Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

General Electric Company

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (shanghai) Corporation

Jin Wu

Bo Yan

Yayu Song

Michael Hao Zhou

Roy Teng

Jason Jiang

Eddy Zhou

Brent Alden Junge

Justin Tyler Brown

Hao Wu

Cheng Yang

Ping Wang

Qianmao Zhou

Jun Teng

Lixin Zhou

Andrew Schiller

Xiaoyang Jiang

Wenhua Que

Yu Lu

Robert Charles Pfaffinger, Jr

Adam Pusateri

Zhijun Shi

Shi Zhijun

Seung Hyuk Lee

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 bucket for a refrigerator appliance, includes a bucket body; an auger provided inside the bucket and including an auger shaft rotatable about a first shaft axis and a collet at a first end of the auger shaft and including an axially beveled surface formed circumferentially around the auger shaft; and an agitator provided in the bucket in mechanical communication with the auger, the agitator including an agitator shaft rotatable about a second shaft axis non-parallel to the first shaft axis, a plurality of first tines extending radially from the agitator shaft within the bucket body to engage ice therein, and a projection that extends perpendicularly from the agitator shaft opposite the plurality of tines. The projection engages with the axially beveled surface to oscillate the agitator.

Ice bucket agitator and refrigerator appliance

A hydraulic damper for an electrical switching apparatus includes a damper enclosure including an inner wall. Also included is a chamber defined by the inner wall, the chamber having a first end, a second end. Further included is a tapered portion of the chamber extending from a tapered portion initial end to a tapered portion terminal end, the tapered portion angled inwardly in a direction from the first end toward the second end of the chamber. Yet further included is a press rod at least partially disposed within the chamber. Also included is a piston having a piston outer surface and disposed within the chamber and having an initial position adjustable in a longitudinal direction of the chamber. Further included is a gap defined by the piston outer surface and the inner wall, wherein adjustment of the piston in the longitudinal direction adjusts the gap.

Hydraulic damper for electrical switching apparatus and method

A method for making contact landing pad structures in a semiconductor integrated circuit device includes forming an isolation region and forming active regions in the semiconductor substrate. The active regions are separated by the isolation region, and each of the active regions includes one or more contact regions. The method includes forming a raised structure overlying the isolation region and disposed between a first and second contact regions. The method includes depositing a cap layer and forming an interlayer dielectric layer overlying the cap layer. The method includes depositing a photoresist layer overlying the interlayer dielectric layer and uses a mask pattern to selectively remove a portion of the photoresist layer to form a line type opening, which exposes a portion of the interlayer dielectric layer overlying at least the first and second contact regions. The method deposits a conductive fill material and performs a planarization process to form multiple conductive landing contact pads.

Method and system for continuous line-type landing polysilicon contact (LPC) structures

Growing community of inventors

Shanghai, China

Jin Wu