Abstract: Method and apparatus for ice maker systems are disclosed. One exemplary method comprises the steps of: heating an ice mold body to separate ice formed in the ice mold body from the ice mold body; releasing the separated ice from the ice mold body; and contacting at least a portion of the ice mold body with a heat transfer fluid to cool the ice mold body.

Abstract: An ice maker and a refrigerator having the same include an ice making container which is maintained at a temperature higher than a freezing point of water. Ace core rods having the temperature lower than the freezing point are inserted into the ice making container to cause water in the container to freeze. Accordingly, water at the periphery of the ice making container remains liquid which the water surrounding the ice core rods freezes. As a result, air bubbles generated when the ice is made can be discharged from the liquid portions of the water at the outer edges of the container. This results in ice without trapped air bubbles, which allows excellent transparent ice pieces to be formed. In some embodiments, the exterior surfaces of the ice making container are maintained at a temperature lower than the freezing point of water, and thawing rods maintained at the temperature higher than the freezing point of water are inserted into the center portions of the ice making container.

Abstract: An ice making apparatus which includes an ice making tray to produce ice and an ejector rotatably disposed at the ice making tray, including a plurality of ice making cells formed in the ice making tray, wherein each of the ice making cells includes a freezing portion in which ice is produced and a buffering portion which is formed as a specified space at one side of the freezing portion to prevent water of the freezing portion from flowing out of the ice making tray. Accordingly, even in a refrigerator having the ice making apparatus installed on a rear surface of the door, the ice making apparatus can permanently provide an effect of preventing water inside the ice making cells from flowing out of the ice making tray due to an opening/closing operation of the door.

Abstract: A system and method for making ice is provided. The system may include a tray for containing a water to be used for making ice, and a refrigerant pipe positioned so that at least a portion thereof is submerged in the water contained in the tray. A refrigerant of relatively low temperature flows through the refrigerant pipe to cause ice to be formed on surfaces thereof. A heater may be provided on the refrigerant pipe and operated during an ice-releasing process. This system and method may eliminate the need for an additional duct to supply cold air to the ice maker, thus simplifying a manufacturing process and reducing manufacturing costs.

Abstract: A system and method for making ice is provided. The system for making ice may include a tray for containing water to be used for making ice, and an ice-making pipe positioned so that at least a portion thereof is submerged in the water contained in the tray. A refrigerant of relatively low temperature flows through the ice-making pipe during an ice-making process, while a refrigerant of relatively high temperature flows through the ice-making pipe during an ice-releasing process.

Abstract: An ice tray assembly for a refrigerator is provided. The ice tray assembly is installed in a door of a refrigerator. The ice tray assembly allows water to be supplied from a water container to an ice tray only when the door is closed. To this end, the ice tray assembly includes a valve for opening and closing a channel through which the water is supplied from the water container to the ice tray which is operated in cooperation with the operation of the door. An inner space of a refrigerator main body and corresponding storage space is increased since the ice tray assembly is installed in the door. Further, because water fed from the water container to the ice tray is controlled according to the operation of the door, water is not spilt from the ice tray when the door is operated.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an ice maker and a method for making ice, and more particularly, to an ice maker provided in a refrigerating chamber of a refrigerator and an ice making method. According to an ice maker and an ice making method, there is no need for forming an additional duct to supply cold air to the ice maker in order to make ice, whereby it is possible to simplify a manufacturing process of a refrigerator and to reduce manufacturing costs of a refrigerator. In addition, since a portion of refrigerant used in a refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator is used for making ice, no additional energy is required for making ice, thereby reducing energy consumption.

Abstract: An ice making assembly for a refrigerator and a method for controlling the ice making assembly are provided. The ice making assembly and the method of controlling the ice making assembly provides a constant amount of water supply for each ice making cycle regardless of environmental conditions such as the varying water supply pressure of different installation locations. Furthermore, overflowing can be prevented during water supply with the use of a capacitance water level sensor.

Abstract: An ice-making device for a refrigerator, which is designed to separate ice through a simple process is provided. The ice-making device for a refrigerator includes an ice tray defining an ice-making space, an ice core member that is partly received in the ice-making space to make ice at an end thereof, a driving unit moving and rotating at least one of the ice tray and the ice core member, and a power transmission unit for transferring power from the driving unit to the ice core member. The ice on the ice core member starts being separated in a state where the ice is spaced apart from an outer surface of the ice tray.

