Whirlpool Corporation

Kevin J Cox

Andrew Michael Tenbarge

Gregory Gene Hortin

Yen-Hsi Lin

Cristian A Soto

Xi Shan

Daniel L O'Malley

Linc E Cholke

Kenneth W Reick

Clayton A Maas

Thomas J Ring

John S Letchinger

Lynne F Hunter

Gustavo Frattini

Rafael Dutra Nunes

Subrata Shannigrahi

Gregory Edward Bauman

Ryan Daniel Kannegieter

A method for manufacturing an insulation member for a vacuum insulated structure includes the steps of forming a bag that has an opening using a single layer porous fabric, filling the bag with insulation materials via the opening, sealing the opening of the bag, and vibrating the bag to evenly distribute, de-aerate, and densify the insulation material to form a pillow. The method further includes the steps of compressing the pillow within a mold to define a compressed insulation member, and evacuating the compressed insulation member within an insulated structure to define a vacuum insulated structure.

Method for manufacturing a compressed insulation panel for a vacuum insulated structure

A method for manufacturing an insulation member for an appliance includes the steps of forming a porous bag with a woven fabric, filling the porous bag with insulation materials, heat sealing the porous bag, vibrating the porous bag to define a pillow, compressing the pillow within a mold to define a compressed insulation member, and evacuating the compressed insulation member within an insulated structure to define a vacuum insulated structure.

An ice maker is provided that includes a tray having recesses that can include ice-phobic surfaces. The ice-phobic surfaces may include ice-phobic coatings, textured metal surfaces, hydrophobic coatings or other surfaces configured to repel water and ice. The tray can be formed from metal material and may exhibit a fatigue limit greater than about 150 Megapascals (MPa) at 10cycles. The ice maker further includes a frame body coupled to the tray, and a driving body that is rotatably coupled to the tray. The driving body is further adapted to rotate the tray in a clockwise and/or counter-clockwise cycle such that the tray presses against the frame body in a manner that flexes the tray to dislodge ice pieces formed in the recesses of the tray.

Heater-less ice maker assembly with a twistable tray

An ice maker assembly is provided that includes a tray having a plurality of ice-phobic recesses. The recesses may possess a total water volume of 70 cc or greater. The tray comprises metal material and can be formed with a substantially uniform strain distribution. The ice maker further includes a frame body coupled to the tray, a driving body that is rotatably coupled to the ice-forming tray, and a processor that is operatively coupled to the driving body. The processor controls the driving body to rotate the tray in a manner that flexes the tray to dislodge ice pieces formed in the recesses.

Bottle

Growing community of inventors

Berrien Springs, MI, United States of America

Kevin J Cox