US3887119A

US3887119A - Ice dispensing device with oscillating ram

Info

Publication number: US3887119A
Application number: US420361A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jost S Sucro; Louis D Benasutti
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1973-11-30
Filing date: 1973-11-30
Publication date: 1975-06-03
Anticipated expiration: 1992-06-03

Abstract

An ice piece dispenser comprising a container having downwardly sloping bottom walls to a longitudinally extending trough therebelow and a dispensing chamber at the front end of the trough. The trough contains a ram having a stepped up upper surface with the ram forward end movable along the trough axis and the ram rearward end drivingly connected to an eccentric to thereby impart combined reciprocating and oscillating travel to the ram. The ram assumes positions of varying inclination with respect to the axis of the trough causing the ram angle to change from a rearward to forward slope as the ram travels rearwardly in the trough and forwardly in the bin resulting in the agitating and delivery of stored ice pieces to the dispensing chamber.

Description

Sucro et al.

June 3, 1975 635,483 1,356,587 2,840,276 3,021,035 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS ICE DISPENSING DEVICE WITH OSCILLATING RAM Inventors: Jost S. Sucro, Dayton; Louis D.

Benasutti, Fairborn, both of Ohio General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

Filed: Nov. 30, 1973 Appl. No.: 420,361

Assignee:

US. Cl. 222/247; 62/344; 222/409 Int. Cl. G0" 11/00 Field of Search 222/199, 200, 232, 233, 222/234, 226, 243-248, 404, 409;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1899 HoiTman 222/233 10/1920 Aygarn 4 222/409 X 6/1958 Dreyer et al.". 222/409 X 2/1962 Hill 222/245 8/1961 Germany 222/199 II :1 II n! 4 Primary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Francis .1. Bartuska Attorney, Agent, or FirmEdward P. Barthel [57] ABSTRACT An ice piece dispenser comprising a container having downwardly sloping bottom walls to a longitudinally extending trough therebelow and a dispensing chambet at the front end of the trough. The trough contains a ram having a stepped up upper surface with the ram forward end movable along the trough axis and the ram rearward end drivingly connected to an eccentric to thereby impart combined reciprocating and oscillating travel to the ram. The ram assumes positions of varying inclination with respect to the axis of the trough causing the ram angle to change from a rearward to forward slope as the ram travels rearwardly in the trough and forwardly in the bin resulting in the agitating and delivery of stored ice pieces to the dispens' ing chamber.

4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1 ICE DISPENSING DEVICE WITH OSCILLATING RAM This invention pertains to dispensing containers for automatic liquid freezers and particularly to an ice piece storage and dispensing container for receiving, agitating and dispensing ice pieces from an automatic icemaker by means of an eccentrically driven stepped ram longitudinally positioned in a trough of the container bottom wall.

Many of the present day domestic refrigerators have automatic ice making apparatus including collecting or storage bins in which the ice pieces are stored in the refrigerator and which include dispensing means within the bin for advancing the ice pieces toward the front end of the bin for automatic dispensing through a suitable opening in the front portion of the bin. An example of a prior art ice piece dispenser is disclosed in the US. Pat. No. 3,021,035 issued to .l. J. Hill, wherein an ice dispenser for beverage vending machines has a plunger slidably mounted at the lower portion of a receptacle capable of reciprocation movement only and having stepped portions which serve to crush the ice in fragments after which the ice is dispensed through an opening by the plunger.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved, inexpensive ice piece storage and dispensing bin having reciprocating ice piece agitation and dispensing means, including an eccentrically driven ram positioned in a longitudinally extending trough located in the base of the bin, operative for delivering of molded ice pieces from the bin.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved ice piece storage and dispensing receptacle for a refrigerator having ice piece conveying means including a longitudinally extending trough formed in the bottom of the bin, with a ram positioned therein such that its rearward end is drivingly connected to an eccentric to impart combined reciprocating and oscillating movement to the ram for travel into and out of the bin ice storage area. The ram has a stepped upper surface and upon being eccentrically driven the ram moves through positions of varying forward and aft inclination with respect to the horizontal axis of the trough whereby ice pieces are agitated and advanced successively by the stepped surface of the ram for dispensing through a forward aperture in the bin.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the ice dispensing means of the present invention incorporated in the freezer compartment of a household refrigerator;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

