Patent ID: 11874046
Assignee: ELECTROLUX HOME PRODUCTS, INC.
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 6:
7. A refrigerator comprises: an ice maker having
a longitudinal axis;
a rotatable, stretchable ice cube tray having an upper face defining an upper face plane that is offset from the longitudinal axis with openings for ice cubes and a bottom surface defining a bottom surface plane that is offset from the longitudinal axis, the upper face plane and the bottom surface plane being parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the offset from the longitudinal axis to the upper face plane being at least a depth of an ice cube; and
an axially mounted, rotatable cam with a convex surface, the rotatable cam being coaxial with the longitudinal axis and positioned between the longitudinal axis and the bottom surface of the ice cube tray, so that the convex surface is engageable with the bottom surface of the ice cube tray,
wherein both of the ice cube tray and the rotatable cam rotate in a same direction about the longitudinal axis, and
wherein ice cubes in the ice cube tray are released by relative rotation of the rotatable cam with respect to the ice cube tray caused by the convex surface engaging to outwardly flex the ice cube tray.