Misting ice maker for cup-shaped ice cubes and related refrigeration appliance
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorAlan Joseph Mitchell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ice cube maker includes an ice-making compartment having side walls, at least one rod-shaped conductor extending distally into the compartment through one of the side walls, and a cooling device for cooling the conductor to a temperature sufficient to form ice on the conductor. A misting system includes a reservoir for water and a nebulizer for creating a liquid mist from water in the reservoir and introducing the liquid mist into the ice-making compartment so that a portion of the liquid mist freezes on the conductor to form a cup-shaped ice cube thereon. A return conduit connects a drain of the ice-making compartment and the reservoir for transferring liquid mist not freezing on the conductor to the reservoir.
Claims20
An ice cube maker comprising:
- an ice-making compartment having side walls;
- at least one rod-shaped conductor extending distally into the compartment through one of the side walls;
- a cooling device for cooling the conductor to a temperature sufficient to form ice on the conductor;
- a misting system including a reservoir for water, a pumping device for creating a liquid mist from water in the reservoir and introducing the liquid mist into the ice-making compartment so that a portion of the liquid mist freezes on the conductor to form a cup-shaped ice cube thereon;
- and
- a return conduit connecting a drain of the ice-making compartment and the reservoir for transferring liquid mist not freezing on the conductor to the reservoir.
An ice cube maker comprising:
- an ice-making compartment having side walls;
- at least one rod-shaped conductor extending distally into the compartment through one of the side walls;
- a cooling device for cooling the conductor to a temperature sufficient to form ice on the conductor;
- a misting system including a reservoir for water, a pumping device for creating a liquid mist from water in the reservoir and introducing the liquid mist into the ice-making compartment so that a portion of the liquid mist freezes on the conductor to form a cup-shaped ice cube thereon;
- and
- a return conduit connecting a drain of the ice-making compartment and the reservoir for transferring liquid mist not freezing on the conductor to the reservoir;
- the misting system including a water source for filling the reservoir in case a low water sensor signals a low water condition in the reservoir, the water source filling the reservoir until a high water condition is reached, the amount of water needed to create a desired amount of ice in an ice cube harvest being substantially equal to the difference between the high water condition and low water condition.
A refrigeration appliance comprising:
- a refrigerated compartment;
- an ice-making compartment within the refrigerated compartment and having side walls;
- at least one rod-shaped conductor extending distally into the compartment through one of the side walls;
- a cooling device for cooling the conductor to a temperature sufficient to form ice on the conductor;
- a misting system including a reservoir for water, a pumping device for creating a liquid mist from water in the reservoir and introducing the liquid mist into the ice-making compartment so that a portion of the liquid mist freezes on the conductor to form a cup-shaped ice cube thereon;
- and
- a return conduit connecting a drain of the ice-making compartment and the reservoir for transferring liquid mist not freezing on the conductor to the reservoir.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.