Patent ID: 8690027

Claim:
An ice dispensing assembly in an appliance, comprising: an icemaker assembly configured to form ice cubes and store ice cubes; an ice cube duct configured to direct ice cubes from the icemaker assembly; a duct door coupled to the ice cube duct, the duct door configured to actuate between an open position and a closed position where ice cubes are directed from the icemaker assembly when the duct door is in the open position; a motor configured to actuate the duct door between the open position and the closed position; and a controller configured to adjustably drive the motor by performing operations, the operations comprising: receiving a dispense signal indicating that a user has requested dispensing of ice; when the dispense signal is received, ramping from zero to a first positive value the voltage of a direct current power signal applied to the motor, such that the torque applied to actuation of the duct door gradually increases in value; holding the voltage of the direct current power signal at a second positive value, the second positive value being less than the first positive value; ramping from the second positive value to a first negative value the voltage of the direct current power signal after the dispense signal is no longer received; and returning the voltage of the direct current power signal to zero after the first negative value is reached.