US20220146178A1 - Refrigerator with ice maker having a torsional release mechanism - Google Patents
Refrigerator with ice maker having a torsional release mechanism Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20220146178A1 US20220146178A1 US17/091,953 US202017091953A US2022146178A1 US 20220146178 A1 US20220146178 A1 US 20220146178A1 US 202017091953 A US202017091953 A US 202017091953A US 2022146178 A1 US2022146178 A1 US 2022146178A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- ice
- tray
- refrigerator
- longitudinal axis
- ice cube
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C5/00—Working or handling ice
- F25C5/20—Distributing ice
- F25C5/22—Distributing ice particularly adapted for household refrigerators
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C5/00—Working or handling ice
- F25C5/02—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice
- F25C5/04—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice without the use of saws
- F25C5/06—Apparatus for disintegrating, removing or harvesting ice without the use of saws by deforming bodies with which the ice is in contact, e.g. using inflatable members
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C1/00—Producing ice
- F25C1/22—Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds
- F25C1/24—Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays
- F25C1/243—Moulds made of plastics e.g. silicone
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C2400/00—Auxiliary features or devices for producing, working or handling ice
- F25C2400/06—Multiple ice moulds or trays therefor
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
- F25C2500/00—Problems to be solved
- F25C2500/02—Geometry problems
Definitions
- the invention is related to a domestic refrigerator with an ice maker having a torsional release mechanism.
- the fresh food compartment is where food items such as fruits, vegetables, and beverages are stored.
- the freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored.
- the refrigerators are provided with refrigeration systems that maintains the fresh food compartment at temperatures above 0° C., such as between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. and the freezer compartments at temperatures below 0° C., such as between 0° C. and ⁇ 20° C.
- the freezer compartment is located above the fresh food compartment and in other cases the freezer compartment is located below the fresh food compartment.
- many modern refrigerators have their freezer compartments and fresh food compartments arranged in a side-by-side relationship. Whatever arrangement of the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment is employed, typically, separate access doors are provided for the compartments so that either compartment can be accessed without exposing the other compartment to the ambient air.
- Ice makers typically have ice cubes with a pyramidal or tapered shape to facilitate cube removal (ejection/dumping) from the tray. While this has been a workable solution, there is a need to offer ice cubes with shapes other than the pyramidal or tapered shape, yet can still be easily removed (ejected/dumped) from tray.
- the invention disclosed below provides a solution to that problem.
- a refrigerator has an ice maker.
- the ice maker has: a longitudinal axis; and a rotatable, stretchable ice cube tray with an upper face defining a plane offset from the longitudinal axis with openings for ice cubes, a fixed lateral end, and a rotatable lateral end, the upper face being parallel to the longitudinal axis, the offset being at least a depth of an ice cube. Ice cubes are released when a torsional force exerted on the rotatable lateral end twists the stretchable tray.
- FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art household French door bottom mount refrigeration appliance showing doors of the fresh food compartment and drawer of a freezer compartment in a closed position;
- FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the prior art refrigeration appliance of FIG. 1 showing the doors of the fresh food compartment in opened positions and the drawer of the freezer compartment removed;
- FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the inventive ice maker (without tray twist).
- FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 .
- FIG. 5 is an illustration of the torsional twist of the tray.
- FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 .
- FIG. 7 is an illustration showing tray twist.
- FIGS. 1 and 2 show a refrigeration appliance in the form of a domestic refrigerator, indicated generally at 10 .
- a domestic refrigerator 10 the invention can be embodied by refrigeration appliances other than a domestic refrigerator 10 .
- An embodiment is described in detail below, and shown in the figures as a bottom-mount configuration of a refrigerator 10 , including a fresh food compartment 14 disposed vertically above a freezer compartment 12 .
- the refrigerator 10 can have any desired configuration including at least a fresh food compartment 14 and/or a freezer compartment 12 , such as a top mount refrigerator (freezer disposed above the fresh food compartment), a side-by-side refrigerator (fresh food compartment is laterally next to the freezer compartment), a standalone refrigerator or freezer, etc.
- One or more doors 16 shown in FIG. 1 are pivotably coupled to a cabinet 19 of the refrigerator 10 to restrict and grant access to the fresh food compartment 14 .
