Ice discharger and refrigerator comprising the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11193706-B2
Application number	US-201716485754-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2017
Priority date	Feb 13, 2017
Publication date	Dec 7, 2021
Grant date	Dec 7, 2021

Abstract

An ice discharger is disclosed comprising an ice storage box provided with an ice outlet and an ice inlet, and an ice stirring unit and an ice pushing unit located within the ice storage box; the ice stirring unit comprises an ice stirring section disposed inside the ice storage box and a stirrer disposed rotatably within the ice stirring section, an ice cube inlet and an ice cube outlet are disposed at the top and on the side wall of the ice stirring section, respectively; and the ice pushing unit comprises a circular ice discharging passage disposed between the ice stirring section and the ice storage box, and an ice pushing assembly disposed rotatably within the circular ice discharging passage and for pushing an ice cube to the ice outlet of ice storage box thereby improving the uniformity of the amount of discharged ice.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ice discharging system, comprising:
an ice storage box;
an ice stirring unit located within the ice storage box; and
an ice pushing unit located within the ice storage box, the ice pushing unit disposed radially outward from the ice stirring unit, the ice pushing unit being around the ice stirring unit;
wherein the ice storage box includes an ice outlet disposed at a position on a bottom wall of the ice storage box near a side wall of the ice storage box, and an ice inlet disposed at a top of the ice storage box;
wherein the ice stirring unit includes an ice stirring section disposed in a central area at a lower portion of the ice storage box, a stirrer disposed rotatably within the ice stirring section and including a stirring shaft and a plurality of ice stirring blades coupled to the ice stirring shaft, an ice cube inlet disposed at the top of the ice stirring section and configured to allow ice cubes to be stirred to fall through, and an ice cube outlet disposed on a side wall of the ice stirring section; and
wherein the ice pushing unit includes a circular ice discharging passage and an ice pushing assembly, the circular ice discharging passage being a space between the ice stirring section and an inner surface of the sidewall of the ice storage box, the circular ice discharging passage communicates with the ice outlet and the ice cube outlet of the ice stirring section, respectively, the ice pushing assembly being disposed rotatably within the circular ice discharging passage and configured to push an ice cube coming out of the ice cube outlet of the ice stirring section to the ice outlet of the ice storage box, the ice pushing assembly including a circular-ring ice cube pushing plate and a plurality of ice cube pushing blades being radially arranged on the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, the plurality of ice cube pushing blades being radially disposed outward from the plurality of ice stirring blades, the plurality of ice cube pushing blades being separate and distinct from the plurality of ice cube stirring blades, the plurality of ice cube pushing blades configured to push the ice cube coming out of the ice cube outlet of the ice stirring section to the ice outlet of the ice storage box.

2. The ice discharging system of claim 1 , wherein the ice stirring section is enclosed by an ice cube guiding wall located on the bottom wall of the ice storage box, the ice cube guiding wall including a circular arc segment located at a center of the ice storage box and a connecting segment having two ends connecting the circular arc segment and the side wall of the ice storage box, respectively.

3. The ice discharging system of claim 2 , wherein the connecting segment is an arc-shaped structure, and the circular arc segment is in smooth transition connection with the connecting segment.

4. The ice discharging system of claim 2 , wherein the ice pushing assembly includes a circular-ring ice cube pushing plate disposed above the circular ice discharging passage, the circular ice discharging passage being enclosed by the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, the side wall and the bottom wall of the ice storage box, and the circular arc segment of the ice cube guiding wall, the plurality of ice cube pushing blades being radially arranged and disposed on a lower surface of the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, and bottom surfaces of the ice cube pushing blades being higher than a top surface of the ice cube guiding wall.

5. The ice discharging system of claim 2 , wherein the ice pushing assembly includes a circular-ring ice cube pushing plate and a cylindrical ice cube pushing plate, the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate being disposed above the circular ice discharging passage, the cylindrical ice cube pushing plate being connected with an outer circumference of the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, the circular ice discharging passage being enclosed by the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, the side wall and the bottom wall of the ice storage box, and the circular arc segment of the ice cube guiding wall, the plurality of ice cube pushing blades being radially arranged and disposed on an inner side wall of the cylindrical ice cube pushing plate, and bottom surfaces of the ice cube pushing blades being higher than a top surface of the ice cube guiding wall.

6. The ice discharging system of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of ice cube pushing blades are substantially uniformly disposed along a circumferential direction of the ice cube pushing plate.

7. The ice discharging system of claim 1 , wherein the ice stirring section comprises a circular top plate and an ice cube guiding wall disposed on a lower surface of the circular top plate, the ice cube guiding wall including a circular arc segment located at a center of the ice storage box and a connecting segment having two ends connecting the circular arc segment and the side wall of the ice storage box, respectively, and the circular ice discharging passage being enclosed by the circular top plate, the side wall and the bottom wall of the ice storage box, and the circular arc segment of the ice cube guiding wall.

8. The ice discharging system of claim 7 , wherein the connecting segment is an arc-shaped structure, and the circular arc segment is in smooth transition connection with the connecting segment.

9. The ice discharging system of claim 7 , wherein the ice pushing assembly includes a circular-ring ice cube pushing plate disposed below the circular ice discharging passage, the plurality of ice cube pushing blades radially arranged and disposed on an upper surface of the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, and an ice falling port disposed between adjacent ice cube pushing blades on the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, the lower surface of the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate being in fit with the bottom of the ice storage box, a bottom surface of the ice cube guiding wall being higher than top surfaces of the ice cube pushing blades.

10. The ice discharging system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of ice cube pushing blades are substantially uniformly disposed along a circumferential direction of the ice cube pushing plate.

11. A refrigerator, comprising:
an ice cube maker having an ice cube outlet; and
an ice discharger having an ice inlet communicatively coupled to the ice cube outlet of the ice cube maker, the ice discharger including:
an ice storage box;
an ice stirring unit located within the ice storage box; and
an ice pushing unit located within the ice storage box and around the ice stirring unit, the ice pushing unit extending radially outward from the ice stirring unit;
wherein the ice storage box includes an ice inlet and an ice outlet;
wherein the ice stirring unit includes a stirrer and an ice cube guiding wall, the stirrer configured to rotatably stir ice cubes to move within the ice cube guiding wall and to exit the stirring unit into an ice discharging passage space between the ice stirring section and an inner wall of the ice storage box;
wherein the ice cube guiding wall includes a circular arc segment located at a center of the ice storage box and a connecting segment having two ends connecting the circular arc segment and a side wall of the ice storage box, respectively;

wherein the ice pushing unit includes an ice pushing assembly disposed rotatably within the ice discharging passage space;
wherein the ice pushing assembly includes a circular-ring ice cube pushing plate disposed below the ice discharging passage space, a plurality of ice cube pushing blades radially arranged and disposed on an upper surface of the circular-ring ice cube pushing plate, and an ice falling port d

Assignees

• Hefei Hualing Co Ltd
• Hefei Midea Refrigerator Co

Inventors

• Shao Yang
• Si Zengqiang
• Yang Guangqing
• Lv Zhengguang
• Wang Jincai

Classifications

• F25C5/24 Primary

  for storing bins (ice bins F25C5/182) · CPC title

• F25C5/182

  Ice bins therefor · CPC title

• F25C1/24 Primary

  for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays · CPC title

• F25D11/00

  Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators · CPC title

• F25C5/22

  particularly adapted for household refrigerators · CPC title