Electrolux Home Products, Inc.

Kx Technologies LLC

Electrolux Consumer Products, Inc.

3m Innovative Properties Company

Te Connectivity Corporation

Te Connectivity Soultions Gmbh

Electrolux Home Care Products, Inc.

Thomas W McCollough

Marcello Correa Machado

Raony Barrios

Robert A Astle

Ramesh Subramanian

William L Small

Willard Grant

Christopher Stephan Rousey

William Thomas Anniss, Iii

George Nicholas Lauri, Iii

Nilton Carlos Bertolini

Zhuochen Shi

Justin Kane Morgan

Jorge Carlos Montalvo Sanchez

Marcelo C Candeo

Travis McMahan

Jose Carlos Trejo Olvera

Chong Hun Yi

Brian Keith Weaver

William James Moyer, Ii

Richard Benjamin Emenheiser

Gary Altemose

Ronald Skovira

Stephen P Huda

Michael J Sherman

Brent Aaron Curtis

Josh Hanson

Steven J Haehn

Erik Robert Klimpel

Benjamin Paul Shrader

Cornel Comsa

Dennis Carl Hansen

Jeremy Carlton Bowyer

Nathan Cho

Jorge Montalvo

Will Anniss

George Lauri

Dennis Schenk

David R Ducharme

Russell E Watts

Matthew Elexy Edge

Lokesha Kodigenahalli Chinnappa Reddy

Keith Phelan

David L Hall

Matt R Branscomb

Jeremy A Schmoll

Jeffrey M Maki

Xiaoyong Fu

Jon P Kragness

Aaron W Arvia

Shawn Boiter

Jose Macias

James T Mchan

Ken Brandt

Lisa French

Gerald Maxie

Edward M Young

Russell Watts

Matthias Bauer

Georg Spiessl

Mark Holle

Kwashun S Jackson

Travis Mcmahan

An ice maker apparatus includes an ice mold having first and second ends spaced apart in a longitudinal direction of the ice mold via opposite, first and second lateral sides. A first recess is formed in the first lateral side of the ice mold. A first thermally insulative cover has a first depression formed therein and is removably attached to the ice mold and disposed adjacent to the first lateral side thereof. The first recess and the first depression collectively define a first passage therebetween. An ice maker evaporator is provided and has a first leg. The first leg is disposed within the first passage.

Direct cooling ice maker

A mechanical interlock system for a fluid filter is described herein. The mechanical interlock system may include a filter cartridge and a filter cartridge manifold for receiving the filter cartridge. The filter cartridge may include a filter body, a fluid inlet and outlet, and an integrated locking head. The integrated locking head may include a key extending radially outward from the integrated locking head and channels on an outer surface of the integrated locking head. The filter cartridge manifold may include an insertion and extraction tube for receiving the key and latching mechanisms. The insertion and extraction tube may include a primary keyway and a secondary keyway. The key, keyways, latching mechanisms, and/or channels may interact to maintain alignment of the filter cartridge during insertion of the filter cartridge into an appliance including the filter cartridge manifold.

Mechanical interlock system for a filter

Filter cartridge

An ice maker () including an ice maker frame having an air inlet provided at a first end thereof. An ice tray () is rotatably secured to the ice maker frame and configured to form ice pieces therein. An air handler () includes an outlet diffuser having a central body defined by a first wall—and a radially spaced apart second wall, wherein a plurality of radially extending fins are disposed between the first and second walls. Each of the fins is spaced apart, one from the other, along an outer peripheral surface of the first wall. In an installed position, the outlet diffuser is disposed directly adjacent the air inlet at the first end of the ice maker frame. A method is provided for synchronizing an ice making cycle of an ice making unit and a defrost cycle of an evaporator.

Ice maker for a refrigerator and method for synchronizing an implementation of an ice making cycle and an implementation of a defrost cycle of an evaporator in a refrigerator

An ice bin for a refrigerator appliance, the ice bin includes a storage body. An auger, rotatably driven by an auger motor, extends within the storage body and has first and second ends. The auger is rotatably driven about a first axis. A first crusher roller is disposed at the second end of the auger and is coupled thereto to rotate together with the auger about the first axis. A second crusher roller is disposed on an axle extending along a second axis, the second crusher roller is freely rotatable about the axle. The second crusher roller is movable between a first position and a second position. When the second crusher roller is in the first position, the first crusher roller and the second crusher roller are spatially arranged and configured to grind the produced ice pieces into crushed ice.

