Ice bucket assembly for producing nugget ice for refrigerator appliance
AssigneesBSH Home Appliances Corporation, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
InventorsNilton Bertolini, Cetin Abdullah Celik, Silas Patrick Mallon, Jorge Carlos Montalvo Sanchez
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator includes an ice compartment region disposed in at least one of a fresh food compartment or a freezer compartment; an ice maker disposed in the ice compartment region and configured to make ice pieces; and an ice bucket assembly configured to store the ice pieces made by the ice maker. The ice bucket assembly includes a mechanism for producing nugget ice from the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the ice bucket assembly, the nugget ice being smaller in size as compared to the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the ice bucket assembly.
Claims20
A refrigerator comprising:
- an ice compartment region disposed in at least one of a fresh food compartment or a freezer compartment;
- an ice maker disposed in the ice compartment region and configured to make ice pieces;
- and
- an ice bucket assembly configured to store the ice pieces made by the ice maker,
- wherein the ice bucket assembly comprises means for producing nugget ice from the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the ice bucket assembly, the nugget ice being smaller in size as compared to the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the ice bucket assembly.
An ice bucket assembly for use with an ice maker in a refrigerator, the ice bucket assembly comprising:
- a storage chamber configured to store ice pieces made by the ice maker;
- a crushing chamber configured to crush the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the storage chamber and thereby produce crushed ice;
- an extrusion chamber having an extrusion head configured to produce nugget ice from the crushed ice;
- and
- at least one auger configured to move the ice pieces, whether uncrushed or crushed, through the storage chamber, the crushing chamber, and the extrusion chamber,
- wherein the nugget ice produced by the extrusion head is smaller in size as compared to the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the ice bucket assembly prior to production of the nugget ice.
A refrigerator comprising:
- an ice compartment region disposed in at least one of a fresh food compartment or a freezer compartment;
- an ice maker disposed in the ice compartment region and configured to make ice pieces;
- and
- an ice bucket assembly comprising a storage chamber configured to store ice pieces made by the ice maker, a crushing chamber configured to crush the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the storage chamber and thereby produce crushed ice;
- and an extrusion chamber having an extrusion head configured to produce nugget ice from the crushed ice,
- wherein the nugget ice produced by the extrusion head is smaller in size as compared to the ice pieces made by the ice maker and stored in the ice bucket assembly prior to production of the nugget ice.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.