HO. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the eccentric drive portion for the dispenser;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken on lines 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the storage and dispensing bin taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the dispenser with parts broken away for convenience of illustration; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown the upper cabinet portion 10 of a household refrigerator having a freezer compartment l2 separated by a support shelf 16 from the lower food storage area 18. An automatic liquid freezer or ice piece maker is shown installed in the area 20 above space 22 from which the ice pieces or frozen liquid is discharged into an ice dispensing bin 26 located subjucent thereto. It is to be understood that the ice maker could be of any one of the well-known varieties such as, for example, the automatic ice maker disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,227 issued Nov. I7, 1970 to E. W. Eyman, Jr. et al., and which patent is assigned to the assignee of the instant application.

Automatic ice makers of the Eyman type are cycled such that after the liquid is frozen an ice tray harvesting cycle is commenced wherein the tray is rotated to a substantially inverted position and twisted thereby releasing the ice pieces therein into the subjacent dispensing bin 26 which retains the harvested ice pieces at sub-freezing temperatures prior to their being dispensed.

As seen in FIGS. 2-7, the storage bin 26, which is removably supported on the support shelf 16, has a generally box-shaped configuration including

vertical side walls

27 and 28. The base portion of the storage bin includes downwardly and inwardly converging bottom walls 29 and 30 (FIG. 7) defined at their outer edges by forwardly sloped parallel corner junctures 32 and 33 formed at the intersection with their

respective side walls

27, 28 with the

walls

29 and 30 defined at their inner edges by corner junctures 34 and 35 formed with the intersection of

side plates

36 and 37 respectively, of a longitudinally disposed bin trough 38. The junctures 34 and 35 are forwardly and downwardly sloped so as to be substantially parallel to their respective junctures 32 and 33, as seen in FIG. 2 for junctures 32 and 34, such that each of the

bottom walls

29 and 30 are both forwardly and inwardly sloped in a compound manner.

The bin trough 38 is closed on its underside by a bottom plate 39 and which is rearwardly spaced from bin front wall 40 while the plate 39 merges with trough rear wall 41 via arcuate fillet 42. It will be noted that the

bin side walls

27, 28 terminate at their forward ends in bottom longitudinal edges 43 and 44 which together with the pair of skids 45 integrally molded at the aft portion of base plate 39, support the receptacle on the shelf 16 when in the refrigerator and on a work surface such as a countertop when removed from the refrigerator. In the disclosed form the bin receptacle has an overall length measured from the rear lip flange portion 46 of sloping rear wall 47 to its front wall 40 of about 13.3 inches, an overall width between the outer edges of

side lip flanges

48 and 49 of about 6.16 inches and an overall height of about 8.4 inches. The bin is preferably integrally molded from a suitable plastic material such as ABS plastic.

The trough 38 has positioned therein elongated ram member 50 whose upper surface has a plurality of steps which, as seen in FIG. 2, include five steps located in parallel planes indicated by the

numerals

52, 53, 54 and 55 such that the steps are rearwardly inclined when the ram is located in its solid line position within the trough 38 and beneath the trough defining junctures 34 and 35. The ram lead or forward step, shown having a reduced rearwardly inclined face 56 in the ram solid line position, terminates in a downwardly and forwardly sloping ram front face 58. The ram front face 58 is shown rearwardly spaced from a pivoted closure member in the form of a trap door 59 pivotally mounted at the entrance to an ice piece discharge housing member 60 having an ice piece discharge compartment 61 defined by an upper wall 62,

side partitions

63 and 64 and a front baffle wall 65 forwardly offset from a front cover plate 66 having a returned flanged hook 67 and rib 68 dimensioned to engage the top and bottom edges of bin front wall strip 40 together with side wall engaging prongs and detents (not shown).

The closure member or door 59 is normally biased closed by suitable biasing means such as a mousetrap spring shown at 70. The trap door 59 has a pair of

integral pins

74 and 76 extending outwardly from its side edges pivotally engaged in suitable apertures in

walls

63 and 64 respectively, to pivot the trap door 59 through an arc of about 90 upon ice pieces being advanced thereagainst by the ram 50 in a manner to be explained.

