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:
Mar. 04, 1986
Filed:
Jan. 17, 1985
Norman H Chiu, Louisville, KY (US);
David A Schneider, Louisville, KY (US);
General Electric, Louisville, KY (US);
Abstract
Apparatus and a method for detecting fault conditions in an automatic icemaker system of the type having an ice forming mold and an electric motor and mold heater which are energized during ice cube ejection cycles. A current sensor monitors current in the icemaker motor and mold heater circuit and generates an 'on' signal when current is detected. A microprocessor measures the duration of the 'on' signals and the elapsed time between successive of 'on' signals. A diagnostic code is displayed signifying a fault condition in the icemaker circuit when the time between successive 'on' signals is less than the normal time required to freeze cubes or the duration of an 'on' cycle exceeds the normal ejection time. In a preferred embodiment the microprocessor counts each successive occurrence of a shorter than normal time between ejection cycles and displays the diagnostic code after the detection of three successive shorter than normal times between cycles, so as to avoid unnecessarily alerting the user to isolated short fill occurrences.