair of spaced apart eyelets adapted to receive the first portion of said bail arm and pivotally support the sensing arm on the bail arm between a 'high ice' position and a 'low ice' position. The sensing element is pivoted between the 'high ice' and 'low ice' positions to adjust the level of the ice pieces which is maintained in the receptacle. The sensing element has integrally molded resilient snaps which are adapted to engage the second portion of the bail arm to removably secure the sensing element to the bail arm in either position. A first ice engaging surface is located on the sensing element at a first distance from the bail arm which engages at least one of the ice pieces in the receptacle to maintain the ice pieces at a predetermined high level in the receptacle when the sensing element is in the 'high ice' position. A second ice engaging surface is located on the sensing element at a second distance from the bail arm which engages at least one of the ice pieces in the receptacle to maintain the ice pieces at a predetermined low level in the receptacle when the sensing element is in the 'low ice' position.