| 摘要 |
An ice dispensing and crushing apparatus is disclosed for dispensing and selectively crushing pieces of ice. The apparatus includes a supply bin for containing and supplying pieces of ice, a conveying trough formed at least partially within a lower portion of the supply bin and extending in an inclined manner toward a dispensing housing through which ice pieces can be dispensed. A helical conveyor is mounted for rotation in the conveying trough and is operable to convey individual pieces of ice one-by-one toward a dispensing opening formed in a lateral side of the dispensing housing. An ejection device, such as an ejection bar, is mounted adjacent the helical conveyor and acts to eject extra pieces of ice so as to assure the individual successive conveyance of the ice pieces. A crushing device is disposed at the dispensing end of the helical conveyor and includes rotatable arms which rotate with the helical conveyor, and pivotably mounted anvil members which are movable between operative and inoperative position. The anvil members can be selectively moved from their inoperative positions into their operative positions wherein they partially extend through the dispensing opening of the dispensing housing, by a selectively actuable magnetic solenoid. Undesirable crushing of ice pieces is thus avoided because the anvil members are retracted from the dispensing housing when no crushing is desired. A water-return duct is formed at a bottom portion of the dispensing housing so as to return melted ice to the supply bin.
|
