Ice making assembly for a refrigerator appliance
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsVineeth Vijayan, Alan Joseph Mitchell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ice making assembly for a refrigerator appliance includes a resilient mold defining a mold cavity for receiving water, a heat exchanger in thermal communication with the resilient mold to freeze the water and form one or more ice cubes, a fixed ejector positioned below the resilient mold, wherein the resilient mold is movable relative to the fixed ejector, and a drive mechanism for moving the resilient mold to engage the fixed ejector and deform the resilient mold to raise the one or more ice cubes.
Claims17
An ice making assembly for a refrigerator appliance, the ice making assembly defining a vertical direction and comprising:
- a stationary frame;
- a resilient mold defining a mold cavity for receiving water and being movable relative to the stationary frame;
- a heat exchanger in thermal communication with the resilient mold to freeze the water and form one or more ice cubes;
- a fixed ejector positioned below the resilient mold, wherein the fixed ejector is fixed and immovable relative to the stationary frame, and wherein the resilient mold is movable relative to the fixed ejector;
- a drive mechanism for moving the resilient mold to engage the fixed ejector and deform the resilient mold to raise the one or more ice cubes;
- and
- a resilient element mechanically coupled to the resilient mold for urging the resilient mold into an undeformed position, wherein the resilient element is a mechanical spring.
A refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, comprising:
- a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;
- a door being rotatably mounted to the cabinet to provide selective access to the chilled chamber;
- an icebox mounted to the door and defining an ice making chamber;
- and
- an ice making assembly positioned within the ice making chamber, the ice making assembly comprising:
- a stationary frame;
- a resilient mold defining a mold cavity for receiving water and being movable relative to the stationary frame;
- a heat exchanger in thermal communication with the resilient mold to freeze the water and form one or more ice cubes;
- a fixed ejector positioned below the resilient mold, wherein the fixed ejector is fixed and immovable relative to the stationary frame, and wherein the resilient mold is movable relative to the fixed ejector;
- a drive mechanism for moving the resilient mold to engage the fixed ejector and deform the resilient mold to raise the one or more ice cubes;
- and
- a resilient element mechanically coupled to the resilient mold for urging the resilient mold into an undeformed position, wherein the resilient element is a mechanical spring.
An ice making assembly for a refrigerator appliance, the ice making assembly defining a vertical direction and comprising:
- a resilient mold defining a mold cavity for receiving water;
- a heat exchanger in thermal communication with the resilient mold to freeze the water and form one or more ice cubes;
- a mold lifter positioned below the resilient mold, wherein the resilient mold and the mold lifter are movable relative to each other;
- a drive mechanism for moving at least one of the resilient mold or the mold lifter to deform the resilient mold and raise the one or more ice cubes;
- and
- a resilient element mechanically coupled to the resilient mold for urging the resilient mold into an undeformed position, wherein the resilient element is a mechanical spring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.