Control system for a door of an ice dispenser chute

An ice dispensing system comprising:

• a door casing;
• an ice chute door mounted to the door casing;
• a motor mounted to the ice chute door and configured to move the ice chute door to a fully open position relative to the door casing when energized;
• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor, the computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to
• control opening of the ice chute door by energizing the motor at a first voltage for a first time period after receipt of an ice dispense request to open the ice chute door to the fully open position;
• after energizing the motor at the first voltage for the first time period, control energizing of the motor at a second voltage to maintain the ice chute door in the fully open position, wherein the second voltage is less than the first voltage;
• after energizing the motor at the second voltage, control de-energizing of the motor to allow the ice chute door to return to a closed position, wherein the motor is de-energized after expiration of a second time period measured after the ice dispense request is no longer received;
• after de-energizing the motor, control opening of the ice chute door by again energizing the motor at the first voltage for the first time period after expiration of a third time period measured since the ice chute door returned to the closed position;
• after again energizing the motor at the first voltage for the first time period, control energizing of the motor at the second voltage for the second time period to maintain the ice chute door in the fully open position;
• and
• after energizing the motor at the second voltage for the second time period, control de-energizing of the motor to allow the ice chute door to again return to the closed position.

A device comprising:

• a plurality of walls defining a freezer compartment;
• a door;
• a hinge pivotally mounting the door to a wall of the plurality of walls;
• an ice chute door casing mounted to one of the plurality of walls or the door;
• an ice chute door mounted to the ice chute door casing;
• a motor mounted to the ice chute door to move the ice chute door to a fully open position relative to the ice chute door casing when energized;
• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor, the computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to
• control opening of the ice chute door by energizing the motor at a first voltage for a first time period after receipt of an ice dispense request to open the ice chute door to the fully open position;
• after energizing the motor at the first voltage for the first time period, control energizing of the motor at a second voltage to maintain the ice chute door in the fully open position, wherein the second voltage is less than the first voltage;
• after energizing the motor at the second voltage, control de-energizing of the motor to allow the ice chute door to return to a closed position, wherein the motor is de-energized after expiration of a second time period measured after the ice dispense request is no longer received;
• after de-energizing the motor, control opening of the ice chute door by again energizing the motor at the first voltage for the first time period after expiration of a third time period measured since the ice chute door returned to the closed position;
• after again energizing the motor at the first voltage for the first time period, control energizing of the motor at the second voltage for the second time period to maintain the ice chute door in the fully open position;
• and
• after energizing the motor at the second voltage for the second time period, control de-energizing of the motor to allow the ice chute door to again return to the closed position.