Ice crushing system
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorJerold M. Visin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ice crushing system includes multiple sets of interleaved blades with some of the blades being provided with a series of raised protrusions on one or more faces. With this arrangement, the spacing between the interleaved blades is reduced and a finer crushed ice consistency is established. In accordance with aspects of the invention, the raised protrusions are staggered along each side of a set of fixed blades, with the raised protrusions on one side of a fixed blade overlapping the raised protrusions on the opposing side.
Claims20
A refrigerator comprising:
- a cabinet having defined therein a refrigerated compartment;
- an icemaker;
- a dispenser for water and/or ice;
- and
- an ice crushing system interposed between the icemaker and the dispenser, said ice crushing system including a plurality of interleaved blades, at least one of said plurality of interleaved blades including raised protrusions reducing spacing with adjacent ones of said plurality of interleaved blades.
A refrigerator comprising:
- a cabinet having defined therein a refrigerated compartment;
- an icemaker;
- a dispenser for water and/or ice;
- and
- an ice crushing system interposed between the icemaker and the dispenser, said ice crushing system including a plurality of rotatable blades positioned on either side of a fixed member, at least one of said plurality of rotatable blades and the fixed member including raised protrusions reducing spacing between the fixed member and a respective one of said plurality of rotatable blades.
A method of producing finely crushed ice comprising:
- directing ice cubes between a plurality of rotatable blades and at least one fixed member of an ice crushing system wherein at least one of said plurality of rotatable blades and the fixed member includes raised protrusions reducing spacing between the fixed member and a respective one of said plurality of rotatable blades to produce finely crushed ice.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.