Ice piece barrier for selective ice crusher dispenser

An ice dispenser, comprising:

• a selective ice crusher comprising a substantially horizontal shaft having a set of crusher arms secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, said ice crusher further comprising a set of stationary crusher arms on one side of said shaft;
• means for feeding ice pieces to said ice crusher;
• means for driving said shaft and said set of rotatable crusher arms in one direction to catch and crush said ice pieces fed to said ice crusher between said set of rotatable crusher arms and said set of stationary crusher arms and for selectively driving said shaft and said set of rotatable crusher arms in the opposite direction to cause said ice pieces to fall down a passageway on the opposite side of said shaft and thereby avoid being crushed between said set of rotatable crusher arms and said set of stationary crusher arms;
• and
• means for blocking said passageway when said shaft is rotated in said one direction, said blocking means comprising a barrier arm frictionally coupled for rotation on said shaft between a first position in said passageway when said shaft is rotated in said one direction and a second position out of said passageway when said shaft is rotated in the opposite direction.

An ice dispenser, comprising:

• a receptacle for storing ice pieces, said receptacle having a front plate with a discharge opening;
• a rotatable shaft passing through said receptacle and extending forwardly through said discharge opening;
• means for selectively rotating said shaft about its axis in either direction;
• means positioned in said receptacle and rotatably connected to said shaft for dispensing ice pieces through said discharge opening when said shaft is rotated in one direction and also when shaft is rotated in the opposite direction;
• means positioned in front of said plate and rotatably coupled to said shaft for selectively crushing ice pieces dispensed through said discharge opening when said shaft is rotated in said one direction, said selective crushing means being inoperative for crushing ice pieces when said shaft is rotated in said opposite direction, said selective crushing means comprising a set of rotatable crusher arms mounted to said shaft for rotation therewith and a set of stationary crusher arms mounted on one side of said shaft;
• and
• means rotatable about said shaft to a first position on the side of said shaft opposite said stationary crusher arms in response to rotation of said shaft in said one direction for preventing whole ice pieces from being dispensed when ice pieces are being selectively crushed, said preventing means being rotatable about said shaft to a second position away from said opposite side of said shaft in response to rotation of said shaft in said opposite direction to permit whole ice pieces to be dispensed down said opposite side of said shaft.