- the door 16 can include a single door that spans the entire lateral distance across the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14 , or can include a pair of French-type doors 16 as shown in FIG. 1 that collectively span the entire lateral distance of the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14 to enclose the fresh food compartment 14 .
- a center flip mullion 21 ( FIG. 2 ) is pivotally coupled to at least one of the doors 16 to establish a surface against which a seal provided to the other one of the doors 16 can seal the entrance to the fresh food compartment 14 at a location between opposing side surfaces 17 ( FIG. 2 ) of the doors 16 .
- the mullion 21 can be pivotably coupled to the door 16 to pivot between a first orientation that is substantially parallel to a planar surface of the door 16 when the door 16 is closed, and a different orientation when the door 16 is opened.
- the externally-exposed surface of the center mullion 21 is substantially parallel to the door 16 when the center mullion 21 is in the first orientation and forms an angle other than parallel relative to the door 16 when the center mullion 21 is in the second orientation.
- the seal and the externally-exposed surface of the mullion 21 cooperate approximately midway between the lateral sides of the fresh food compartment 14 .
- a dispenser 18 for dispensing at least ice pieces, and optionally water, can be provided on an exterior of one of the doors 16 that restricts access to the fresh food compartment 14 .
- the dispenser 18 includes an actuator (e.g., lever, switch, proximity sensor, etc.) to cause frozen ice pieces to be dispensed from an ice bin 23 ( FIG. 2 ) of an ice maker 25 disposed within the fresh food compartment 14 . Ice pieces from the ice bin 23 can exit the ice bin 23 through an aperture 26 and be delivered to the dispenser 18 via an ice chute 22 ( FIG. 2 ), which extends at least partially through the door 16 between the dispenser 18 and the ice bin 23 .
- an actuator e.g., lever, switch, proximity sensor, etc.
- the freezer compartment 12 is arranged vertically beneath the fresh food compartment 14 .
- a drawer assembly (not shown) including one or more freezer baskets (not shown) can be withdrawn from the freezer compartment 12 to grant a user access to food items stored in the freezer compartment 12 .
- the drawer assembly can be coupled to a freezer door 11 that includes a handle 15 . When a user grasps the handle 15 and pulls the freezer door 11 open, at least one or more of the freezer baskets is caused to be at least partially withdrawn from the freezer compartment 12 .
- the ice maker is located within the freezer compartment.
- at least the ice maker (and possible an ice bin) is mounted to an interior surface of the freezer door. It is contemplated that the ice mold and ice bin can be separate elements, in which one remains within the freezer compartment and the other is on the freezer door.
- the freezer compartment 12 is used to freeze and/or maintain articles of food stored in the freezer compartment 12 in a frozen condition.
- the freezer compartment 12 is in thermal communication with a freezer evaporator (not shown) that removes thermal energy from the freezer compartment 12 to maintain the temperature therein at a temperature of 0° C. or less during operation of the refrigerator 10 , preferably between 0° C. and ⁇ 50° C., more preferably between 0° C. and ⁇ 30° C. and even more preferably between 0° C. and ⁇ 20° C.
- the refrigerator 10 includes an interior liner 24 ( FIG. 2 ) that defines the fresh food compartment 14 .
- the fresh food compartment 14 is located in the upper portion of the refrigerator 10 in this example and serves to minimize spoiling of articles of food stored therein.
- the fresh food compartment 14 accomplishes this aim by maintaining the temperature in the fresh food compartment 14 at a cool temperature that is typically above 0° C., so as not to freeze the articles of food in the fresh food compartment 14 .
- the cool temperature preferably is between 0° C. and 10° C., more preferably between 0° C. and 5° C. and even more preferably between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C.
- cool air from which thermal energy has been removed by the freezer evaporator can also be blown into the fresh food compartment 14 to maintain the temperature therein greater than 0° C. preferably between 0° C. and 10° C., more preferably between 0° C. and 5° C. and even more preferably between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C.
- a separate fresh food evaporator can optionally be dedicated to separately maintaining the temperature within the fresh food compartment 14 independent of the freezer compartment 12 .
