Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Ice-maker with weight-sensitive ice bin

Abstract:

An ice-maker (12) provides a weight-sensing ice bin (16) that provides multiple levels of ice measurement thereby allowing improved control strategies that reduce ice making or ice making rate in accordance with anticipated ice usage to eliminate energy costs and the need to discard stale ice cubes. The weight sensor may be an induction sensor where the coil also serves a heating function for defrosting.