Ice maker for a refrigeration appliance

Abstract

A refrigeration appliance includes a fresh food compartment, a freezer compartment, and an ice maker within the fresh food compartment for freezing water into ice pieces. In one example, a rotatable auger drives the ice pieces out of a removable ice bin via a driving force applied in a first direction. A latch is configured to apply a resisting force to the ice bin along a second direction. In another example, an air mover is disposed within the ice maker for delivering cooled air from an ice maker evaporator to a region adjacent to the ice bin. At least one air channel is formed into an inside surface of the ice maker chamber. In another example, a method of making ice in the refrigeration appliance is provided. The method includes the steps of operating the air mover and a defrost heating of the ice maker evaporator.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of making ice in a refrigeration appliance, comprising the steps of:
 introducing water into a water tray of an ice maker disposed within a fresh-food compartment configured to store food items at a temperature above zero degrees Centigrade;   operating an ice maker evaporator that is dedicated for providing air cooled to a temperature below zero degrees Centigrade to achieve a cooling effect to the water in the water tray sufficient for freezing the water into ice pieces,   wherein the ice maker further comprises an ice bin for storing the ice pieces produced by the ice maker, and the ice maker evaporator comprises a defrost heating element that is operable to melt frost accumulated on a surface of the ice maker evaporator;   operating an air mover disposed within the ice maker for a predetermined amount of time for delivering the air cooled by the ice maker evaporator to at least one of the water tray and the ice bin; and   subsequently stopping operation of the air mover and operating the defrost heating element to thereby melt frost accumulated on the surface of the ice maker evaporator.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the air mover is operated for approximately 30 minutes prior to operating the defrost heating element. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the air mover is operated at approximately 100% duty cycle during the predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 stopping operation of the defrost heating element;   restarting operation of the ice maker evaporator to provide cooled air to the ice maker; and   subsequently restarting operation of the air mover for a second predetermined amount of time for delivering the cooled air to at least one of the water tray and the ice bin.