US3002363A - Automatic ice maker - Google Patents

Description

Oct.3, 1961 H. P. HARLE ET AL AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER Filed 001:. 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 an N INVENTORS.

P. HARLE BALOGH HAROLD & STEPHEN TH E I R ATTORNEY 1961 H. P. HARLE ET AL 3,002,363

AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER Filed Oct. 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 II II HAROLD P. HARLE &5TPHEN BALOGH T H E 1R ATTORNEY INVENTORS Oct. 3, 1961 H. P. HARLE ET AL AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 2'7, 1959 FIGS T HE I R ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1961 H. P. HARLE ET AL AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 27, 1959 I25 L L FIGIO INVENTORS HAROLD P. HARLE 8 STEPHEN BALOGH BY WM THEI R ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,002,363 A, A AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER Harold P. Harle, Louisville, Ky., and Stephen Balogh, Lyons, N.Y., assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 849,071 Claims. (Cl. 62-300) The invention relates to improvements in an automatic ice maker and is more particularly concerned with an improved means for incorporating ice maker in a domestic or household referigerator.

Apparatus adapted to be installed in a household refrigerator for the automatic production of ice pieces generally comprises a unitary ice maker including an ice mold for making and harvesting ice pieces and water supply means for periodically introducing a charge of water into the mold. The ice maker is preferably mounted within the freezer compartment of the refrigerator in a relatively inaccessible position, such as an upper corner thereof leaving the remaining portions of the compartment available for the storage of frozen foods. The water supply means connected to the house water supply line must pass through the insulated cabinet walls and includes a valve or equivalent means for controlling the flow of water to the mold. To prevent freeze-up and failure of the valve means, it is unsually mounted outside the freezer compartment as for example, within the insulated walls of the cabinet.

As a result, both the ice maker proper and its water supply means are not easily accesssible for servicing and repair when in their operating positions within the refrigerator cabinet. The present invention has as its prin cipal object the provision of an improved ice maker arrangement, the components of which are readily removable from the cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

'FIG. 1 is an elevational view partly in section of a refrigerator including an ice maker embodying the present invent-ion;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the ice maker shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of a portion of the ice maker operating mechanism taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical view of the ice mold component taken along line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is another sectional view of the ice mold taken along line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing certain details of the means for supporting the ice maker;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line 8-8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a view taken generally along line 99 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 is a wiring diagram for the electrical control system employed for the automatic operation of the ice maker of the present invention.

While the present invention is applicable to various types of automatic ice makers, it will be particularly described with reference to the ice maker described and claimed in the copending application of Harold P. Harle, Stephen Balogh and Henry J. Lowenthal, Serial No. 8 13,- 790 filed May 8, 1959, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing there is illustrated a portion of a two compartment refrigerator comprising an outer shell including a back wall 1, a lower liner 2 defining a freezer compartment erases? and an upper liner 3 spaced from the lower liner and forming a fresh food compartment. The space between the liners and the spaces between the liners and the shell are filled with suitable heat insulating material 4. Each compartment has an access opening at the front thereof closed by suitable closure members 5 and 6.

