Methods for operating an ice maker appliance

Abstract

An ice maker appliance includes a mold body with a mold cavity defined within. The mold cavity is configured to receive a fill of liquid water and form an ice piece within. The mold body is configured to release the ice piece after it has been formed. Moreover, the ice maker appliance includes an ice storage bin configured to hold a plurality of ice pieces within for retrieval. The ice storage bin is positioned below the mold body to capture the released ice piece within. Additionally, the ice maker appliance includes a non-contact-based sensing device configured to generate data indicative of a temperature within the ice storage bin. Furthermore, the ice maker appliance includes a controller operatively coupled to the non-contact-based sensing device. The controller is configured to determine whether the ice storage bin is full of ice pieces based on the data generated by the non-contact-based sensing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An ice maker appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, comprising: 
 a mold body with a mold cavity defined therein, the mold cavity configured to receive a fill of liquid water and form an ice piece therein, the mold body configured to release the ice piece therefrom after the ice piece has been formed;    an ice storage bin configured to hold a plurality of ice pieces therein for retrieval therefrom, the ice storage bin positioned below the mold body to capture the released ice piece therein;   a non-contact-based sensing device configured to generate data indicative of a temperature within the ice storage bin; and   a controller operatively coupled to the non-contact-based sensing device, the controller configured to: 
 determine whether the ice storage bin is full of ice pieces based on the data generated by the non-contact-based sensing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The ice maker appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the non-contact-based sensing device is positioned within the ice storage bin, thereby permitting the non-contact-based sensing device to have a temperature detection range within the ice storage bin.  
     
     
         3 . The ice maker appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the non-contact-based sensing device is configured as an infrared-based sensing device. 
     
     
         4 . A method for operating an ice maker appliance, the method comprising: 
 directing, with a controller, liquid water into a mold cavity of a mold body of the ice maker appliance;   receiving, with the controller, non-contact-based sensing device data indicative of a temperature within an ice storage bin of the ice maker appliance, the ice storage bin configured to capture ice pieces released from the mold cavity;   determining, with the controller, an ice level within the ice storage bin based on the received non-contact-based sensing device data; and   initiating, with the controller, a control action associated with the ice maker appliance based on the determined ice level within the ice storage bin.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein determining the ice level within the ice storage bin comprises: 
 determining, with the controller, the temperature within the ice storage bin based on the received non-contact-based sensing device data; and   determining, with the controller, the ice level within the ice storage bin based on the determined temperature within the ice storage bin.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein: 
 an increase in the determined temperature within the ice storage bin corresponds to an increase in the ice level within the ice storage bin; and   a decrease in the determined temperature within the ice storage bin corresponds to a decrease in the ice level within the ice storage bin.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising: 
 determining, with the controller, whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces based on the determined ice level within the ice storage bin.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces comprises: 
 comparing, with the controller, the determined ice level within the ice storage bin to an ice level threshold; and   determining, with the controller, that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces when the determined ice level within the ice storage bin equals or exceeds the ice level threshold.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein initiating the control action comprises: 
 initiating, with the controller, a notification to an operator of the ice maker appliance that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein initiating the control action comprises: 
 operating, with the controller, the ice maker appliance such that subsequent ice pieces are not released from the mold cavity based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein initiating the control action comprises: 
 operating, with the controller, a valve of the ice maker appliance to restrict the flow of liquid water to the mold cavity based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.   
     
     
         12 . A method for operating an ice maker appliance, the method comprising: 
 directing, with a controller, liquid water into a mold cavity of a mold body of the ice maker appliance;   receiving, with the controller, non-contact-based sensing device data indicative of a temperature within an ice storage bin of the ice maker appliance, the ice storage bin configured to capture ice pieces released from the mold cavity;   determining, with the controller, whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces based on the received non-contact-based sensing device data; and   initiating, with the controller, a control action associated with the ice maker appliance based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein determining whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces comprises: 
 determining, with the controller, the temperature within the ice storage bin based on the received non-contact-based sensing device data; and   determining, with the controller, whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces based on the determined temperature within the ice storage bin.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces comprises: 
 comparing, with the controller, the determined temperature within the ice storage bin to a temperature threshold; and   determining, with the controller, that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces when the determined temperature within the ice storage bin is approximately equal to the temperature threshold.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein determining whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces comprises: 
 determining, with the controller, the temperature within the ice storage bin based on the received non-contact-based sensing device data;   determining, with the controller, an ice level within the ice storage bin based on the determined temperature within the ice storage bin; and   determining, with the controller, whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces based on the determined ice level within the ice storage bin.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein determining whether the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces comprises: 
 comparing, with the controller, the determined ice level within the ice storage bin to an ice level threshold; and   determining, with the controller, that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces when the determined ice level within the ice storage bin equals or exceeds the ice level threshold.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein initiating the control action comprises: 
 initiating, with the controller, a notification to an operator of the ice maker appliance that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein initiating the control action comprises: 
 operating, with the controller, the ice maker appliance such that subsequent ice pieces are not released from the mold cavity based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein initiating the control action comprises: 
 operating, with the controller, a valve of the ice maker appliance to restrict the flow of liquid water to the mold cavity based on determining that the ice storage bin is full of the ice pieces.