Ice-making compartment for an appliance
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsSarah M. Galea, Jacob C. Ickes, Vikas C. Mruthyunjaya
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An appliance ice-making compartment includes a housing which defines an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture. A first ice tray is disposed at a first height within the housing. A second ice tray is disposed at a second height within the housing where the first height is closer to a top of the housing compared to the second height. The second ice tray is closer to the inlet aperture compared to the first ice tray. An inlet duct is in fluid communication with the inlet aperture and configured to direct air toward the first ice tray and the second ice tray.
Claims20
An ice-making compartment for an appliance, comprising:
- a housing defining an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture;
- at least one ice tray positioned within the housing;
- an inlet duct in fluid communication with the inlet aperture, wherein the inlet aperture is positioned at a first height on a first wall of the housing to direct air to the at least one ice tray;
- an outlet duct in fluid communication with the outlet aperture, wherein the outlet aperture is positioned at a second height on a second wall of the housing;
- and
- an arcuate deflector positioned in an upper portion of the housing opposing the inlet duct, wherein the arcuate deflector redirects the air from a first surface of the at least one ice tray to a second surface of the at least one ice tray, and wherein the arcuate deflector extends from the second wall and past at least one ice cube cavity of the at least one ice tray.
An ice-making compartment for an appliance, comprising:
- a housing including a first wall defining an inlet aperture and a second wall defining an outlet aperture;
- a storage bin disposed in a lower portion of the housing;
- an ice tray disposed in an upper portion of the housing over the storage bin;
- an inlet duct in fluid communication with the inlet aperture;
- an outlet duct in fluid communication with the outlet aperture;
- and
- a deflector positioned on the second wall in the upper portion of the housing, wherein the inlet duct is configured to direct air to flow across an upper surface of the ice tray and contact an inner surface of the deflector, wherein the deflector is configured to redirect the air from the upper surface of the ice tray to flow across a lower surface of the ice tray, and wherein the deflector extends from the second wall and past at least one ice cube cavity of the ice tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.