An ice maker generally indicated by the numeral 9 is designed to be suspended from the top wall 11 of thelow temperature or freezing compartment 2 of the refrigerator. The contents of the compartment 2 including the ice maker are maintained at below freezing tempera tures by air blown over a low temperature evaporator (not shown) so that the ice maker can be mounted in the compartment independently of any evaporator unit. Also positioned within the compartment and below the ice maker is a receptacle or bin 13 so that the ice pieces 14 contained in the bin are maintained at below freezing temperatures.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5-8 inclusive, the ice maker included a mold 15 in a form of an elongated or generally rectangular structure having end walls 16 and 17 and side walls '18 and 19 forming a substantially rectangular mold divided into a plurality of sections by fixed dividers or partitions 20 extending transversely of the mold cavity, each of these sections in turn being divided into compartments 21 by movable dividers 22 arranged between each of the fixed dividers or partitions 20.. The mold proper including the end walls 16 and 17, the side walls 18 and 19 and the bottom wall 24 as well as the fixed dividers or partitions 20 comprise a unitary structure in the form of a metal die casting, such as an aluminum die casting.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawing, the movable dividers 22 which are composed of a low heat conducting flexible material such as a plastic material, thin stainless steel or the like, are suitably secured to a frame member 27 which in turn is fixed to a shaft 28 rotatably supported above the vertical mold side wall 18. Teflon has been found to be a particularly suitable plastic material for the movable dividers 22. In order that the movable dividers 22 can pivot about the axis of the shaft 28 from a position within the mold as illustrated in FIG. 6 to a discharge position along one side of the mold as is more fully described in application S.N. 813,790, the mold side wall 10 opposite the shaft 18 slopes outwardly and is of a generally concave configuration while the cooperating side edge 32 of the movable dividers is similarly shaped. To provide for the flow of water from one compartment to another during filling of the mold cavity, each of the fixed dividers 20 includes a slot 33 adjacent the side wall 19 while the movable dividers 22 have their upper edge portions 36 terminating short of the side wall 19 to provide a channel or spacing similar to that provided by the slots 33.

In order to release ice pieces formed in the compartments 21 from the mold walls, there is provided an electric heating element 37 extending along each side of the bottom thereof below the side walls 18 and 19. When this heating element is energized, the mold walls as well as the fixed partitions 20 becomes sufiiciently warm to melt the bond between the mold surfaces and the ice pieces. However, since the movable dividers 22 are composed of a material of lower heat conductivitythan the mold, there is insufficient warming of these members to melt the ice bond so that upon rotation of the movable dividers out of the mold, the ice pieces are carried along with the movable dividers.

Once the bond between the ice mold proper and the ice pieces has been broken or thawed, the movable dividers 22 can be pivoted upwardly and outwardly from the mold by rotation of the shaft 28 to a point in which the ice pieces come into contact with a plurality of spaced bumpers 4h suitably supported along the side wall 18 of the mold. As will be seen in FIG. 1 of the drawing these bumpers which are opposite the fixed dividers 29 are wide enough to overlap the compartments 21 on eachside of the fixed dividers so that their surfaces are in the path of the ice pieces as they are removed from the mold by pivotal movement of the movable dividers 12. When the ice pieces contact the bumpers 40, movement of the ice pieces is stopped and the continued movement of the dividers causes the ice pieces to peel away from the dividers and drop into the bin or receptacle provided below the mold.

Control and drive mechanism for controlling the operation of the ice maker and rotating the shaft 28 is housed in a housing 35 secured to one end of the mold 15. The power mechanism includes a motor 36 diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 10 of the drawing, the motor and a suitable speed reducing gear train forming a drive mechanism being generally indicated in broken lines by the numeral 37 in FIG. 1 of the drawing. 7 The shaft 28 is rotatably mounted in bearings 38 adjacent the mold end wall 17 and in bearings 39 in the front wall 34 of the housing 35. A pawl and cam assembly 42 illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing connected to an end of the shaft 28 extending into the housing 35 and an arm 44 connected to the drive shaft 45 forming part of the drive mechanism 37 provides means for rotating the shaft 28 upon operation of the motor 36. The pawl 47 forming part of the pawl and cam assembly 42 is pivotally supported on that assembly as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 8 of the drawing in such a position that upon rotation of the cam assembly 42 through a predetermined number of degrees, a projection 48 on the wall 34causes disengagement of the pawl from the arm and allows the motor to. continue rotating in the same direction while a return spring 50 which is arranged to bias the movable dividers 22 into the mold causes the shaft 28 to rotate in the opposite direction and return the dividers to the mold.

Additional elements required for a completely automatic operation of the ice maker through successive freezing and ice harvesting cycles include means for energizing the motor in order to initiate an ice harvesting cycle and means for stopping the ice making operation whenever the receptacle 13 is full or out of position, and means for supplying water to the mold.

