Refrigerator with a thermally conductive component with heater for ice maker

Abstract

A refrigerator includes a cabinet with one or more food compartments and one or more doors closing the food compartments and an ice maker located in the cabinet to produce ice. The ice maker includes a mold body for forming ice, the mold body having multiple cups, where each cup has an opening for receiving water to be frozen within the cup. The ice maker further includes a thermally conductive component located near a bottom surface of the cups. The thermally conductive component includes at least one heater that provides heat to the plurality of cups, so that the thermally conductive can distribute heat and facilitate a release of ice from the plurality of cups.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An ice maker, comprising:
 a mold body for forming ice, the mold body including a plurality of cups, each cup having an opening for receiving water to be frozen within the cup;   a thermally conductive component constructed of a thermally conductive metal and that includes:
 a top surface disposed proximate the plurality of cups; and 
 a protrusion extending away from the top surface and between a first cup of the plurality of cups and a second cup of the plurality of cups; 
   a plurality of discrete ceramic heaters coupled to thermally conductive component; and
 wherein the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters is arranged so that each of the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters heats the first cup and the second cup of the plurality of cups. 
   
     
     
         2 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters and the thermally conductive component distribute heat and thereby facilitate a release of ice from the plurality of cups. 
     
     
         3 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the protrusion is a first protrusion among a plurality of protrusions, wherein each of the plurality of protrusions is disposed between adjacent cups among the plurality of cups. 
     
     
         4 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein the protrusion extends towards the plurality of cups approximately perpendicular to the top surface. 
     
     
         5 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein at least one discrete heater of the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters is coupled to a bottom surface of the thermally conductive component. 
     
     
         6 . The ice maker of  claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters is positioned on the bottom surface of the thermally conductive component according to a temperature gradient of the ice maker. 
     
     
         7 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein at least one discrete heater of the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters is coupled to the protrusion disposed between the first cup of the plurality of cups and the second cup of the plurality of cups. 
     
     
         8 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein each cup of the plurality of cups is constructed of metal and the mold body is constructed of plastic. 
     
     
         9 . The ice maker of  claim 1 , wherein each cup of the plurality of cups is constructed of a plastic material with a metallic coating. 
     
     
         10 . The ice maker of  claim 1  further including: a temperature gradient from a first end of the ice maker to a second end of the ice maker, and wherein the thermally conductive component and the plurality of discrete ceramic heaters are configured to non-uniformly distribute heat to the plurality of cups. 
     
     
         11 . The ice maker of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of discrete heaters are positioned on the thermally conductive component to compensate for the temperature gradient from the first end to the second end of the ice maker. 
     
     
         12 . The ice maker of  claim 10 , wherein output levels of the plurality of discrete heaters are configured to compensate for the temperature gradient from the first end to the second end of the ice maker. 
     
     
         13 . An ice maker, comprising:
 a mold body for forming ice, the mold body including a plurality of cups, each cup having an opening for receiving water to be frozen within the cup;   a thermally conductive component constructed of a thermally conductive metal and that includes:
 a top surface disposed proximate the plurality of cups; and 
 a protrusion extending away from the top surface and between a first cup of the plurality of cups and a second cup of the plurality of cups; and 
   at least one discrete ceramic heater coupled to the protrusion disposed between the first cup of the plurality of cups and the second cup of the plurality of cups;   wherein the at least one ceramic heater and the thermally conductive component distribute heat and thereby facilitate a release of ice from the plurality of cups.   
     
     
         14 . The ice maker of  claim 13 , wherein the protrusion extends towards the plurality of cups approximately perpendicular to the top surface. 
     
     
         15 . The ice maker of  claim 13 ,
 wherein the protrusion is a first protrusion among a plurality of protrusions wherein each of the plurality of protrusions is disposed between adjacent cups among the plurality of cups; and   wherein the at least one discrete ceramic heater is a first discreate heater, and there is a plurality of discreate heaters, wherein one of the plurality of heater is coupled to each of the plurality of protrusions.   
     
     
         16 . The ice maker of  claim 13 , wherein each cup of the plurality of cups is constructed of metal and the mold body is constructed of plastic. 
     
     
         17 . The ice maker of  claim 13 , wherein each cup of the plurality of cups is constructed of a plastic material with a metallic coating. 
     
     
         18 . The ice maker of  claim 13  further including: a temperature gradient from a first end of the ice maker to a second end of the ice maker, and wherein the thermally conductive component and the at least one discrete ceramic heater are configured to non-uniformly distribute heat to the plurality of cups. 
     
     
         19 . The ice maker of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one discrete ceramic is positioned on the thermally conductive component to compensate for the temperature gradient from the first end to the second end of the ice maker. 
     
     
         20 . The ice maker of  claim 18 , wherein output levels of the at least one discrete ceramic heater is configured to compensate for the temperature gradient from the first end to the second end of the ice maker.