US 12,345,459 B2Granted

Refrigerator

AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

InventorsJin Jeong, Juno Kwon, Sangmin Park, Gahyeong Kim, Dongho Lee

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Abstract

A refrigerator including an ice maker; an ice bucket including a first position guide; and a pad mountable to the ice bucket and including a base, an inclined member, and a second position guide. When the pad is being mounted to the ice bucket, the second position guide couples with the first position guide to guide positioning of the pad in the ice bucket so that, when the pad is mounted to the ice bucket, the base is in a front portion of the ice bucket and the inclined member is in a rear portion of the ice bucket and is inclined to the base. When the pad is mounted to the ice bucket and the ice bucket is positioned under the ice maker, ice produced by the ice maker falls into the ice bucket and is transferred by the inclined member to the base.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A refrigerator comprising:

an ice maker configured to produce ice;
an ice bucket positionable under the ice maker and including a first position guide and a third position guide;
and
a pad mountable to the ice bucket and including a base, an inclined member, a second position guide, and a fourth position guide,
wherein
one of the third position guide and the fourth position guide includes an interference groove recessed inward, and the other one of the third position guide and the fourth position guide includes an interference protrusion, and
the pad and the ice bucket are configured so that,
when the pad is being normally mounted to the ice bucket, the second position guide couples with the first position guide to guide positioning of the pad in the ice bucket and the interference groove engages with the interference protrusion to guide the base so that, when the pad is normally mounted to the ice bucket, the base is in a front portion of the ice bucket and the inclined member is in a rear portion of the ice bucket and is inclined to the base,
when the pad is abnormally mounted to the ice bucket, the base is in the rear portion of the ice bucket, the inclined member is in the front portion of the ice bucket, and the interference protrusion supports, and thereby lifts, a bottom of the pad, and,
when the pad is normally mounted to the ice bucket and the ice bucket is positioned under the ice maker, the ice produced by the ice maker falls into the ice bucket and is transferred by the inclined member to the base.

7 more elements

A refrigerator comprising:

an ice maker including a first ice making unit configured to produce a first type of ice, and a second ice making unit configured to produce a second type of ice;
a first ice bucket positionable under the first ice making unit to receive the first type of ice;
a second ice bucket positionable under the second ice making unit to receive the second type of ice;
a drawer in which the first ice bucket and the second ice bucket are mountable side by side, the drawer including:
a rear wall having a mounting groove,
a first interference member positioned at a first side of the mounting groove,
a second interference member positioned at a second side, opposite to the first side, of the mounting groove,
a first side wall bent from the first interference member so as to extend forward from the first interference member, and
a second side wall bent from the second interference member so as to extend forward from the second interference member;
and
a pad mountable to the first ice bucket, the pad including:
an outer edge extending in a front to rear direction to form a periphery of the pad and being adjacent to one of the first side wall and the second side wall of the drawer when the pad is mounted in the first ice bucket and the first ice bucket is normally mounted in the drawer,
an inner edge adjacent to a center of the drawer when the pad is mounted to the first ice bucket and the first ice bucket is normally mounted in the drawer, and
a protrusion extending backward and configured so that, when the pad is mounted to the first ice bucket and the first ice bucket is being normally mounted in the drawer, the protrusion becomes mounted in the mounting groove so as to guide normal positioning of the first ice bucket in the drawer, and so that, when the pad is mounted to the first ice bucket and the first ice bucket is being abnormally mounted in the drawer, the protrusion interferes with one of the first interference member and the second interference member so as to be lifted without becoming mounted in the mounting groove.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/076,703Filed 7 Dec 2022 · continuation
Priority: KR 10-2022-001776610 Feb 2022
Published: US 2023/0251009 A110 Aug 2023
Granted: 1 Jul 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

F25C 1/24
Construction of moulds; Filling devices for moulds: for refrigerators, e.g. freezing trays
F25C 5/22
Distributing ice: particularly adapted for household refrigerators
F25C 1/04
Producing ice: by using stationary moulds
F25C 5/182
Storing ice: ice bins therefor