In order to initiate the ice harvesting cycle when a water charge in the mold has frozen into ice, there is employed a control circuit including a thermostatic switch 60 which is shown in the wiring diagram of FIG. 10 and which is mounted within the housing 35. The sensing bulb component of this switch which is in the form of a capillary tube 61-extends outwardly through the wall 34 and downwardly along that wall into -a control compartment 62 provided at one end of the ice mold. As is shown more'particularly in FIGS. 2 and of the drawing, this control compartment is defined by walls including the housing wall 34 and the mold end wall 16 and is of a relatively small volume as compared with the ice making compartments 21. In addition, the bottom wall 64' of the control compartment 7 is elevated above the bottom wall 14 of the mold and one or more holes 65 are provided in the end wall 16 of the flow of water between the control compartment 62 and the adjacent ice making compartment 21. A small slab or piece of ice is formed in a control compartment 62 during each ice making operation and the control is regulated to respond to the temperature of the ice in the control compartment in order to initiate of the ejection cycle by energizing the motor 36. In order to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water in the control compartment 62, the outlet end of the funnel or filler spout 55 partially overlaps this control compartment so that each time water is introduced into the mold a portion of that water will flow into and flush the control compartment while each time heat is applied to the mold the small ice piece formed in the control compartment will melt and the resultant water flow from the control compartment through the holes 65 into the mold proper.

In order to assure complete freezing of all of the water in the mold before energization of the motor 36, the sensing bulb 61 is preferably warmed slightly by means of the heater 68 which is illustrated in the control circuit of FIG. 10 and which is arranged in heating contact wtih the sensing bulb 61 as well as the bellows component of the switch 52. The purpose of this heater is two fold. First, it biases the sensing bulb to a temperature a few degrees above mold temperature to assure that the water adjacent the movable dividers 22 which is the last to freeze will be frozen before energizationof the motor. In addition, this heater maintains the control bulb and bellows component at temperatures above the freezing temperatures existing in the freezer compartment 2.

In order to stop the ice maker and prevent discharge of ice from the mold whenever the receptacle 13 is removed from beneath the mold, there is provided a switch 70 which breaks the ice maker control circuit to completely de-energize all of the components thereof. In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, the ice maker receptacle is supported on a shelf 71 forming part of a drawer structure including the drawer front closure member 6 and is slidably supported within the compartment 2. The switch 70 is arranged along the front of the cabinet adjacent the access opening to the compartment 2 so that when the drawer is in its closed position the switch 70 is closed but when the drawer is moved to an open position thereby carrying with it the receptacle 13, the switch 70 is opened.

To stop the ice making operation when the receptacle 13 is filled with ice, there is provided a switch 73 actuated by a feeler arm 74 which as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6 of the drawing is of a generally open U-shaped construction and is pivotally mounted at each end along the side 19 of the ice mold. Normally this arm 74 hangs downwardly into the receptacle 13 in a position in which it will contact the ice which has accumulated when the receptacle 13 is approximately full of ice. In order that the ice level sensing arm will measure the total amount of stored ice after each additional charge of ice is delivered to the receptacle, means are provided for raising the feeler arm 74 out of the receptacle during each ice making cycle so that when it returns to its normal position within the receptacle, it will rest on top of the added amount of ice if that ice has substantially filled the receptacle 13. For this raising action, the feelerarm includes, Within the housing 35, an extension or actuating arm 75 which rides on the cam surface of the cam assembly 42. This cam surface is arranged so that when the shaft 28 is in such a position that the movable dividers are within the mold, the feeler arm 74 depends into the receptacle 13. Upon rotation of the shaft, contact of the cam surface with the actuating arm 75 causes this arm to move outwardly from the vicinity of the shaft 28 and to raise the feeler arm 74 out of the receptacle. At the same time the normally closed switch 78 shown in FIG. 3 as being positioned within the housing 35 below arm 75 is opened. As will be more fully described hereinafter, this switch 78 is connected in the control circuitin such a manner that if the feeler arm is prevented fromreturning to its normal position, the ice making cycle is interrupted. Continued rotation of the shaft 28 completely raises the feeler arm 74 to a position immediately beneath the mold and out of the receptacle 13. When the pawl 4'7 disengages the drive arm 44, the action of the spring 50 causes the dividers 22 to return to the mold, and at the same time reverses the direction of rotation of the cam element so that the feeler arm 74 can again return to its normal position in the receptacle and the actuating arm 75 can engage and close the switch 78. If for any reason the dividers 22 are prevented from epoaeea returning to their normal position in the mold in which;

