Patent attributes
An ice maker has a bottom wall with a sensor opening. A time-of-flight sensor is supported in relation to the bottom wall such that the time-of-flight sensor can an optical pulse signal through the sensor opening toward the ice bin and subsequently detect a photon of the optical pulse signal that returns to the time-of-flight sensor through the sensor opening after reflecting off of one of a floor of the ice bin and ice in the ice bin. The time of flight sensor is configured to determine a duration between the emission of the optical pulse and the detection of the reflected photon(s). Based on the determined duration, the time-of-flight sensor or another processor can determine an amount of ice in the ice bin. The ice maker can be configured so that the time-of-flight sensor is removable, allowing a window pane of the time-of-flight sensor to be periodically cleaned.