Abstract: An ice-making device designed to make and separate ice from an ice tray through a simple process is provided. The ice-making device includes an ice tray defining an ice-making space, a freezing core that is partly received in the ice-making space to make ice at an end thereof, a driving unit moving and rotating the freezing core, and a power transmission unit for transferring power from the driving unit to the freezing core. The power transmission unit including a cam unit rotatably connected to the driving unit and a moving member that moves in vertical and rotational direction by a driving force of a motor transferred by the cam unit.

Abstract: An ice maker for a domestic appliance comprises an ice tray, a water feed line which can be used to fill the ice tray with water, a water filter which is arranged in the water feed line such that it can be replaced, and a monitoring unit for calculating a value which is representative of the degree of wear of the filter. The monitoring unit has means for changing the representative value by a first fixed step width each time the ice tray is filled.

Abstract: An ice making apparatus includes a tray made of a thermally conductive material which has two opposite sides. Each side has a plurality of cavities for receiving water, when facing up. The water is frozen to form ice units conforming to the shape of the cavities. The cavities are shaped to have a smooth contour and are coated with a non-wetting material. After the water in the cavities in the side of the tray that is facing up is frozen, the tray is rotated such that the ice units are dislodged and are collected in a receptacle. The other side of the tray is now filled with water; the heat of the water flows thermally to the opposite side. An embodiment also includes a mechanically driven finger bar with prongs to dislodge the ice.

Abstract: An icemaker assembly includes an ice tray having at least one ice forming compartment. The ice forming compartment includes (i) a first planar lateral side surface, (ii) a second planar lateral side surface, and (iii) an arcuate bottom surface between the first lateral side surface and the second lateral side surface. The first planar surface and the second planar surface are positioned relative to each other so that (i) the first planar lateral side surface is spaced apart from the second planar lateral side surface at a downstream end of the ice forming compartment by a distance D1 relative to the ejection path of movement, (ii) the first planar lateral side surface is spaced apart from the second planar lateral side surface at an upstream end of the ice forming compartment by a distance D2 relative to the ejection path of movement, and (iii) D2 is greater than D1.

Abstract: A refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber, a door coupled to the refrigerator main body to be opened or closed, a cool air supplying device which generates cool air, an ice maker including an ice making tray having ice making cells to produce ice and a cool air guide member installed in the door, coupled to the ice making tray and having a cool air line that guides the cool air supplied from the cool air supplying device to flow around the ice making tray. The cool air line disposed on the cool air guide member to supply the ice making tray guides the cool air supplied from the cool air supplying device to move along the surrounding of the ice making tray, thereby uniformly cooling down the ice making tray.

Abstract: An automatic icemaker for a refrigerator is disclosed. The automatic icemaker includes an ice mold body having a front side, a back side, and a plurality of ice chambers for containing water therein for freezing into ice cubes, each ice chamber having a top opening having a frontal portion adjacent the front side; an ice stripper disposed along the front side and extending over the ice chambers, the ice stripper being configured to completely cover the frontal portion of the top opening of each ice chamber; and an ice rake disposed between the front side and the back side, the ice rake including a rotatable shaft, and a plurality of rake fingers extending outward from the shaft for moving ice cubes out of the respective ice chambers and onto the ice stripper.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for controlling the hybrid drive of a motor vehicle having the following components: internal combustion engine (VKM), manual transmission (SG), at least one electrical machine (Emi), at least one clutch (Kj) and an energy storage device (ES), and at least one driven axle (HA; VA) are intended to provide maximum efficiency and service life of the components. To this end, a decision is made about which operating modes (AMK) are possible on the basis of a driver input (FW) and operating state, a division is made about which gears (Gj) are available for the possible operating modes (AMK), so that a larger number of modes (AMGK) are available for selection, operating points which correspond to the driver input are determined for all these modes (AMGK), taking into account the operating state and system state (SZA), the modes (AMGK) are assessed and the mode (AMGK*) which is assessed as being most expedient is selected.