As seen in FIG. 5, the rearward or aft portion of the ram 50 is notched at 82 to provide a bifurcated end for the reception of a tongue 83 integral with the forward drive end of a blade-shaped linkage member 84 to provide a hinge connection with the ram 50 and being pivotal about transverse link or hinge pin 85. The linkage member 84 is dimensioned so as to be movable in the bin vertical slot defined between the

upper wall portions

86 and 87, which, as seen in FIG. 7, are coplanar with the

trough walls

36 and 37 respectively. The rearmost portion of the linkage member 84 includes outwardly extending integral guide pins 89 and 90 for sliding reception in opposed

vertical guide slots

92 and 93 formed in the rear

upper wall portions

86 and 87.

To effect a combined reciprocating and oscillating movement of the ram 50 the linkage member 84 is driven by eccentric drive means in the form of a small fractional horsepower electric motor (not shown) preferably located in the rear wall of the freezer compartment, which motor has its motor shaft (not shown) coupled by axially separable driving connection means preferably in the form of jaw type coupling means with the driven half indicated at 96 in FIG. 3.

As seen in FIG. 3, a reduction gear unit casing 100 is secured to the rear portion of trough side plate 37 by machine screws 102 which extend through housing ears 104 and then into integral boss 106. The driven coupling shaft 110 extends through the wall of the casing 100 of the reduction gear unit and engages in suitable bearing cups (not shown) located in the end walls of the casing 100. On the clutch shaft is a worm 114 engaging a worm gear 116 secured to a transverse shaft 118 extending through an opening in the opposite casing side wall 120 and received as by the threads shown in counterbore 126 in gear hub 128, while the cover plate 122 is retained thereon by screws 124. A drive wheel 134, integrally formed on the inner end of transverse shaft 118, is rotated within a conforming circular opening 142 in the trough side plate 37 such that the drive wheel 134 has its inner surface 135 flush there with. The drive wheel 134 has integrally molded thereon and extending normal thereto the eccentrically positioned link pin 85 adjacent the outer periphery of the drive wheel 134 for reception through the apertured tongue 83 of the linkage member 84 and the bi furcated fingers 143 and 144 of the ram.

A suitable on-off actuator or push button (not shown), preferably in the refrigerator door service area, is manually operated as by holding the button in by finger pressure in the service area. The details of one such service area arrangement is shown in copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 309,935 assigned to the same assignee as the instant application. the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. A momentary contact switch may be provided for energizing an electrical circuit through the electric ram driving motor such that the operator holds the button in with finger pressure until the desired number of ice pieces are dispensed and then releases the button and deener gizes the motor. Thus, any desired number of ice pieces can be dispensed.

The operation of the ice dispensing apparatus of this invention will now be described in connection with P105. 2-7. Upon the motive means being energized the worm 114 and worm gear 116 rotate the drive wheel 134 in a counterclockwise direction, indicated by arrow 146 in FIG. 2 wherein the movement of the eccentric pin member imparts a combined reciprocating and oscillating or rocking movement to the ram 50. Such rocking movement results in the ram 50 initially moving rearwardly within the trough 38 and then upwarclly out of the trough 38 and into the bin thereby agitating the ice pieces stored therein causing the breaking up of clusters of ice pieces which may have bridged" or frozen to juxtaposed ice pieces which bridging occurs even though the ice pieces are maintained at below freezing temperatures.

As best seen in FIG. 2, it will be noted that the rearwardly and downwardly sloped position of the stepped ram 50 in its solid line position below the trough upper junctures 34 and 35 is such that an imaginary line connecting the crests of the stepped upper ram surface slopes rearwardly and downwardly at a negative angle of about 4 from the horizontal, as indicated by dashed line 150. As the eccentric drive means moves the ram 50 to its upper broken-line position, the ram is rearwardly reciprocated or withdrawn through its rearwardmost position shown by the dashed line position of the ram front face 58'. An imaginary line connecting the crests of the steps 52-55 in their uppermost position is now sloped forwardly and downwardly at a positive angle which, as shown in FIG. 2, is about 9 from the horizontal with the steps 52-56 moved out of the trough 38 to a position above the trough upper junctures 34 and 35.