- the temperature in the fresh food compartment 14 can be maintained at a cool temperature within a close tolerance of a range between 0° C. and 4.5° C., including any subranges and any individual temperatures falling with that range.
- other embodiments can optionally maintain the cool temperature within the fresh food compartment 14 within a reasonably close tolerance of a temperature between 0.25° C. and 4° C.
- FIGS. 3-7 illustrate an embodiment of an ice maker 100 for use in are refrigerator 10 .
- the ice maker 100 may be located anywhere in the refrigerator 10 , for example the fresh food compartment or the freezer compartment (both discussed above).
- the inventive ice maker 100 may include: a longitudinal axis 102 ; and a rotatable, stretchable ice cube tray 104 having openings 106 for ice cubes (not shown) with an upper face 108 defining a plane offset 204 from the longitudinal axis 102 , a fixed lateral end 110 , and a rotatable lateral end 112 , the upper face 108 being parallel to the longitudinal axis 102 , the offset 204 being at least a depth of an ice cube 200 . Ice cubes are released when a torsional force exerted on the rotatable lateral end twists the stretchable tray.
- Tray 104 is a stretchable or flexible tray.
- the flexibility may be imparted by, for example, the material of constructions, for example, a rubber type material of an elastic plastic (elastomer) material or by flexible joints between the individual cube molds.
- the tray 104 may include a plurality of cube molds 111 having opening 106 .
- Cube molds 111 may have any shape. In some embodiments the cube mold shape may be pyramidal and/or non-pyramidal.
- the upper surface 108 may be defined by an imaginary plane 108 .
- a bottom surface 109 may be defined by an imaginary plane 109 .
- Plane 108 is offset 202 from axis 102 . Offset 202 is at least the depth 200 of a cube mold 111 .
- Plane 109 is offset 204 from axis 102 .
- Planes 108 and 109 are parallel and are parallel (or equidistantly offset over the tray length) from axis 102 .
- FIG. 5 the torsional twist of the tray 104 is illustrated.
- tension and compression stresses acting on all the elements in the body which try to compensate the external load.
- the macro effect of these stresses can be observed in a twisted bar 300 .
- tension and compression elements which can be identified and analyzed as shown in FIG. 5 .
- the un-deformed line A-A′ is the same length as B-B′ as there is no force acting on the bar (not illustrated).
- A′ and B′ shift positions so that the lengths A-A′ and B-B′ are increased. Inversely, the combined lines B-A′ become shorter.
- the tray 104 uses this “stretch” to deform the tray 104 and eject the ice cubes.
- the cube shapes 111 are above the rotation axis 102 .
- tray 104 is an untwisted position, see FIGS. 3-4 and 6 , where ice cubes are formed.
- tray 104 is twisted, see FIGS. 5 and 7 , where ice cubes are removed (ejected/dumped) from the tray 104 . Twist is imparted to tray 104 by rotating one end 112 about axis 102 , while the other end 110 is fixed (or not moved the same rotational distance as end 112 ). In some embodiments, the fixed end 110 may be rotated with end 112 to position to facilitate ice cube removal.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- The invention is related to a domestic refrigerator with an ice maker having a torsional release mechanism.
- Conventional refrigeration appliances, such as domestic refrigerators, typically have both a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment or section. The fresh food compartment is where food items such as fruits, vegetables, and beverages are stored. The freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored. The refrigerators are provided with refrigeration systems that maintains the fresh food compartment at temperatures above 0° C., such as between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. and the freezer compartments at temperatures below 0° C., such as between 0° C. and −20° C.
- The arrangements of the fresh food and freezer compartments with respect to one another in such refrigerators vary. For example, in some cases, the freezer compartment is located above the fresh food compartment and in other cases the freezer compartment is located below the fresh food compartment. Additionally, many modern refrigerators have their freezer compartments and fresh food compartments arranged in a side-by-side relationship. Whatever arrangement of the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment is employed, typically, separate access doors are provided for the compartments so that either compartment can be accessed without exposing the other compartment to the ambient air.
- Ice makers typically have ice cubes with a pyramidal or tapered shape to facilitate cube removal (ejection/dumping) from the tray. While this has been a workable solution, there is a need to offer ice cubes with shapes other than the pyramidal or tapered shape, yet can still be easily removed (ejected/dumped) from tray. The invention disclosed below provides a solution to that problem.
