Patent ID: 9182162
Filing Date: 2015-11-10
Classification: F25C,F25D

Abstract:
1. A food-storing refrigerator appliance comprising: a. a refrigerator cabinet including an interior cavity accessible by at least one door and an exterior ice dispensing location; b. a refrigerator icemaker mounted in the door or the interior cavity of the cabinet, the icemaker including an electrically powered dispensing related actuator with moving parts having operating and non-operating states controlled by an user-actuated exterior ice dispensing control; c. an ice dispensing chute having a first portion positioned at or near the actuator of the icemaker to receive ice from the icemaker and a second portion positioned at or near the exterior ice dispensing location in one of the at least one door in a space outside the dispensing chute, the dispensing chute defining an ice dispensing pathway; d. a sensor having a sensing region in the dispensing chute at or near the second portion of the dispensing chute, the sensor producing an electrical output signal in response to sensitivity to a measured property indicative of presence of an object in or entering the sensing region; e. a controller operatively connected to the sensor and the actuator, the controller having a timer, and input connected to the output of the sensor, and an output connected to the actuator, the controller issuing an instruction via the controller output to override the ice dispensing control and put the actuator in the non-operating state when the measured property of the electrical output signal of the sensor indicative of presence of an object in or entering the sensing region is followed by a cumulative time value on the order of at least one to two seconds measured by the timer; f. so that operation of the ice dispenser actuation is overridden by the sensor and controller when (i) an object is sensed in the sensing region, and (ii) the sensing exceeds a timed period selected as indicative of an unwanted condition.