If desired, an overheat protection thermostat may also be incorporated in the control circuit in order to completely shut off the motor, the solenoid valve and the heater should the temperature of the mold go above a safe point. This thermostat includes a thermal switch 81 in series with the drawer switch 70. The switch may be positioned as shown in FIG. 6 in contact with an arm 79 extending upwardly from one end of the mold adjacent the housing 35, which arm reflects the mold temperature.

Following each ice ejection operation of the ice maker, it is necessary to introduce into the mold 21 a fresh charge of water and in order that the operation of the ice maker be completely automatic it is desirable that the water supply means be connected to a continuous supply of water such as the house water supply line. In accordance with the present invention, the water supply line comprises a feed line 83 extending through the insulated space between the freezer compartment 2 and the fresh food storage compartment 3 and having a depending end portion 84 adapted to pass through a suitable opening or aperture 92 provided in the top wall 11 of the freezer compartment 2. The other end of the water feed line 83 is connected to a solenoid valve 85 positioned within the insulated space between the outer shell 1 and the compartments 2 and 3, the valve 85 in turn being connected to a water inlet conduit 86 adapted to be connected to the house water supply line.

In order that the water supply means can be easily removable from the cabinet for repair or for replacement purposes, the water supply means, or more specifically the solenoid valve 85 and the water inlet line 86, are mounted on a removable cover plate 87 closing an opening 88 in the rear wall of the shell 1, the cover plate being secured to the shell wall by means of suitable screws 89. Further, to provide a passage for the insertion of the water feed line 83 into the insulated space between the upper and lower compartments, a tunnel-shaped member 91, preferably composed of a plastic material or other good heat insulating material, is suitably secured to the upper wall 11 of the freezer compartment between this wall and the lower wall of the fresh food storage compartment. This tunnel-shaped member 91 extends from adjacent the aperture in the top wall 11 for receiving the depending end 84 of the water feed line 83 to the space between the liners and the outer shell 1. As indicated in FIGURE 9 of the drawing, this tunnel-shaped member 91 provides a passage through the insulation 4 so that the feed line 83 can be easily inserted into or withdrawn through this passage without disturbing the insulation. A spring finger 95 provided at the forward end of the tunnel-shaped member 91 is adapted to engage the forward end of the feed line 83 as it approaches the opening or aperture in the top wall 11 so that the depending arm 84 of the feed line will be biased downwardly through the opening 92 and into the interior of the compartment 2. Addi tional means for assuring the blind insertion of the end 84 of the feed line into the opening 92 comprises a V-shaped guide 93 arranged at the forward end of the tunnel-shaped member 91 and having an upwardly ex tending flange 94 which is engaged by the forward end of the feed line as it approaches the aperture 92 to center the feed line laterally with reference to the aperture. If desired, the depending end portion 84 may be threaded so that a nut 96 can be used to anchor or fasten the end of the feed line in the aperture 92.

Since substantially the entire length of the feed line 83 is subjected to relatively cold temperatures of the 75 motor, jamming or other mechanical failure of the die adjacent freezer compartment, means are also provided to prevent freezing of any water collecting in the line. In addition to a wrapping of insulation 97 along this portion of the water line there is also provided a heater 98 extending the entire length of the feed line 83. The heater 98 may be connected in parallel with the heater 68 or across the main electrical supply line to the refrigerator in order that this heater will be energized substantially all the time.

It will be seen that the water supply means, in addition to being removable from the refrigerator cabinet, is also separate from the ice maker itself and can therefore be serviced separately from the ice maker.

