Patent ID: 8156748
Filing Date: 2012-04-17
Classification: F25C,G01F

Abstract:
1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet including top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls that collectively define a refrigerator body having a refrigeration compartment; a door for selectively providing access to the refrigeration compartment; an ice maker mounted in the refrigeration compartment; an ice cube storage bin for receiving ice cubes from the ice maker; a digital image capture device for capturing digital images, said digital image capture device being focused upon the ice cube storage bin; and a digital image analyzing system operatively connected to the digital image capture device, said digital image analyzing system being adapted to evaluate a centroid of the ice cubes through the digital images wherein, when the centroid is outside a predetermined acceptable boundary, the digital image analyzing system determines clumping of the ice cubes in the ice cube storage bin.