- A refrigerator has an ice maker. The ice maker has: a longitudinal axis; and a rotatable, stretchable ice cube tray with an upper face defining a plane offset from the longitudinal axis with openings for ice cubes, a fixed lateral end, and a rotatable lateral end, the upper face being parallel to the longitudinal axis, the offset being at least a depth of an ice cube. Ice cubes are released when a torsional force exerted on the rotatable lateral end twists the stretchable tray.
- For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form that is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities and scale shown.
-
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art household French door bottom mount refrigeration appliance showing doors of the fresh food compartment and drawer of a freezer compartment in a closed position; -
FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the prior art refrigeration appliance ofFIG. 1 showing the doors of the fresh food compartment in opened positions and the drawer of the freezer compartment removed; -
FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the inventive ice maker (without tray twist). -
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the embodiment shown inFIG. 3 . -
FIG. 5 is an illustration of the torsional twist of the tray. -
FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the embodiment shown inFIG. 3 . -
FIG. 7 is an illustration showing tray twist. - Embodiments of a refrigerator or a component thereof now will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
- Referring now to the drawings,
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a refrigeration appliance in the form of a domestic refrigerator, indicated generally at 10. Although the detailed description that follows concerns adomestic refrigerator 10, the invention can be embodied by refrigeration appliances other than adomestic refrigerator 10. An embodiment is described in detail below, and shown in the figures as a bottom-mount configuration of arefrigerator 10, including afresh food compartment 14 disposed vertically above afreezer compartment 12. However, therefrigerator 10 can have any desired configuration including at least afresh food compartment 14 and/or afreezer compartment 12, such as a top mount refrigerator (freezer disposed above the fresh food compartment), a side-by-side refrigerator (fresh food compartment is laterally next to the freezer compartment), a standalone refrigerator or freezer, etc. - One or
more doors 16 shown inFIG. 1 are pivotably coupled to acabinet 19 of therefrigerator 10 to restrict and grant access to thefresh food compartment 14. Thedoor 16 can include a single door that spans the entire lateral distance across the entrance to thefresh food compartment 14, or can include a pair of French-type doors 16 as shown inFIG. 1 that collectively span the entire lateral distance of the entrance to thefresh food compartment 14 to enclose thefresh food compartment 14. - For the latter configuration, a center flip mullion 21 (
FIG. 2 ) is pivotally coupled to at least one of thedoors 16 to establish a surface against which a seal provided to the other one of thedoors 16 can seal the entrance to thefresh food compartment 14 at a location between opposing side surfaces 17 (FIG. 2 ) of thedoors 16. Themullion 21 can be pivotably coupled to thedoor 16 to pivot between a first orientation that is substantially parallel to a planar surface of thedoor 16 when thedoor 16 is closed, and a different orientation when thedoor 16 is opened. The externally-exposed surface of thecenter mullion 21 is substantially parallel to thedoor 16 when thecenter mullion 21 is in the first orientation and forms an angle other than parallel relative to thedoor 16 when thecenter mullion 21 is in the second orientation. The seal and the externally-exposed surface of themullion 21 cooperate approximately midway between the lateral sides of thefresh food compartment 14. - A dispenser 18 (
FIG. 1 ) for dispensing at least ice pieces, and optionally water, can be provided on an exterior of one of thedoors 16 that restricts access to thefresh food compartment 14. Thedispenser 18 includes an actuator (e.g., lever, switch, proximity sensor, etc.) to cause frozen ice pieces to be dispensed from an ice bin 23 (FIG. 2 ) of anice maker 25 disposed within thefresh food compartment 14. Ice pieces from theice bin 23 can exit theice bin 23 through anaperture 26 and be delivered to thedispenser 18 via an ice chute 22 (FIG. 2 ), which extends at least partially through thedoor 16 between thedispenser 18 and theice bin 23. - The
freezer compartment 12 is arranged vertically beneath thefresh food compartment 14. A drawer assembly (not shown) including one or more freezer baskets (not shown) can be withdrawn from thefreezer compartment 12 to grant a user access to food items stored in thefreezer compartment 12. The drawer assembly can be coupled to afreezer door 11 that includes a handle 15. When a user grasps the handle 15 and pulls thefreezer door 11 open, at least one or more of the freezer baskets is caused to be at least partially withdrawn from thefreezer compartment 12. - In alternative embodiments, the ice maker is located within the freezer compartment. In this configuration, although still disposed within the freezer compartment, at least the ice maker (and possible an ice bin) is mounted to an interior surface of the freezer door. It is contemplated that the ice mold and ice bin can be separate elements, in which one remains within the freezer compartment and the other is on the freezer door.