Additional switch means and control circuitry required for the automatic operation of the ice maker 9 will be described during the following consideration of theice maker operation. During freezing of a batch of ice in the mold 5, the temperature sensed by the sensing bulb 61 gradually decreases to the point where a slab of ice is formed in the control compartment 62. At the same time most of the water in the ice piece compartment 21 has also frozen, the water last to freeze being that adjacent the movable dividers 22 which because of their lower heat conductivity rates provide a slower heat removal from that portion of the water. Since the control heater 68 is designed to maintain the control bulb 61 at a temperature which lags the actual temperature within the control compartment 62 by a few degrees, the switch 52 will not operate until the biased control bulb senses a temperature of for example 15 P. which is sufficiently low to assure complete freezing of all of the water in the mold. At this point the switch arm 101 forming part of the switch 52 moves into contact with the contact 102. With the drawer switch 70 and the overheat switch 81 closed and the feeler arm in its normal position so that switch 78 is closed, a circuit is completed between the supply conductors 104 and 105 to energize the motor 36 and the mold heater 37 through the normally closed switch 106 constituting one of the switches operated by cam 107. A few degrees of motor rotation is permitted before the arm 44 carried on the drive shaft 45 engages the pawl 47 which is connected to the shaft 28. During this initial rotation, the switch cam 107 which is also driven by the shaft 45 closes a holding switch 108 to establish a first holding circuit through the mold heater and a motor holding circuit which includes cam operated switch 106. Both of these circuits bypass the feeler arm switch 78 and contact 107 of the control switch 52. The switch 108 remains closed regardless of the operation of the feeler arm or the control switch until the end of the cycle or in other Words through one complete revolution of the shaft 45.

Since the movable dividers 22 are frozen solidly into the ice in the mold, the drive motor stalls until sufficient heat is applied by the heater 37 to the mold to melt the bond between the ice pieces and the mold end, side and bottom walls and the surfaces of the fixed dividers 20. At this point, the motor again rotates, lifting the movable dividers 22 upwardly and outwardly over the side 18 of the mold to a point where the ice pieces engage the bumpers 40. Continued rotation of the shaft 28 causes the ice pieces to break free from the dividers and drop into the storage container 13.

After the movable dividers have moved to a point between the bumpers 40 which assure complete release of the ice pieces carried thereby regardless of size or thickness, the pawl 47 carried by the pawl and cam assembly is positioned to strike the projection 48 and disengage the pawl from the motor drive arm 44. This allows the motor to continue rotation in the same direction while the return spring 50, biasing the dividers to their normal position Within the mold, returns the dividers to that position thus conditioning the dividers for the subsequent manufacture of another batch of ice pieces. By thus disconnecting the divider shaft from the vider structure cannot interfere with the subsequent water timing cycle.

During harvesting operation, the ice in the control compartment increases in temperature and begins to melt causing the temperature of the sensing bulb -61 to increase due to the heat from the mold added to that from the control heater 60. Water formed by melting ice flows out through the holes 65 in the mold. At a temperature. of, for example, 25, and even though ice remains in the control compartment, the switch arm 101 forming part of the control switch moves into contact with a warm contact 110. When this occurs, a second holding circuit for energizing only the motor is. completed through the closed holding switch 108, and the.

warm contact 110. Unless this motor circuit through the contact is established by switch 52 before further rotation of the switch cam 107 opens switch 106 to break the first circuit to the motor, further rotation of the motor is prevented until the switch arm 101 does make contact with contact 110.

Further rotation of the switch cam 107 then closes the switch contacts 111 to energize the solenoid valve 05 so that a measured charge of water will be introduced into the mold through the filler spout 55. Thereafter, during the final few degrees of rotation of the switch cam 107, the switches 106, 108 and 111 are returned to their normal or starting positions and reset for a subsequent ice harvesting cycle, the opening of switch 108 de-energizing the mold heater 37 and breaking the circuit including switch contact 110 to de-enengize the motor 36.

Unless the receptacle 13 is filled with ice, the feeler arm 74 will also return to its normal position within the receptacle thereby closing the feeler arm switch 78 so that when switch arm 101 subsequently moves into engagement with contact 102 another harvesting cycle is initiated. If on the other hand the ice receptacle is full of ice, the feeler arm will be held in a raised position by the ice peices so that the switch 78 is maintained in an open position and the motor 36 and heater 37 cannot be energized.