Ice bin including an ice conveyance and crusher assembly

A refrigerator appliance includes an ice packer assembly including an enclosure with a rotatable door, and an ice mold slidably supported by the enclosure. The ice mold is configured to translate between a first position and a second position. The door is configured to rotate from a first orientation to a second orientation as the ice mold is translated from the first position to the second position. The enclosure defines a pass-through opening therethrough. The door opens up the pass-through opening when rotated to the first orientation, and closes the pass-through opening and defines a platform for receiving crushed ice thereon when it is rotated to the second orientation.

Appliance with ice packer

A filter housing assembly for fluid filtration which may be attached to, and removed from, a filter base by a push-actuated release. The filter housing assembly has a top portion with an ingress port and egress port extending therefrom, and a protrusion extending from the filter housing longitudinally axial center. The ingress and egress port are formed in an hourglass shape. A filter key having a base with a groove for mating with said projection, at least one finger extending from said base, and an electronic circuit component housing attached thereto for receiving a printed circuit board, is connected to the filter housing top portion by mating said top portion protrusion with the filter key groove. Both of said ingress and egress port have at least one cavity for the passage of fluid therethrough, where each cavity is exposed in a direction facing away from the printed circuit board.

Push filter with floating key lock

A refrigeration appliance includes a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment. An ice maker is disposed within the fresh food compartment for freezing water into ice pieces. The ice maker includes a removable ice bin for storing the ice pieces produced by the ice maker. A rotatable auger is positioned within the removable ice bin and configured to drive the ice pieces out of the removable ice bin via a driving force applied in a first direction. A motor is configured to rotate the auger. A drive bar is coupled to the motor and is configured to apply a resisting force to the removable ice bin along a second direction generally opposed to the first direction sufficient to counteract the driving force, wherein the resisting force is less than a removal force applied by a user to remove the removable ice bin from the ice maker.

Drive bar for ice bin of ice maker

A filter base for receiving a complementary mating filter housing assembly. The filter base includes a base platform having fluid ingress and egress stanchions, and a wire harness assembly including a connector housing integral with or connected to the base platform for establishing an electrical connection between the filter base and the filter housing assembly. The wire harness assembly includes conductors extending between first and second connectors, with one or more resilient contacts provided on the second connector. The connector housing has an upper surface and an oppositely facing lower surface and is dimensioned to receive a first end portion of the one or more contacts. The contacts are flexible from a first position to a second position when a mating portion of the one or more contacts engages a mating connection surface of the filter housing assembly. The mating connection surface may be a circuit pad of a printed circuit board, wherein the contact mating portions are configured to be positioned in mechanical and electrical engagement with the circuit pads when the filter housing assembly is received within the filter base.

Filter base for electronic connection to mating filter housing assembly

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.

Door mounted chilled component with direct cooling

A wire harness assembly including a first connector, a second connector, and conductors extending between the first connector and the second connector. Contacts are provided on the second connector. The contacts have termination sections which are mounted on the second connector, compliant sections which extend from the termination sections, and substrate engagement sections which extend from the compliant sections. The substrate engagement sections have curved contact sections which are configured to be positioned in mechanical and electrical engagement with circuit pads of a mating printed circuit board. Embossments are provided on the curved contact sections to provide additional strength and stability to the curved contact sections.

Electrical connector and wire harness assembly with compression contacts

An ice maker and method of operation for a refrigeration appliance, the ice maker including an ice maker frame having an air inlet provided at a first end thereof. An ice tray is rotatably secured to the ice maker frame and configured to form ice pieces therein. An air handler includes an outlet diffuser having a central body defined by a first wall- and a radially spaced apart second wall, wherein a plurality of radially extending fins are disposed between the first and second walls. Each of the fins is spaced apart, one from the other, along an outer peripheral surface of the first wall. In an installed position, the outlet diffuser is disposed directly adjacent the air inlet at the first end of the ice maker frame. A method is provided for synchronizing an ice making cycle of an ice making unit and a defrost cycle of an evaporator.

Growing community of inventors

Anderson, SC, United States of America

Thomas W McCollough