Clear cube ice maker

• US 5,297,394 A
• Filed: 02/02/1993
• Issued: 03/29/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Original Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
• Inventors: McClure, Brian R., Reck, Andrew C., Jewell, Roger D., Frohbieter, Edwin H., Janke, Donald E., Manson, Larry J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tapolcai, William E.
• Application Number:
  US08/012,240
• Time in Patent Office: 420 Days
• Field of Search: 62/340, 62/351, 62/353, 62/405, 62/135
• US Class Current: 62/135
• CPC Class Codes: F25C 1/08 by immersing freezing chambers , cylindrical bodies or plates into water
• CPC Class Codes: F25C 1/18 of a particular transparency or translucency, e.g. by injecting air
• CPC Class Codes: F25C 2600/04 Control means

Abstract

An ice maker for use in a domestic refrigerator makes clear ice bodies. The ice maker comprises a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon. The support is refrigerated to a below-freezing temperature and a container adapted to hold a body of water is moved to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about the support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support.

Claims

1. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support, comprising a tray supporting said container, said tray including support pins received in a track defining a path of movement of said tray, and a drive controlling movement of said tray;

means for heating the container to prevent freezing of water contained therein; and

means for causing harvesting of the ice body from the support.

2. The ice maker of claim 1 wherein said pins comprise conductive pins and said heating means comprises an electrical heater connected to said pins.

3. The ice maker of claim 2 further comprising electrical power terminals positioned at a select location of said tracks to control operation of said heating means incident to said tray being at a select position at the select location.

4. The ice maker of claim 1 wherein said heating means includes a control for operating said heating means only during a time period when said moving means moves the container to move liquid water about the support.

5. The ice maker of claim 1 further comprising storage means for causing repositioning of the container to withdraw the water in the container from adjacent the support prior to harvesting of the ice body.

6. The ice maker of claim 5 wherein said heating means includes a control for disabling said heating means during a time period when said storage means repositions the container to withdraw water from adjacent the support.

7. The ice maker of claim 1 wherein said heating means includes an electrical heater and a pulse width modulated control for energizing said electrical heater for a select duty cycle.

8. The ice maker of claim 7 further comprising means for sensing ice maker temperature and wherein said heating means includes means for varying said duty cycle of said pulse width modulated control in accordance with sensed temperature.

9. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon, comprising a hollow plastic tubular member open at a near end and closed at a distal end;

refrigeration means for conducting refrigerated fluid through the open end of said tubular member to refrigerate said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support adjacent the closed end of said tubular member;

means for causing harvesting of the ice body from the tubular member comprising means for conducting heated fluid through the open end of said tubular member to heat said support to an above freezing temperature; and

means for sensing temperature of said fluid and wherein said means for causing harvesting of the ice body further comprises means for terminating conduction of heated fluid through the open end of said tubular member responsive to temperature sensed by said sensing means being above a select temperature value.

10. The ice maker of claim 9 wherein said sensing means comprises a first charging circuit including a temperature sensitive resistance, a second charging circuit including a reference resistance and a control circuit for alternately operating said first and second charging circuits and comparing length of time required for each said charging circuit to reach a select charge level, a difference in such times representing ice maker temperature.

11. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

cycle means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support;

storage means for causing repositioning of the container to withdraw the water in the container from adjacent the support; and

control means for controlling operation of said cycle means and said storage means and operable to operate said cycle means for a select time duration prior to operation of said storage means during a batch operation of said ice maker.

12. The ice maker of claim 11 wherein said control means includes means for sensing temperature of said ice maker and adaptive control means for varying said select time duration responsive to sensed temperature to provide uniform sized ice bodies in different batch operations of said ice maker.

13. The ice maker of claim 12 wherein said control means includes means operatively coupled to said sensing means for calculating average temperature during said select time duration and wherein said adaptive control means varies said select time duration responsive to average sensed temperature to provide uniform sized ice bodies in different batch operations of said ice maker.

14. The ice maker of claim 13 wherein said select time duration is increased responsive to average sensed temperature being above a select temperature to provide uniform sized ice bodies in different batch operations of said ice maker.

