Refrigerator with wet ice storage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10415865-B2
Application number	US-201213646901-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2012
Priority date	Oct 8, 2012
Publication date	Sep 17, 2019
Grant date	Sep 17, 2019

Abstract

A refrigerator may include a refrigerator cabinet and at least one compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet, an ice maker for making wet ice disposed within the refrigerator cabinet, a bucket for storing the ice, the bucket positioned to receive the wet ice from the ice maker, and a drain in the bucket for draining water from the bucket. A method of making ice in a refrigerator includes making ice using an ice maker of the refrigerator, conveying the ice from the ice maker to a bucket having a drain, maintaining the ice in the bucket at a temperature above freezing to allow the ice to melt to water, and draining the water from the bucket.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a refrigerator cabinet;
at least one compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet;
a door for providing access to the cabinet disposed on the cabinet and having an ice dispenser operable with the door in a closed position;
an ice maker for making ice disposed within the refrigerator cabinet;
a bucket for storing the ice, the bucket positioned to receive the ice from the ice maker;
an opening at the bottom of the bucket;
a chute disposed below the opening with a first end disposed at the opening and a second end disposed at the ice dispenser; and
a drain connected to the chute and extending downwardly from the opening for draining water from the bucket.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the bucket is positioned below the ice maker.

3. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the bucket is stored on a door of the refrigerator cabinet.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the bucket is positioned at a location in the refrigerator cabinet having a temperature above a freezing point of water.

5. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the at least one compartment comprises a fresh food compartment and the bucket is positioned within the fresh food compartment for storing wet ice at a temperature above a freezing point of water.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the ice maker is positioned within a door of the at least one compartment.

7. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the ice maker is positioned within a fresh food compartment.

8. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the at least one compartment comprises a freezer compartment and wherein the bucket is positioned within a compartment held above a freezing point of water disposed within the freezer compartment.

9. The refrigerator of claim 8 wherein the above zero temperature compartment is maintained at a temperature above zero using at least one of warm air ducted into the compartment held above a freezing point of water, a heater, conduction of heat, a heat pipe and heat loops, and a fluid heat exchanger.

10. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the bucket is maintained at a temperature above a freezing point of water using heat loss occurring without a heater.

11. The refrigerator of claim 1 further comprising an evaporator, the drain fluidly connected to the evaporator.

12. The refrigerator of claim 11 wherein the evaporator is in a machine compartment of the refrigerator.

13. A method of making wet ice in a refrigerator, the method comprising:
making ice using an ice maker of the refrigerator;
conveying the ice from the ice maker to a bucket having a drain;
maintaining the ice in the bucket at a temperature above a freezing point of water to allow the ice to melt to water;
passing the ice and the water through an opening at the bottom of the bucket into a chute extending from the bottom of the bucket;
guiding the ice down the chute and to a dispenser disposed on a door of the refrigerator; and
draining the water from the chute through an opening within the chute and through a conduit extending from the opening within the chute.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the water is drained from the chute and through the conduit to an evaporator of the refrigerator.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the bucket is positioned within a fresh food compartment of the refrigerator for storing the wet ice at a temperature above freezing.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the bucket is positioned at a door of the fresh food compartment.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the bucket is positioned within an above zero temperature compartment disposed within a freezer compartment of the refrigerator.

18. A refrigerator comprising:
a refrigerator cabinet having a door with an ice dispenser;
an ice maker for making ice disposed within the refrigerator cabinet;
a bucket for storing the ice within the refrigerator cabinet;
an opening in the bucket for draining water and dispensing ice;
a chute connected to and extending downwardly from the bucket at an upper end and terminating at the dispenser at a lower end to dispense ice and remove the water through the opening of the bucket;
a drain located on the chute between the bucket and the dispenser and in fluid connection with the chute; and
wherein the refrigerator is configured to maintain the ice in the bucket at a temperature above freezing to allow the ice to melt to water.

19. The refrigerator of claim 18 further comprising a fresh food compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet and wherein the ice maker and the bucket are disposed within the fresh food compartment.

20. The refrigerator of claim 19 further comprising a freezer compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet and a compartment held above a freezing point of water disposed within the freezer compartment and wherein the bucket is disposed within the above zero temperature compartment disposed within the freezer compartment.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Boarman Patrick J
• Culley Brian K
• Hortin Gregory Gene
• Thomas Mark E

Classifications

• F25D23/12

  Arrangements of compartments additional to cooling compartments; Combinations of refrigerators with other equipment, e.g. stove · CPC title

• F25C5/182 Primary

  Ice bins therefor · CPC title

• F25C5/22

  particularly adapted for household refrigerators · CPC title

• F25C1/18 Primary

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