Ice dispensing apparatus and refrigerator

An ice dispensing apparatus comprising:

• a case including an inlet for receiving ice and an outlet for discharging ice;
• a driving unit inside or outside the case;
• a regulator disposed in the case at a predetermined side and rotatable by the driving unit, the regulator including a spiral blade having a predetermined blade interval;
• and
• a guide member disposed in the case at a predetermined angle for guiding ice from the inlet of the case to the regulator,
• wherein a predetermined number of pieces of ice are guided by rotation of the spiral blade to the outlet of the case, and
• wherein the guide member is hinged on an inner surface of the case.

An ice dispensing apparatus comprising:

• a case including an inlet for receiving ice and an outlet for discharging ice;
• a driving unit inside or outside the case;
• and
• a regulator disposed in the case at a predetermined side and rotatable by the driving unit, the regulator including a spiral blade having a predetermined blade interval,
• a guide member disposed in the case at a predetermined angle for guiding ice from the inlet of the case to the regulator;
• a tab on the regulator;
• and
• a protrusion on the guide member,
• wherein a predetermined number of pieces of ice are guided by rotation of the spiral blade to the outlet of the case, and
• wherein the protrusion collides with the tab when the regulator rotates such that the rotation of the regulator is converted into vibration of the guide member.

An ice dispensing apparatus comprising:

• a case including an inlet for receiving ice and an outlet for discharging ice;
• a driving unit inside or outside the case;
• and
• a regulator disposed in the case at a predetermined side and rotatable by the driving unit, the regulator including a spiral blade having a predetermined blade interval,
• wherein a predetermined number of pieces of ice are guided by rotation of the spiral blade to the outlet of the case,
• wherein the regulator is disposed in a lower region of the case in a left-to-right direction, and the ice dispensing apparatus further comprises:
• a first guide member disposed at an inclined angle from an inner side of the case to an inlet of the regulator so as to guide ice from the inlet of the case toward the inlet of the regulator;
• and
• a second guide member disposed at an inclined angle from the other inner side of the case toward the inlet of the regulator so as to guide ice from the first guide member to the inlet of the regulator.

A refrigerator comprising:

• a main body including a storage chamber;
• a door configured to open and close the storage chamber;
• an icemaker disposed at one of the storage chamber and an inner side of the door for making ice;
• an ice dispensing apparatus;
• and
• a chute configured to receive ice from the ice dispensing apparatus and discharge the ice to an outside of the door,
• wherein the ice dispensing apparatus comprises:
• a case;
• a driving unit inside or outside the case;
• and
• a regulator including a cylinder part disposed in the case and a spiral blade fixed to an inner surface of the cylinder part, the regulator being rotatable by the driving unit.

An ice dispensing apparatus comprising:

• a case;
• a driving unit inside or outside the case;
• and
• a regulator disposed in the case for discharging a predetermined number of pieces of ice at a time,
• wherein the regulator comprises:
• a cylinder part including an inlet at one side and an outlet at the other side, the cylinder part being connected to an output side of the driving unit;
• a spiral blade fixed to an inner surface of the cylinder part;
• and
• a guide member configured to guide ice to the inlet of the cylinder part.