Abstract: An ice making device may include an ice tray, a drive mechanism for moving the ice tray to a water-supply position and to an ice making position, a guide plate formed with a guide groove for guiding the ice tray to the water-supply position and to the ice making position, an engaging projection provided on the ice tray and engaged with the guide groove, a crank which is formed with a drive groove with which the engaging projection is engaged and which is connected with the drive mechanism for moving the ice tray, a heater which is mounted on the ice tray, and a connecting wire which is connected to the heater. The engaging projection is an engaging tube and is structured of two engaging tube pieces which are divided by a plane in an axial direction, and the connecting wire is drawn out by passing through an inner side of the engaging tube.

Abstract: An ice maker comprises a tray (1), which has at least one compartment (4) for molding a piece of ice, a frame (15), in which the tray is mounted to be pivotable about an axis (14), and a motor (22) for driving the pivot movement of the tray, which motor is mounted at the frame (15) to be adjacent to the tray (1) and transversely offset relative to the axis.

Abstract: The ice making apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of ice trays are arranged in the back-and-forth and up-and-down directions, and that the ice tray arranged in the front row and the ice tray arranged in the rear row are rotated to face each other.

Abstract: According to one aspect, there is provided a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber formed at a relatively upper portion of a refrigerator body and a freezing chamber formed at a relatively lower portion of the refrigerator body, which comprises an ice-making chamber which is partitioned in the refrigerating chamber by insulating walls and includes an icemaker for making ice and an ice storage for storing the ice made in the icemaker. The temperature in the refrigerating chamber can be accurately controlled, the loss of cold air can be minimized and the structures for supplying water into the icemaker and the dispenser can be simplified.

Abstract: A heat exchanger for an ice machine has the form of a cylinder. In some embodiments, the cylinder is made from an extrusion of a metal such as an aluminum alloy. The heat exchanger includes inner and outer cylindrical walls and one or more refrigeration passages positioned between the inner and outer walls. The inner and outer walls are separated from each other by connecting structures defining the refrigeration passages. The heat exchanger can be extruded as a rectangular panel and subsequently formed into a cylindrical form. Alternatively, the heat exchanger can be extruded as a cylinder, or as an arcuate cylindrical segment in which several of such segments are subsequently joined together (as by welding) into a cylinder. Ice machines that feature ice formation on both the inner and outer walls of the cylinder are also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a mold body with at least one cavity configured and dimensioned to receive water to be frozen into ice; and a rod, the rod in turn comprising at least one of a heat source and a heat sink. The mold body is mounted to the rod such that the rod functions as an axis of rotation for the mold body. A refrigerator using the apparatus is also disclosed.

Abstract: An ice maker and a controlling method thereof are provided. The system and method may prevent the overflow or splashing of water or thin ice out of an ice tray during the supply of water or when the ice maker is shaken by an external force. The ice maker may include an ice tray, and an ice tray cover that covers an open portion of the ice tray. The cover may include an opening through which water may be supplied to the ice tray, and through which ice may be discharged from the ice tray. The cover may move together with the tray, or may move separately from the tray, to facilitate these supply and discharge processes.

Abstract: An ice-maker tray (1) has several compartments (4), which each have the form of a segment of a body of rotation. When the content of the compartments (4) is frozen, the tray (1) suspended in a frame (15) of an ice maker is pivoted about an axis, which is parallel to the axes of the segments of the body of rotation, until the openings of the compartments (4) face downwardly and the pieces of ice thawed by heating can slide out of the compartments.

Abstract: An ice producing apparatus for a refrigerator is disclosed. The apparatus includes a door configured to permit and prohibit access to an interior volume of a storage compartment of the refrigerator, the door defining therein a door interior volume; a fan disposed in the door interior volume; and a mold disposed in the door interior volume and configured to receive water and to retain the water during freezing of the water into ice.

Abstract: An icemaker for a refrigerator having a cabinet with a refrigerated compartment and an unrefrigerated machine compartment includes a body portion formed with an inlet, an outlet and an opening. A flexible mold is positioned in the opening. A water supply is positioned to provide water to the flexible mold. A fluid supply circuit, including a pump mounted in the machine compartment, a first fluid conduit connected between the pump and the inlet, and a second fluid conduit connected to the outlet, provides warm fluid to the body portion. The icemaker forms ice during an ice production cycle and the fluid warmed in the machine compartment is used to partially melt and aid in releasing the ice which is then deposited in a ice storage bin during a harvest cycle.

