Patent Grant
10222111
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an ice maker for fitting into a door of a cooling or freezing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Refrigerators for domestic use are nowadays increasingly supplied with built-in ice makers. The ice maker serves to produce cube-shaped ice pieces or ice pieces of other shapes, which can typically be dispensed via an ice-piece dispenser integrated into a door of the refrigerator. The ice pieces are produced in an ice-making tray, which has a plurality of cavities for producing one ice piece each.
While in some refrigerator models the ice maker is situated in the body of the refrigerator, in other refrigerator models the ice maker is arranged in the door of the cabinet. When the ice maker is arranged in the door there is the problem that, after the ice-making tray has been filled with fresh water, the water can spill out of the tray when the door is moved quickly and jerkily if the water has not yet solidified to form ice.
Protecting walls can be provided as spillage protection in front of, at the side of or/and behind the ice-making tray, which protecting walls ensure that water spilling out of the tray is guided back into the tray and does not drip down the door or even spill into the cooling chamber of the refrigerator. Although such protecting walls can provide satisfactory spillage protection, a problem which can arise in connection with rotatably mounted ice-making trays, which are rotated about an axis of rotation in order to eject the finished ice pieces, is that ice bridges form between the tray and the surrounding protecting walls. Such ice bridges can impede or even block rotation of the ice-making tray. In some circumstances, this can result in damage to a rotary drive motor for the ice-making tray.
It is an object of the invention to provide a way in which undesirable ice bridges, which can hinder or block rotation of an ice-making tray, can be avoided in the case of an ice maker intended for fitting into a door of a cooling or freezing device. At the same time, good spillage protection is to be possible.
In order to achieve this object, the invention starts from an ice maker for fitting into a door of a cooling or freezing device, comprising: an ice-making tray which is arranged to be rotatable about an axis of rotation and has a plurality of ice-piece-making cavities and a side wall arrangement which extends beyond the ice-piece-making cavities at the top and runs along the periphery of the tray, and a drive unit for driving the ice-making tray in rotation about the axis of rotation. According to the invention, a wall section of the side wall arrangement extending in the direction of the axis of rotation is formed with at least one slot which passes through the wall section over its entire wall thickness.
The invention is based on the idea of making the side wall arrangement of the ice-making tray sufficiently high—relative to an upper cavity edge of the ice-piece-making cavities—so that the side wall arrangement itself is able to provide adequate spillage protection and protecting walls outside the ice-making tray are consequently not necessary. The increased height of the side wall arrangement as compared with conventional ice-making trays can, however, lead to increased torsional stiffness of the tray about the axis of rotation. In the case of ice makers which work according to the “twisted tray” principle, once the water introduced into the ice-piece-making cavities has frozen, the ice-making tray is rotated as a whole about the axis of rotation and is additionally twisted in itself about the axis of rotation. This twisting of the ice-making tray is intended to cause the ice pieces which have been produced to break away from the ice-making tray. The provision of one or more slots in the side wall arrangement can counteract the mentioned increase in the torsional stiffness of the ice-making tray as a result of the increased height of the side wall arrangement and consequently ensure that, despite the increased height of the side wall arrangement, the ice-making tray can be twisted to a sufficient degree to cause the ice pieces to break away from the tray in the desired manner.
In some embodiments, the slot extends as far as an upper edge of the side wall arrangement. The slot can thereby end at a distance above the ice-piece-making cavities. The slot can extend, starting from the upper edge of the side wall arrangement, over a height—measured in a direction perpendicular to the tray plane of the ice-making tray—of at least 1 cm or at least 1.5 cm or at least 2 cm. Alternatively or in addition, the slot can end at a distance—measured in a direction perpendicular to the tray plane of the ice-making tray—of not more than 2 cm or not more than 1.5 cm or not more than 1 cm from an upper cavity edge of the ice-piece-making cavities.
In order to minimise a break in the protecting action of the side wall arrangement by the at least one slot and to prevent the escape of water through the at least one slot as far as possible, it is provided in some embodiments that opposite slot delimiting surfaces of the slot touch one another at least over a portion of the slot length. Where the slot delimiting surfaces touch one another there is no free space between the slot delimiting surfaces, so that there is also no gap there for the passage of water. However, even when opposite slot delimiting surfaces of the slot are at a mutual distance from one another over the entire slot length of not more than 1 mm or 0.5 mm or 0.3 mm or 0.1 mm, it is possible largely to prevent water from passing through the slot in an undesired manner. Typically, the water in the ice-making tray sloshes against the side wall arrangement for only a comparatively short time when the refrigerator door is closed or opened quickly. If the slot is sufficiently narrow, this short time is not sufficient to allow a substantial amount of water to pass through the slot even if there is a clear space inside the slot.
