Patent Application
20230375245
The present subject matter relates generally to ice maker appliances, and in particular to systems and methods for detecting leaks in such appliances.
Certain refrigerator appliances include an ice maker. An ice maker may also be a stand-alone appliance designed for use in commercial and/or residential kitchens. To produce ice, liquid water is directed to the ice maker and frozen. For example, certain ice makers include a mold body for receiving liquid water. After ice is formed in the mold body, it may be harvested from the mold body and stored within an ice bin or bucket within the refrigerator appliance.
In some circumstances, an amount of the liquid water directed to the mold body may escape from the mold body prior to forming into ice as intended. For example, the mold body may develop a crack, one or more sealing elements may wear out, or the mold body may be overfilled. In one example of a possible overfill scenario, a twist tray ice maker may include a partitioned plastic mold that is physically deformed to break the bond formed between ice and the tray, in such ice makers, the ice cubes may be fractured during the twisting process. When such fracturing occurs, a portion of the cubes may remain in the tray, thus resulting in overfilling during the next fill process.
The various circumstances which may lead to liquid water escaping from the mold body are generally not readily observable by a user of the ice maker. As a result, such circumstances may persist for an extended period of time and/or reach a significant quantity of water escaping from the ice maker, such as a sufficient time and/or quantity for secondary effects of the escaped water to manifest, before the user is even aware of the water escaping, let alone able to remediate the issue.
Accordingly, an ice maker with features for improved leak detection would be desirable.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be apparent from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
According to an exemplary embodiment, an ice maker appliance is provided. The ice maker appliance includes a mold body configured for receiving liquid water and for forming ice from the liquid water within the mold body and a collection tray below the mold body along a vertical direction. The collection tray defines an internal volume. The collection tray is positioned and configured to capture and retain an escaped portion of the liquid water from the mold body in the internal volume of the collection tray.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a refrigerator appliance is provided. The refrigerator appliance includes a food storage chamber and an icebox. The refrigerator appliance also includes an ice maker positioned in the icebox. The ice maker includes a mold body configured for receiving liquid water and for forming ice from the liquid water within the mold body and a collection tray below the mold body along a vertical direction. The collection tray defines an internal volume. The collection tray is positioned and configured to capture and retain an escaped portion of the liquid water from the mold body in the internal volume of the collection tray.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the present invention.
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, terms of approximation, such as “generally,” or “about” include values within ten percent greater or less than the stated value. When used in the context of an angle or direction, such terms include within ten degrees greater or less than the stated angle or direction. For example, “generally vertical” includes directions within ten degrees of vertical in any direction, e.g., clockwise or counter-clockwise. As used herein, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third” may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to signify location or importance of the individual components.
Housing 102 defines chilled chambers for receipt of food items for storage. In particular, housing 102 defines fresh food chamber 122 positioned at or adjacent top 104 of housing 102 and a freezer chamber 124 arranged at or adjacent bottom 106 of housing 102. As such, refrigerator appliance 100 is generally referred to as a bottom mount refrigerator. It is recognized, however, that the benefits of the present disclosure apply to other types and styles of refrigerator appliances such as, e.g., a top mount refrigerator appliance, a side-by-side style refrigerator appliance, or a single door refrigerator appliance. Consequently, the description set forth herein is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any aspect to any particular refrigerator chamber configuration.
Refrigerator doors 128 are rotatably hinged to an edge of housing 102 for selectively accessing fresh food chamber 122. In addition, a freezer door 130 is arranged below refrigerator doors 128 for selectively accessing freezer chamber 124. Freezer door 130 is coupled to a freezer drawer (not shown) slidably mounted within freezer chamber 124. Refrigerator doors 128 and freezer door 130 are shown in the closed configuration in
Referring now generally to
Dispensing assembly 140 and its various components may be positioned at least in part within a dispenser recess 142 defined on one of refrigerator doors 128. In this regard, dispenser recess 142 is defined on a front side 112 of refrigerator appliance 100 such that a user may operate dispensing assembly 140 without opening refrigerator door 128. In addition, dispenser recess 142 is positioned at a predetermined elevation convenient for a user to access ice and enabling the user to access ice without the need to bend-over. In the exemplary embodiment, dispenser recess 142 is positioned at a level that approximates the chest level of a user.
Dispensing assembly 140 includes an ice dispenser 144 including a discharging outlet 146 for discharging ice from dispensing assembly 140. An actuating mechanism 148, shown as a paddle, is mounted below discharging outlet 146 for operating ice or water dispenser 144. In alternative exemplary embodiments, any suitable actuating mechanism may be used to operate ice dispenser 144. For example, ice dispenser 144 can include a sensor (such as an ultrasonic sensor) or a button rather than the paddle. Discharging outlet 146 and actuating mechanism 148 are an external part of ice dispenser 144 and are mounted in dispenser recess 142.
