Household ice maker and method of operating a household ice maker

A method for operating a household ice maker having an ice making vessel for producing pieces of ice, an ice collection container for collecting the pieces of ice produced, and a light barrier for fill height monitoring of the ice collection container, wherein the light barrier containing at least one optoelectronic module, the at least one optoelectronic module containing:

• a module housing having a light passage surface disposed at a boundary of the at least one optoelectronic module for a passage of a beam of light of the light barrier to a space outside the optoelectronic module;
• a printed circuit board accommodated in the module housing;
• an optoelectronic component with a main lobe axis mounted on the printed circuit board serving as a light transmitter or receiver;
• a cylindrical light-guiding element for guiding the beam of light and disposed in a beam path between the light passage surface and the optoelectronic component;
• and
• an electrical heating element mounted on the printed circuit board at a distance from the optoelectronic component and below the cylindrical light-guiding element;
• which method comprises the steps of:
• determining a need for a fill height measurement at the ice collection container;
• activating the heating element for a previously defined period of time;
• deactivating the heating element;
• and
• subsequently, with the heating element deactivated, carrying out the fill height measurement on the ice collection container by means of the light barrier.

A household ice maker for an appliance, comprising:

• an ice making vessel for producing pieces of ice;
• an ice collection container for collecting the pieces of ice produced, said collection container having a delimiting wall;
• a holder frame for attaching the household ice maker in a storage space of the appliance;
• a worm shaft disposed in said ice collection container;
• a first drive unit for driving said worm shaft and having a first housing;
• a rotatably disposed ejector shaft;
• a second drive unit for driving said rotatably disposed ejector shaft and having a second housing;
• and
• a light barrier for fill height monitoring of said ice collection container, said light barrier having at least one optoelectronic module, said at least one optoelectronic module having a first optoelectronic module attached to said holder frame or to said first housing of said first drive unit and a second optoelectronic module attached to said second housing of said second drive unit, at least one of said first or second optoelectronic modules is disposed on or above a virtual horizontal plane spanned by said ice making vessel relative to a situation in which the household ice maker is installed, said delimiting wall extending above the virtual horizontal plane, said delimiting wall having an opening formed therein for extension therethrough of said light barrier or a light beam of said light barrier.