Ice making assembly for a refrigerator appliance

Abstract

A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a chilled chamber, a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet and rotatable between a closed position enclosing the chilled chamber and an open position providing access to the chilled chamber, and an ice making assembly mounted to the door of the refrigerator appliance. The ice making assembly includes an icemaker frame mounted to the door, an ice tray rotatably mounted to the icemaker frame and defining a plurality of mold cavities for receiving water that is formed into ice, a drive motor operably coupled to the ice tray to rotate the ice tray and harvest the ice formed within the plurality of mold cavities, and a resilient splash shield positioned between the icemaker frame and the ice tray to prevent splashing from the plurality of mold cavities.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, comprising:
 a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;   a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet and rotatable between a closed position enclosing the chilled chamber and an open position providing access to the chilled chamber; and   an ice making assembly mounted to the door of the refrigerator appliance, the ice making assembly comprising:
 an icemaker frame mounted to the door; 
 an ice tray rotatably mounted to the icemaker frame and defining a plurality of mold cavities for receiving water that is formed into ice; 
 a drive motor operably coupled to the ice tray to rotate the ice tray and harvest the ice formed within the plurality of mold cavities; and 
 a resilient splash shield positioned between the icemaker frame and the ice tray to prevent splashing from the plurality of mold cavities. 
   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is mounted to at least one of the icemaker frame or the ice tray and extends into or over the ice tray. 
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned around an entire perimeter of the ice tray. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned proximate corners of the ice tray. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned inside an upper lip of the ice tray and defines an overlap distance into the ice tray. 
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the overlap distance is greater than 5 millimeters. 
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned above the ice tray when the ice tray is in an ice forming position. 
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is oriented downward along the vertical direction. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is formed from an elastomeric material. 
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is formed from silicone. 
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient splash shield is overmolded on the icemaker frame or the ice tray. 
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the ice tray is twistable to facilitate harvest of ice from within the plurality of mold cavities. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the ice tray defines elevated corners that extend from a top surface of the ice tray. 
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the refrigerator appliance is a side-by-side refrigerator appliance and the chilled chamber is a freezer chamber. 
     
     
         15 . An ice making assembly mounted to a door of a refrigerator appliance, the ice making assembly comprising:
 an icemaker frame mounted to the door;   an ice tray rotatably mounted to the icemaker frame and defining a plurality of mold cavities for receiving water that is formed into ice;   a drive motor operably coupled to the ice tray to rotate the ice tray and harvest the ice formed within the plurality of mold cavities; and   a resilient splash shield positioned between the icemaker frame and the ice tray to prevent splashing from the plurality of mold cavities.   
     
     
         16 . The ice making assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the resilient splash shield is mounted to at least one of the icemaker frame or the ice tray and extends into or over the ice tray. 
     
     
         17 . The ice making assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned around an entire perimeter of the ice tray. 
     
     
         18 . The ice making assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned proximate corners of the ice tray. 
     
     
         19 . The ice making assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the resilient splash shield is positioned inside an upper lip of the ice tray and defines an overlap distance into the ice tray. 
     
     
         20 . The ice making assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the resilient splash shield is formed from an elastomeric material.