- The
freezer compartment 12 is used to freeze and/or maintain articles of food stored in thefreezer compartment 12 in a frozen condition. For this purpose, thefreezer compartment 12 is in thermal communication with a freezer evaporator (not shown) that removes thermal energy from thefreezer compartment 12 to maintain the temperature therein at a temperature of 0° C. or less during operation of therefrigerator 10, preferably between 0° C. and −50° C., more preferably between 0° C. and −30° C. and even more preferably between 0° C. and −20° C. - The
refrigerator 10 includes an interior liner 24 (FIG. 2 ) that defines thefresh food compartment 14. Thefresh food compartment 14 is located in the upper portion of therefrigerator 10 in this example and serves to minimize spoiling of articles of food stored therein. Thefresh food compartment 14 accomplishes this aim by maintaining the temperature in thefresh food compartment 14 at a cool temperature that is typically above 0° C., so as not to freeze the articles of food in thefresh food compartment 14. It is contemplated that the cool temperature preferably is between 0° C. and 10° C., more preferably between 0° C. and 5° C. and even more preferably between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. - According to some embodiments, cool air from which thermal energy has been removed by the freezer evaporator can also be blown into the
fresh food compartment 14 to maintain the temperature therein greater than 0° C. preferably between 0° C. and 10° C., more preferably between 0° C. and 5° C. and even more preferably between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. For alternate embodiments, a separate fresh food evaporator can optionally be dedicated to separately maintaining the temperature within thefresh food compartment 14 independent of thefreezer compartment 12. - According to an embodiment, the temperature in the
fresh food compartment 14 can be maintained at a cool temperature within a close tolerance of a range between 0° C. and 4.5° C., including any subranges and any individual temperatures falling with that range. For example, other embodiments can optionally maintain the cool temperature within thefresh food compartment 14 within a reasonably close tolerance of a temperature between 0.25° C. and 4° C. -
FIGS. 3-7 illustrate an embodiment of anice maker 100 for use in arerefrigerator 10. Theice maker 100 may be located anywhere in therefrigerator 10, for example the fresh food compartment or the freezer compartment (both discussed above). - In general, the
inventive ice maker 100 may include: alongitudinal axis 102; and a rotatable, stretchableice cube tray 104 havingopenings 106 for ice cubes (not shown) with anupper face 108 defining aplane offset 204 from thelongitudinal axis 102, a fixedlateral end 110, and a rotatablelateral end 112, theupper face 108 being parallel to thelongitudinal axis 102, theoffset 204 being at least a depth of anice cube 200. Ice cubes are released when a torsional force exerted on the rotatable lateral end twists the stretchable tray. - Tray 104 is a stretchable or flexible tray. The flexibility may be imparted by, for example, the material of constructions, for example, a rubber type material of an elastic plastic (elastomer) material or by flexible joints between the individual cube molds. The
tray 104 may include a plurality of cube molds 111 havingopening 106. Cube molds 111 may have any shape. In some embodiments the cube mold shape may be pyramidal and/or non-pyramidal. - Referring to
FIG. 6 , theupper surface 108 may be defined by animaginary plane 108. Abottom surface 109 may be defined by animaginary plane 109.Plane 108 is offset 202 fromaxis 102. Offset 202 is at least thedepth 200 of a cube mold 111.Plane 109 is offset 204 fromaxis 102.Planes axis 102. - Referring to
FIG. 5 , the torsional twist of thetray 104 is illustrated. When a body is in torsion, there are tension and compression stresses acting on all the elements in the body which try to compensate the external load. The macro effect of these stresses can be observed in a twisted bar 300. There are tension and compression elements which can be identified and analyzed as shown inFIG. 5 . The un-deformed line A-A′ is the same length as B-B′ as there is no force acting on the bar (not illustrated). As torque is applied (illustrated), A′ and B′ shift positions so that the lengths A-A′ and B-B′ are increased. Inversely, the combined lines B-A′ become shorter. This shows there is tension and compression along the bar chords, I.e., this torsion may be referred to as stretch (or twist). Thetray 104 uses this “stretch” to deform thetray 104 and eject the ice cubes. The cube shapes 111 are above therotation axis 102. - In operation,
tray 104 is an untwisted position, seeFIGS. 3-4 and 6 , where ice cubes are formed. In ice cube harvest (ice has been formed),tray 104 is twisted, seeFIGS. 5 and 7 , where ice cubes are removed (ejected/dumped) from thetray 104. Twist is imparted totray 104 by rotating oneend 112 aboutaxis 102, while theother end 110 is fixed (or not moved the same rotational distance as end 112). In some embodiments, thefixed end 110 may be rotated withend 112 to position to facilitate ice cube removal. - The present invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit and the essential attributes thereof, and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification, as indicating the scope of the invention.