From the above description, it will be seen that the ice maker 9 includes all of the operating and control mechanism required for the automatic manufacture and harvesting of ice pieces with the exception of the water supply means including solenoid valve 85. Since the ice maker 9 is normally positioned within the freezer compartment in a relatively inaccessible position, it becomes desirable that it be easily removable from the compartment for servicing or replacement. In accordance with the present invention, the ice maker 9 is supported with the housing end adjacent the access opening to the freezer compartment by means of a bracket 112 secured to the top wall 11 of the compartment 2 and an adjusting screw 113 which is threadably received in the top Wall 11. More specifically, the bracket 112 includes a horizontal portion 114 secured to the top wall 11 and a depending arm or vertical portion 115 adapted to be engaged by the housing wall 34 when the ice maker is in position within the compartment 2. The depending arm 115 has afiixed thereto a pair of forwarding extending pins 116- as shown in FIG. 7 of the draw ing which are adapted to be received in cooperating apertures 117 in the housing wall 3 4. With the forward or housing end of the ice maker mounted on the pins 118 by means of the apertures 117, the inner end of the ice maker is secured to the top wall 11 by means of the adjusting screw 113 which passes through the horizontal portion 119 of a bracket 120 attached to the mold end wall 17 and into top wall 11. A spring finger 121 secured to the horizontal portion 119 of the bracket 120 and positioned between the bracket and the top wall 11 is designed to bear against the top wall and bias the bracket 120 away from the wall 111. By this arrangement, the screw 113 in cooperation with the spring provides means for. adjusting the elevation of the inner or rear end or the ice maker in order to level the mold for proper distribution of a charge of water between the various mold compartments.

Disconnect plug and receptacle means are also provided for electrically connecting the electrical components housed within the housing 35 to the supply lines 104, 105 and the solenoid valve 85. Specifically, the disconnect means. 125 indicated in they wiring diagram (FIG. 10) by broken lines intersecting supply conductors 104, 105 and lead 126 from switch 111 to the solenoid valve 85 comprises as shown particularly in FIG. 7 a three-prong plug 127 and a cooperating receptacle 128.

The plug is permanently secured to the bracket 112 while the receptacle 128 is carried by the housing wall 34 in such a position that when the housing wall engages pins 116, the plug 127 is received in the receptacle 128'.

While there has been shown and described particular embodiments of the present invention it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A refrigerator comprising an outer shell including a back wall, upper and lower inner liners spaced and insulated from said shell and from one another and respectively forming an upper fresh food storage compartment and a lower freezer compartment having access openings at the fronts thereof, an automatic ice maker disposed in said freezer compartment, said ice maker comprising an ice mold, a housing including an insulating wall secured to the front end of said mold, means for ejecting ice from said mold and electrically operated mechanism disposed within said housing for operating said ice ejecting means, a funnel supported on said housing wvall and having its outlet end positioned for directing a charge of water into said mold, means for removably suspending said ice maker from the top wall of said lower liner comprising a first bracket secured to said lower liner top wall adjacent the access opening to said freezer compartment and having spaced pins extending forwardly therefrom, cooperating apertures in said housing insulated wall for engaging said pins to sup port the front end of said ice maker, means for electrically connecting said ice maker to a source of elec tric power comprising a plug carried by said bracket and a mating receptacle in said housing insulated wall, an upwardly extending bracket secured to the other end of said mold and including an end portion, a spring finger carried by said end portion for engaging said top wall and an adjusting screw carried by said end portion and threadably secured to said liner top wall for raising or lowering said other end of said mold to level said mold;

means removable as a unit from said cabinet for supplying a charge of water to said mold comprising a solenoid operated water supply valve adapted to be supported on said rear wall of said shell within the insulated space between said shell and said liners, a water feed line extending from said Valve and into the space between said upper and lower liners and having a depending end portion extending into said lower liner through an aperture in said top wall of said lower liner at a point above said funnel when said ice maker is supported by said brackets, and means defining a passage for said feed line within said space comprising a hollow, tunnel-shaped member secured to said liner top wall and extending from said aperture rearwardly to the space between said liners and said housing and a spring member within the forward end of said tunnel-shaped member for engaging the end of said feed line and directing said depending end portion into said aperture upon insertion of said feed line into said tunnel.

