Patent ID: 7350369

Claim:
An ice maker comprising a mold having mold cavities in which water is frozen to form ice bodies; an electrically operable flow control valve for selectively directing water to said mold cavities, a rotatable ejector for ejecting ice bodies from said mold, a control for operating the ice maker including a gear wheel and a motor for rotatably driving the gear wheel and ejector, a face circuit mounted on a side of said gear wheel defining a plurality of arcuate circuit tracks concentric with an axis of rotation of said gear each for engaging and contacting a respective contact mounted adjacent said face circuit for controlling operation of electrically responsive functions of said ice maker, said contacts including a water fill contact engageable with one of said circuit tracks as an incident to rotation of said gear and circumferential movement of said one track with said gear, said one track having a leading edge that is engageable with said water fill contact as an incident to circumferential movement of said one track for opening said water fill valve and said one track being operable for maintaining said water fill valve in an open condition during a water fill cycle during the course of engagement of said water fill contact with said one track from said leading edge to a trailing edge thereof, said water fill valve being closed in response to said trailing edge of said one track passing out of engagement with said water fill contact as an incident to circumferential movement of said one track, and said leading and trailing edges of said one track being radially oriented relative to the axis of rotation of said gear wheel such that the time said water fill valve is in an open condition is the same notwithstanding alterations in the radial position of said water refill contact relative to said leading and trailing edges of said one track.