Infused ice maker appliance with automatic harvesting
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsVineeth Vijayan, Stephanos Kyriacou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ice maker appliance includes a mold body comprising a mold cavity. The mold cavity is configured for receiving a volume of liquid water therein and retaining the volume of liquid water to form an ice piece in the mold cavity. The ice maker appliance also includes a pod receiver upstream of the mold cavity along a flow path of the volume of liquid water. The pod receiver is configured to hold a pod containing an additive. The additive mixes with the volume of liquid water upstream of the mold cavity and the formed ice piece comprises water and the additive.
Claims15
An ice maker appliance, comprising:
- a first mount unit comprising a rotor;
- a second mount unit;
- a twist tray releasably coupled to the first mount unit by a first tab and a first socket and releasably coupled to the second mount unit by a second tab and a second socket, the twist tray comprising a mold body comprising a mold cavity, the mold cavity configured for receiving a volume of liquid water therein and retaining the volume of liquid water to form an ice piece in the mold cavity;
- and
- a pod receiver integrally joined to the twist tray upstream of the mold cavity along a flow path of the volume of liquid water, the pod receiver configured to hold a pod containing an additive, whereby the additive mixes with the volume of liquid water upstream of the mold cavity and the formed ice piece comprises water and the additive, wherein the ice maker appliance is configured for automatically harvesting the ice piece from the mold body after forming the ice piece,
- wherein the rotor is configured to twist the twist tray, whereby the twist tray releases the ice piece when the twist tray is twisted by the rotor, and
- wherein at least one of the first mount unit or the second mount unit is slidable via a slide and lock mechanism between a connected position to engage the twist tray and a retracted position to disengage the twist tray.
A method of operating an ice maker appliance, the ice maker appliance comprising a first mount unit comprising a rotor, a second mount unit, a twist tray releasably coupled to the first mount unit by a first tab and a first socket and releasably coupled to the second mount unit by a second tab and a second socket, the twist tray comprising a mold body comprising a mold cavity, the mold cavity configured for receiving a volume of liquid water therein and retaining the volume of liquid water to form an ice piece in the mold cavity, and a pod receiver integrally joined to the twist tray upstream of the mold cavity along a flow path of the volume of liquid water, the pod receiver configured to hold a pod containing an additive, the method comprising:
- flowing the volume of liquid water into the pod receiver via a water inlet port formed in the pod receiver and through the pod in the pod receiver, whereby the additive mixes with the volume of liquid water;
- flowing the additive and the volume of liquid water into the mold cavity;
- retaining the additive and the volume of liquid water in the mold cavity to form an ice piece from the additive and the volume of liquid water;
- and
- automatically harvesting the ice piece from the mold body after forming the ice piece by twisting the twist tray by the rotor to remove the ice piece from the mold body
- wherein at least one of the first mount unit or the second mount unit is slidable via a slide and lock mechanism between a connected position to engage the twist tray and a retracted position to disengage the twist tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.