Adjustable liquid level autofill pitcher for an appliance

An autofill system for automatically dispensing a liquid to an adjustable fill level, comprising:

• a container including a container wall connected with a container bottom and defining a volume for holding a liquid;
• a base unit comprising
• a housing having sidewalls and a recessed wall located at a fixed position relative to the sidewalls, the sidewalls and recessed wall together defining a recess into which the container is movably received;
• wherein the recessed wall defines an opening and has a top surface and a bottom surface, a plurality of apertures disposed about the opening;
• a movable plate received within the recess and movable along the vertical direction, wherein the container is supported upon the movable plate and movable within the recess along with the movable plate,
• a spring adjuster coupled to the recessed wall of the housing;
• a spring having a top end and a bottom end, the top end coupled to the moveable plate and the bottom end coupled to the spring adjuster, wherein the spring is compressed by an amount depending upon a weight of the liquid in the container;
• and
• wherein the spring adjuster is configured to selectively determine an amount of force applied by the spring against the movable plate corresponding to a desired liquid fill level;
• a plurality of snap posts each extending outwardly from the moveable plate, each snap post extending through a corresponding aperture and configured to catch on the bottom surface when the spring is in an extended position;
• a dispensing system capable of dispensing the liquid into the container and comprising a sensor having a proximity range R1, the proximity range R1 extending outwardly from the sensor;
• a proximity element integral with or positioned on the container and detectable by the sensor such that when the proximity element is at or within the proximity range R1 of the sensor, the dispensing system dispenses liquid into the container;
• and when the proximity element is positioned at a distance greater than the proximity range R1 of the sensor, the dispenser does not dispense liquid into the container.