In some embodiments, the ice-making tray has the shape of a rectangle with longer rectangle sides running along the axis of rotation and shorter rectangle sides running transversely to the axis of rotation, the side wall arrangement comprising two mutually opposite long-side wall sections each extending along one of the longer rectangle sides and two mutually opposite short-side wall sections each extending along one of the shorter rectangle sides. At least one slot is formed in each of the two long-side wall sections. In some embodiments, a slot is formed in at least one of the long-side wall sections approximately centrally along the longer rectangle sides. A plurality of slots spaced apart one behind the other in the direction of the axis of rotation can be formed in at least one of the long-side wall sections. In addition, the side wall arrangement can be formed with a further slot in at least one, preferably in each, corner region of the ice-making tray.
The slot extends in some embodiments along a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation or runs obliquely to that plane at least over a portion of its slot length.
Alternatively or in addition to the provision of one or more slots in the side wall arrangement, the object of achieving high spillage protection by means of the side wall arrangement while at the same time ensuring that the ice-making tray is twistable can be achieved by forming different regions of the ice-making tray of different materials, a first tray region formed of a first material including cavity walls of the ice-piece-making cavities and a second tray region formed of a second material including a wall section of the side wall arrangement which includes at least a portion of an upper edge of the side wall arrangement. For example, the second tray region has rubber elasticity or/and the second material is deformable by a smaller force than is the first material. In some embodiments, the first material comprises polyethylene or polypropylene, while the second material comprises a rubber material (for example of natural or synthetic rubber) or a silicone material or a thermoplastic elastomer.
In some embodiments, the ice-making tray is formed by a single component, that is to say the first tray region and the second tray region are situated on that single component. In this case, the ice-making tray can be a multi-component injection-moulded part. Injection moulding processes, in which different materials are processed in a single component, are conventionally available. In other embodiments, the first tray region and the second tray region can belong to separate components which can be fitted together or otherwise connected, optionally releasably connected, to form the ice-making tray. For example, the second tray region can form a frame part which can be fitted to a bottom tray part which is formed by the first tray region and includes the ice-piece-making cavities.
In some embodiments, the second tray region encircles the ice-making tray, a boundary line between the first and the second tray region lying above an upper cavity edge of the ice-piece-making cavities. For example, the boundary line lies not less than 0.5 cm or not less than 1 cm above the upper cavity edge.
In some embodiments, the second tray region extends over a height—measured in a direction perpendicular to the tray plane of the ice-making tray—which corresponds to at least 0.5 times or 0.7 times or 0.8 times or 0.9 times the height measured from a cavity bottom to an upper cavity edge of the ice-piece-making cavities.
In some embodiments, the ice-making tray has the shape of a rectangle with longer rectangle sides running along the axis of rotation and shorter rectangle sides running transversely to the axis of rotation. The side wall arrangement thereby comprises two mutually opposite long-side wall sections each extending along one of the longer rectangle sides and two mutually opposite short-side wall sections each extending along one of the shorter rectangle sides. The two long-side wall sections—when viewed in a section orthogonal to the axis of rotation—can be inclined towards one another. Alternatively or in addition, the two long-side wall sections—again when viewed in a section orthogonal to the axis of rotation—can be bent towards one another in a concave manner.
Good spillage protection can be achieved, for example, if the side wall arrangement at least of portions of the tray periphery running along the axis of rotation has a height—measured in a direction perpendicular to the tray plane of the ice-making tray—of at least 2 cm or 2.5 cm or 3 cm or 3.5 cm above an upper cavity edge of the ice-piece-making cavities.
The invention is described further hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Reference will first be made to
By means of a water supply device 14, the ice-making tray 12, more specifically the ice piece production cavities, can be filled with water, which is then to be frozen to form ice pieces. In the example shown, the water supply device 14 comprises a water storage container 16 as well as an inlet 18 via which water from the storage container 16 can be introduced in a quantity-controlled manner into the ice-making tray 12.
Beneath the ice-making tray 12 there is a receiving container 20 in which the ice pieces which have been produced and ejected from the ice-making tray 12 are received and collected. The receiving container 20 can be coupled with an ice-piece dispenser (not shown), via which the ice pieces stored in the receiving container 20 can be dispensed in a metered manner.
From a cold air source (not shown), cold air is guided via a cold air line 22 into the region of the ice-making tray 12, where it is ejected. The ejected cold air flows over the top or/and bottom of the ice-making tray 12 and thereby removes heat energy from the water which has been introduced into the ice-making tray 12, so that the water is made to freeze.
