System and method for producing clear ice

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10126034-B2
Application number	US-201615356497-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2016
Priority date	Nov 18, 2015
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

A system for producing clear ice uses sensor data on a freezing chamber condition to optimize production of clear ice. The sensor data provides information such as a clearness degree of ice, a freezing chamber temperature, and an ice maker temperature. The freezing chamber condition is predicated using the received sensor data. The freezing chamber condition is adjusted according to the received sensor data and the predicted freezing chamber condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for producing clear ice, the system comprising:
one or more sensors configured to detect a clearness degree of ice;
one or more control systems configured to control the clearness degree of ice; and
a controller configured to:
process data received from the one or more sensors in order to generate a plurality of predicted clearness degrees of ice;
check a correction stored in a database when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from a predefined range; and
control the one or more control systems according to the checked correction.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more control systems comprise at least one of an ice-maker heater system or an agitator.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control the ice-maker heater system to increase a temperature in a freezing chamber in order to remove bubbles in ice when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from the predefined range.

4. The system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control the agitator to agitate water for producing ice when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from the predefined range.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predefined range is calculated using data provided by the one or more sensors for detecting the clearness degree of ice.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of predicted freezing chamber conditions is generated using data received for a preset time period.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the plurality of predict freezing chamber conditions include a temperature or a turbidity of the system.

8. A method of producing clear ice, the method comprising:
detecting a clearness degree of ice using one or more sensors;
processing data received from the one or more sensors in order to generate a predicted clearness degree of ice;
checking a correction stored in a database when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from a predefined range; and
controlling one or more control systems according to the checked correction to adjust a plurality of freezing chamber conditions.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the one or more control systems comprise at least one of an ice-maker heater system or an agitator.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising controlling the ice-maker heater system to increase a temperature in a freezing chamber in order to remove bubbles in ice when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from the predefined range.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising controlling the agitator to agitate water for producing ice when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from the predefined range.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the predefined range is calculated using data provided by the one or more sensors for detecting the clearness degree of ice.

13. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein a plurality of predicted freezing chamber conditions is generated using data received for a preset time period.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the plurality of predict freezing chamber conditions include a temperature or a turbidity of the system.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program, the computer program comprising computer readable program code that when executed causes at least one processing device to:
detect a clearness degree of ice using one or more sensors; and
process data received from the one or more sensors in order to generate a predicted clearness degree of ice;
check a correction stored in a database when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from a predefined range; and
control one or more control systems according to the checked correction to adjust a plurality of freezing chamber conditions.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the one or more control systems comprise at least one of an ice-maker heater system or an agitator.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the computer readable program code that when executed causes at least one processing device to control the ice-maker heater system to increase a temperature in a freezing chamber in order to remove bubbles in ice when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from the predefined range.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the computer readable program code that when executed causes at least one processing device to control the agitator to agitate water for producing ice when the predicted clearness degree of ice deviates from the predefined range.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the predefined range is calculated using data provided by the one or more sensors for detecting the clearness degree of ice.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 15 , wherein a plurality of predicted freezing chamber conditions is generated using data received for a preset time period.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Cronin John E
• Huffines Christopher Michael

Classifications

• F25C1/18 Primary

  of a particular transparency or translucency, e.g. by injecting air · CPC title

• F25C2700/12

  Temperature of ice trays · CPC title

• F25C1/20

  by agitation · CPC title

• F25C2500/04

  Calculation of parameters · CPC title

• F25C2700/00

  Sensing or detecting of parameters; Sensors therefor · CPC title