Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

Jason Jiang

Bo Yan

Michael Hao Zhou

Yayu Song

Roy Teng

Eddy Zhou

Jin Wu

Brent Alden Junge

Justin Tyler Brown

Andrew Schiller

Daqing Gong

Adam Pusateri

Zhijun Shi

Shi Zhijun

An icemaker includes a casing that receives water from a water supply and is in thermal communication with an evaporator of a sealed system that chills the casing to freeze the water. An auger is mounted within the interior volume and is rotatable to scrape the ice from the casing and urge it through an extruder to form nugget ice. A BLDC motor is mechanically coupled to the auger to selectively rotate the auger. A controller determines a target speed of the auger based at least in part on the ice production parameter, and operates the BLDC motor to rotate the auger at the target speed. The BLDC motor with the speed-closed control loop can provide the constant speed and enough torque to prevent the ice maker from freezing. The controller can adjust the PWM and the voltage will be adjusted slightly, then the torque will be adjusted accordingly.

Method of operating a BLDC motor in an ice making appliance

An ice making assembly includes a mold body defining an ice-making cavity. An evaporator is coupled to the mold body. The evaporator includes a cap positioned on the mold body such that an open end of the cap is positioned at the mold body. An inlet tube is mounted to the cap. An outlet tube is also mounted to the cap. An evaporation chamber is formed between the cap and the mold body. The inlet tube is configured for directing a flow of refrigerant into the evaporation chamber, and the outlet tube configured for directing the flow of refrigerant out of the evaporation chamber.

Evaporator for an ice making assembly

An ice making assembly includes an ice mold and a pump assembly for urging an ice-building spray into the ice mold to form an ice billet. A controller operates the pump assembly to provide the ice-building spray at a first flow rate until the ice billet reaches a predetermined thickness and then operates the pump assembly to provide the ice-building spray at a second flow rate that is less than the first flow rate.

Flow rate control method for an ice making assembly

An ice maker may include an assembly frame, an ice tray, a cam, a splash cover, and a biasing spring. The ice tray may define a cell for receipt of water for freezing and may be rotatably attached to the assembly frame to rotate about an axial direction. The cam may be attached to the ice tray and extend along the axial direction. The splash cover may be slidably attached to the assembly frame in mechanical communication with the cam to move between an elevated position and a lowered position according to a rotational position of the cam. The biasing spring may be disposed on the splash cover and urge the splash cover to the lowered position.

Ice maker having a splash cover

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Shanghai, China

Jason Jiang