Door mounted chilled component with direct cooling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022299250-A1
Application number	US-202117207364-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 19, 2021
Priority date	Mar 19, 2021
Publication date	Sep 22, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A refrigerator includes: a fresh food compartment with an interior wall, an opening, and a door movable between a closed position and an open position for accessing the fresh food compartment via the opening; a cold plate mounted in the interior wall with an evaporator in contact with the cold plate; a chilled component movably mounted on the door adjacent the cold plate, the chilled component includes a heat transfer plate on a side of the chilled component for thermal communication with the cold plate, and a biaser moves the chilled component into thermal communication with the cold plate when the door is closed. The chilled component may be: an ice maker, a liquid/drink cooler, a vegetable cooler, a meat cooler, and/or a wine cooler. The biaser may include the following for moving the chilled component: a spring, an inclined plane, a pulley and weights, and/or a hydraulic piston.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A refrigerator comprising:
a fresh food compartment with an interior wall, an opening, and a door movable between a closed position and an open position for accessing the fresh food compartment via the opening; a cold plate mounted in the interior wall with an evaporator in contact with the cold plate; a chilled component movably mounted on the door adjacent the cold plate, the chilled component includes a heat transfer plate on a side of the chilled component for thermal communication with the cold plate, and a biaser moves the chilled component into thermal communication with the cold plate when the door is closed.

2 . The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the chilled component is: an ice maker, a liquid/drink cooler, a vegetable cooler, a meat cooler, and/or a wine cooler.

3 . The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the biaser includes: a spring for moving the chilled component into the cold plate, an inclined plane for moving the chilled component into the cold plate, a pulley and weights for moving the chilled component into the cold plate, and/or a hydraulic piston for moving the chilled component into the cold plate.

4 . The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the evaporator is a coil evaporator or a plate evaporator.

5 . The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the chilled component includes a fan for circulating air within the chilled component.

6 . A refrigerator comprising:
a fresh food compartment with a side wall, an opening, and a door movable between a closed position and an open position for accessing the fresh food compartment; a cold plate mounted in the side wall with an evaporator in contact with the cold plate; an ice maker mounted on the door adjacent the cold plate, the ice maker includes
a heat transfer plate on a side of the ice maker for thermal communication with the cold plate,
a metal ice cube mold tray mounted on a horizontal axis,
a plurality of metal heat transfer ribs located below the metal ice cube mold tray and in thermal communication with the metal ice cube mold tray and the heat transfer plate,
a fan for circulating air within the ice cube maker,
an ice cube bucket located below the metal ice cube mold tray, and
a spring mechanism for horizontally sliding the ice cube maker into thermal communication with the cold plate when the door is closed.

Assignees

• Electrolux Home Prod Inc

Inventors

• Shi Zhuochen
• Candeo Marcelo C
• Mccollough Thomas

Classifications

• F25D11/02 Primary

  with cooling compartments at different temperatures · CPC title

• F25D23/028

  Details · CPC title

• F25D19/006 Primary

  Thermal coupling structure or interface · CPC title

• F25D23/04

  with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners · CPC title

• F25B39/022

  with plate-like or laminated elements · CPC title