15. The ice maker of claim 11 wherein said control means includes means for sensing average temperature of said ice maker and adaptive control means for increasing said select time duration responsive to average sensed temperature being above a select value to provide uniform sized ice bodies in different batch operations of said ice maker.

16. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

a motor controlled drive including an electrical motor operatively coupled to said container for moving the container;

a control circuit for controlling energization of said motor including means for determining duration of motor energization, first drive means for energizing said motor for a first select duration to raise said container, second drive means for energizing said motor for a second select duration to lower said container, and switching means for alternately operating said first and second drive means in successive dip cycles to reciprocally move the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support.

17. The ice maker of claim 16 wherein said motor comprises a synchronous motor and said determining means determines a number of power cycles for which said motor has been energized.

18. The ice maker of claim 16 wherein said first select duration is equivalent to said second select duration.

19. The ice maker of claim 16 wherein said determining means comprises a counter means for storing a value representing said duration.

20. The ice maker of claim 19 further comprising means for counting number of dip cycles and reference means for operating one of said first and second drive means after a select number of dip cycles to move said container to a reference position and to thereafter reset said counter to a reference value.

21. The ice maker of claim 20 further comprising means connected to said control circuit for sensing if said container is in said reference position.

22. The ice maker of claim 21 wherein said sensing means comprises a limit switch.

23. The ice maker of claim 16 further comprising storage means for causing repositioning of the container to withdraw the water in the container from adjacent the support and said control circuit controls operation of said switching means and said storage means and is operable to operate said switching means for a select time duration prior to operation of said storage means during a batch operation of said ice maker.

24. The ice maker of claim 23 wherein said control circuit includes means for sensing temperature of said ice maker and adaptive control means for varying said select time duration responsive to sensed temperature to provide uniform sized ice bodies in different batch operations of said ice maker.

25. The ice maker of claim 16 further comprising means for causing harvesting of the ice body from the support comprising means for heating said support to an above freezing temperature.

26. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature,

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support;

storage means for causing repositioning of the container to withdraw the water in the container from adjacent the support; and

means for causing harvesting of the ice body from the support,

wherein said means for moving liquid water about said support includes means for utilizing a select volume of water in said container to form said ice body, said select volume being determined by level of water in said container and temperature of said support, and means for adding a fixed volume of water to said container subsequent to harvesting of the ice body from the support to provide a uniform, average volume ice body over a plurality of ice body making cycles.

27. The ice maker of claim 26 further comprising a control means for controlling operation of said moving means for a select time duration prior to operation of said storage means during a batch operation of said ice maker.

28. The ice maker of claim 27 wherein said control means includes means for sensing temperature of said ice maker and adaptive control means for varying said select time duration responsive to sensed temperature to provide uniform sized ice bodies in different batch operations of said ice maker.

29. The ice maker of claim 28 wherein said adaptive control means varies said select time generally proportionally to sensed temperature.

30. The ice maker of claim 28 wherein said sensing means comprises a first charging circuit including a temperature sensitive resistance, a second charging circuit including a reference resistance and a control circuit for alternately operating said first and second charging circuits and comparing length of time required for each said charging circuit to reach a select charge level, a difference in such times representing ice maker temperature.

31. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon, comprising a hollow plastic tubular member closed at one end;

refrigeration means for conducting refrigerated fluid through said tubular member to refrigerate said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support adjacent the closed end of said tubular member;

means for causing harvesting of the ice body from the tubular member comprising means for conducting heated fluid through the open end of said tubular member to heat said support to an above freezing temperature;

means for sensing temperature of said fluid; and

control means operatively coupled to said sensing means for controlling said moving means and said harvest means in accordance with sensed temperature, wherein said moving means is operated during a dip cycle until sensed temperature is below a first select temperature value and thereafter said harvesting means is operated for causing harvesting of the ice body during a harvest cycle until sensed temperature is above a second select temperature value.

32. The ice maker of claim 31 further comprising means for heating the container to prevent freezing of water contained therein said control means includes a pulse width modulated control for energizing said electrical heater for a select duty cycle.

33. The ice maker of claim 32 wherein said control means includes means for varying said duty cycle of said pulse width modulated control in accordance with sensed temperature.