By contrast, inside refrigerator appliance 100, refrigerator door 128 may define an icebox 150 (
A control panel 160 is provided for controlling the mode of operation. For example, control panel 160 includes one or more selector inputs 162, such as knobs, buttons, touchscreen interfaces, etc., such as a water dispensing button and an ice-dispensing button, for selecting a desired mode of operation such as crushed or non-crushed ice. In addition, inputs 162 may be used to specify a fill volume or method of operating dispensing assembly 140. In this regard, inputs 162 may be in communication with a processing device or controller 164. Signals generated in controller 164 operate refrigerator appliance 100 and dispensing assembly 140 in response to selector inputs 162. Additionally, a display 166, such as an indicator light or a screen, may be provided on control panel 160. Display 166 may be in communication with controller 164, and may display information in response to signals from controller 164.
As used herein, “processing device” or “controller” may refer to one or more microprocessors or semiconductor devices and is not restricted necessarily to a single element. The processing device can be programmed to operate refrigerator appliance 100 and dispensing assembly 140. The processing device may include, or be associated with, one or more memory elements (e.g., non-transitory storage media). In some such embodiments, the memory elements include electrically erasable, programmable read only memory (EEPROM). Generally, the memory elements can store information accessible to the processing device, including instructions that can be executed by processing device. Optionally, the instructions can be software or any set of instructions and/or data that when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations.
Referring now to
As mentioned above, the present disclosure may also be applied to other types and styles of refrigerator appliances such as, e.g., a top mount refrigerator appliance, a side-by-side style refrigerator appliance or a standalone ice maker appliance. Variations and modifications may be made to ice maker 200 while remaining within the scope of the present subject matter. Accordingly, the description herein of the icebox 150 on the door 128 of the fresh food chamber 122 is by way of example only. In other example embodiments, the ice maker 200 may be positioned in the freezer chamber 124, e.g., of the illustrated bottom-mount refrigerator, of a side by side refrigerator, of a top-mount refrigerator, or any other suitable refrigerator appliance. As another example, the ice maker 200 may also be provided in a standalone ice maker appliance. As used herein, the term “standalone ice maker appliance” refers to an appliance of which the sole or primary operation is generating or producing ice, whereas the more general term “ice maker appliance” includes such appliances as well as appliances with diverse capabilities in addition to making ice, such as a refrigerator appliance equipped with an ice maker, among other possible examples.
As mentioned above, an access door 170 may be hinged to the inside of the refrigerator door 128. Access door 170 permits selective access to icebox 150. Any manner of suitable latch 172 may be configured with icebox 150 to maintain access door 170 in a closed position. As an example, latch 172 may be actuated by a consumer in order to open access door 170 for providing access into icebox 150. Access door 170 can also assist with insulating icebox 150, e.g., by thermally isolating or insulating icebox 150 from fresh food chamber 122.
Referring now to
In some embodiments, the mount unit 210 may include a first mount unit 211 and a second mount unit 212. The mount units 211, 212 may be spaced apart from one another along a central axis 201 of the ice maker 200. In various embodiments, a direction of the central axis 201 corresponds to, e.g., is along or parallel to, a longitudinal axis of the ice tray 220 when the ice tray 220 is installed to the mount unit 210. Furthermore, the mount units 211, 212 may be spaced apart from one another such as to allow a pair of lips 222 of the ice tray 220 separated along the central axis 201 to be received by respective mount units 211, 212. For example, the mount unit 210 may include one or more clips 218, e.g., a first clip 218 on the first mount unit 211 and a second clip 218 on the second mount unit 212, and the lip(s) 222 of the ice tray 220 may be configured to be received within and retained by the clip(s) 218, e.g., the lip(s) 222 may each be sized and shaped corresponding to a respective clip 218, such as the external dimensions of the lip 222 or each lip 222 may correspond to internal dimensions of the clip 218 or each clip 218, whereby the lip(s) 222 may be received within and retained by the clip(s) 218.
In various embodiments, the mount unit 210 includes a rotor 216 configured to rotate relative to the central axis 201. In such embodiments, the first clip 218 on the first mount unit 211 may be formed integrally with the rotor 216. The first mount unit 211 may be fixed to the icebox 150. The first mount unit 211 may include a motor or other actuation device 206 operably coupled to the rotor 216 to rotate relative to the central axis 201, e.g., about the central axis 201. When the ice tray 220 is installed onto the rotor 216, rotation of the rotor 216, such as by the actuation device 206, causes the ice tray 220 to dump or deposit ice or other contents from the ice tray 220.
