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US 7,954,738 B2Granted
Ice dispenser
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsDong Hoon Lee, Wook Yong Lee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided is an ice dispenser. The ice dispenser dispenses ice pieces have various sizes such as chunks, fragments, and shavings to users, and the size of ice pieces discharged from the ice dispenser can be conveniently adjusted. The ice dispenser includes a rotatable first roller, a rotatable second roller disposed close to the first roller, and a distance adjustor. The distance adjustor is configured to adjust a distance between the first and second rollers for adjusting sizes of ice crushed between the first and second rollers.
Claims12
An ice dispenser comprising:
- an ice bank configured to store ice and including an ice outlet at a predetermined side;
- a driving unit capable of rotating in forward and reverse directions;
- an ice crusher including a first roller and a second roller, the first roller and the second roller being coupled to the driving unit to rotate the first roller and the second roller;
- and
- a distance adjustor configured to adjust a distance between the outer surfaces of the first and second rollers,
- wherein the ice crusher is configured to receive ice from the ice bank through the ice outlet, deliver the received ice without crushing the received ice by rotating the first roller and the second roller outwardly away from each other, and crush the received ice by rotating the first roller and second roller inwardly,
- wherein the first and second rollers are shaped like a cone and are disposed in parallel to each other, and an ice crushing structure is disposed on outer surfaces of the first and second rollers,
- wherein at least one of the first and second rollers is movable in a length direction of a rotation shaft thereof, and
- wherein the distance adjustor comprises a cam disposed on an end of the rotation shaft of the movable roller to axially move the rotation shaft for adjusting the distance between the outer surfaces of the first and second rollers.
6 more elements
An ice dispenser comprising:
- a rotatable first roller;
- a rotatable second roller disposed close to the first roller;
- and
- a distance adjustor configured to adjust a distance between the first and second rollers for adjusting sizes of ice crushed between the first and second rollers,
- wherein at least one of the first and second rollers is movable in a length direction of a rotation shaft thereof,
- wherein the distance adjustor comprises a cam disposed on an end of the rotation shaft of the movable roller to axially move the rotation shaft for adjusting the distance between the outer surfaces of the first and second rollers.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.