Patent ID: 8459055
Filing Date: 2013-06-11
Classification: F25C

Abstract:
1. An auger assembly in an ice bin, comprising: a casing defining an ice storage chamber at an opened upper surface of the casing, a discharge opening disposed at a lower surface of the casing so as to discharge ice, and a transfer chamber positioned between the ice storage chamber and the discharge opening, the transfer chamber including a side surface defining a communication hole that accommodates ice passage; and first and second augers rotatably mounted in parallel to each other inside the casing, the augers being configured to rotate and each having at least two spiral-shaped transfer blades extending in a circumferential direction so as to dispose ice from the ice storage chamber into spaces between the transfer blades and to transfer the ice to the communication hole of the casing, wherein, at a point during rotation of the first and second augers, an outer circumferential surface of a first transfer blade of the first auger contacts an outer circumferential surface of a second transfer blade of the second auger, wherein a gap between the outer circumferential surface of the first transfer blade of the first auger and the outer circumferential surface of the second transfer blade of the second auger changes during rotation of the first and second augers such that the first and second augers transfer ice in an upward to downward direction, wherein the first auger has a shaft portion, and the spiral-shaped transfer blades spirally protrude from an outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion in a circumferential direction with a certain distance therebetween so as to guide ice, wherein a first gear is coupled to the shaft portion at an outside of the first auger, a second gear is coupled to a shaft supporting the second auger at an outside of the second auger, and the first gear and the second gear are engaged to each other such that a rotation force of the first gear is transferred to the second gear to rotate the second gear with the first gear by a gear coupling, and wherein the second auger is mounted to be rotatable in a free state such that the second auger is rotated by a rotation force generated by the first gear of the first auger when the first auger rotates.