As seen in FIG. 2, the trough delimiting junctures 34 and 35 are forwardly and downwardly sloped at an angle from the horizontal of about 7%". The result is that as the ram 50 passes through its rearwardmost position 58' and begins its forward thrust elliptical-like motion the first portion of the ram to move upwardly into the bin through the plane of the junctures 34 indicated by juncture 34, is the forwardmost riser of step 55. The riser 155 is thus the first portion of the ram to engage an overlying ice piece and impart initial forward movement thereto. As the ram continues to be moved forward the riser 154 next moves above the juncture 34 to engage and forwardly advance another ice piece and so forth until the

risers

153 and 152 successively move above the juncture 34 and in turn engage and forwardly advance ice pieces in the rearward portion of the bin. After the riser 152 emerges above juncture 34 it will be seen that the blade or linkage member 84 has moved to its uppermost position, shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, and that further rotation of 5 the drive wheel 134 causes the blade 84 to exert a forward thrust or push on any ice pieces located in the blade operating groove defined between the

upper wall portions

86 and 87. It will thus be appreciated that because of the foregoing arrangement the ice pieces in the bin will be successively advanced and agitated by the compound motion of the ram operating in conjunction with the bin.

The above-described action results in an ice piece advanced by forwardmost riser 155 to a location where it contacts opposed substantially mirror image symmetrical pairs of triangular shaped

front wall portions

162, 163; 164, 165; 166, 167 and 168, 169 with the initial

front wall portions

162, 163 joining the sloped

sidewalls

29 and 30 respectively, providing a downwardly diverging entrance or lead'in slot 161 of the bin operative for funneling the ice pieces into a central ice piece feed passage defined between the

walls

168 and 169. As best seen in FIG. 5, the feed passage opening is defined by the outwardly diverging

corner junctures

172 and 173 which provide a gradually increasing opening as they approach the lower

triangular walls

168 and 169. In this manner when the bin has a substantial quantity of ice pieces which tend to pile up between the front wall portions, the feed slot 161 permits only the lowermost ice piece or pieces to be admitted and slide downwardly onto the base 39 of trough 38 when the ram front face 58 is in its retracted position indicated by numeral 58' in FIG. 2.

In this way an ice piece on the forwardmost ice piece engaging means in the form of step 56 is left unsupported by the retraction or rearward travel of the ram which allows the ice piece or pieces to fall under the influence of gravity into the feed passage downwardly onto the trough base 39 placing the ice piece in axial alignment with the ram 50 so as to be engaged by the ram front face during forward travel thereof and pushed forwardly against the trap door 59 causing the door 59 to swing outwardly to an open position. As the ram 50 is reciprocated to its forwardmost position, with its front face indicated by dashed lines 58", the ice piece is pushed through the front opening into cavity 61. In the disclosed embodiment the ice piece is then allowed to fall into a passage in the partition 16 as disclosed in the above-mentioned Pat. application Ser. No. 309,935 for dispensing to a through-the-door service area in the front face of the lower access door indicated at 180 in FIG. 1. It is to be understood, however, that applicant's ice piece bin could be used with various types of dispensing arrangements and is not intended in any way to be limited to a through-the-door dispensing system.

It will be appreciated that the ram 50 is dimensioned to be snugly received in the trough and is of such a height relative to the trough that on its rearward travel the ice engaging means or steps are moved out of the container and downwardly into the trough so as to be free of contact with the ice pieces. To prevent ice chips or pieces from clogging the travel of the ram the base 39 of the trough is provided with a plurality of apertures 182 to allow the ice chips to fall therethrough and clear the trough.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form. it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

We claim:

1. An ice piece dispenser comprising; a container for receiving and storing ice pieces, said container including a front wall having a dispensing opening therein, a longitudinally extending trough formed in the bottom wall of said container with said trough having a planar substantially horizontally disposed base, an elongated ram disposed in said trough, said ram having a forward end face with its lower edge supported on said trough base for reciprocal movement thereon. said ram having its rearward end secured by a pivotal connection to eccentric drive means for movement of said pivotal connection in a circular path, a plurality of longitudinally spaced ice piece engaging steps formed on the upper surface of said ram, whereby eccentric movement of said pivotal connection, through rotation of said drive means, will cause said ram forward end face to move forwardly and rearwardly in a substantially horizontal path in said trough, forward travel of said ram causing said ice piece engaging steps to be raised out of said trough and into said container for advancing the ice pieces toward said dispensing opening, said trough having a predetermined depth relative to said ram whereby said ice piece engaging steps are lowered from said container and into said trough during rearward travel of said ram, and passage means in said container forward wall allowing selected one or more of the ice pieces in said container to fall by gravity into the forward end of said trough during the rearward movement of said ram forward end face, whereby the subsequent forward travel of said ram forward end face pushes the selected ice piece or pieces in said trough through said dispensing opening.

2. An ice piece dispenser comprising; a container for receiving and storing ice pieces, said container including a front wall having a dispensing opening therein, a generally rectangular sectioned longitudinally extending trough formed in the bottom wall of said container with said trough having a planar horizontally disposed base, an elongated linear ram disposed in said trough, said ram having a forward end face with its lower edge supported on said trough base for reciprocal movement thereon, said ram having its rearward end secured by a pivotal connection to eccentric drive means for movement of said pivotal connection in a circular path, a plurality of longitudinally spaced ice piece engaging steps formed on the upper surface of said ram, whereby eccentric movement of said pivotal connection, through rotation of said drive means, will cause said ram forward end face to move forwardly and rearwardly in said trough, forward travel of said ram causing said ice piece engaging steps to be raised successively out of said trough and into said container for advancing the ice pieces toward said dispensing opening, said trough having a predetermined depth relative to said ram whereby said ice piece engaging steps are lowered from said container and into said trough during rearward travel of said ram, and downward diverging ice piece passage means in said container forward wall communicating with said trough being of a size adjacent its lower end allowing selected one or more of the ice pieces in said container to fall by gravity into the forward end of said trough during the rearward movement of said ram forward end face, whereby the subsc quent forward travel of said ram forward end face pushes the selected ice piece or pieces in said trough through said dispensing opening.

3. An ice piece dispenser comprising a container for receiving and collecting ice pieces, said container including a front wall having a dispensing opening therein; said container having a pair of side walls and a pair of downwardly and inwardly sloping bottom walls to a rectangular sectioned trough longitudinally disposed between said side walls, said trough having substantially vertical side plates and a planar horizontally disposed base, said bottom walls also being sloped forwardly whereby the junctures of said bottom walls and said trough side plates define a pair of forwardly canted edge junctures, an elongated ram disposed in said trough, said ram having a forward end face with its lower edge supported on said trough base for reciprocal movement thereon, said ram having its rearward end secured by a pivotal connection to eccentric drive means for movement of said pivotal connection in a circular path, a plurality of steps formed on the upper surface of said ram, whereby the imaginary line connecting the crests of said steps initially extending rearwardly and downwardly when said ram is in its forwardmost position, continued movement of said eccentric drive means causing said ram forward end face to travel from its forwardmost position rearwardly in said trough resulting in said steps being lowered and maintained below the plane defined by said pair of canted edge junctures, continued movement of said drive means causing said plurality of steps to be raised successively from front to rear above the plane of said pair of trough canted edge junctures, whereby said steps engage certain of the ice pieces in said container and advance them in substantially step-by-step fashion toward said dispensing opening for fall by gravity into the forward end of said trough during the rearward movement of said ram forward end face, such that the subsequent forward travel of said ram forward end face pushes the selected ice piece or pieces in said trough through said dispensing opening.

