Refrigerator appliance having a defrost chamber

• US 10,161,667 B1
• Filed: 11/15/2017
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Inventors: Besore, John Keith, Junge, Brent Alden, Gilkey, Bradley Nicholas
• Primary Examiner(s): Ma, Kun Kai
• Application Number:
  US15/813,219
• Time in Patent Office: 405 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 21/006 with electronic control circuits
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 21/08 by electric heating
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 23/12 Arrangements of compartments additional to cooling compartments; Combinations of refrigerators with other equipment, e.g. stove
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/02 Refrigerators including a heater
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 25/025 Drawers
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2600/04 Controlling heat transfer
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 31/005 Combined cooling and heating devices

Abstract

A refrigerator appliance having a defrost chamber is provided herein. The refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a defrost drawer housing, and a pair of electromagnetic electrodes. The defrost drawer housing may be mounted within the chilled chamber and define the defrost chamber for the receipt of a food item. The pair of electromagnetic electrodes may be spaced apart along a vertical direction within the drawer housing. Each electromagnetic electrode may include a first heating ring and a second heating ring that is larger than the first heating ring. Each electromagnetic electrode may also include a conductive path and an electrical restrictor element. The conductive path may extend between the first heating ring and the second heating ring. The electrical restrictor element may be coupled to the conductive path and selectively permit a current therethrough.

Claims

1. A refrigerator appliance comprising:

a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;

a defrost drawer housing mounted within the chilled chamber, the defrost drawer housing defining an enclosed defrost chamber for the receipt of a food item; and

a pair of electromagnetic electrodes spaced apart along a vertical direction within the drawer housing, each electromagnetic electrode comprising

a first heating ring,

a second heating ring, the second heating ring being larger than the first heating ring,

a conductive path extending between the first heating ring and the second heating ring, and

an electrical restrictor element coupled to the conductive path and selectively permitting a current therethrough.

2. The refrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the electrical restrictor element is a gate switch.

3. The refrigerator appliance of claim 2, further comprising a controller operably coupled to the pair of electromagnetic electrodes, wherein the controller is configured to selectively close the gate switch based on a set heating size.

4. The refrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the electrical restrictor element is a narrow band pass filter.

5. The refrigerator appliance of claim 4, further comprising a controller operably coupled to the pair of electromagnetic electrodes, wherein the controller is configured to selectively adjust a frequency of the current based on a set heating size.

6. The refrigerator appliance of claim 1, further comprising a controller operably coupled to the pair of electromagnetic electrodes, wherein the controller is configured to selectively direct the current based on a received sizing signal.

7. The refrigerator appliance of claim 6, further comprising a user interface panel operably coupled to the controller, and wherein the received sizing signal is a user-selected input signal transmitted from the user interface.

8. The refrigerator appliance of claim 6, wherein the received sizing signal is an electrical field signal transmitted from the pair of electromagnetic electrodes.

9. The refrigerator appliance of claim 6, further comprising a secondary sizing sensor, and wherein the received sizing signal is transmitted from the secondary sizing sensor.

10. The refrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the first heating ring and the second heating ring are mutually-concentric.

11. The refrigerator appliance of claim 1, wherein the conductive path is a first conductive path, wherein the electrical restrictor element is a first electrical restrictor element, and wherein each electromagnetic heating ring further comprises

a third heating ring, the third heating ring being larger than the second heating ring,

a second conductive path extending between the second heating ring and the third heating ring, and

a second electrical restrictor element coupled to the second conductive path and selectively permitting the current therethrough.

12. The refrigerator appliance of claim 11, wherein the first electrical restrictor element is a gate switch, and wherein the second electrical restrictor element is a narrow band pass filter.

13. A refrigerator appliance comprising:

a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;

a defrost drawer housing mounted within the chilled chamber, the defrost drawer housing defining an enclosed defrost chamber for the receipt of a food item;

a pair of electromagnetic electrodes spaced apart along a vertical direction within the drawer housing, each electromagnetic electrode comprising

a first heating ring,

a second heating ring positioned concentrically about the first heating ring, the second heating ring being larger than the first heating ring,

a conductive path extending between the first heating ring and the second heating ring, and

an electrical restrictor element coupled to the conductive path and selectively permitting a current therethrough; and

a controller operably coupled to the pair of electromagnetic electrodes, wherein the controller is configured to direct the current through the electrical restrictor element based on a set heating size.

14. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, wherein the electrical restrictor element is a gate switch, and wherein the controller is configured to selectively close the gate switch based on the set heating size.

15. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, wherein the electrical restrictor element is a narrow band pass filter, wherein the controller is configured to selectively adjust a frequency of the current based on the set heating size.

16. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, further comprising a user interface panel operably coupled to the controller, and wherein controller is configured to determine the set heating size based on is a user-selected input signal transmitted from the user interface.

17. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, wherein controller is configured to determine the set heating size based an electrical field signal transmitted from the pair of electromagnetic electrodes.

18. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, further comprising a secondary sizing sensor, and wherein controller is configured to determine the set heating size based a received sizing signal transmitted from the secondary sizing sensor.

19. The refrigerator appliance of claim 13, wherein the conductive path is a first conductive path, wherein the electrical restrictor element is a first electrical restrictor element, and wherein each electromagnetic heating ring further comprises

a third heating ring, the third heating ring being larger than the second heating ring,

a second conductive path extending between the second heating ring and the third heating ring, and

a second electrical restrictor element coupled to the second conductive path and selectively permitting the current therethrough.

20. The refrigerator appliance of claim 19, wherein the first electrical restrictor element is a gate switch, wherein the second electrical restrictor element is a narrow band pass filter, and wherein the controller is configured to separately direct the current through each electrical restrictor element based on the set heating size.