In some embodiments, the ice maker 200 may include a dedicated controller 207, e.g., similar to the controller 164 of the refrigerator appliance 100 which is described above. In embodiments where the ice maker 200 is incorporated into a refrigerator appliance such as the exemplary refrigerator appliance 100 described hereinabove, the dedicated controller 207 may be in addition to the controller 164 of the refrigerator appliance and may be in communication with the controller 164, and the controller 207 of the ice maker 200 may be in operative communication with other components of the ice maker 200 and may be configured specifically for controlling or directing operation of such components, e.g., the actuation device 206. In some embodiments, the ice maker 200 may also include one or more sensors, such as a temperature sensor 310 as will be described further hereinbelow, and the dedicated controller 207 of the ice maker 200 may also be in operative communication with such sensors.
For example, the controller 207 may cause the actuation device 206 to rotate a first amount, e.g., through a first number of degrees about the central axis 201, to twist the tray 220 and thereby promote release of ice pieces from the compartment 224 thereof, such as rotating the first amount in a first direction followed by rotating the same amount, e.g., the first amount, in a second direction opposite the first direction to twist the tray 220 to release ice pieces from the compartments 224. After rotating the first amount, e.g., after twisting the tray 220, the controller 207 may then cause the actuation device 206 to rotate a second amount, e.g., through a second number of degrees about the central axis 201, greater than the first amount to tip over or invert the tray 220, allowing the ice pieces to fall, e.g., by gravity, from the tray 220 into the bin 202 (
The ice maker 200 may further include a collection tray 300 below the mold body, e.g., below the twist tray 220 in embodiments such as the illustrated exemplary embodiments of
In some embodiments, the collection tray 300 may be directly connected to the mold body, e.g., twist tray 220, such as by a tab and slot connection. For example, in the illustrated embodiments, the collection tray 300 includes a tab 308 which is received in a hole in a projecting arm 230 of the twist tray 220. In other embodiments, the projecting arm 230 may have a slot therein, e.g., which is elongated along the vertical direction V, in which the tab 308 is received, such as to accommodate relative movement between the twist tray 220 and the collection tray 300, e.g., during twisting to release ice form the twist tray 220 as discussed above. In additional embodiments, the relative positions may be reversed, e.g., a tab may be formed on the twist tray 220 and may be received in a hole or slot in the collection tray 300. In further embodiments, the collection tray 300 may be directly connected to the mold body by any suitable mechanical connection. Such direct connections of the collection tray 300 and the mold body may thereby locate the collection tray 300 directly below the mold body along the vertical direction V, such as with the collection tray 300 in direct contact with the mold body, e.g., a bottom surface of the mold body and/or the projection arm 230 or other connecting portion of the mold body.
As may be seen, e.g., in
In
Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the ice maker may include or be in fluid communication with a fill line, whereby liquid water may be directed to the mold body for forming ice therein. The structure and function of such fill lines are understood by those of ordinary skill in the art and, as such, are not shown or further described herein in the interest of brevity and clarity. Liquid water that is directed to the mold body may escape from the mold body in one or more of various ways, such as may not have reached the mold body at all, e.g., due to a misalignment of the fill line and the mold body or a deformation of or obstruction in the fill line which causes erratic flow from the fill line (such as some of the liquid water may have sprayed from the fill line outside of the mold body, e.g., some of the liquid water may have been directed to the mold body but then diverged from such path before reaching the mold body). As another example, liquid water may escape from the mold body by overflowing, such as when the mold body is partially obstructed, e.g., by remnants of previously-formed ice therein, or by leaking, e.g., from a crack in the mold body. With the collection tray 300 positioned below the mold body, such escaped liquid water may thereby be captured and stored in the internal volume 306 of the collection tray 300. Further, the collection tray 300 may include one or more sensors which are positioned in or adjacent to the internal volume 306 and are configured to detect the presence of such liquid water in the internal volume 306 of the collection tray 300.
For example, such sensors may include a radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensor 314 and/or a capacitive sensor 316. In embodiments which include the RFID sensor 314, the RFID sensor 314 may be an RFID tag 314 which is positioned within the internal volume 306 of the collection tray 300, e.g., on an internal surface of one of the sidewalls 304, as illustrated, and which is in communication with an RFID reader (not shown), e.g., located within the mount unit 211 (
In some embodiments, the ice maker 200, e.g., the controller 207 thereof, may also be configured for transmitting a user notification, e.g., to a display on the ice maker appliance and/or to a remote user interface device, after and in response to detecting liquid water in the collection tray 300, e.g., when liquid water is detected by one or more of the RFID sensor 314 and the capacitive sensor 316. For example, in embodiments where the ice maker appliance is a refrigerator appliance having an ice maker therein, such as refrigerator appliance 100, the controller 207 of the ice maker 200 may communicate with the controller 164 whereby the user notification may be displayed on a user interface of the refrigerator appliance 100, such as on display 166 (
Additionally, the ice maker 200, e.g., the controller 207 thereof, may also suspend ice making operations when the escaped water is detected. Thus, any further escaped liquid water may be reduced or prevented.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