4. An ice piece dispenser comprising a container for receiving and collecting ice pieces, said container including a front wall having a dispensing opening therein; said container having a pair of substantially vertical side walls and a pair of downwardly and inwardly sloping bottom walls to a rectangular sectioned trough longitudinally disposed between said side walls, said container having a forwardly sloping rear wall formed with a rearward extension of said trough, said trough having vertical side plates and a substantially horizontally disposed planar base, said bottom walls also being sloped forwardly whereby the junctures of said bottom walls and said trough side plates define a pair of forwardly canted edge junctures, an elongated ram disposed in said trough, said ram having a forward end face with its lower edge supported on said trough base for reciprocal movement thereon, said ram having its rearward end secured by a pivotal connection to eccentric drive means for movement of said pivotal connection in a circular path, a plurality of steps formed on the upper surface of said ram, whereby the imaginary line connecting the crests of said steps initially extending rearwardly and downwardly when said ram is in its forwardmost position, continued movement of said eccentric drive means causing said ram forward end face to travel from its forwardmost position rearwardly in said trough resulting in said steps being lowered and maintained below the plane defined by said pair of canted edge junctures, continued movement of said drive means causing said plurality of steps to be raised successively from front to rear above the plane of said pair of trough canted edge junctures, such that the imaginary line connecting the crests of said steps extends forwardly and downwardly whereby said steps engage certain of the ice pieces in said container and advance them in substantially step-by-step fashion toward said dispensing opening for fall by gravity into the forward end of said trough during the rearward travel of said ram forward end face, such that the subsequent forward travel of said ram forward end face pushes the selected ice piece or pieces in said trough through said dispensing opening, and a paddle-like linkage member in said container rear wall trough extension providing a rearwardly and upwardly extending continuation of said ram, said linkage member forward end connected to said pivotal connection and its rearward end provided with means for substantially vertical sliding movement in guide means within said trough extension, whereby said linkage member assists in advancing ice pieces in said container toward said dispensing opening during a portion of the forward travel of said ram.

Claims

1. An ice piece dispenser comprising; a container for receiving and storing ice pieces, said container including a front wall having a dispensing opening therein, a longitudinally extending trough formed in the bottom wall of said container with said trough having a planar substantially horizontally disposed base, an elongated ram disposed in said trough, said ram having a forward end face with its lower edge supported on said trough base for reciprocal movement thereon, said ram having its rearward end secured by a pivotal connection to eccentric drive means for movement of said pivotal connection in a circular path, a plurality of longitudinally spaced ice piece engaging steps formed on the upper surface of said ram, whereby eccentric movement of said pivotal connection, through rotation of said drive means, will cause said ram forward end face to move forwardly and rearwardly in a substantially horizontal path in said trough, forward travel of said ram causing said ice piece engaging steps to be raised out of said trough and into said container for advancing the ice pieces toward said dispensing opening, said trough having a predetermined depth relative to said ram whereby said ice piece engaging steps are lowered from said coNtainer and into said trough during rearward travel of said ram, and passage means in said container forward wall allowing selected one or more of the ice pieces in said container to fall by gravity into the forward end of said trough during the rearward movement of said ram forward end face, whereby the subsequent forward travel of said ram forward end face pushes the selected ice piece or pieces in said trough through said dispensing opening.

2. An ice piece dispenser comprising; a container for receiving and storing ice pieces, said container including a front wall having a dispensing opening therein, a generally rectangular sectioned longitudinally extending trough formed in the bottom wall of said container with said trough having a planar horizontally disposed base, an elongated linear ram disposed in said trough, said ram having a forward end face with its lower edge supported on said trough base for reciprocal movement thereon, said ram having its rearward end secured by a pivotal connection to eccentric drive means for movement of said pivotal connection in a circular path, a plurality of longitudinally spaced ice piece engaging steps formed on the upper surface of said ram, whereby eccentric movement of said pivotal connection, through rotation of said drive means, will cause said ram forward end face to move forwardly and rearwardly in said trough, forward travel of said ram causing said ice piece engaging steps to be raised successively out of said trough and into said container for advancing the ice pieces toward said dispensing opening, said trough having a predetermined depth relative to said ram whereby said ice piece engaging steps are lowered from said container and into said trough during rearward travel of said ram, and downward diverging ice piece passage means in said container forward wall communicating with said trough being of a size adjacent its lower end allowing selected one or more of the ice pieces in said container to fall by gravity into the forward end of said trough during the rearward movement of said ram forward end face, whereby the subsequent forward travel of said ram forward end face pushes the selected ice piece or pieces in said trough through said dispensing opening.