Patent ID: 7377123

Claim:
A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet defining a refrigerated interior space; a plurality of shelves disposed within the cabinet for for supporting food items in the refrigerated interior space; at least one door hingedly connected to the cabinet, the door being movable between an open position in which an opening in the cabinet is not covered by the door and food items can be inserted into and/or removed from in the refrigerated interior space through the opening, and a closed position in which the door covers the opening in the cabinet and substantially seals the refrigerated interior space from ambient air surrounding an outer side of the refrigerator; and a beverage can dispenser comprising: a chute operatively associated with an inner side of the door such that the chute is disposed within the refrigerated interior space when the door is in the closed position, the chute having a top end for sequentially receiving a plurality of beverage cans, a central section for holding the plurality of beverage cans in a side-by-side relationship, and a bottom end for sequentially discharging the plurality of beverage cans from the chute, and a drum rotatably mounted on the door, the drum being rotatable by hand only and not through the use of any electro-mechanical devices between a loading position in which a barrel portion of the drum sealingly fills a passage through the door and a trough portion of the drum receives a bottommost beverage can discharged from the bottom end of the chute, and a dispensing position in which the bottommost beverage can be withdrawn from the trough through the passage in the door.