Ice making appliance
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsMarco Aurélio Dellabruba Maccarini, Narendra Kapure, Rahul Kumbhare, Alison Pereira, Abinash Sarma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator appliance includes a door, a first ice maker, a second ice maker, and a dispenser. The door defines an internal compartment. The first ice maker is disposed within the internal compartment and is operable to produce solid ice. The second ice maker is disposed within the internal compartment and is operable to produce chewable ice. The dispenser is positioned on an exterior of the door. The dispenser is in communication with the internal compartment. The dispenser is operable to dispense the solid ice and the chewable ice from the internal compartment.
Claims20
A refrigerator appliance comprising:
- a door defining an internal compartment;
- a first ice maker disposed within the internal compartment and operable to produce solid ice;
- a second ice maker disposed within the internal compartment and operable to produce chewable ice;
- and
- a dispenser positioned on an exterior of the door, in communication with the internal compartment, and operable to dispense the solid ice and the chewable ice from the internal compartment.
An ice making system for refrigerator appliance comprising:
- a first ice maker operable to produce solid ice and to direct the solid ice to a dispenser;
- a second ice maker disposed within a shared compartment with the first ice maker, the second ice maker being operable to produce chewable ice and to direct the chewable ice to the dispenser;
- and
- a cooling system operable to supply cooling air at a first temperature to the first ice maker and to supply cooling air at a second temperature to the second ice maker.
An ice making system for refrigerator appliance comprising:
- first and second ice makers disposed within a shared compartment and operable to produce solid and chewable ice, respectively;
- and
- a cooling system having
- a first duct in fluid communication with the shared compartment and operable to direct cooling air at a first temperature to the first ice maker,
- a first damper disposed with the first duct to facilitate and restrict airflow to the first ice maker,
- a second duct in fluid communication with the shared compartment and operable to direct cooling air at a second temperature to the second ice maker, wherein the first temperature is less than the second temperature, and
- a second damper disposed within the second duct to facilitate and restrict airflow to the second ice maker.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.