Infused ice maker appliance
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsVineeth Vijayan, Stephanos Kyriacou
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ice maker appliance includes a mold body, a pod receiver slot upstream of the mold body, and a mixing chamber downstream of the pod receiver slot and upstream of the mold body. The mixing chamber is configured to retain an amount of water and an additive, whereby the additive mixes with the amount of water in the mixing chamber upstream of the mold cavity to form a volume of liquid. Thus, the volume of liquid which comprises the additive and the amount of water may be received by a mold cavity in the mold body, and an ice piece may be formed in the mold cavity, the ice piece containing the amount of water and the additive.
Claims19
An ice maker appliance, comprising:
- a cabinet;
- a chilled chamber defined in the cabinet, the chilled chamber configured to receive a flow of chilled air, whereby an internal temperature within the chilled chamber is at or below the freezing point of water;
- an ice maker positioned in the chilled chamber, the ice maker comprising a mold body, a pod receiver, and a mixing chamber, the mold body comprising a mold cavity, the pod receiver upstream of the mold cavity along a flow path of liquid water, the pod receiver comprising a pod receiver slot configured to hold a pod containing an additive, the mixing chamber downstream of the pod receiver slot and upstream of the mold body;
- and
- a controller, the controller configured for flowing an amount of liquid water along the flow path through the pod receiver slot into the mixing chamber, whereby the additive flows into the mixing chamber with the amount of liquid water,
- wherein the mixing chamber is configured to retain the amount of liquid water and the additive for a holding time, whereby the additive mixes with the amount of water in the mixing chamber upstream of the mold cavity to form a volume of liquid, wherein the holding time is longer than a mixing time for the additive and the amount of water to form the volume of liquid and the holding time is shorter than a freezing time of the volume of liquid,
- the mold cavity configured for receiving the volume of liquid therein and retaining the volume of liquid to form an ice piece in the mold cavity,
- whereby the ice piece formed in the mold cavity comprises the amount of water and the additive.
A method of operating an ice maker appliance, the ice maker appliance comprising a cabinet with a chilled chamber defined in the cabinet and an ice maker positioned in the chilled chamber, the ice maker comprising a mold body comprising a mold cavity, the mold cavity configured for receiving a volume of liquid therein and retaining the volume of liquid to form an ice piece in the mold cavity, a pod receiver upstream of the mold cavity along a flow path of liquid water, the pod receiver comprising a pod receiver slot configured to hold a pod containing an additive, and a mixing chamber downstream of the pod receiver slot and upstream of the mold body, the method comprising:
- directing chilled air to the chilled chamber, whereby an internal temperature within the chilled chamber is at or below the freezing point of water;
- flowing an amount of water through the pod receiver slot into the mixing chamber;
- flowing the additive into the mixing chamber;
- retaining the additive and the amount of water in the mixing chamber for a holding time, whereby the additive mixes with the amount of water in the mixing chamber upstream of the mold cavity to form the volume of liquid, wherein the holding time is longer than a mixing time for the additive and the amount of water to form the volume of liquid and the holding time is shorter than a freezing time of the volume of liquid;
- receiving the volume of liquid in the mold cavity, wherein the volume of liquid comprises the additive and the amount of water;
- and
- forming the ice piece in the mold cavity, wherein the ice piece formed in the mold cavity comprises the amount of water and the additive.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.