34. The ice maker of claim 31 wherein said sensing means comprises a first charging circuit including a temperature sensitive resistance, a second charging circuit including a reference resistance and said control means alternately operates said first and second charging circuits and compares length of time required for each said charging circuit to reach a select charge level, a difference in such times representing ice maker temperature.

35. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

water supply means connectable to a source of fresh water for controllably delivering fresh water from the source to said container;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support, the ice body being of a volume less than available volume of the water so that residual water remains in the container;

means for periodically causing harvesting of the ice body from the support; and

control means operatively associated with said water supply means for initially controlling said water supply means to deliver a first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container, and subsequent to each operation of the harvesting means controlling said water supply means to deliver a second select volume of fresh water, less than the first select volume of fresh water, so that subsequent bodies of water include both residual water and fresh water.

36. The ice maker of claim 35 further comprising means for dumping the residual water from the container after a preselected number of ice body making cycles has been completed and said control means controls said water supply means to deliver the first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container as an incident of the dumping means dumping the residual water.

37. The ice maker of claim 35 further comprising means for collecting the harvested ice bodies, and means for dumping the residual water from the container as an incident of the collecting means having a select full level of ice bodies therein and said control means controls said water supply means to deliver the first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container as an incident of the dumping means dumping the residual water.

38. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

water supply means connectable to a source of fresh water for controllably delivering fresh water from the source to said container;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support, the ice body being of a volume less than available volume of the water so that residual water remains in the container;

means for periodically causing harvesting of the ice body from the support;

means for dumping the residual water from the container after a preselect number of ice body making cycles has been completed; and

control means operatively associated with said water supply means for initially and incident to the dumping means dumping residual water controlling said water supply means to deliver a first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container, and subsequent to each operation of the harvesting means controlling said water supply means to deliver a second select volume of fresh water, less than the first select volume of fresh water, so that subsequent bodies of water include both residual water and fresh water.

39. The ice maker of claim 38 further comprising means for collecting the harvested ice bodies, and said dumping means also dumps the residual water from the container as an incident of the collecting means having a select full level of ice bodies therein.

40. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

water supply means connectable to a source of fresh water for controllably delivering fresh water from the source to said container;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support, the ice body being of a select volume less than available volume of the water so that residual water remains in the container;

means for periodically causing harvesting of the ice body from the support; and

control means operatively associated with said water supply means for initially controlling said water supply means to deliver a first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container, and subsequent to each operation of the harvesting means controlling said water supply means to deliver a second select volume of fresh water, less than the first select volume of fresh water and substantially equal to the select volume of the ice body, so that subsequent bodies of water include both residual water and fresh water having a volume substantially equal to the first select volume.

41. The ice maker of claim 40 further comprising means for dumping the residual water from the container after mineral content in the residual water becomes too concentrated and said control means controls said water supply means to deliver the first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container as an incident of the dumping means dumping the residual water.

42. The ice maker of claim 41 further comprising means dumps the residual water from the container after a preselected number of ice body making cycles has been completed

43. An ice maker for making clear ice bodies comprising:

a support arranged to have an ice body formed thereon;

means for refrigerating said support to a below freezing temperature;

a container adapted to hold a body of water;

water supply means connectable to a source of fresh water for controllably delivering fresh water from the source to said container;

means for moving the container to move liquid water contained therein uniformly about said support suitable to cause a clear substantially symmetrical ice body to build up outwardly on the refrigerated support, the ice body being of a select volume less than available volume of the water so that residual water remains in the container;

means for causing repositioning of the container to withdraw water in the container from adjacent the support and including means for dumping water from the container to be disposed of by evaporation;

means for periodically causing harvesting of the ice body from the support; and

control means operatively associated with said water supply means for initially controlling said water supply means to deliver a first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container, and subsequent to each operation of the harvesting means controlling said water supply means to deliver a second select volume of fresh water, less than the first select volume of fresh water, so that subsequent bodies of water include both residual water and fresh water, and for controlling the dumping means to dump the residual water from the container after a preselected number of ice body making cycles has been completed and then control said water supply means to deliver the first select volume of fresh water to substantially fill the container as an incident of the dumping means dumping the residual water, to limit the amount of liquid water removed to that which can be removed by evaporation.