Ice maker with freezing aid

Abstract

An ice maker for fitting into a cooling or freezing appliance includes an ice-making tray which forms a plurality of ice-piece-producing cavities for producing one ice piece each. An air channel is formed above the ice-making tray, which serves to guide a cold air stream. There is provided a heat-dissipating structure including a metal material and having a plurality of heat-dissipating pins, each of which, in a freezing phase, projects from above, with a pin tip leading, into one of the ice-piece-producing cavities. In some embodiments, the heat-dissipating pins extend into and through the upper air channel, so that the cold air flowing in the air channel flows around shaft portions of the heat-dissipating pins situated inside the air channel. When the ice-piece-producing cavities are filled with water, the heat-dissipating pins immersed in the water ensure improved dissipation of thermal energy from the water, which accelerates freezing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention[0001]The present invention relates generally to an ice maker for fitting into a cooling or freezing appliance for domestic use.2. Description of the Prior Art[0002]Refrigerators for the domestic sector are nowadays frequently demanded that have an ice maker which allows ice pieces, for example in the form of ice cubes, to be produced automatically. The repeated manual filling of an ice-making tray with water and placing of the tray in a freezing compartment of the refrigerator is generally perceived as being inconvenient by users. Automatic ice makers automatically perform the functions of filling an ice-making tray with water and emptying the tray as soon as the water has frozen into ice pieces, without the involvement of the user.[0003]In ice making, a high production rate is generally desired, that is to say the freezing process is to be kept as short as possible so that all the more ice pieces can be produced in a given period...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a solution for improving the speed of ice formation in an ice-making tray. The solution involves using a heat-dissipating structure with heat-dissipating pins that are in contact with the water in the tray. The heat-dissipating pins absorb heat from the water and transfer it to the air of the first air channel, where it is used to cool the ice-piece-producing cavities. This increases the heat transfer and accelerates the freezing process. The heat-dissipating pins can be positioned in the ice-piece-producing cavities, and a pin-release device can be used to release the pins from the ice pieces. This prevents the ice pieces from sticking together and allows for easy detachment. In some embodiments, a second air channel is provided beneath the ice-making tray to further enhance ice production.

Problems solved by technology

The repeated manual filling of an ice-making tray with water and placing of the tray in a freezing compartment of the refrigerator is generally perceived as being inconvenient by users.

There are doubts as to whether, in the case of an ice-making tray which is to be operated manually by the user, that is to say manually filled with water and then placed in a freezing compartment of a refrigerator, the mere provision of metal parts which establish a heat-conducting connection between the inside of an ice-piece-producing cavity and the outside leads to a significant acceleration in ice production.

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