The ice-making tray 12 can be driven by means of a drive unit 24, for example an electric motor drive unit, about an axis of rotation shown at 26 by means of a broken line. In the example shown in
By means of a suitable sensor system, which is indicated schematically in
In the use state, the ice-making tray 12 and at least some of the further components of the ice maker 10 are fitted into a door of a refrigerator or freezer (not shown). In the case of jerking movements of the cabinet door, as can scarcely be avoided when the door is opened and closed, sloshing movements of the water in the ice-making tray 12 can occur if a sufficiently strong ice crust has not yet formed. By means of a special form of the ice-making tray 12 it is ensured that no water or—if any—only insignificant amounts of water spill out of the ice-making tray 12. In this connection,
The first embodiment is shown in
The ice-making tray 12a additionally comprises a top tray part 44a which forms a side wall arrangement 46a which extends upwards starting from the upper cavity edge and runs along the rectangular tray periphery. The side wall arrangement 46a comprises two long-side side wall sections 48a which extend along the axis of rotation 26a (that is to say along the longer rectangle sides of the ice-making tray 12a) and face one another on either side of the double row of ice piece production cavities 36a and which protect against the spillage of water from the ice-making tray 12a transversely to the axis of rotation 26a. The side wall arrangement 46a further comprises two short-side side wall sections 50a which extend perpendicularly to the axis of rotation 26a (that is to say along the shorter rectangle sides) and face one another at the ends of the double row of ice piece production cavities 36a and which protect against the spillage of water from the ice-making tray 12a in the direction along the axis of rotation 26a. Overall, the long-side side wall sections 48a and the sort-side side wall sections 50a form a protecting wall against the spillage of water which is closed all round the periphery of the tray.
In the embodiment of
In the example shown, a total of five slots 52a are formed in each of the long-side side wall sections 48a. These are distributed at substantially equal intervals along the long-side side wall section 48a in question and all have an identical slot length (measured in the direction from top to bottom). It will be appreciated that in different embodiments at least some of the slots 52a formed in the long-side side wall sections 48a can have different slot lengths or/and can have different distances from one another. It will likewise be appreciated that, in some embodiments, one or more slots can also be formed in each of the short-side side wall sections 50a, if required. Of the total of five slots 52a formed in each of the long-side side wall sections 48a in the example shown, one is located approximately in the middle of the side wall section 48a in question (seen in the direction of the axis of rotation 26a) and two others are located close to the corner regions of the ice-making tray 12a adjacent to the side wall section 48a in question or in those corner regions. It will be appreciated that the total number of slots 52a per side wall section 48a can be greater than or less than 5. For example, it may be sufficient under certain circumstances to provide a single slot 52a in each of the long-side side wall sections 48a.
In order to avoid as far as possible the undesired passage of water through the slots 52a, the slots 52a are sufficiently narrow that, at least in the untwisted state of the ice-making tray 12a, their mutually opposite slot delimiting surfaces either touch one another or are at a mutual distance from one another of not more than a few tenths of a millimeter, for example not more than 0.3 mm. With such a small slot width of the slots 52a, water is able to escape through the slots 52a at most in an insignificant amount in the short period of time in which liquid water in the ice-making tray 12a sloshes against the long-side side wall sections 48a when the door of the refrigerator or freezer is opened or closed abruptly.
As explained, the slots 52a formed in the long-side side wall sections 48a reduce the torsional stiffness of the top tray part 44a in comparison with a configuration without slots. This allows the side wall arrangement 46a to be made higher than in a version without the slots 52a, without increasing the torsional stiffness of the ice-making tray 12a as a whole. Better protection against the spillage of water from the ice-making tray 12a is achieved by the increased height of the side wall arrangement 46a. The height measured from the upper cavity edge of the ice piece production cavities 36a to the upper edge 54a of the side wall arrangement 46a is represented graphically in
The long-side side wall sections 48a are inclined towards one another in the direction towards the upper edge 54a of the side wall arrangement 46a, so that they are at a smaller distance from one another in the region of the upper edge 54a than in their foot region (which is the region immediately above the upper cavity edge of the ice piece production cavities 36a). The long-side side wall sections 48a, as can be seen particularly well in
In the example shown, the short-side side wall sections 50a are not bent and are not inclined relative to a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation 26a. In other embodiments, however, it is of course conceivable that the short-side side wall sections 50a are inclined relative to one another in a comparable manner and are optionally bent.
In the example shown in
In the embodiment of
In the ice-making tray 12b of
In order to achieve sufficiently easy twistability of the ice-making tray 12b, it can be sufficient for the second material to be situated only in the region of the long-side side wall sections 48b of the side wall arrangement 46b. The short-side side wall sections 50b can in some embodiments be manufactured from the first material which is also used for the bottom tray part 34b.
The ice-making tray 12b can be produced as a one-part component, for example in a two-component injection moulding process.
It will be appreciated that in the case of the ice-making tray 12b too, one or more slots similar to the slots 52a of the first embodiment can be formed in the side wall arrangement 46b. The measure of providing one or more slots for the purpose of improved twistability of the ice-making tray can accordingly be combined with the measure of locally different materials, as is applied in the embodiment according to
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. Further modification of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2015 016 524 | Dec 2015 | DE | national |
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| 2100717 | Jul 1971 | DE |
| 102009046034 | May 2011 | DE |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170176080 A1 | Jun 2017 | US |
