The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 13, 2019
Filed:
Aug. 19, 2015
Marquardt Mechatronik Gmbh, Rietheim-Weilheim, DE;
David J. Fassett, Cazenovia, NY (US);
Tony Zhang, Cazenovia, NY (US);
Marquardt GmbH, Rietheim-Weilheim, DE;
Abstract
An ice level sensor in an appliance that includes an ice storage housing and an ice maker. The housing receives ice from the ice maker. The ice level sensor includes a control circuit and one or more electrode arrays capable of detecting ice in the housing. The electrode arrays each contain one or more sense electrodes, and the control circuit detects ice in the housing based on a measurement of capacitance of the sense electrode(s). When the sensor detects that ice in the housing has reached a threshold level, the sensor can stop the ice maker from depositing more ice into the housing, to prevent overflow. The ice level sensor detects that ice has reached a threshold level by detecting changes in capacitance of a sense electrode or by detecting that the capacitance of a sense electrode reached a predetermined value.