Abstract: A refrigerator includes a fast ice making device for quickly producing ice cubes. The fast ice making device includes a mold body having a plurality of ice forming cavities adapted to hold fluid. In an ice making cycle, a vacuum system evacuates air from the cavities, thereby depressurizing the cavities. Then, a liquid delivery system delivers liquid to the depressurized cavities, whereby an initial portion of the liquid bubbles up within the respective cavities. Overall, a cooler fluid is established at the beginning of an ice making cycle, thus accelerating the rate at which ice cubes are formed within the fast ice making device. Once ice cubes have been formed within the cavities, a heat transfer system is utilized to heat the cavities, thereby slightly melting the ice cubes and aiding in the expulsion of ice cubes from the cavities.

Abstract: A refrigerator includes a main body which forms an external appearance and has a storage chamber to be opened at a front side, and an ice making device which is disposed in the storage chamber to make ice. The ice making device includes an ice making tray which has ice making grooves for making ice, an ejector which rotates and separates the ice made in the ice making grooves, blocking members which are disposed at an upper portion of one side of the ice making grooves to prevent the ice separated from the ice making grooves through the other side of the ice making grooves from returning to the ice making grooves, and a guide member which is disposed above the other side of the ice making tray to guide the ice separated from the other side of the ice making grooves by the ejector toward the blocking members.

Abstract: A refrigerator door is provided. The refrigerator door has an outer case forming a shape of the refrigerator door, an inner case provided within the outer case to configure a backside of the refrigerator door wherein a space between the inner case and the outer case is charged with a foaming liquid, an ice making unit provided to one side of the inner case to make ice, a fixing unit provided to the space charged with the foaming liquid between the inner case and the outer case and fixing the ice making unit to the refrigerator door, and a dispenser provided to one side of the outer case to discharge the ice supplied by the ice making unit.

Abstract: A refrigerator has a freezing chamber at the bottom, and a refrigerating chamber over the freezing chamber. The refrigerator includes an ice making unit and an ice dispenser mounted in a refrigerating chamber door that allows ice to be dispensed without opening the door. A sub-PCB is mounted in the refrigerating chamber door for controlling operations of the ice making unit and the dispenser. A cold air supply duct supplies cold air from a cold air supply unit to the ice making unit.

Abstract: An ice making device that is capable of more easily and conveniently separating ice from ice trays through a simple manipulation and a refrigerator having the same are disclosed. The ice making device includes a support frame for rotatably supporting at least one ice tray, at least one manipulation button mounted to the support frame such that the manipulation button can be moved forward and backward, and an interlocking unit for rotating the ice tray with respect to the support frame according to the movement of the manipulation button.

Abstract: The present invention provides a refrigerator, in which cold-storage (1) and freezer rooms (2) are situated at upper and lower parts, respectively, in which ice made at the freezer room (2) of the lower part is dispensed at the cold-storage room (1) of the upper part, and by which a user can pick up the ice without bending over to enhance user's convenience. The present invention includes a body (B) having a cold-storage room (1) provided to an upper part and a freezer room (2) provided to a lower part, an ice maker (400) provided to the freezer room to make ice, an ice bank (600) receiving the ice made by the ice maker, and a transport mechanism sending the ice discharged from the ice bank (600) toward the cold-storage room (1) via an ice transport passage (200a, 300). Therefore, the present invention sufficiently secures the spaces of the cold-storage and freezer rooms to raise spatial efficiency.

Abstract: An icemaker includes a body including an ice mode for receiving water and freezing water to ice. The ice mold has a first side surface, a second side surface and an arcuate bottom surface indisposed between the first side surface and the second side surface. An ice ejector including an ejector member is rotatably connected to the body. The ice ejector defines an axis of rotation. A drive mechanism is operably coupled to the ice ejector. The drive mechanism is configured to reversibly rotate the ice ejector between a first position and a second position. A first cover is fixedly connected to the body for at least partially covering a front portion of the ice mold. A second cover is connected to one of the ice ejector and the body. The second cover is configured to reversibly rotate with the ice ejector between the first position and a third position. The second cover at least partially covers a back portion of the ice mold at the first position.