Claims (7)
Priority Applications (1)
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US17/091,953 US20220146178A1 (en) | 2020-11-06 | 2020-11-06 | Refrigerator with ice maker having a torsional release mechanism |
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US17/091,953 US20220146178A1 (en) | 2020-11-06 | 2020-11-06 | Refrigerator with ice maker having a torsional release mechanism |
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US20220146178A1 true US20220146178A1 (en) | 2022-05-12 |
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US17/091,953 Abandoned US20220146178A1 (en) | 2020-11-06 | 2020-11-06 | Refrigerator with ice maker having a torsional release mechanism |
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Citations (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2036043A (en) * | 1932-05-28 | 1936-03-31 | Hallock Robert Lay | Refrigeration |
US2510400A (en) * | 1948-10-08 | 1950-06-06 | Frederick A Hurley | Ice-cube dispensing machine |
US2942435A (en) * | 1956-02-20 | 1960-06-28 | Westinghouse Electric Corp | Ice maker |
US3383876A (en) * | 1966-05-31 | 1968-05-21 | Whirlpool Co | Method of harvesting ice bodies and apparatus therefor |
US4628699A (en) * | 1985-04-11 | 1986-12-16 | White Consolidated, Inc. | Ice maker |
US4831840A (en) * | 1987-09-10 | 1989-05-23 | Fletcher Charles J | Ice maker with covered ice tray |
US20190011164A1 (en) * | 2017-07-10 | 2019-01-10 | Bsh Hausgeraete Gmbh | Ice maker for a domestic refrigeration appliance with an ejection unit and a twisting apparatus, domestic refrigeration appliance and method |
US20200064043A1 (en) * | 2018-08-23 | 2020-02-27 | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Icemaker with Thermoformed Ice Tray Providing Heating and Phase Change Sensing |
-
2020
- 2020-11-06 US US17/091,953 patent/US20220146178A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2036043A (en) * | 1932-05-28 | 1936-03-31 | Hallock Robert Lay | Refrigeration |
US2510400A (en) * | 1948-10-08 | 1950-06-06 | Frederick A Hurley | Ice-cube dispensing machine |
US2942435A (en) * | 1956-02-20 | 1960-06-28 | Westinghouse Electric Corp | Ice maker |
US3383876A (en) * | 1966-05-31 | 1968-05-21 | Whirlpool Co | Method of harvesting ice bodies and apparatus therefor |
US4628699A (en) * | 1985-04-11 | 1986-12-16 | White Consolidated, Inc. | Ice maker |
US4831840A (en) * | 1987-09-10 | 1989-05-23 | Fletcher Charles J | Ice maker with covered ice tray |
US20190011164A1 (en) * | 2017-07-10 | 2019-01-10 | Bsh Hausgeraete Gmbh | Ice maker for a domestic refrigeration appliance with an ejection unit and a twisting apparatus, domestic refrigeration appliance and method |
US20200064043A1 (en) * | 2018-08-23 | 2020-02-27 | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Icemaker with Thermoformed Ice Tray Providing Heating and Phase Change Sensing |
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