2. A refrigerator comprising an outer shell including a back wall, upper and lower inner liners spaced and insulated from said shell and from one another and respectively forming an upper fresh food storage compartment and a lower freezer compartment having access openings at the fronts thereof, an automatic ice maker disposed in said freezer compartment, said ice maker comprising an ice mold, means for ejecting ice from said mold, a housing including an insulating wall secured to the front end of said mold, an electrically operated mechanism disposed within said housing for actuating said ice ejecting means, a filler spout supported on said housing wall and having its outlet end positioned for directing a change of Water into said mold, means for removably suspending said ice maker from the top wall of said lower liner comprising a first bracket secured to said lower liner top wall adjacent the access opening to said freezer compartment and having spaced pins extending forwardly therefrom, cooperating apertures in said housing insulated wall for engaging said pins to support the front end of said ice maker, electrical connection means comprising a plug carried by said bracket and a mating receptacle in said housing insulated wall, an upwardly extending member secured to the other end of said mold and including an end portion, a spring finger carried by said end portion for engaging said top wall and an adjusting screw carried by said end portion and threadably secured to said liner top wall for raising or lowering said other end of said mold to level said mold; said top wall having an aperture therein above said filler spout, said rear wall having an opening therein, a cover plate closing said opening, and means removable as a unit from said cabinet for introducing a charge of water into said mold comprising a solenoid, an electrically operated water supply valve supported on said cover plate and disposed in the insulated space between said shell and said lines, a water feed line extending from said valve and into the space between said upper and lower liners and having a depending end portion extending into said lower liner through said aperture, and means for facilitating insertion of said feed line into said space comprising a tunnel-shaped member extending from said aperture rearwardly to the space between said liners and said housing and a spring member within the forward end of said tunnel-shaped member for engaging the end of said feed line and directing said depending end portion downwardly into said aperture upon insertion of said feed line into said tunnel.

3. A refrigerator as defined in claim 2 including a V- shaped guide positioned adjacent the aperture end of said tunnel-shaped member for limiting forward movement of said feed line and laterally positioning said feed line relative to said aperture.

4. A refrigerator comprising a freezer compartment having an access opening at the front thereof, means including a water feed line extending into said compartment for supplying water to said compartment adjacent the top wail thereof, an automatic ice maker including a housing containing electric control and operating means for said ice maker and means for removably supporting said ice maker in said compartment comprising a first bracket secured to the top wall of said compartment adjacent said access opening and including a depending arm having spaced forwardly extending pins thereon, said housing including a Wall member having apertures therein for receiving said pins, a second bracket secured to the other end of said ice maker including a horizontal end portion, a spring finger secured to said end portion for engaging said compartment top wall to bias said second bracket away from said top wall, and an adjusting screw for adjustably and threadably securing said other end of said ice maker to said top wall against the biasing action of said spring finger, said wall member and first bracket respectively carrying cooperating receptacle and plug means for electrically connecting said ice maker to a source of power when in supporting engagement with said pins.

5. A refrigerator comprising an outer shell including a rear wall, inner liners forming a food compartment and a freezer compartment positioned below said food compartment and spaced therefrom, insulation between said shell and liners and in said space between said compartment, said shell rear wall having an opening therein opposite said space, and removable means for supplying water to said freezer compartment comprising a cover plate for said opening, a valve and water supply line supported on the inner side of said cover plate, and a water feed line adapted to extend from said valve into said space between said compartments and having a depending end portion adapted to pass through an aperture provided in the top wall of said freezer compartment, means providing an open passageway through said insulation for said feed line comprising a tunnel-shaped member extending from said aperture to adjacent said rear wall, and means adjacent the aperture end of said tunnel-shaped member for yieldably directing the depending end portion of said feed line into said aperture when said feed line is inserted into said tunnel-shaped member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,407,058 Olum Sept. 3, 1946 2,487,408 Askin Nov. 8, 1949 2,507,378 Morrison May 9, 1950 2,778,198 Heath Jan. 22, 1957

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