Abstract: An ice maker equipped with a convection fan includes a control box, an ice making tray, a water intake unit and an ice sweeping shaft. The control box holds at least one convection fan and has at least one air inlet and one air outlet to allow the convection fan to generate cooling air convection to accelerate cooling speed and improve ice making efficiency.

Abstract: A refrigerator freezer having an ice maker positioned on a refrigerator compartment or freezer compartment door. The ice maker is arranged to prevent or manage spills from the ice maker in the event the door on which the ice maker is mounted is opened or closed when unfrozen water is present in the ice maker. Spill management embodiments for a number of fixed and movable tray ice makers are disclosed.

Abstract: An automatic icemaker of the present invention includes a control box, an ice-making tray supporting frame rotatably supported and rotated by the control box, at least one ice-making tray rotatably supported by the ice-making tray supporting frame, a rotation limiter fixed to the ice-making tray supporting frame and limiting the rotation of the ice-making tray, a stopper fixed to the control box, and a projection provided to the ice-making tray. Irregularities are provided to at least one of the contact surfaces of the stopper and projection.

Abstract: A refrigerator having an insulated cabinet and a door pivotally mounted to the cabinet having an exterior face including a dispenser cavity. An ice maker in the refrigerated storage space is arranged to make and harvest ice pieces. An ice delivery system on the inside of the door dispenses ice pieces into a dispenser cavity in the exterior face of the door. The ice delivery system can include an ice bin including a generally open top and having a bottom opening pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis below the ice maker. The ice can receive ice pieces harvested by the ice maker and discharge ice pieces through the bottom opening and the ice delivery system in a first position. The ice bin can tilt out to permit access to ice pieces, and can be removed from the ice delivery system, in a second position when the door is open.

Abstract: An ice making device that is capable of more easily and conveniently separating ice from ice trays through a simple manipulation and a refrigerator having the same are disclosed. The ice making device includes a support frame for rotatably supporting at least one ice tray, at least one manipulation button mounted to the support frame such that the manipulation button can be moved forward and backward, and an interlocking unit for rotating the ice tray with respect to the support frame according to the movement of the manipulation button.

Abstract: An icemaker and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. An object of the present invention is to provide an icemaker and a method for controlling the same, which has an improved structure to make a lot of ice in a short time. an icemaker includes an ice tray rotatable with at least one column of ice making chambers formed therein to make ice; an ejector rotatably provided in each ice making chamber to eject the ice formed in the ice making chamber; an operation device which rotates the ice tray; and a separation device which separates the ice from the ice tray. The separation device may be a heater which heats the ice. Preferably, the heater is operated until adhesive force which acts between the ice and the ice tray is smaller than pushing force in which the ejector pushes the ice.

Abstract: Provided is a refrigerator including a main body cabinet forming a storage compartment; a door operable to open and close the storage compartment; an ice tray provided in the door and capable of making ice cubes; and an ice storage container receiving the ice cubes made by the ice tray, and having an ice outlet formed in a lower part thereof and a rear wall surface forming an angle of inclination with respect to a level surface.

Abstract: A refrigerator includes a freezer compartment provided with an automatic icemaker incorporating a mold configured to produce truncated, crescent-shaped ice cubes. With this arrangement, the icemaker produces cubes that are shorter than full, standard crescent-shaped cubes. The reduced mold size advantageously enables the icemaker to take less space in a freezer compartment, without a significant reduction in ice cube volume.

Abstract: According to one aspect, there is provided a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber formed at a relatively upper portion of a refrigerator body and a freezing chamber formed at a relatively lower portion of the refrigerator body, which comprises an ice-making chamber which is partitioned in the refrigerating chamber by insulating walls and includes an icemaker for making ice and an ice storage for storing the ice made in the icemaker. The temperature in the refrigerating chamber can be accurately controlled, the loss of cold air can be minimized and the structures for supplying water into the icemaker and the dispenser can be simplified.

Abstract: An ice making device and a refrigerator having the ice making device include an ice making tray having ice making grooves opened at upper sides thereof to receive water and a cool air flow channel disposed below the ice making grooves and along which cool air flows. Cool air is uniformly supplied from one side to the other side of the ice making tray along the cool air flow channel, and therefore, the ice making process is completed in a reduced time.

Abstract: An ice maker and method for making ice are disclosed. The ice maker includes a compartment, an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment to receive and make ice, and a fan installed on the ice-making tray to make ambient air pass along the surface of the ice-making tray. The method includes selectively supplying chilled air to a compartment according to conditions of the compartment, continuously blowing chilled air in the compartment to an ice-making tray disposed in the compartment regardless of the conditions of the compartment, and distributing blown air on a surface of the ice-making tray uniformly.

Abstract: The device comprises a basin-like container in which partitioning baffles define a plurality of cavities or moulds open at the top, intended to hold a respective quantity of water put into them by means of a solenoid valve, for the formation of corresponding ice cubes. An ejection device includes an electric motor device to which a rotatable shaft is coupled, from which stretch a plurality of ejector elements capable of provoking the expulsion of the ice cubes formed in said cavities or moulds as an effect of the rotation of the shaft. Control devices are associated with the motor device and with the solenoid valve, and comprise two cams operatively driven in rotation by the motor at different speeds. These cams have respective enabling and control profiles engaged operatively by the same feeler that cooperates with an electric switch in such a way as to define, in the operating cycle of the device, at least one time interval of predetermined duration for the opening of said water feed solenoid valve.

Abstract: A refrigerator includes a housing having at least one refrigerator compartment, a door for accessing the at least one refrigerator compartment, and an ice-dispensing assembly. The ice-dispensing assembly includes an insulated housing arranged within the at least one refrigerator compartment, an ice-making device arranged within the insulated housing and configured to produce ice, an ice-storage container arranged within the insulated housing, and a dispenser arranged within the door and communicating with the ice-storage container, wherein the dispenser is configured to transfer ice from the ice-storage container to an external portion of the refrigerator.

Abstract: A heat exchanger for an ice machine has the form of a cylinder. In some embodiments, the cylinder is made from an extrusion of a metal such as an aluminum alloy. The heat exchanger includes inner and outer cylindrical walls and one or more refrigeration passages positioned between the inner and outer walls. The inner and outer walls are separated from each other by connecting structures defining the refrigeration passages. The heat exchanger can be extruded as a rectangular panel and subsequently formed into a cylindrical form. Alternatively, the heat exchanger can be extruded as a cylinder, or as an arcuate cylindrical segment in which several of such segments are subsequently joined together (as by welding) into a cylinder. Ice machines that feature ice formation on both the inner and outer walls of the cylinder are also disclosed.

Abstract: According to one aspect, there is provided a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber formed at a relatively upper portion of a refrigerator body and a freezing chamber formed at a relatively lower portion of the refrigerator body, which comprises an ice-making chamber which is partitioned in the refrigerating chamber by insulating walls and includes an icemaker for making ice and an ice storage for storing the ice made in the icemaker. The temperature in the refrigerating chamber can be accurately controlled, the loss of cold air can be minimized and the structures for supplying water into the icemaker and the dispenser can be simplified.

Abstract: According to one aspect, there is provided a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber formed at a relatively upper portion of a refrigerator body and a freezing chamber formed at a relatively lower portion of the refrigerator body, which comprises an ice-making chamber which is partitioned in the refrigerating chamber by insulating walls and includes an icemaker for making ice and an ice storage for storing the ice made in the icemaker. The temperature in the refrigerating chamber can be accurately controlled, the loss of cold air can be minimized and the structures for supplying water into the icemaker and the dispenser can be simplified.

Abstract: In one aspect, an icemaker for making ice in a fresh food compartment of a bottom mount refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator comprises a freezer compartment comprising a freezer door, and a fresh food compartment located over the freezer compartment and comprising a fresh food door. The fresh food door comprises an ice dispenser. An ice maker is located in the fresh food compartment, and the ice maker comprises an ice mold, and a thermoelectric device for moving heat from the ice mold. The mold is positioned so that ice from the mold can be dispensed by the ice dispenser in the fresh food door.